UK Decay’s Spon featured on Anglia Punk Docu

Matt Hudson and Steve Spon discuss life in punk Luton back in the day.

Matt Hudson and Steve Spon discuss life in punk Luton back in the day.

Steve Spon was featured recently in an Anglia TV special marking 40 years since the punk movement. This two part mini documentary series is about punk in the Eastern Counties and is hosted by Anglia TV’s Matt Hudson who was a big punk fan and UK Decay fan.
Also featured are Steve Ignorant from Crass, Charlie Harper from UK Subs and author and university lecturer Matt Worley whose new book No Future is an in-depth look at the effect punk had on politics and culture.

There are also some still shots of early 1980’s Luton Punks featured on the show taken from our very own UK Decay Communities web archive.

 

It comes in two parts…

 

Marking 40 years since the punk movement

Marking 40 years since the punk movement

Part One

Punk memories: Looking back at legendary venues in our region

Punk memories: Looking back at legendary venues in our region

Part Two

Luton: Centre of the Punk Rock Universe

With Abbo and Spon….

Spon (left) Abbo (right) at DV8 2012

Spon (left) Abbo (right) at DV8 2012

Abbo and I will be at Luton’s Hat Factory Art’s and Media Centre on Friday 25th November to talk about Punk in the Luton area back in the late seventies. This is part of the “40 years of Punk” celebrations going down over November at that venue and widely across the country. I am hoping to put together a few slides of various characters, bands, venues, fanzines from Luton and the surrounding are during the late seventies early eighties period. Hopefully this inspire discussion among ourselves and the audience.

Then Justin Saban will join us and we shall perform a couple our punk platters ‘unplugged’ style. So after I have written this I had better dust off the cobwebs of my guitar and get practicing!

When are UK Decay returning for more gigs and recordings? – As part of the talk we shall be hosting a questions and answers session hopefully this question and many others will be answered!

Tickets are just £5.00 bookable in advance from here

Further info

 

Save

Terror and Wonder

The Face of Punk Gothique

Spon at the The Face of Punk Gothique

“Terror and Wonder: The Gothic Imagination”

British Library until 20th January

A giant size poster of the seminal Sounds article “The Face Of Punk Gothique” and The Black 45  appears at the British Library, both shown as exhibit’s in the Terror and Wonder: The Gothic Imagination exhibition.

Visit the Luton Community heritage site to find out more ..Spon investigates….

UK Decay on BBC twice in 24 hours.

Decay have experienced something of a a double whammy on the Beeb early this week.

TV

UK Decay on BBC twice in 24 hours. First on Monday evening just before East Enders, BBC journalist Sarfraz Manzoor returned to his hometown Luton on ‘Inside Out – East’ at 7.30pm. He talked to people in the town about the recent years of bad press the town and it’s inhabitants have endured. The town has often appeared in the national news for the wrong reason’s and this has somewhat ingrained itself on to the national psyche – how does this effect Lutonians? In complex ways it seems to say the least! Sarfraz wanders about meeting students with mixed opinions and later he talks to artists and musicians associated with the town.

Cue to a meeting and an interview by Sarfraz with “school classmates” – Fahim Qureshi the chief at The Hat Factory Arts Centre and Steve ‘Abbo’ Abbott, music impresario and lead singer with Punk band UK Decay. Both ‘Fame’ (Fahim) and Abbo were involved in the early Luton Punk scene either in bands or promoting gigs – both once spikey-haired do it yourself alternative revolutionaries. Now both matured with the years but underlining the same basic ethos underscoring their current positions. The discussion was about Luton and it’s musical and punk intercourse with the outside world. How in order to ‘make it’ you would have to leave the town for the capital and the outside world. Then it was all important to remember your special relationship with your hometown. Abbo pointed out that Decay were spawned out of Luton but were now an international band and everywhere the band plays, the audience is made aware of the bands hometown – Luton.

Sarfraz Mansoor interviews Abbo and Fahim

Safraz found optimism in this – he too had left Luton ‘Dick Whittington’ style and was now perhaps ready to think about returning and setting up home once more in the town.
The interview was interspersed with four or five seconds of live footage from UK Decays recent Hat Factory gig.

You can catch up on this on BBC Iplayer for the next few days….

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03flh9z/Inside_Out_East_28_10_2013/

Radio

A few hours later actually at 3am UK Decay’s 1981 Peel Session was re-broadcasted on BBC 6 Music’s ‘Live Hour’. This session was broadcasted earlier in the month on Gideon Coe’s October 10th Show.

Last nights ‘Live Hour’ also included The Sex Pistols live from Finsbury Park London in1996 and a another Peel session by Dawn of the Replicants.

The Gideon Coe show has now finished on Iplayer but for the next seven days you can catch up with the Live Show. Furthermore it seems you can link the individual tracks to a BBC playlist thingy (Not entirely sure how that works or whether it’s limited to seven days or permanent?)

Make of it what you will, here’s the link to the Iplayer and the playlist for the Live Show.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03fq44l