Editing Bromley Contingent

{{Short description|Early punk rock figures}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
The '''Bromley Contingent''' were a group of followers of the [[Sex Pistols]].<ref>Paytress, Mark. P.42</ref> The name was coined by ''[[Melody Maker]]'' journalist [[Caroline Coon]], after the town of [[Bromley]] where some of them lived. They helped popularise the [[punk fashion|fashion]] of the early UK [[punk rock|punk]] movement. 
==Members==
The core members of the group included [[Siouxsie Sioux]], [[Steven Severin]], [[Billy Idol]],<ref name="Telegraph">{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/3557048/Billy-Idol-the-return-of-Billy-the-kid.html |title=Billy Idol: the return of Billy the kid |first=Andrew |last=Perry |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=24 July 2008 |accessdate=3 June 2016}}</ref> Simon 'Six' Barker, Debbie Juvenile (née Wilson), Linda Ashby, [[Philip Sallon]], Simone Thomas, Bertie 'Berlin' Marshall, Tracie O'Keefe, and Sharon Hayman. [[Soo Catwoman]], another early punk aficionado, is often described as a member in later press, though Catwoman and members of the Bromley Contingent later dispute this.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.punk77.co.uk/groups/bromley.htm |title=The Bromley Contingent |work=Punk77 |year=2012 |accessdate=3 June 2016}}</ref>

==History==
{{main|Bill Grundy#The Today incident|l1=The Today incident}}
The term Bromley Contingent first appeared in the UK music press after the Sex Pistols' gig in Paris on 3 September 1976, when journalist [[Caroline Coon]] decided to write an article about "the fans rather about the band".<ref>Paytress, Mark. P.40</ref> The label was a bit of a misnomer as some members came from other places, including [[Kentish Town]] and [[Burnt Oak]].<ref>Paytress, Mark. PP.42-43</ref> Of those with a Bromley connection, Siouxsie was from [[Chislehurst]] and Idol had lived in [[Orpington]]. Severin, Barker and Berlin came from other parts of Bromley. Severin stated: "we certainly never referred to ourselves as that".<ref>Paytress, Mark. P.42</ref> Siouxsie said: "After we got back from Paris, resentments from some of the other people we used to see began to creep in. Those people all thought we'd called ourselves the Bromley Contingent, when we hadn't".<ref>Paytress, Mark. P.43</ref>

The Bromley Contingent attained a degree of notoriety on 1 December 1976 when Siouxsie, Severin, Thomas and Barker appeared on [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] with the Sex Pistols on [[Thames Television]]'s early evening television programme ''Today''.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/never-mind-four-letter-words-heres-the-sex-pistols-when-television-met-punk-rock-426571.html |title=Never mind four-letter words... here's the Sex Pistols: when television met punk rock |first=Jonathan |last=Brown |work=[[The Independent]] |date=1 December 2006 |accessdate=3 June 2016}}</ref> Interviewed by television journalist [[Bill Grundy]], Sex Pistols singer [[John Lydon|Johnny Rotten]] used the word "[[shit]]". Siouxsie then told Grundy, "I've always wanted to meet you", to which he replied; "Did you really? We'll meet afterwards, shall we?" This comment provoked guitarist [[Steve Jones (musician)|Steve Jones]] to call Grundy a "dirty sod", a "dirty old man", a "dirty bastard", a "dirty fucker" and a "fucking rotter".<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRNOUz7uefA  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/jRNOUz7uefA| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|title=Sex Pistols - Bill Grundy TV show |work=YouTube |year=2006 |accessdate=3 June 2016}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.nme.com/news/sex-pistols/38482 |title=Sex Pistols on Bill Grundy's 'Today' show most requested clip |first=Adam |last=Bychawski |work=[[NME.com]] |date=28 July 2008 |accessdate=3 June 2016}}</ref>

That was the first time in the history of UK television that viewers had heard swearing at this hour of the day. Although the programme was only seen in the [[Thames Television]] region, the ensuing furore occupied the [[tabloid newspaper]]s for days and, shortly afterwards, the Sex Pistols were dropped by their record label, [[EMI]]. This episode changed the face of music in Britain.<ref name=ariup>{{cite magazine|first=Peter|last=Macia|title=Interview With Ari Up from the Siouxsie Sioux/Shabba Ranks Icon Issue|magazine=[[The Fader]]|url=https://www.thefader.com/2010/10/21/read-our-interview-with-ari-up-from-the-siouxsie-siouxshabba-ranks-icon-issue|date=21 October 2010|accessdate=26 December 2018|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20181226153301/https://www.thefader.com/2010/10/21/read-our-interview-with-ari-up-from-the-siouxsie-siouxshabba-ranks-icon-issue|archivedate=26 December 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>  Up until December 1976, punk rock was a relatively low-key fashion, apart from appearing from time to time in small parts in music papers.<ref name=ariup /> In the following week, Siouxsie appeared on the front page of the ''[[Daily Mirror]]'' with the legend "Siouxsie's a Punk Shocker".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://thebansheesandothercreatures.co.uk/dailymirror1976.jpg |title=Daily Mirror December 1976 |work=thebansheesandothercreatures.co.uk |accessdate=3 June 2016 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20120720101625/http://thebansheesandothercreatures.co.uk/dailymirror1976.jpg |archivedate=20 July 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> The last time Siouxsie and Severin attended a Sex Pistols gig was at Notre Dame Hall in London on 15 December 1976.<ref>Paytress, Mark. P.47</ref> 

The notoriety of the Bromley Contingent in the press continued in June 1977, when Sex Pistols manager [[Malcolm McLaren]] rented a boat for the band and fans to sail down the [[River Thames]] during [[Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|Queen Elizabeth II]]'s [[Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II|Silver Jubilee]] anniversary celebration. When the police forced the boat to dock, several Pistols fans were arrested and injured in the melee. Bromley Contingent members Debbie Juvenile and Tracie O'Keefe (both employees of McLaren in his [[King's Road]] clothing boutique [[SEX (boutique)|Seditionaries]]) were charged with obstruction and assaulting a police officer.<ref name="traceyo">{{cite web |url=http://punk77.co.uk/wip/traceyo.htm |title=Tracie O'Keefe |work=punk77.co.uk |accessdate=3 June 2016}}</ref> Juvenile was acquitted. O'Keefe was sentenced to one month's imprisonment, later acquitted on appeal. O'Keefe died unexpectedly in early 1978 of [[bone marrow cancer]] at the age of 18.<ref name="traceyo"/>

===Aftermath===
Many of the Bromley Contingent went on to form bands themselves: Siouxsie and Severin respectively became singer and bassist of [[Siouxsie and the Banshees]] and Idol became the leader of [[Generation X (band)|Generation X]].<ref name="Telegraph"/> The fashion statements made by Siouxsie, in particular, incorporating [[sexual fetishism|fetish]] and [[Bondage (BDSM)|bondage]] clothing, and her innovative style of [[cosmetics|makeup]], had a lasting influence.

Barker became a photographer, using the nickname 'Six'.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.3ammagazine.com/litarchives/2002_aug/interview_six.html |title=Pervateen: An Interview With Photographer Six |first=Andrew |last=Gallix |date=August 2002 |work=[[3:AM Magazine]] |accessdate=3 June 2016}}</ref> Bertie 'Berlin' Marshall became a writer, publishing a novel, ''Psychoboys'' in 1999 and a memoir ''Berlin Bromley''<ref>{{cite book |last1=Marshall |first1=Bertie |title=Berlin Bromley 2022 Version. 4 |date=2006 |url=https://archive.org/details/berlin-bromley-2022-version.-4}}</ref> in 2001 which received favourable reviews from ''[[The Guardian]]''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.safpublishing.com/store/system/store.htm |title=SAF publishing |work=safpublishing.com |accessdate=4 June 2016 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070803060541/http://www.safpublishing.com/store/system/store.htm |archivedate=3 August 2007}}</ref> and ''Time Out London'' magazine.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.timeout.com/london/gay/review/book/45/bertie_marshall_berlin_bromley.html |title=Bertie Marshall "Berlin Bromley" |work=[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out]] |location=London, UK |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080413140041/http://www.timeout.com/london/gay/review/book/45/bertie_marshall_berlin_bromley.html |archivedate=13 April 2008 |accessdate=4 June 2016}}</ref> Philip Sallon became a fixture of the [[New Romantic]] club scene in the early 1980s alongside the likes of [[Steve Strange]] and [[Boy George]].<ref>{{cite web |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091022132231/http://geocities.com/theblitzkids/TABOO3.html |archivedate=22 October 2009 |url-status=dead |url= http://www.geocities.com/theblitzkids/TABOO3.html |title=Taboo Reviews |work=The Blitz Kids Site |date=30 January 2002 |accessdate=3 June 2016}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

=== Sources ===
* {{cite book |last=Paytress |first=Mark |title=Siouxsie & the Banshees: The Authorised Biography |publisher=Sanctuary |year=2003 |isbn=1-86074-375-7 }}

==External links==
*[http://www.televisionpersonalities.co.uk/pistols.htm Bill Grundy interview] with [[The Sex Pistols]] and the Bromley Contingent
*[http://www.spikemagazine.com/1104berlinbromley.php Berlin, Bromley - an extract from Marshall's book on SpikeMagazine.com]
*[http://www.3ammagazine.com/litarchives/oct2001/bertie_marshall/bertie_marshall.html an interview with Bertie Marshall by Andrew Gallix in ''3:AM Magazine'', October 2001]

{{Sex Pistols}}

[[Category:Bromley Contingent| ]]
[[Category:History of the London Borough of Bromley]]
[[Category:Punk]]
[[Category:Siouxsie and the Banshees]]