Out of obscurity, 3 of the original 1970’s punk bands are getting it together for an afternoon’s entertainment and pogoing by the sea! Oh OK then, it’s actually a mile from Brighton Beach, but it’s definitely walkable!
Right then punk rock music fans listen up!
The Prince Albert, which is immediately below Brighton’s Mainline Railway Station, will be witnessing a piece of history going down on Sunday 4th October from 2pm to 5pm. Their first floor music room will be hosting a trio of forgotten punk outfits that are getting it together for another ride! The bill will comprise Stormtrooper, Trash, and Social Security. Yeah, I know, obscure or what! However, if you listen to their tunes, you could be pleasantly surprised! This afternoon entertainment is being co-ordinated by Frugal Promotions.
OK then, let’s get the history on the bands:
STORMTROOPER
Stormtrooper were formed at the legendary Marquee club in January 1975. Lead singer Nigel Hutchings worked there running the bars, Jeff Piccinini and Mike Lee were over from San Francisco hoping to form a band. So where better to find musicians than the Marquee, home of the Who, the Stones, and many more. After recruiting John Pilka on guitar, and rehearsing in a shabby Kings Road basement studio, the band started to take shape – as did Motorhead in the next studio.
Corruption Management took them on, and a recording studio in Covent Garden was booked for one day – that’s all money they could afford. Four tracks were recorded including ‘It’s Not Me’, and ‘I’m A Mess’ – which everyone thought was a ripper.
A gig at Bath Pavilion was booked, and, although not a massive turnout, went down really well. However, within weeks they had imploded, with Jeff joining punk upstarts Chelsea, and Nigel becoming assistant manager at the Marquee.
Early in 1976, Nigel witnessed a thunderbolt at the Club, the Sex Pistols supported Eddie and the Hot Rods – and punk was born! So later that year Jeff and Nigel decided to try and release ‘I’m A Mess’ on a private label – Solent Records. A few thousand copies were pressed, and hand delivered to every record shop they could find in London. And a number were shipped abroad. Melody Maker, Sounds and New Musical Express reviewed ‘I’m A Mess’, with appropriate razor sharp comments – which the band loved. To help promote it, they gave away a free badge/pin, screaming the legend, ‘I’m A Mess’. The badge proved very popular with all sorts of people including, famously, Sid Vicious.
In 1977, the band, with Maurice Bacon – formerly of Love Affair – on drums, went back into the studio to record ‘Coming My Way’ and ‘I’m On Fire’. These were never released, however, Chelsea covered ‘I’m On Fire’, as Jeff was in the band.
Wind the clocks forward to 2026 and Stormtrooper have re-formed, and are putting shows together throughout the year. There’s a real sense of excitement in the air – particularly as this year is the 50th anniversary of the birth of punk!
Check out their tunes on Bandcamp – find them HERE.
TRASH
In 1975 Mick Brophy (guitar), Simon Wright (vocals) , Keith Steptoe (bass) and Steve Pearce (drums) caught an early Sex Pistols gig and thought “we could do that!”. Calling themselves Trash after the New York Dolls song the band signed to Polydor and commenced gigging, supporting 999, The Lurkers, The Slits and many others.
Debut single ‘Priorities’ is now a sought-after slice of 1977, whilst second single ‘N-N-E-R-V-O-U-S’ was released the following year, produced by the legendary Shel Talmy (The Who / Kinks). However, the band split up when Polydor passed on the option of an LP.
Trash got back together to unsuccessfully audition for the ‘Quadrophenia’ film, which as everyone knows was filmed in Brighton and surrounding environs. In 1979 Trash recorded a couple of tracks for Police producer Nigel Gray. By this time Simon Butler-Smith was on drums and Neil Cossar had joined on second guitar.
In 2011 Only Fit For The Bin released the compilation CD ‘This Is Complete Trash’, followed by the vinyl version ‘Bashing Out The Chords’ LP in 2023. Reviews were so positive that Trash decided to give it one last go, Mark ‘Wolfie’ Wolfenden joined on bass to record the 2025 single ‘Matter Of Time’. The sessions were great fun, so Trash decided to play their first gigs since 1978, proving that high energy rock’n’roll never goes out of fashion!
Check out their tunes on Spotify HERE.
SOCIAL SECURITY
After seeing The Damned perform in late 76, Social Security left their jobs and signed on. They recruited ‘Spy’, a Damned roadie so named because the Damned were convinced he was a spy for the Pistols. With ‘Spy’ on board as their new singer, The Socials became major players in the Bristol and West Country’s burgeoning punk scene.
Signed by Heartbeat Records, they went on to record their first single on Bristol’s newly formed Heartbeat record label. The single, ‘I Don’t Want My Heart To Rule My Head’, a four track EP was critically acclaimed by the legendary John Peel. The other tunes on the EP were ‘Stella’s Got A Fella’, ‘Cider’ and ‘Choc Ice’. Over the years the single has been re-released appearing on many highly regarded Punk anthology albums, as well as being collected together in a 13 track album titled ‘Arley Hill’, where all tracks were recorded at GBH Studios in 1977.
After a lot of arm twisting by their former management and due to public pressure Social Security relented and have now reformed playing extensively and showcasing their unique wit and song writing abilities. Social Security are true originals.
Check out their tunes on Spotify HERE.
If you enjoyed listening to the tunes in the links above, then ideally you should head on over to The Prince Albert in Brighton on Sunday 4th October from 2pm to 5pm – Grab your tickets HERE.
