High Wycombe favourites Generation X returned to the Town Hall on Friday 24th November 1978 but it was the sparse sound of the act third on the bill, The Cure, that went onto have global success far exceeding that of Billy Idol and his band of rockers. Local band, The Vents, were also on the support bill.
Generation X had appeared at High Wycombe on five previous occasions – four times at The Nag’s Head in 1977, before making their Town Hall debut in April 1978. Lead singer Billy Idol explained the reason for choosing High Wycombe again in a gig preview published in the Bucks Free Press Midweek. He said:“[High Wycombe] has always been great. It is like playing to your best friends.” He went on to say: “We are a wild rock and roll group. Our music is influenced by steel and concrete, not cows and fields.” He concluded: “No one has ever proved that authority works. Drugs, booze, sex and violence makes their rules look like croquet on the lawn. We are anti anything that strikes at individuality.”
The High Wycombe Town Hall gig was the opening night of the latest Generation X tour, initially publicised to promote their second album. A NME article suggests the name of the new album would be ‘Intercourse (Old Meets New)’. The album was eventually released in January 1979 under the title ‘Valley of the Dolls’. Notable tracks were subsequent singles, ‘King Rocker’ and the title track. Production on the album was by Ian Hunter (Mott the Hoople).
The Cure were a late addition to the tour schedule after signing a record deal with Fiction Records in September 1978. They had been signed by Chris Parry at Polydor Records for his Fiction label. A debut single ‘Killing an Arab’ would follow in December 1978 on Small Wonder due to distribution problems with Polydor.
The band originated from Crawley, playing initially under the name of ‘Easy Cure’ and then simplying this to The Cure in July 1978.
At the time of the Town Hall gig The Cure were a three piece – Robert Smith (guitar and vocals), Michael Dempsey (bass) and Lol Tolhurst (drums). They were all 19 years old.
Source unknown
The events surrounding their appearance at the Town Hall are fairly well documented in a couple of Cure biographies. At the Town Hall gig the band were left surprised that, rather than receiving a fee for the gig, they would have to pay £25 for the privilege of using the Generation X lighting and sound system. They couldn’t afford £25 at the time, so they wheeled in their own amps and operated the sound and light system with the aid of a roadie and ‘encouragement’ from the audience.
In his 2016 autobiography, Cured, Lol Tolhurst went on the describe the events as the punters made their way into the Town Hall:
“The doors opened and we were ushered on stage almost immediately ‘to warm the punters up as the tour manager informed us. I’m sure Robert gave him a disdainful look as we marched on stage. We were not the same as these old hippies running the show. That much was obvious to all. However, we welcomed the opportunity to play, even if it meant we had to deal with the predictably capitalistic remnants of the counterculture from time to time.”
Earlier in 1978, Tolhurst, had apparently been given the opportunity to play for the UK Subs, but turned down the request in order to distance himself from the ‘punk’ movement. Commenting on the main event at the Town Hall, he added:
“The Gen X show was quite a spectacle of punk rock. As the opening number, ‘Ready, Steady Go started, Billy idol, resplendent in a red leather jump suit, strode to the front of the stage and then, almost on cue, a thousand gobs of spit came arching over the stage front like arrows shot from longbows into the spotlight towards Billy. To our amazement he didn’t recoil from this assault of phlegm but positively revelled in the ghastly gobbing frenzy.
Suddenly, the purpose of the red leather suit became shockingly clear, it was the only suitable material for such an onslaught, especially considering this same scene was repeated every night of the tour. We watched from the side of the stage for a few more minutes, transfixed by the spectacle of Mr Idol being drenched sputum. I think we were all secretly glad that the audience had decided we weren’t worthy of their shower of spittle.”
Just under 40 years after The Cure’s appearance at High Wycombe Town Hall, the band celebrated the landmark by playing an open-air gig at London’s Hyde Park in front of an estimated 50,000 people. The encore at Hyde Park (including 1978 songs ‘Killing An Arab’ and ’10:15 On A Saturday Night’) lasted longer than their Town Hall slot!
For your listening and viewing pleasure
Valley of the Dolls – Generation X – BBC Top of the Pops – April 1979
Killing An Arab – The Cure – Small Wonder single 1978
10:15 On A Saturday Night – The Cure – promo video – early 1979
References:
https://en-gb.facebook.com/genxpunkband/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_X_(band)
I’m grateful to Steve McCormack for kindly supplying a rare photo from the Generation X gig at High Wycombe Town Hall on 24th November 1978.
If anybody else has photos, flyers, posters, etc from this gig please get in touch or use the comments section to leave your memories.
Thanks
Paul
An excellent gig – the first weekend when I saw gigs 2 days in a row as Penetration/Gang of Four was the next night at Friars. I don’t recall the Vents set but I do recall quite a lot about the Cure. Dempsey had a see through perspex bass that impressed me and I did wonder what the Middle Eastern fixation was all about with ‘Fire in Cairo’ and ‘Killing an Arab’. The gobbing at Bill Idol was unbelievable – by far the worst I ever saw. Gen X were surprisingly good and get a bit of a rough deal from many people looking back at that period. The first album is very good and they released some excellent singles.