This month marks the 25th anniversary of the death of Sid Vicious from a heroin overdose. Senior reporter BEDE MACGOWAN speaks to News Shopper readers who recall the punk era and its famous Bromley Contingent ...

THE Sex Pistols were the anarchist punk band which inspired a generation. Johnny Rotten, Sid Vicious, Steve Jones and Paul Cook, managed by marketing mogul Malcolm McClaren, took the world and Bromley by storm in the late 1970s.

A gig at Ravensbourne College in December 1975 spawned their famous fans the Bromley Contingent, which included Billy Idol and Siouxsie Sioux.

The oddly-dressed group followed the Pistols everywhere and even onto the set of the infamous Bill Grundy TV talk show.

Grundy was forced to resign after encouraging guitarist Steve Jones to swear at him live on air.

And it was not long before they decided to have a shot at the big time too.

Barry Mitchell, 55, whose Wings Music Shop in Bromley became a favourite haunt of young punk talent, watched with joy as his customers made it big.

He remembers a polite William Broad who later changed his name to Billy Idol and had hits with White Wedding and Rebel Yell.

Another regular was a demure Susan Ballion, who became Siouxsie Sioux, formed a band and had hits with Christine and Hong Kong Garden named after a Chinese restaurant in Chislehurst High Street.

He said: "They were suburban, middle class kids dressing down because they could afford to. They wore bin liners but none of them were hard up. They were making a statement."

He recalls how Clash guitarist Mick Jones came in to buy a see-through guitar and asked for a mirror.

"He was a nice enough chap. He wanted to see how he looked. It was a fashion accessory."

Steve Bailey, who joined Siouxsie and the Banshees and changed his name to Steve Severin, grumpily returned a guitar amp he had blown using a bass guitar.

Barry said: "None of them were particularly good musicians. It was the enthusiasm and dynamism, that's where the sparkle came from.

"A lot of people were into the culture and local bands were doing well. The era was magic."

Partying with the punks

A PROUD brother remembers partying with some of punk's biggest names.

Clive Button, 41, of Belvedere, went to gigs with brother Lenny, manager of female punk band The Slits.

He said: "Punk was new and shocking. Nothing much happened in the suburbs. You had to create something. I used to go about wearing six Jack Russell tails in my ear.

He went to a party at Clash lead singer Joe Strummer's house in the Kings Road, Chelsea, when he was 13.

He said: "They had all been up all night. I went into the kitchen and Sid Vicious was there strumming his guitar. I remember asking for some milk and he just scowled at me.

"My brother was really into it. He borrowed cash off my dad to fund a Slits' tour and drove them around in a van. There was a big argument once when Ari Up (lead singer and daughter of Johnny Rotten's wife, Nora) shat out the van's window on the motorway."

Clive used to help clear up after gigs at the 100 Club in Oxford Street and Screen on the Green in Islington. He remembers stealing Pistols' drummer Paul Cook's blue suede shoes.

He said: "He used to change into plimsoles to play. Suddenly he was storming round asking where they were. I was too embarrassed to own up."

Billy Idol was a 'posh, rich kid'

A YOUNGER brother met most of the Bromley Contingent while helping out at gigs.

Keith Osborn, 44, did sound for older brother John, who changed his name to Billy Karloff and had his own band.

Keith said: "The contingent used to watch my brother's band in Chelsea and Billy Idol would sometimes sing in it around the time he started Generation X.

"Billy Idol was quite a posh, rich kid, but he had the look, the curly lip and the hair. John used to wind him up by calling him Bill in a cockney accent.

"Nothing happened in Bromley, it was all London. It was basically two years of drug abuse, gobbing at each other, partying and then it fizzled out."

From a quiet schoolgirl into a punk

A PAL reveals how she watched Siouxsie Sioux change from a quiet schoolgirl into a punk.

Jacqui Gale, 47, was best friends with Siouxsie when they went to Mottingham Secondary School together.

She said: "She was always really into music but she was shy at school. Then after leaving, we started going up the Kings Road. She got really into the punk life and in with that crowd.

"I went along with it for a while and we went on holiday together.

"When we came back I remember a party in Sundridge Park.

"The Pistols, Clash and Billy Idol were there. Siouxsie was wearing a PVC apron, fishnet tights and nothing else. She was outrageous and that was when I knew it wasn't for me."

Parents proud of their Idol

THE parents of rock icon Billy Idol have stopped wishing he would swap his guitar for a textbook.

Bill and Joan Broad, of Shawfield Park, Bromley, watched with alarm as the former Ravensbourne College and Orpington College student dropped out of university.

Bill said: "We were straight parents but we weren't surprised by our son's connection with it. He was that kind of person.

"He did a year at Sussex University and quit. Then he sort of made it and as parents it was quite thrilling."

They used to watch him at the Greyhound pub in Croydon, the Camden Roundhouse and other venues.

Bill added: "The punks used to pogo and we used to stand at the back."

He remembers how Billy quit playing the violin at school because other pupils laughed at him.

Bill said: "He's not like that now, he is much more confident. We are really proud of what he's achieved."

Where are they now?

  • Bill Broad (Billy Idol), now 48, lives in Hollywood. He has just signed a new record contract with Sanctuary Records
  • Susan Ballion (Siouxsie Sioux), now 46, lives in south-west France with husband Budgie (Peter Clarke), drummer from the Banshees. They have a new album out as The Creatures and in 2002 they laid the Banshees to rest with a final tour of the UK
  • John Lydon (Johnny Rotten) now 48, is married to Nora and has re-found fame on I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here
  • Steve Bailey (Steve Severin), now 48, has worked on a variety of music projects since the Banshees split. His latest band is Darling Hate
  • John Simon Ritchie (Sid Vicious) died of a heroin overdose on February 2 1979, aged 21. Arguments still rage over whether it was suicide or murder
  • Lenny Button died in December 2003, aged 53. His brother Clive still plays in a mod band called the Sawdust Caesars
  • John Osborn (Billy Karloff) died on July 16, 2003, aged 54, after a long battle with cancer.