The year 1976 will be remembered for many things: The first commercial Concorde flight took off on January 21; Harold Wilson resigned as Prime Minister in March citing exhaustion; Britain experienced its hottest summer on record; and The Muppet Show was first broadcast on ITV.
But for the people of Caerphilly, December 14, 1976 is known as the day the town was thrust into the national spotlight, when a certain punk-rock band arrived to play a show.
The Sex Pistols had caused a stir leading up to the Caerphilly show, having formed 18 months previously.
Given their notorious reputation, and having come under intense media scrutiny following their infamous expletive-laden interview on the Tonight Show, the four-piece saw several venues on their nation-wide Anarchy In The U.K tour cancel their slot amidst pressure from residents and opposition from local authorities.
Despite concerts in Newport and Swansea passing without trouble in the preceding days, the Sex Pistols arrived for their show at The Castle Cinema, Castle Street, to a large number of protestors, made up of local mothers and church group members.
Pubs were boarded up, tensions high, and police presence deliberately visible in anticipation of the hordes of pumped up punks predicted to descend upon the valleys.
Religious protestors suggested that the band were morally corrupt, and exerting a negative influence and mindset on the generation of youths so keen to become a part of the hype at the time. They began to sing Christmas carols in defiance of the Cinema owner’s intention to go ahead with the show.
Reflecting on the mania, the Pistols frontman John Lydon – formerly known as Johnny Rotten – recalled: “It was so small and silly, singing hymns and hoping God would strike us dead. It was ridiculous.
“It was a good precursor though to when we first came to America.
“The Texans, when they religiously demonstrate against you, they’re doing it with guns. So when I remember that, I look back fondly at Caerphilly. You know Caerphilly was silly.”
In reality, the anarchy never arrived. Reports from the time suggest less than 200 people attended the show, with the main focus of police aimed towards moving on curious passers-by from blocking the street.
Veteran Bedwas councillor Ray Davies, who died at the age of 85 in May last year, had been a figurehead for the Castle Cinema protests.
Having organised the action after being approached by concerned mothers, Cllr Davies attempted to get a legal injunction to prevent the show, threatened bus companies transporting fans with the removal of their school contracts, and was visible in footage of the protests released in the film The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle in 1980.
In 2011, Mr Davies apologised for his actions, stating in a letter: “…what right did I have to stop young people from enjoying their new found inspiration, when I myself back in the early 50s was an enthusiastic rock and roller, fan of Bill Haley and the Comets, and had won competitions for the Twist?”
Caerphilly Workmen’s Hall is holding a tribute show to the infamous 1976 Sex Pistols gig on Saturday December 3.
Featuring tribute acts The Pistols, The Clashed, and The Ramoned, doors open at 7pm with tickets available for £10.
Karina Warrington, of CWH, said: “The original show brought publicity to Caerphilly, whether it was for the right reasons or not, and united people to one of two sides.
“It put the town on the map in the punk world, and we’re really hoping that some people who were at the 1976 show might come along to our tribute.”
The last decade it was fun to be alive in Britain. No political correctness, police on the streets who you knew – well at least most people knew the sergeant, ample work as we still made things, good music – the heyday of Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, 10cc, etc, no bouncers in the pubs as the regulars dealt harshly with anyone wanting trouble, a 24 hour A & E was close by, general practitioners would perform any necessary minor surgery and even visit you at home, an appointment to see the doctor was easy and quick, school was strict and universally detested by the pupils but we all came out at sixteen pretty well educated, banks were solvent but no use going to them for a mortgage – that was all dealt with by building societies, nobody homeless, beggars were only seen on your holidays abroad, we had an open air baths in the town, you could ride your bicycle without feeling the need to dress up as Spiderman first, taxis were competitive and cheap with no meters, the bus had a conductor and only stopped long enough for people to get on and off, I could go on.
We transformed this country after the war, before that we endured the hungry thirties, when many were literally starving. In a couple of decades, through the late forties, the fifties and the sixties we made Britain a great place to live. Then we joined the ‘Common Market’ later known as the EU and everything slipped into reverse. Fell free to disagree but I have not just read some books on the subject, I have lived through these times. Long live the 1970’s in our memories, what was before and after was not as good.
Sadly today’s must have culture, throw away, materialistic society is destroying old fashioned values of British life.Good manners and etiquette are resigned to the past, too many now expect something for nothing, killjoys introduce legislation for the minority which ruins the fun of the majority.Greed, Selfishness, Sloth and Envy have now taken over. A lot has changed ( for the worse ) since those long carefree summers of the 70’s.
It certainly has changed for the worse. The perverse thing is that writers, who usually were not around then, dismiss the 1970’s as a bad time when the reality was that it was a great time to be alive, young or old. At this time of year we find 1970’s pop music is dusted off and played, not 1980’s, 1990’s or after. As the song goes,
‘So here it is. Merry Christmas
Everybody’s having fun
Look to the future now
It’s only just begun’
Which sums up the enjoyment and optimism of those times.
Everything is cyclical, those times will be back again when we step over that fiscal cliff and we have less distractions.
I hope so, I would love top go back to 1970’s life style – perhaps not the loon flares though, never was a fan of those!