Silent Types
It’s always great when info becomes available on another band that played the Roxy and here’s the story of Silent Types as recounted by manager David Lambert with some great photos from Lorraine Owen. Welsh punks were one of the first outside of London to embrace the Pistols and Punk and for this gig they made the trip from Wales to the Roxy and back in one sitting among other stories.
Dave Lambert: There was a serious music and club scene right across South Wales. Cardiff, Bridgend, Newport. People travelled from the four corners of the region to be under the same roof. We were listening to a diverse range of music from the obvious Bowie and Glam stuff, through to The Modern Lovers, MC5, The Stooges, The Velvets, the 60s garage bands along with early dives into politics. It was 75, 76, 77 and South Wales was slowly sliding into being a knackered, post-industrial mess, with high unemployment and with NO FUTURE.
Backstage Sex Pistols Stowaway Newport. Steve Strange front right.
Back-right Dave Lambert. Front 2nd Left Graham Williams.
How did the band come together?
The boys were at a gig at Cardiff Top Rank (no one remembers who was playing) and James asked if anyone knew someone who played guitar. McCarthy said, ‘Jinxy played guitar!’ (Jenkins). James said; ‘… you better be fucking good!’ He then asked who played bass, so they phoned Sutton up from a phone box on Queen Street… that was that… They then got pestered by David Lambert to manage them. Formed 16 August 1976
How did you come up with the name?
Bob Dylan –Tangled up in Blue … very punk!
She lit a burner on the stove / And offered me a pipe / I thought you’d never say hello, she said /
You look like the silent type / Then she opened up a book of poems / And handed it to me …
Why so long for the first gig. You were formed in 76 but didn’t play till a year later.
There was a lot of gigs to attend. Parties to go to. Socialising to do. The band played a few parties. Two lived in Merthyr, one in Bridgend and one in Cardiff. That’s a lot of miles to hook up. And to be honest there were so many great gigs happening in South Wales we were more back stage than on it.
How did you come to get the Roxy gig and what’s your memories of playing the famous place, the journey there, people at the club etc.
David Lambert made the phone calls. Pestered Andrew and some other guy that always seemed to pick up the phone. Lambert had been up to the Roxy Club a couple of and had spoken with some of the people there. Put down some markers. He’d then phone and phone pushing for a gig. He got Andy Walton, the Cardiff Top Rank promoter to talk with Andrew after he’d had made the call. The band would be told to phone back. Lambert phoned back every week until the band was given a slot. 22nd October …
The drive-up was madness. Bridgend to Cardiff to Merthyr with the equipment, band, girlfriends and a couple of mates in the Transit. Early start that day! The Bazoomis were friendly and could play. No one can remember a thing about Charge. Lorraine Owen got some great photos. There was a decent-sized crowd. Some of the London Welsh posse found their way in. It was a blistering set with the band firing through it at breakneck speed. Everyone goes on about how hard and anarchic punk was, and of course we raged against what needed to be challenged, but the people we met that night were good people; honest people, no bullshit people. We made a lot of friends that night. We also scared a lot of people at the service stations on the way back.
From the other gigs can you tell a bit more about the Mountain Ash one as it sounds really interesting if not scary. What happened?
Lambert persuaded the Cardiff Music Agency that Silent Types would go down well in Mountain Ash, what with two of the band from Merthyr and able to relate to the valley town. The band were paid £40.00 all in. We told them that punk was the next thing and they were at the front of it. What a nightmare the night turned out to be. We arrived and the place was shut, dark, no one there. Punters started turning up before we had set up. No sound check. The manager hated punk. Had been told we were a heavy rock band.
Jonathan (pictured 1976 with Mark Taylor) was on fire and was getting in the face of everyone in the front row. They started spitting and Jonathan put his foot on someone‘s head after the third or fourth song. The guy seemed to like Jon’s foot on his head, so spat at him again. It’s a well-trodden path being spat at. Then McCarthy started playing his drums standing up and calling out the Mountain Ash boys saying if they were ever in Merthyr they’d know it. The band got through about 2/3rds of the set and the stage got raided by about 20 lads and that was about that… the two bouncers failed to clear the stage.
We huddled around our gear and the club was cleared. We packed up. I went and got the van and saw there was a bunch of lads outside waiting for us. I backed it up to the doors and we loaded up with bottles coming in from every direction. WE grabbed the £40.00 from the manager and set off down the road with one in-coming bottle taking out the back window. The next morning we took the van back and were charged £35.00 for the broken window.
Same with the St Pauls one… sounds interesting with the Spitfire Boys… what do you recall?
No one really remembers how we got that gig. We had met Mark from The Pop Group and had a few mates in Bristol. The promoter put us on after the Spitfire Boys. We thought we were headlining, then realised that towards the end of our set the crowds started to leave with a seriously impressive Rasta crew taking their place. We had till 10pm to finish our set before the dub kicked in… Spot was on fire that night. Must have been the heavy bass lines coming from every corner of St Paul’s… great bass playing.
Why did you play so few gigs and why so few locally. How was punk perceived back then where you were .. Merthyr Tydfil? What other local bands were there and was there any rivalry?
It was an underground thing. Punk was seen as a bunch of misfits unable to play their instruments. There was a core group of punks in South Wales through with the Stowaway in Newport, and Cardiff Top Rank prompting punk every week.
The Straights from Pontypridd (bassist Noddy backstage with the Pistols below) were a good band. There weren’t that many in 1976.
When did the band break up and did you record any demos or rehearsal tapes?
Broke up Summer 1977. No tapes worth listening to. Lots of fine songs though.
Jonathan left Wales to work with Steve Strange (South Wales boy) and Visage and features on The Damned Don’t Cry single cover (hat under the arm/braid on epaulettes). Travelled the world.
Gigs: 1976 / 1977
The first gig was at The Roxy, London – 22 October 1977 with Bazoomis and Charge
Baker’s Row, Cardiff
Mountain Ash Social Club (the gig ended abruptly after death threats from the audience, followed by the band being chased out of town)
St Paul’s, Bristol – with the Spitfire Boys
Setlist:
Holding On, Reasons, 9 till Five, Panic Button, Walk through Hell, America – written by band.
All Day and All of the Night – Kinks. I Wanna be your Dog, Stooges.
Band Members
Graham Williams Spot: Guitar/Bass – Proto Punk from the Bournemouth soul weekenders. He was the only person we knew who wrote songs, so he was in. Not a big man but he once took on 34 Cardiff City skinheads and came off 35th. From Bridgend.
Rumour has it that when he dies they’ll be read the Last Rights and the Riot Act at the same time. From Bridgend.
Jonathan James: Vocals: A six foot blond Nordic god from Planet Merthyr, a cohort of Messrs Steve Strange, Chris Sullivan and Mark Taylor. Jon was the world’s forgotten boy, never searched, just destroyed. Everything. Always. From Merthyr Tydfil. Pictured Right.
Mark McCarthy – Drums – We didn’t know who Charlie Parker was, but Mark did, and that frightened us. Mark’s dad was a jazz musician and his guitarist son is signed to Virgin Records. They say talent skips a generation, not this time. Cool doesn’t come close. From Merthyr Tydfil.
Nigel Sutton – Bass – Nigel knew Einstein’s theory backwards, and that’s how he played. We suspect he put up with us because he was bored, and it didn’t help when he found out we only knew four chords. We lied about the fourth. From Bridgend.
Stephen Jenkins – Guitar – During a lost weekend in 1975 he woke up wedded to a Fender Strat with a Vox AC 30 as best man. A marriage made in hell, held together by a Wem Copycat Mkiii. Woke up again playing with the Silent Types in The Roxy Club. They say he hasn’t slept since. From Betws, Bridgend.
The band later turned into Rudi & The Russians with Dave Lambert taking on vocal duties.
Credits – Straights picture | Jonathan & Mark Picture | Silent Types Roxy Pictures – Lorraine Owen
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