IN THE MAGAZINE

DRAINPIPES BATHED THE GOLDEN GLOW

The Guy from Felt Is Still Angry About Pants

(Page 2 of 2)

Left: The best-dressed band in Britain, circa 1986. Right: Lawrence with bolo. Photo by Alistair Indge

I’ve heard Keith Levene and Mick Jones talk about the basement where they’d hang out with Bernie Rhodes in the pre-Simonon Clash days. They’d watch films together and listen to records they loved, but Rhodes would tell them that they could not admit to liking them.

It’s true. [Felt guitarist] Maurice Deebank’s favorite band was Yes, and I spent years telling him that he could not mention it in interviews. I said: “If you tell people that, we’re finished.” But Rhodes was from that older generation, and he could obviously see what was happening. He was giving them little hints and tips. It was the same with McLaren and Westwood and the clothes. The main thing for me pre-punk was that I never knew where those pop stars got the clothes. When you walked down the street, you wouldn’t see clothes like the ones guys in bands wore. But then punk came along and suddenly we were all dressing the same. You would try hard to look cool, but you couldn’t wear anything flashy. You had to consider everything.

Lynval Golding of the Specials once told me this story about how Bernie Rhodes had taken him aside one day and said that if you saw someone with an amazing sense of style who everyone is looking at, you steal his ideas. That’s the way things evolve. That goes back to the Larry Parnes idea that you had to have a gimmick, a look, and a stage name.

You knew they were a total gimmick, but I loved the names: Sid Vicious, Billy Idol, Billy Fury, Johnny Rotten. But most of all they had the clothes. McLaren knew everything about clothes, how to cut them, how to put them together, what worked, what didn’t.

To us it seemed like a year-zero thing, but the whole look had been put together from bits of the past and just given a sneer. Malcolm and Bernie are responsible for so much of that.

There is this young band I’m friendly with and I want to give them advice, but I dare not even open my mouth. They’d just laugh at me. McLaren and Rhodes used to sit there in the Roebuck and say you need to do this, this, and this. Wear that and write a song about submission.

Exactly!

If I tried to give these young kids advice like “You shouldn’t wear those shoes. You look like you’ve just come out of Topshop,” they wouldn’t listen to me. These kids were 15 when I met them, and they looked like slobs. They all had great hair but they wouldn’t do anything with it. Now if you’re a kid, your dad listens to the same records as you do, and all the bands look exactly the same.

And yet they all have stylists!

Their stylist takes them to Topshop and the job’s done. They all have those awful skintight jeans and it’s all from some huge shop in Oxford Circus. They go in and get their uniform in a day. We’d spend weeks scouring markets just to get the right jacket.

If I headed down to the swing park in drainpipe denims when I was young, I’d get my head kicked in. People would spit on me.

There was a kid at my school in Birmingham whose dad made him wear a pair of drainpipes, and he got mashed to a pulp. He nearly got his son killed. Now you can walk around in whatever you like and you won’t get touched. That danger isn’t there. In Birmingham, you used to take your life in your hands. You’d get people pointing at you, chasing you, all the straights and football fans. I remember being scared going to the one punk club, Barbarella’s. But I couldn’t tell anyone. I just had to tough it out.

That is my memory of all those first punk gigs: excitement mixed with fear. Everything was twice as intense.

You just don’t get that now. Can you imagine going to a gig and being scared? It just wouldn’t happen. Or watching a band come onstage and thinking the singer looked amazing? The first time I went to see Siouxsie and the Banshees, I didn’t know what they looked like. I got to the club early—there was barely anyone there apart from this one guy who looked like he was dressed as a clown. He had this big black fringe and the biggest pair of trousers I’d ever seen. I remember just thinking, “What the fuck is this guy wearing?” because at that point it was all drainpipes. At the end of the night he came onstage. It was John McKay, the Banshees’ guitarist. The whole idea of wearing something like that was so new then that I couldn’t get it into my head. That feeling of looking at someone and thinking “What the fuck?” just isn’t there anymore.


Go Kart Mozart is set to release an album entitled On the Hot Dog Streets, as well as a mini-album, Mozart Mini Mart, later this year on West Midlands Records. A film about Lawrence directed by Paul Kelly and entitled Lawrence of Belgravia is set to premiere in October—although it has been set to premiere for two Octobers running now. And PS: Douglas Hart is the coolest guy in London. Google that shit.

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Comments

Anonymous, on Nov 2, 2009 wrote: "The English sure are a fickle bunch. How does ignoring a song called "Summer Smash" change one thing about what happened to Diana? " Dude, Clear Channel banned the Rolling Stones’ "Ruby Tuesday" for months after 9/11 because it happened on a Tuesday. It ain’t just the English.
Anonymous, on Jul 11, 2009 wrote: I distinctly remember reading somewhere that Lawrence didn’t smoke/drink/get high as a statement, kind of like a jangle pop young Ian Mackaye. Huh. Anyways Felt is the greatest pop band ever. Agreed.
Anonymous, on Jul 6, 2009 wrote: It’s just Lawrence. You should know that Douglas.
	komodo, on Jun 30, 2009 wrote: it takes big nuts to set yourself up for a bad trip and equally big nuts to talk about it publicly. that made me feel weird reading about it.
Anonymous, on Jun 25, 2009 wrote: LAWRENCE!!I.love.you.
	tallywacker, on Jun 24, 2009 wrote: i have a better story. i was at a show and was bashing the headlining band really only because i was there to see the opener. didn’t know much at all about the headliner other than their name had been on a lot of music blogs and all. comes time for them to play and the guy that was next to me earlier was the drummer.
Anonymous, on Jun 24, 2009 wrote: are bolo ties ever going to stay in vogue more than a month at a time? i swear the the window for them being seen is about as wide as one of their strings. i hated them until a couple years ago and now i like them. it helps if you’re skinny though. they make fat people look extra wide loady.
Anonymous, on Jun 23, 2009 wrote: Knuckle Sandwich: Growing Up in the Working-class City sounds like a book written by Ron.
Anonymous, on Jun 23, 2009 wrote: chip love sez: you know what sucks? i’ll tell you what sucks. that unlistenable "denim" record. i’ve tried several times and i can’t get through even three songs. felt, on the other hand, are one of the greatest bands in the world...ever. the world is as soft as lace.
Anonymous, on Jun 23, 2009 wrote: for myself, i’m glad the outrageous looks aren’t outrageous anymore. i’m sure it was quite a spectacle in the 70s but now there are too many musicians trying to make it on image alone. it would be nice sometimes to learn every note of a record without knowing what the band looks like and who the lead singer is dating.
Anonymous, on Jun 23, 2009 wrote: He’s close to being right about today’s stylists except the popular bands get free wardrobes shipped to their front door. There’s no going to Topshop.
Anonymous, on Jun 23, 2009 wrote: The English sure are a fickle bunch. How does ignoring a song called "Summer Smash" change one thing about what happened to Diana? R. Kelly can get caught on video pissing on underage girls and still have a number one hit. Lighten up, Brits. It’s only life. Live it.
Anonymous, on Jun 23, 2009 wrote: @zerotransfat: OH REALLY? HIS FLY IS OPEN? WHAT AN OBSERVATION!
	zerotransfat, on Jun 23, 2009 wrote: this guy looks like an old johnny depp who’s popped one too many painkillers. oh and his fly’s open
Anonymous, on Jun 23, 2009 wrote: hat is good. leave it alone.
Anonymous, on Jun 23, 2009 wrote: T. Rex: After the Misfits, there are probably more clueless people wearing T. Rex tees than any other band. I haven’t seen T. Rex slip-on Vans yet though, thank god.
Anonymous, on Jun 23, 2009 wrote: talk about dropping the ball, ouch. that was a painful story. i feel like i’m bad tripping just reading it.
Anonymous, on Jun 23, 2009 wrote: Why does everyone think liking Yes is embarrassing? Granted, most of their output is pure Velveeta, but Fragile is a great and underrated record.
	The Host, on Jun 23, 2009 wrote: Walken? With his fly undone? It’s uncanny!
Anonymous, on Jun 23, 2009 wrote: Uh... isn’t that really Christopher Walken incognito? Just sayin’.
Anonymous, on Jun 22, 2009 wrote: that is an awesome tie, not so sure about the hat though.
	joe bananas, on Jun 22, 2009 wrote: ive never heard of the marc bolan show but i have images of marc bolan welcoming guests to his couch for a bit of a chin wag. all very friendly and morningesque
	foxface, on Jun 22, 2009 wrote: most people would be killing themselves having missed opportunities like he has. but i think that he is able to roll with the blows and keep going. youve got to admire that.
Anonymous, on Jun 22, 2009 wrote: flying low!
Anonymous, on Jun 19, 2009 wrote: I like how they’re like legendary musicians from legendary scenes but the whole thing is basically about the cut of your jeans