British Punk History March 1977

March 1st: The Jam play the Railway in Putney. The Gorillas (formerly the Hammersmith Gorillas) play the Nashville. Iggy Pop plays his first UK gig of the tour at Aylesbury, Vale Hall having just signed to RCA records who are about to release'The Idiot'.

March 2nd: The Jam begin a 5 date residency at the Red Cow in Hammersmith which sees them playing every wednesday throughout March. This tour is supported by their record company Polydor who are working with the band to release 'In the City' before the end of the month.

March 9th: The Sex Pistols sign to A&M records.

March 10th: In order to attract press attention,

A&M had scheduled the Sex Pistols to sign their contracts outside Buckingham Palace and then on to a reception at the Regent Palace Hotel. In front of the assembled media , the band proceeded to drink as much free booze as possible and then began insulting the journalists. With more drink in their pockets the band fight amongst themselves at Wessex Studios around the corner resulting in Paul Cook recieving a black eye and bloody nose and Sid Vicious in his first public outing as a Sex Pistol cutting his foot open. Next stop the band head to A&M offices supposedly for a serious meeting with the record company staff and to select a b-side for their second single 'God Save the Queen' as it was now called. More chaos ensued with Sid smashing up a toilet and a bathroom window and Steve Jones staggering in and out of the ladies toilets making lewd threats to A&M staff.

March 11th: Johnny Rotten appears in court on charges of

possession of amphetamine and is

fined £40. That night Bernie Rhodes' first major gig for the Clash in 2 months finally takes to the stage. A Night of Action as it is billed was originally going to be a two night event but takes place on the Friday at the Coliseum in Harlesden North West London. Similar to the Screen on the Green this is another cinema taken over for the night by the bands. In the end the bill is headlined by the Clash with the Buzzcocks ,Subway Sect and the Slits supporting. This is a debut for the Slits who have been rehearsing at the Clash studios and also a first outing for the new Buzzcocks line up without Howard Devoto.

March 12th: The Sex Pistols and entourage attend the Speakeasy club in London where Sid and Jah Wobble end up in a fracas with BBC music presenter Bob Harris. Harris was not without influence, and pressure was brought to bear on A&M to drop the band.

March 16th: Realising that they could not control the Sex Pistols, A&M terminate their contract. The Pistols are £75,000 better off but without a label and as all copies of God Save the Queen are destroyed looking unlikely to get it released in time for the queen's jubilee.

March 18th: The Clash single 'White Riot' is released on CBS records. Tom Robinson guest

reviewing for the NME said 'It's pointless to categorise this with the other records; 'White Riot isn't a poxy single of the week ,it's the first meaningful event all year.'

A fan from the early days of the Clash, Mark Perry at Sniffin Glue welcomed the single despite saying that he thought punk died the day the Clash signed to CBS. He had hoped the Clash would release an independent EP in the manner of the Buzzcocks New Hormones label. As well as 'White Riot' and '1977' he had wanted to see live favourite 'London's Burning' on the record. Read his review of the single below.