As punk nears its 50th anniversary, a new exhibition explores the lives of those who have carried the spirit of the movement with them into old age.
Punk: Rage and Revolution will bring together iconic photographs, clothing, people and stories to illuminate this seminal subculture, along with its influence on today’s world.
Beyond a core set of then-and-now pictures of around a dozen Midlands punks, the Leicester exhibition will feature never-before-seen photos of The Clash (which were only uncovered this year, hidden away in an attic) along with the work of renowned artists from the 70s scene.
Wayne ‘Spike’ Large: “When I got home from leave I went straight into The Hind on London Road, that’s where the scene was in Leicester. I was scared to death, I didn’t know anyone, I walked down into the cellar bar and everybody was pogoing, it was fantastic.”
Donna Sussenbach: “I remember we were walking back from somewhere once and this bloke just stopped us in the street, looked us up and down and said, ‘if you were my daughter, I would have drowned you...’”
Chris Wigmore: “I never looked like a punk as such but it wasn’t about having spiky hair, it was about attitude, how you live your life and the way you do things.”
Photos of the Leicester punks in 2023 were taken by Joe Nixon, co-founder of Arch Creative. He said: “We’ve already interviewed dozens of people for the project and are delighted to include contributions of exclusive content from the likes of high-profile artist Jamie Reid, Punk poet Dr John Cooper Clarke, legendary musicians Don Letts and Jeannette Lee, and renowned Leicester-born photographers Jack English and Steve Pyke MBE.”
Sally Moss: “The biggest thing is that it was a communal thing back then and it’s still a community. When I go to the Rebellion Music Festival in Blackpool in August, it’s like one big family.”
Fitz Samuel: “The punk scene was really accepting because it also had a lot of reggae going on. When you dig a bit deeper, you’d find the punks and the rastas had a similar kind of viewpoint, that thing of people telling you that you’re wrong all the time, or you shouldn’t be doing that.”
Johnno: “We used to meet up every Saturday by the Clock Tower. I was the oldest one out of all of us. I was 32, and some of the younger punks used to look out for me. I can’t believe 1976 was 47 years ago. I’m hoping I’ll see [punk’s] 50th anniversary in 2026, by then I’ll be 83.”
The showcase will feature pioneering street photography from David Parkinson, who chartered the rise of punk through his images of Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood’s early stores, before taking his own life in 1976, just months before punk exploded.
McLaren said Parkinson was “chronicling the street’s answer to musical pop culture.”
Jim Bell: “The Very Bazaar was just up the road from my shop. They had a DJ playing banging music in my basement.”
Melanie Berman: “It was about opening the fridge in the middle of the night, finding no food, nothing to drink and feeling like death, wondering where you were.”
Greg Semple: “It was about being you, being an individual, not running with the herd. I feel that most of us were a bunch of misfits and that’s what made us punks, we didn’t want to be with the masses.”
The Leicester Scene section, based on first-hand interviews with more than 30 local punks, explores the local venues, record and clothes shops in detail, along with the bands which played many pubs and clubs. This will include a fantastic collection of original clothing and memorabilia from Leicester punks.
Blink: “I’m not a musician but I found that punk gave me the courage to sit and learn how to play some rudimentary group notes. And it gave me the ability to be able to get a band together with like-minded friends.”
Karen Piggott: “I made the huge mistake of leaving the Sex Pistols album downstairs while I was putting some stuff away upstairs. Within about five minutes, my dad was yelling up the stairs “will you kindly remove this filth from the record player’.”
Punk: Rage and Revolution is open now and will run to 3rd September, initially in Leicester with further exhibitions in Northampton and Nottingham later in the year.
The showcase is a joint venture between Arch Creative, Soft Touch Arts and Shaun Knapp. Further details at rageandrevolution.co.uk.
