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Remember the infamous Bill Grundy interview with The Sex Pistols? If you do, you’ll know it’s one of the most iconic moments in Britain’s post-war cultural history.
What you might not know is the explosive impact it had on Paisley’s music scene…
In the fall-out from the group’s incendiary television appearance, major cities across the UK began to impose bans on punk groups playing any of their venues.
With Glasgow City Council as keen as any other authority to impose the ban, keen-eyed local promoters spotted an opportunity – promote bands in Paisley venues which were just outside the city limits, and you’d get the punk fans flocking in.
A list of bands who played Paisley in the punk / new wave eras reads like a ‘who’s who’ … The Clash, The Rezillos, The Boomtown Rats, Elvis Costello, The Buzzcocks and a band then known as Johnny & The Self-Abusers who’d go on to become Simple Minds!
