One of the things that
means the most to me
is my copy of "Spiral
Scratch" by the Buzzcocks.
Which I was a--
how old would I have been?
16 when that came
out in early 1977.
And just listening to it
and just the excitement of--
the kind of rawness of it, and
seeing this kind of homemade,
that sort of a homemade cover,
It just felt like
this was a movement -
this new punk
movement was something
that was for everybody,
from working class people -
something that you could just
do and didn't need skills for.
And it encouraged me to just
start to-- well, first of all,
become a punk in the DIY
aesthetic of the chains
and ripping my own t-shirt,
and so that was me
as a 16-year-old.
It prompted me to form my
first band when I was 18.
And I put that down
to "Spiral Scratch."
It got me to kind of be
confident about being out there
and doing stuff.
And, ultimately, I went to
London as an 18-year-old
with a view to
setting up a band.
Quite famously spent all
the money on the band and me
and my wife ended up
setting up on Camden Market.
That's me soon after
arriving in London.
And the rest is history.
We formed Red or Dead
and Hemingway Design.
I've had a fantastic
career in creativity,
and I can definitely
put it down,
I'm sure, to those four
men in the Buzzcocks.
The New Hormones
record label, and that
DIY cover and
everything that it meant
about you didn't need training.
You could just get on.
That punk spirit has
always remained with me
and always will do.
Thank you, the Buzzcocks,
and thank you New Hormones,
the record label.
And thank you for this fantastic
track-- this fantastic EP,
"Spiral Scratch."
