Security Risk

Paul Kent: Drums | Chris O’Connor: keyboards
Jan Parker – Security Risk. SEcurity Risk formed at the beginning of 1978; we met under The Eros in Piccadilly. The boys were all nineteen and I was eighteen. Our first gig was a Rock Against Racism street party in Stockwell a few weeks later. We played on the back of a lorry as support to the UK Subs.
The band was named after the heavy-handedness of bouncers who used to beat merry shit out of fans at gigs back then, and in particular reference to the near riot that occurred at a Clash gig in 1977, where fans ripped out the seats and trashed the venue after some ruction with the security guys at the gig.
This was a first band venture for all of us except Chris who was always in several bands. We were heavily influenced by Blondie, X-ray Spex, Siouxsie, Penetration and later the Rezillos. We loved The Clash, The Damned and the UK Subs. We were really pop/punk and were happiest trashing old sixties covers. Bobby’s Girl was a favourite with the Whitton crew fans.

Personally, I got into Punk whilst hanging out at The Lacy Lady nightclub in Ilford. It seems that everyone that went there become someone in the media. (I was a good friend with the Kemp brothers in 1975 and 76. they went every Friday and Saturday night). We were listening to soul and funk at the club but throwing ourselves around and wearing ripped up clothes back in 1975. We were deeply interested in anything ‘alternative’ (we loved the programme ‘The Prisoner’ but there was no music to go with what we were feeling, until, in (I think) late 1976 The Dammed played their first gig at the Lacy Lady. We were all completely blown away.
Songs I remember from our set were Action Man, Deep Freeze, Sign Us Up, Hypocrite, Last Train at Night, Hanging Around, White Christmas (all year round), The whole of the then current UK Subs set, Bobby’s Girl, Flying Saucer Attack (Rezillos)
We never made a record because the deals we were offered at the time were all a rip off and I wouldn’t sign up for a one percent cut. Even the majors were ripping people off and we were hanging out for a proper deal. We toyed with the idea of recording our own record but we were all on the dole and broke. Also at about that time there was a flood of independently released stuff by bands and I remember that the Indie record distribution market fell to bits, leaving bands with thousands of records in suitcases to take to the dump!
Gary Bushell was a big fan of ours, but whenever he came to a gig stuff went horribly wrong. We were in his presence showered in gob one time, beer another, and pigeon innards a third time. Around Gary, equipment would blow up or as happened one time the PA did not even arrive at all. He wrote about us almost every week in Sounds, and gave us great reviews. He totally thought that we were going to be massive! He knew that certain record companies were ‘after’ us (CBS in particular… but then they signed the bloody awful Photos instead)
Security Risk was a difficult band to be in. We had no money, lots of bad luck and really crappy managers one after the other. I think we were really good live and had real potential. Unfortunately, like so many bands at the time, the record companies could still not see past the signing of people like Kate Bush. We split up through sheer frustration.

The stint with the Cash Pussies pretty much finished the band. We were offered parts as the band in a film that was being made by Fred and Judy Vermorel called ‘ Millions Like Us’. We became Cash Pussies and started gigging. We played a benefit for Sid Vicious in 78.The set was made up of Alex Fergusson’s songs mixed with ours. Fred and Judy wanted us to totally follow their artistic lead and when we bucked against the idea of a total takeover, they sacked us.


Jan & Chris above
Jan & Tony left
Punk, for me at the time was a drunken good-natured really fun time. It was a playful two fingers up to the establishment (I don’t think most people really meant it seriously). Lots of intelligent people were punks and used the movement as a means of artist expression. They were not anarchists, but actually capitalistic bohemians (Think of Viv Westwood now, for example…a pillar of society!) Bands I really detested at the time were the awful Police and the Boomtown Rats (pretend punks with American accents and vile clothes). Totally shit! Oh and that silly cow Toyah. I hated the whole Punk scene when the press trashed it by branding and labelling it. Mohicans and Japanese tourist photos in The Kings Road put the lid on the coffin.



Tony went on to form Mood Six a sixties beat combo. Paul joined the Police (no the Metropolitan ones!) I changed my name to Cyd and dyed my hair a different colour and formed some really silly bands ‘Janette and The Planets’ was I. Also Almighty Bang (toured with Take That, did Jackie magazine and TV with Pete Waterman’s Roadshow Hit Man and Her!) and then before it got any worse quit the music scene and opened a very successful vegetarian restaurant and night club in Brixton called Bah Humbug and The Bug Bar.
I can’t remember what we changed our name to when Charlie asked us to change it…I am sure anything would have been better than the name we had. I always hated it!”
Security Risk live images courtesy of Mick Mercer
TalkPunk
Post comments, images & videos - Posts are checked and offensive or irrelevant ones will be removed