The Strand (Band)

The Strand
Guitarist Wally Nightingale
Guitarist Wally Nightingale
Background information
Also known asThe Swankers
OriginShepherd's Bush, London, England
Years active
  • 1972-1975
Label
Spinoffs
Past members

The Strand (also known as The Swankers) were a British rock band, formed in 1972, which later spun-off to become the Sex Pistols.

History

In 1972, at the end of their school years at Christopher Wren Boys' School, in Shepherd's Bush, Wally Nightingale told his classmates Paul Cook and Steve Jones that they should start a band. The three called themselves The Strand, after Roxy Music's song "Do the Strand"; Jones was the singer, Nightingale played guitar, Stephen Hayes played bass, Cook was the drummer, and Jim Mackin played organ.

Jones and Nightingale stole high-quality instruments and equipment from professional headline musical acts (including Bob Marley, Rod Stewart, and David Bowie) by breaking into venues where they were due to perform, and the band began rehearsing at Nightingale's home in East Acton during the day when his parents were out at work. A few weeks into the band, Hayes was asked to leave. He later claimed that this was because equipment went missing, which he blamed on the band's manager (Nightingale's father). They also added a new bassist, Del Noones (Paul Cook's brother-in-law), and briefly had a conga player named Cecil as well.

By late 1974, the band had begun rehearsing at one of the sound stages of Riverside Studios where Nightingale's father was working.. Nightingale was informed that he was being fired upon his arrival for a rehearsal. Noones was fired from the band for not attending rehearsals; and was replaced by Glen Matlock, a part-time shop assistant at Malcolm McLaren's clothing shop, where Jones and Cook had begun socialising.

By early 1975, Bernie Rhodes had shown an interest in managing the band (which was now called The Swankers). Their only public performance was in early 1975 at a birthday party for one of Cook's friends in Chelsea. The band played mainly cover versions of other bands' work, and wrote only two original songs before the arrival of Glen Matlock. One was called "Scarface" (with music by Nightingale and lyrics written by Nightingale's father, according to Glen Matlock) which was never released. The other song was "Did You No Wrong", for which Nightingale composed the music and Jones wrote original lyrics. Jones' lyrics to the latter song were subsequently in 1976, but Nightingale's musical arrangement remained unchanged, and the song was released as the b-side to the Sex Pistols' second single “God Save The Queen”, with Jones' original lyrics being rewritten by John Lydon.

Jones, who was impressed by McLaren's prior involvement with the New York Dolls, repeatedly requested that McLaren become the band's manager, and in mid-1975 he agreed. However, McLaren thought Nightingale did not fit the image of the band he had in mind, and told Jones and Cook he would only manage them if they fired Nightingale. Jones, who did not feel comfortable in the singer's role, had been covertly working hard for several months to learn to play guitar. Nightingale was informed that he was being fired upon his arrival for a rehearsal.

Aftermath

With Nightingale gone, the group became known as QT Jones & his Sex Pistols at McLaren's suggestion, but the name was soon shortened to The Sex Pistols. McLaren began looking for a new singer, and settled on John Lydon, who frequently hung around his shop. The Sex Pistols played their first gig on 6 November 1975 at the St Martins school of art, six months after Nightingale's departure. In a later interview Nightingale recalled watching them perform at the 100 Club in Oxford Street, commenting "[Jones and Cook] wouldn't even talk to me. In hindsight I suppose I'm proud to have been involved in the punk scene, though I don't go around telling everyone of it. After I left [the band], Steve and the others slagged me off in the music press really badly. I never really knew why, I never did them any harm." However, with regard to his views in retrospect on McLaren's part in removing him from the band, in the same interview Nightingale stated: "McLaren was devious and clever. He'd see things which other people didn't see, and I suppose that's what gave him his edge. Malcolm made the Sex Pistols."

After his father's death in 1981, Nightingale developed an addiction to narcotics, and was subsequently imprisoned in the early 1980s for six months for a conviction associated with it. His subsequent public musical appearances were rare and sporadic, appearing as a one-off guest guitarist with the Brentwood punk rock band Beat of the Beast in 1989. In November 1995 he played guitar on the song "Rich Girls" on Mat Sargent's Sex, Drugs & HIV album. During the same month he also performed live with the HIV charity awareness project band the Rock'n'Roll Gypsies.

Nightingale died on 6 May 1996, of a drug-related illness at the age of 40. According to Hayes, Macken has also passed away.

References

  1. 1 2 Jones & Cook interviews, The Filth and The Fury, Julien Temple, Film Four (DVD), 2000
  2. ↑ https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/pistol-separating-fact-fiction-danny-140048509.html
  3. ↑ Savage, Jon (18 January 2002). England's Dreaming, Revised Edition: Anarchy, Sex Pistols, Punk Rock, and Beyond. St. Martin's Griffin. p. 77. ISBN 0312288220.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Membery, York (1993). "Interview With Wally Nightingale". Rock Compact Disc Magazine (14).
  5. 1 2 3 Jones, Steve (11 January 2017). Lonely Boy: Tales from a Sex Pistol. Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0306824814.
  6. ↑ http://www.philjens.plus.com/pistols/pistols/SteveHayes.html
  7. 1 2
  8. 1 2 "Archived copy". www.reocities.com. Archived from the original on 30 September 2012. Retrieved 22 May 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. 1 2 3 Matlock, Glen (1998). I Was A Teenage Sex Pistol. Omnibus Press. ISBN 0711918171.
  10. ↑ "Search results".
  11. ↑ 'Malcolm McLaren: Artful Dodger', television documentary, British Broadcasting Corporation, 2010.
  12. ↑ savage, Jon (4 August 2010). The England's Dreaming Tapes. University Of Minnesota Press. ISBN 978-0816672929.
  13. ↑ "Sex Pistols timeline". Sex Pistols Official Website.
  14. ↑ Cramp, Nathaniel (24 July 2006). "The pistols are born: It happened here". Time Out London.[permanent dead link]
  15. ↑ Strongman, Phil (2008). Pretty Vacant: A History of UK Punk. Chicago Review Press. p. 252. ISBN 978-1556527524.
  16. ↑ "The Launch". littlelondonstudios.com. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  17. ↑ Moskowitz, David V. (10 November 2015). The 100 Greatest Bands of All Time: A Guide to the Legends Who Rocked the World. ABC-CLIO. p. 583. ISBN 978-1440803406.
  18. ↑ Chimes, Terry (1 June 2015). The Strange Case of Dr Terry and Mr Chimes. Wilkinson Press. ISBN 978-1922178244.
  19. ↑ http://www.philjens.plus.com/pistols/pistols/SteveHayes.html