After the show that night I was to meet my future girlfriend, the producer of the Show, Janet Street-Porter. By then, Magenta and I - although still living together - were no longer romantically involved. I had no idea when I met her that Janet was married. I vaguely remember returning to the shabby bed and breakfast hotel where the band was staying the next morning, to find a seriously out of it Degville in my bed. Later that day I learnt that a big fight had broken out between the group and the local punters after I’d left the club where we had been drinking with Janet. A sign of things to come.
My relationship with Janet was to propel us into the frenzied world of the Red Tops. You could say the timing was perfect, although perfect for what depends on how you look at it. Was this to be our Bill Grundy Moment? (Where the Pistols found out what it was like to have sudden tabloid attention) I had had no dealings with this type of press before and was completely unprepared. Magenta though was ready and revved up to do that DeVine thing but little did I realise that that thing was about to explode in my face.
I’d arranged to meet JSP in a restaurant in Notting Hill Gate called 192. It was a real media types hang out but this level of restaurants was way beyond my world at that time so I had no idea what to expect. I even took Magenta with me for safety. I had always admired JSP the TV person and she was formidably intelligent and outspoken. I waited at the bar trying hard not to draw attention to me and Magenta, although the plume of Pink hair was making staying inconspicuous slightly difficult.
It wasn’t a completely easy ride though. The night before we recorded our first proper TV performance for a Carlisle based show for Border television called “Bliss” with Murial Grey the presenter, we played in Leeds “Adam and Eve”. Only about 5 members of an audience turned up and we played despondently to an empty room. We felt a little deflated next day, arriving at the TV studio, but fueled by plenty of alcohol we gave it everything to a bemused room full of mainly schoolchildren and a few dress ups they’d brought in with vertical hair getting into it.
I have to say the sound is actually really great with the Dub sound effects and movie samples perfectly clear. You occasionally see Ace the Japanese Ultravixen roadie leap on stage to adjust someone’s hair but generally she lurks just off stage, adding to the vibe. Degville looking like The Predator, I’d yet to adopt the universal sunglasses. We just played our entire set. EMI sent their main head of A&R up to hang out with us, Dave Ambrose who I really liked. He’d signed the Pistols.