Bromley Contingent

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Bromley Contingent were a group of followers and fans of the Sex Pistols. They owed their name to Bromley, the neighbourhood in London where some of them lived. They helped popularize the fashion of the early UK punk movement

The group included Siouxsie Sioux, Jordan, Simon Barker, Debbie Juvenile, Linda Ashby, Philip Salon, Simone Thomas, 'Berlin' (Bertie Marshall), Tracie O'Keefe, Steve Severin, Tony James and Billy Idol. Soo Catwoman was also associated with the Bromley Contingent, although she does not consider herself to have been a member^[1].

The Bromley Contingent attained a degree of notoriety due to their involvement with the infamous "Bill Grundy incident" in December 1976. Goaded by interviewer Bill Grundy, Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones used the word "fuck" on Thames Television's early evening television programme Today, as well as calling Grundy a "rotter" after the interviewer made a rather inept attempt at "chatting up" Siouxsie. Although the programme was only seen in the Thames Television region (and Glen Matlock had, unnoticed, been the first to utter the word "fuck"), the ensuing furore occupied the tabloid newspapers for days and shortly after The Sex Pistols were dropped by their record label, EMI.

Many of the Bromley Contingent went on to form bands themselves including Siouxsie & the Banshees and Generation X. Arguably they had greater influnce than Malcolm McLaren's shops and Vivienne Westwood's designs in shaping the development and look of the early UK punk movement. The fashion statements made by Siouxsie Sioux, in particular, incorporating fetish and bondage clothing, and her innovative style of makeup, continue to live on in punk and goth fashion.

Sid Vicious, the bassist that replaced Glen Matlock in The Sex Pistols, allegedly hated the Bromley Contingent. Some credit Vicious with inventing the Pogo as a means to knock them over at the 100 Club. This may not be true, because he frequently associated with them, and was briefly the drummer for Siouxsie and the Banshees.

[edit] References

^ Oh and I also need to say this; I never was a member of the so-called Bromley Contingent, I just knew them, I have never claimed, nor do I have any connections whatsoever with Bromley - either of them..... Soo Catwoman on Myspace