Bromley Contingent
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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 'Boy' Barker, Debbie Juvenile (née Wilson), Linda Ashby, Philip Salon, Simone Thomas, Bertie 'Berlin' Marshall, Tracie O'Keefe, Steve Severin, Tony James, Billy Idol and Sharon Hayman. 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 when Sioux, Severin, Thomas and Barker appeared on ITV with the Sex Pistols to be interviewed by television journalist Bill Grundy in December 1976. Goaded by Grundy, Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones used the word "shit" on Thames Television's early evening television programme Today, as well as calling Grundy a "fucking rotter" after the interviewer made a rather inept attempt at "chatting up" Siouxsie. Although the programme was only seen in the Thames Television region, 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 influence 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.
Some have it that Sid Vicious, the bassist who replaced Glen Matlock in The Sex Pistols, hated the Bromley Contingent. Some credit Vicious with inventing the Pogo as a means to knock them over at the 100 Club, while it may in fact have been more of a case of jumping up and down to see over the top of them. It seems the story of Sid hating them may not be true, because he frequently associated with them, and was briefly the drummer for Siouxsie and the Banshees.
- ^ 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
- Bill Grundy interview with The Sex Pistols and the Bromley Contingent
- Punk 77 website article on The Bromley Contingent
- Berlin, Bromley - an extract from Marshall's book on SpikeMagazine.com
- an interview with Bertie Marshall by Andrew Gallix in 3:AM Magazine, October 2001
- an interview with Six/Simon Barker by Andrew Gallix in 3:AM Magazine, August 2002