Using my cassette machines and dad's metronome as sole accompaniment, I began to write my own pseudo-Punk songs. I used two songs as templates for my own lyrics. These were ‘Naïve' by The Killjoys and ‘Man of the Year' by The Models - both very obscure, but great songs. An example of the kind of thing I came out with was (in a convincing Cockney accent, naturally):

I took my lyric sheets into school and sang the "songs" to anyone I could corner. They were warmly received, and this encouragement made me think about accompanying myself on the dusty old Spanish guitar my dad bought and promptly abandoned in the early '70s. Armed with his ‘Play in a Day' type book, I found that eventually, after weeks of trying, and with sore fingers, I could falteringly knock out some of the most basic chords - E, A, C, D and G. Simplicity was the very essence of punk rock so it was not long before I realised I could actually play poor imitations of some of the more basic songs that I loved. The guitar, though, was dreadful and, in the summer of 1977, I swapped, with Chris Adamson, (a Quarry Banker in the year below me) my bicycle for his Jedson electric guitar and practice amplifier. I named this dreadful guitar "the cheese grater" because its jagged frets shredded my finger tips, but it did give me that raw punk sound I craved. I wrote, in homage to Billy Idol of Generation X - ‘Billy was a Punk Rock Star'. I don't recall any of the lyrics at all. They must have been truly moronic.

 My love of punk rock became all encompassing, but one band more than any other, captured my imagination - The Jam. With their smart suits and '60s inspired music they stood apart from the ripped T-Shirts, bondage trousers, leather jackets and safety pins of the Sex Pistol impersonating opportunists who took a ride on the back of the punk movement. While The Pistols sang "Get pi**ed. Destroy!", The Jam sang "What's the point in saying destroy? We want a new life for everywhere." The Pistols and their immitators offered only anarchy. The Jam dared to swim against the mainstream by offering hope. In December Mike Tasker and I went to see them on their "This is the Modern World" tour at the Liverpool Empire. I was surprised to find the place only half full. The Jam filled those empty spaces with their youthful angst - and all that energy was generated by just 3 members. Mike said that I had the same earnest look as their singer  / guitarist Paul Weller. I had no idea what "earnest" meant, but took it as a great compliment anyway. I thought I looked more like their bass player Bruce Foxton. Whatever, that comment contributed towards my enduring admiration of The Jam.

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