The T-Shirt That Stopped A Gig Rainbow Theatre 30th January 1977

Having spent some time posting stuff about The Anarchy Tour and the problems that ensued following the Grundy incident I think that it will be interesting to see the impact of the press reaction on other bands. The appearance of the Pistols (as replacements for Queen) in the closing segment of Thames Television's early evening magazine program detonated a bomb and signaled the commencement of a state of open warfare with the combined forces of local authorities and the tabloid press pitched against those bands falling under the ill defined definition of punk.

One can only wonder how frusty political bodies such as the Conservative led Greater London Council of 1977 sussed out which bands were associated with said p**k rock to establish the bands that they needed to censure. I can imagine staff members being posted in the corridors of County Hall on a Thursday morning looking for young staffers carrying this weeks NME only to direct then into councilor's offices to provide the necessary lessons in current musical trends!

One can only wonder why a delegation of suits descended on the Rainbow on a winter's evening in January 1977 to check out the evening's special guests of the Climax Blues Band. Perhaps it was just a case of logistics, the place to absorb all of the unpleasant sights and smells of these new punk rock bands would have been the newly opened Roxy in Covent Garden, a place immediately identifiable of the HQ of the London punk scene, but between Generation X playing on the Saturday night and The Damned playing on the Monday night, there was nothing stirring in that particular basement on the Sunday... so best nip over to Finsbury to see what's afoot at the Rainbow.

 

So with thanks to the contributors to TheMenInBlackInPrint Facebook page let's take a look at what transpired through the eyes of the music press weeklies of the day.

Melody Maker (5th February 1977)

'STRANGLERS GET THROTTLED

THE STRANGLERS, one of Britain's leading punk bands, were pulled off stage at London's Rainbow Theatre on Sunday because of a four-letter word on a T-shirt worn by one of the band.

The show, at which the Stranglers were supporting Climax Blues band, was attended by several representatives of the Greater London Council, including Alderman John Brannigan, vice-president of the public services committee.

As the Stranglers began the last number of their set, the stage lights were switched off. Lead guitarist Hugh Cornwell said: "Thank you very much, GLC," and then the sound was cut off as well.

A spokesman for the GLC said there were three officials at the concert and they were there only because they wanted to see what goes on at rock concerts as a matter of interest in public safety. He added that the GLC officials had not stopped the show.

Allen Schaverien, director of Strutworth, the leaseholders of the Rainbow, said "The band had promised they wouldn't wear this T-shirt and that was included in their contract. They were taken off just as they would have been had they broken any other clause.

"I was involved in the decision to stop them playing and I don't feel I made any mistake. They can come back to the Rainbow if they are booked in again as long as they keep within their contract."'

New Musical Express (5th February 1977)

'The t-shirt that stopped a gig by CHRIS SALEWICZ

ALLEGATIONS THAT the GLC is operating a punk rock "blacklist" were being made this week after Sunday's Rainbow gig by The Stranglers was curtailed because one of them wore an "obscene" T-shirt.

Guitarist Hugh Cornwell defied a GLC requirement, written into the Council's licensing deal with the Rainbow management, when he went on stage wearing a T-shirt bearing the word "fuck". As a consequence the group's set was cut short three quarters of the way through when the stage lights were switched off.

NME understands that the Greater London Council's Public Committee had seen The Stranglers perform previously at the Red Deer in Croydon, and had demanded an assurance from the Rainbow that certain words "would not appear on their apparel or over the amplification."

This was written into the contract between the Rainbow and the concert promoters, Beggars Banquet Promotions, and it was the promoters who curtailed the set after being informed that they were in breach of contract. Eight GLC representatives were watching the show.

On Monday NME learned that when Beggars Banquet first wanted to book The Stranglers into the Rainbow, it was intimated to them by informed music business parties that this would be impossible because the band were on "a blacklist", which, it was maintained, the GLC operates. Eventually, after the promoters had agreed to provide 20 extra security men, and after they had given two written assurances to the GLC, the gig went ahead.

Cornwell then went on stage wearing the aforementioned T-shirt, apparently with the logo on the back, took it off when requested to do so 30 minutes into the set, but replaced it 15 minutes later, resulting in the show being stopped.

Onstage Cornwell also swore several times.

Inquiries within the music business on Monday revealed a belief that a GLC "blacklist", official or otherwise, does exist. One leading promoter, after pointing out that the GLC is the licensing authority for London's music venues, told me: "You have to compromise with them. They're civil servants." He claimed that to his knowledge Kiss and Hawkwind had been on a blacklist at various times. He added: "I think they are just giving the Rainbow a hard time. For some reason they don't like it."

According to another source close to the promoters of The Stranglers gig, the GLC men were in attendance because the Rainbow was the first large London venue to book punk rock bands. He claimed all punk bands were on the blacklist.

Alan Schaverin of the Rainbow management told NME that he has experienced no requests by the GLC for similar stipulations in other acts contracts. Nor had The Men From the GLC been to see other band's who'd played at the theatre.

When asked by NME why the Stranglers had been taken off, Mr GM Saxby at the GLC replied that it had been a Rainbow management decision. It was pointed out to him that the management was complying with a GLC stipulation.

"The GLC are interpreters of public opinion," he commented. "We license premises and not entertainment." The paradox in his comment was pointed out to him.

Mr Saxby then stated that the audience had made the decision for themselves anyway; they'd been walking out in droves since the first hints of "bad language".

When asked if there was a blacklist, his reply was somewhat surprising: "Quite erroneous. Every act is considered on its merits. We supported EMI on their stand against the Sex Pistols and we're taking a stand against The Stranglers.'

Sounds (5th February 1977)

'A TEE-SHIRT with the work 'fuck' printed on it led to the premature blacking-out of The Stranglers' set at the Rainbow Theatre on Sunday where they were supporting Climax Blues Band.

The black-out was ordered by theatre director Jamie Bloom because the wearing of the tee-shirt by singer-guitarist Hugh Cornwell broke the group's contract. Cornwell frequently wears the vest at gigs but the promoters of the Rainbow concert, Beggars Banquet, had to give an undertaking to the Rainbow management that it would not be worn at the theatre, under pressure from the GLC.

A spokesman for Beggars Banquet told SOUNDS that the Stranglers were one of a number of punk bands on an alleged GLC blacklist. the promoters therefore made enquiries about the conditions under which the Stranglers might appear at the Rainbow and were told that extra security staff would have to be provided 'to prevent riots'. The audience was, in fact, well behaved but the extra muscle power alone cost the promoters another £200.

Beggars Banquet went ahead with arrangements for the gig but were then obliged to give a written undertaking that Cornwell would not wear the 'obscene' tee-shirt, to which the group agreed.

However, towards the end of the group's set, Cornwell took off his jacket and turned his back on the audience, revealing the offending word on the back of his tee-shirt.

He then took the tee-shirt off, announcing that he had to do so because it was "offending some people". He played bare chested for one number and then - on what is believed to be the group's final song - put the tee-shirt on again, this time with the logo (modelled on the Ford car logo) - facing the audience. Almost immediately the lights were cut. The group applealed over the PA for lighting to be restored but the stage remained in darkness. Members of the audience joined in the pleas but eventually the group gave up and left the stage.

According to the GLC, there were council members in the audience "because the council wants to see what's going on if only from a matter of public safety." Quite how a four-letter word on a tee-shirt affects public safety is not clear at this point, but SOUNDS hopes to talk to the GLC in depth about the extent of controls it appears to be able to impose on musical and artistic creativity.'

Record Mirror (5th February 1977)

'Stranglers strangled

STRANGLERS were faded out at their London Rainbow concert when they supported Climax Blues Band.

It appears that the theatre's management had stipulated that no bad language should be used on stage nor should guitarist Hugh Cornwell wear his T-shirt displaying a certain four-letter word. Cornwell wore the offending T-shirt.

The lights were dimmed and the power cut off during the band's final number, as the band played to the 2,500 audience which included two GLC councillors, one of which was the chairman of the entertainment licensing board, Mr John Brannigan.

A spokesman for the band said: "The band are bemused that something so trivial could stop a show."

So, the gig kicked up a bit of a stink, but what of the music. I can find three reviews for which the Stranglers' relevant parts are extracted...

Record Mirror (5th February 1977)
CLIMAX BLUES BAND
London

NO CHANCE of the much favoured Stranglers upstaging the Climax Blues band at the Rainbow. There isn't any substitute for musicianship and the Stranglers are lacking in that department. They play like amateur Status Quos and the mix was bad. The audience in the from three rows disappeared to the bar, apart from a stalwart punk with a nine inch safety pin through his jacket or was it his back?' ROBIN SMITH.

New Musical Express (5th February 1977)
'Climax
The Stranglers
RAINBOW

I THOUGHT that The Stranglers had been reading too much Genet but felt that ALL THINGS CONSIDERED (see page 3 (account of stoppage)) they should be given the benefit of the doubt. Chris Salewicz.

Sounds (5th February 1977)

'Black and Blues

Climax Blues Band/Stranglers
Rainbow

THIS WAS widely predicted to be one of the week's most interesting gigs because of the choice of new wave band The Stranglers as support act. Many predicted it would be a confrontation between the old and the new music, although in the event there was no confrontation of a musical sort.

There was, however, a confrontation between the Stranglers and the GLC, which resulted in the blacking out of their set a little prematurely in a way which was bound to gain them maximum publicity. See news story on page 2 for full details!

The opening of the concert was delayed by technical problems and when the Stranglers finally took the stage, it was obvious that they had not had time to get their sound together. The first number was inaudible except for the drums and a feedback hum which became louder as the number continued.

However, miraculously, it all came right for their second number, a little ditty about beating up your woman called 'Sometimes' and suddenly I was presented with the spectacle of a new band which for me, actually has something to say and the means to say it. I suppose we have to call them 'superior punks' until we get some new labels printed: they're young, loud, aggressive. positive, political and articulate.

Their stage act is not to everyone's taste - a high (or low, depending on your point of view) spot of their act being a song in which singer/guitarist Hugh Cornwell rubs his hands up and down his neck in a symbolic act of masturbation and 'climaxes' by gobbing and inordinately large quantity of phlegm on to the stage. I know it sounds incredibly crass and vulgar and not the kind of thing a chap is expected to do at the Rainbow, but it was relevant to the music and less destructive than smashing up an expensive guitar that some kid would give his eye teeth to own.

Watch out below!

 
Climax Blues Band were introduced by none other than Ronnie Van Zandt, and ripped into their familiar 'Together And Free' medley intro, punchier and snappier than I remember it from last year and a guaranteed seat riveter. 'Like A Mighty Fire' was followed by a superbly funky 'Running Out Of Time', running into the slow blues 'Good Times Bad Times' in which guitarist Pete Haycock traditionally swop to his little Veleno guitar for some tasty blues soloing.

'You Make Me Sick', a number new to their live set (off the 1972 album 'Rich Man') had Pete, Collin, Derek, John and Richard being joined by a three-man horn section which lifted the ensuing numbers 'Right Now' (another live newie off 'Sense of Direction') and the hit single 'Couldn't Get It Right' to yet a higher plain of slickness and perfection.

Encores galore closed a Rainbow gig, which in its way, had been just as much a gamble for Climax as for The Stranglers.

The only losers were the GLC, whose apparent powers of censorship seem to be quite malevolently dictatorial, only serving to alienate them further from the people they supposedly protect.

So who will protect us from them.

TONY MITCHELL.

So there is the incident, almost in its entirety as reported in the music press in their editions of 5th February 1977. To rehash the title of Jet's account of the Nice 'riot' it all seems to be 'Much Ado About Nothing'. The accounts differ in some respects e.g. in the number of GLC representatives in attendance but throughout the reportage, as Tony Mitchell points out in his Sounds review, the only losers were the GLC who appear to be petty, vindictive and completely beyond reasonable behaviour in their attempts to dictate the face of entertainment in the capital. Certainly, it would seem that Mr G M Saxby (a great Civil Service name there!) went above and beyond his brief in claiming that the audience were walking out in droves due to the bad language emanating from Mr Cornwell. I would suggest that in accordance with the comment that appeared in the Record Mirror, punters would have been bar rather than exit bound during the support set. Let's face it I have seen similar behaviour time and time again when the first drum beats of The Stranglers biggest hit sound out! I think that a walk out in protest to a support act would highly unlikely when the audience of 2,500 have paid their £1.50 to see a headliner that are worlds apart from The Stranglers. It makes no sense. Mr G M Saxby made a further gaff that must have resulted in a summons to the boss's oak paneled office! He confirmed the fact that the GLC were specifically gunning for The Stranglers!

The Stranglers versus the Greater London Council was a feud that was to continue for the next couple of years with the band effectively banned from playing gigs in the capital. Of course, in what was perhaps the band's final punk act, the band won a victory of sorts with the introduction of the strippers in Battersea Park.

The Stranglers 1 : 0 Sir Horace Cutler (Conservative leader of the GLC 1977 - 1981)