Spirit of 76 Book Cover.
SPIRIT OF 76: LONDON PUNK EYEWITNESS, BY JOHN INGHAM, IS OUT NOW, PUBLISHED BY ANTHOLOGY EDITIONS.John Ingham is one of the pioneers who championed Punk and helped change music forever. Writing under the nom-de-typewriter “Jonh Ingham” for the weekly music paper Sounds, he famously conducted the first-ever interview with the Sex Pistols in April 1976 after editor Alan Lewis encouraged him to follow his instincts. Convinced he had witnessed the future of music he followed them throughout the year, seeing at close range their evolution at historic gigs, including the first time they played “Anarchy In The UK,” and even bailed Sid Vicious out of jail.
Ingham also saw and wrote the first reviews of the Damned, the Buzzcocks, the Clash and Siouxsie and the Banshees. Noticing that hardly anyone was photographing these new groups, he picked up a camera and started documenting what he saw, shooting some of the only color images of these bands at the beginning of their careers.
Ray Burns aka Captain Sensible (The Damned). Notre Dame de France, 15 November, 1976 PHOTO BY JOHN INGHAM FROM SPIRIT OF 76 PUBLISHED BY ANTHOLOGY EDITIONS
Sex Pistols, Notre Dame de France, 15 Nov 1976. Viv Albertine Siouxsie Sioux smoking cigarette, Steve Severin, Kenny Morris, Sarah Hall PHOTO BY JOHN INGHAM FROM SPIRIT OF 76 PUBLISHED BY ANTHOLOGY EDITIONS
Billy Idol in transition from brown haired Beatle-cut to peroxide Punk Apollo. The Roxy, December 1976 – PHOTO BY JOHN INGHAM FROM SPIRIT OF 76 PUBLISHED BY ANTHOLOGY EDITIONS
Sex Pistols – PHOTO BY JOHN INGHAM FROM SPIRIT OF 76 PUBLISHED BY ANTHOLOGY EDITIONS
The Clash “A Night of Treason,” Royal College of Art, 5 November, 1976.
The Sex Pistols at Notre Dame de France, London, 15 November, 1976. TV programme London Weekend. The film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre had just been released after several years of being banned for its violence. The group had seen the film just before filming and wore “I Survived…” stickers..
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