All language subtitles for Anti-Nowhere.League.We.Are.The.League.2018.1080p.WEBRip.x264-RARBG_English

[dramatic operatic music]

[gentle music]

- Well, I've been to Hastings

and I've been to Brighton.

I've been to Eastbourne too.

So what, so what?

And I've been here
and I've been there.

And I've been
fucking everywhere.

- I saw them up at
Brixton in 1982.

Saw The League then.

Were hooked ever since that day.

- They're fucking good
'cause they piss people off

and that's what it's about

and the Anti-Nowhere League are

the best at pissing people off.

- So what, so what,
so what, so what

you boring little cunt.

- They're local heroes.

So it's a homage.

- Well who cares, who
cares what you do?

Yeah, who cares, who cares

about you, you, you, you, you.

- I've been a League fan
since the early days, '81.

It was that
fuck-off-attitude I loved.

Today, they still
got that attitude.

- They're the
Anti-Nowhere League

for a fucking reason.

We hate every cunt.

- Well I've fucked the Queen.

I've fucked Bach.

I've even sucked
an old man's cock.

- So fucking what!

["So What!" by
Anti-Nowhere League]

♪ I've been to Hastings
and I've been to Brighton ♪

♪ I've been to Eastbourne too

♪ So what, so what

♪ I've been here and
I've been there ♪

♪ And I've been
every fucking where ♪

♪ So what, so what

♪ So what, so what you
boring little cunt ♪

♪ Well who cares

♪ Who cares what you do

♪ Who cares

♪ Who cares about you

♪ You, you, you, you ♪
Well I've fucked the Queen ♪

♪ And I've fucked Bach

♪ And I've even sucked
an old man's cock ♪

♪ So what, so what

- And I've fucked a sheep.

I've fucked a goat.

I rammed my cock
right down its throat.

["So What!" by
Anti-Nowhere League]

♪ So what, so what you
boring little cunt ♪

♪ Who cares

♪ Who cares what you do

♪ Who cares

♪ Who cares about you

♪ You, you, you, you

- I started the Anti-Nowhere
League as a name,

but you know without Nick,
it would not have got further

than Tunbridge Wells,
first bottom of the row.

You know, it was purely
Nick and my brains together,

created this sort of image

and everything else about
the Anti-Nowhere League,

that has carried on
to this day, really.

["So What!" By
Anti-Nowhere League]

♪ Who cares

♪ Who cares what you do

♪ Who cares

♪ Who cares about you

- To go around the world
to play to audiences,

to get paid for the privilege,

to get women chucking
theirself at you

and people giving
you drugs and drink.

It don't get any better
than that, does it?

I mean, how many people to get
that chance, you don't do ya?

So yeah, it was good.

It was very, very good.

["So What!" By
Anti-Nowhere League]

- Local people, like your
mates of Tunbridge Wells

we grew up with,
they all backed us.

We sort of flew the flag
for a lot of people.

- Yeah, definitely.

- Who were just saying
get out there son,

do it, go on, get out there.

You felt like you
was an ambassador for
your rogue friends.

["So What!" By
Anti-Nowhere League]

♪ So what, so what

♪ I've fucked this

♪ And I've fucked that

♪ And I've even fucked
a school girl's twat ♪

♪ So what, so what

♪ So what, so what you
boring little cunt ♪

- It was a real fun 18
months to two years,

from the day that I
put them on. [laughs]

It was non-stop madness really.

♪ You, you, you, you,
you, you, you, you ♪

- Anti-Nowhere League was
one of those bands that just

exploded like a
star and the ripple

would carry on forever.

- Nobody gives a fuck anymore.

- There's not a band around
today that's got the balls

to even stand up and
say, you know what,

I think you're all cunts

and I'm gonna take
the piss out of you.

There's no-one.

It's dead.

We need that attitude
to sustain, to survive.

["English Country
Garden" instrumental]

- [Nick] Tunbridge Wells always
had a reputation of being

the expensive place to live,
best place to school your

kids, conservative,
like respectable town.

And it's not true.

- [Winston] Tunbridge Wells
is known to be a predominantly

middle class and
upper class area.

Really you've got far
more working class

and a lot of poverty
in Tunbridge Wells

than people realize
to be honest with you.

- Tunbridge Wells, you
know, that's posh isn't it?

It's like, actually
not all of it.

If you've got no money,
it's just as fucking tough

in Tunbridge Wells
as it is in Brixton.

- It was a very repressive
place to grow up,

because of the lack of
any kind of tolerance.

- It doesn't know what it is.

You know, it's near London,
but is in the country.

So they try to behave
like Londoners,

but they're not
Londoners you know,

they're just Kentish
people, you know?

- The rich have to have somebody
to take the rubbish out,

and that was the
Anti-Nowhere League.

- There was a great bond
between the outcasts

of Tunbridge Wells.

Luckily enough, I was brought
up on the bad side of town.

We were the rough element.

- Well I was born
in Tunbridge Wells

but by the age of four
we moved to Southborough

which is just on the
suburbs of Tunbridge Wells.

There's this big area
called the playing fields,

where all the kids used to play.

And we lived one side, and
Nick lived on the other side

of the playing fields, the
other side of the village.

And I mean, living there
was fantastic really.

- I grew up on this
flagship estate.

The Woolley Road Estate
was modern living

for council tenants.

Once you're on a council estate,
you've got to work really

hard to get out of it.

You're pretty much bred for
road sweeping or brick laying.

- I was lucky.

I was brought up in a
cottage that my old man got

as part of a job.

He was a printer my old man,
and it was a tied cottage,

it went with the job.

So I didn't live
on council estates,

but I had lots of mates that
lived on council estates.

And there was always that
you know, like drunk blokes

beating their kids and
beating their wives.

- That was the house
I was brought up in.

Over there, number 35.

My bedroom was just
above the front door.

And as a three or
four year old kid,

I used to climb out the window,

drop down off that sill and
sit onto the concrete ledge

above the front door.

That's where I used to sit.

Watching people.

'Cause my Mother was never
at home, so she didn't care,

didn't think it was unusual,
a four year old kid had been

climbing out top window.

She was always working.

My Mother was born
in Gravesend in Kent.

She grew up there
during the war.

Had a lot of
brothers and sisters.

Spent all her time
looking after kids.

I had two older sisters.

Their Mother got fed up
with kids time I came along.

She wasn't really around.

Me old man was a
bit of a war hero.

Him and his brothers.

He was in Burma,
he was in Africa,

and he was out in Europe
and he got stuck on Dunkirk.

He said it was unbelievably bad.

My Dad was a good bloke
and I loved him dearly.

But you know, he didn't know
how to be a Father really.

You know, I know I
looked up to him,

and he was a tough bloke.

He'd be a mate, but there
would be no guidance.

I was literally out
on the road on my own.

And I found gangs much more
family than family life.

I'm not gonna dis them, 'cause
they did what they could.

- My Dad was the managing
director of a decorators

merchants.

And my Mum used
to be a secretary.

Yeah, she worked part time.

She was always around for us.

You know, she didn't really,
we weren't left on our own

or anything.

Encouraged us to do
whatever we wanted to do.

Couldn't ask for more
really, as far as parents go.

- I wasn't a very
pleasant little kid.

Little fat faced kid, with
a terrible lisp coming out.

[hisses]

That one.

It was just, always the
starting block for the bullies.

Sort of give me a slap
and that if I didn't say

[lisping] six pound
worth of sausages.

And they'd hold me down
and write cunt or bollocks

on my face and things like that,

which is normal on
a council estate.

I learnt more from those
horrible bastards on the estate

than I could have possibly
done if they weren't there.

I took myself off to
judo, karate, boxing,

everything possible
to better myself.

And then yeah, I made sure
every fucking bully paid.

Nobody done that to me again.

- [Chris] We had woods nearby
so we'd go play in the woods

all the time, riding
on bikes, pushbikes.

- There was all these trees
that we used to hang out with.

We'd say I'll just meet
you over the pine ears,

or old man oak.

It was better than
the council estate.

And you were pretty
much free up there.

You could climb trees, you
could be yourself without

you know, gangs of
kids on the estates

giving you grief.

Here he is.

The oldest man on the common.

We spent many happy times here.

Meeting up here.

But he's magnificent, you stand
here, you can see his face.

That's his eye.

And you can see his eye and
his eyebrow and his mouth

and stuff.

It looks straight out of Lord
of the Rings, doesn't it?

To us, that was magic.

As we grew older, it
was the South Bootboys,

which were the
skinhead gang I was in.

We were kings of the common.

- I remember being chased
by Nick when I was about 11.

Yeah, him and his gang.

When they came along,
you made sure you got

out the way quick, otherwise,
you'd get a swift boot.

I would never say
Nick was a bully.

I remember one of his
other mates punched me once

and Nick goes, oh leave
him alone chav, you know,

it's not worth
it, sort of thing!

Thank God for that!

He was the leader of his group.

When I was a kid, I
wanted to be a rocker.

When we used to go down to
Hastings, with my Mom and Dad

in the car, me and my
brother would be sitting

in the back seat, and
you'd hear all this loud

old trike motorcycle
was coming past.

And we'd be looking round at
them and my Mom would say,

don't look round at them!

Don't look round at them!

And I was like, I
wanna be like that!

No you don't!

Yes I do, yes I do!

[laughing]

- I don't think I've ever
really looked up to anybody.

Not tried to emulate anybody
or anything like that.

- Mother thought I
was out of control.

She thought religious
sort of all boys school

was going to be the job
for a naughty little boy.

- Huntleys secondary modern,

and that's where
I first met Nick.

- [Nick] Winston
was a right horrible

little shit he was, really.

Well, he had to be
to go to Huntleys.

- I was probably a little
bit more wild than most.

Probably nowadays they
would say I'd got ADHD

or something like that.

But in those days, you was
just like a naughty kid

and you got smacked and
you got beaten, you know.

So, and not only at school,

I mean also by me
Father as well.

- [Nick] The
teachers were mental.

Well they are in most of
these religious schools.

- It was quite a brutal
school, yeah, definitely.

If you done anything wrong
at school, got caught smoking

or you spoke out of turn, you
got the cane or the plank,

or the slipper and they were
some things that would make

a grown man cry,
they hurt so much!

Well I think corporal
punishment's a great thing

to be honest with you, 'cause
I mean, it makes you a better

person in the long run.

- I went Skinner's
Grammar School.

We used to run away
from Huntleys because
they used to try

and beat us up after school.

And this is a daily occurrence.

[laughing]

- I think we just working class
always that never really had

much of an education, you know.

And it was just, and they were
sort of nice boys that come

from well-to-do families
that was getting

a decent education.

I think sour grapes
in some respect

and them being ponces really.

- To know Winston
was to love him.

He was always the one
that had the cigarettes,

he was always the one
who had a bottle of drink

up his jacket, he was always
the one who was up the fish

and chip shop at lunch time,
even from the early days,

he was a right rogue.

- I got expelled from
Huntleys in the second year,

and I got put in the care
of the local authority

for being beyond
parents control.

I was sent to approved
school, about 11, 12.

And that was quite an hard
regime, 'cause it was boys

there up to the age of 18,
from all over the country.

I was bullied all the time, I
mean it was a dreadful place.

And you never got let home,
my Father would never come

and visit me, me Mother used
to come about once every

two months.

You know, you were sort
of left by yourself

and in this really,
really hard regime.

It broke a lot of kids
there and all that,

you know and you had kids

that were sort of
attempted suicide.

I started to get into
drugs and all that

and I had my first trip on
acid when I was about 12.

You know, a lot of tab
and micro dot then,

was what people did.

Try anything sort of once, but
I mean it didn't sort of stop

at once really, with me.

- I started on the farm,
round about 11 to 12 I think.

Young skinhead, you need
to buy Ben Sherman shirts,

you need to buy stuff.

We were cheap labor.

We'd drive tractors at
11, 12, 13, you know.

Little kids, couldn't see over
the fucking steering wheel

in the tractors.

And we rolled 'em, many kids
rolled tractors with loaded

potatoes up.

Help!

This fucking tractor
rolling sideways,

kid leaping off one side,
it was quite normal.

How anybody didn't die,

I mean it's just one
of life's mysteries.

- It was like out of
approved school on the Friday

and in to full time
employment on the Monday.

I come out of there when
I was 14 and a half.

My old man had got me a
job as an apprentice panel

beater in a garage.

In those days, most blokes
had motorbikes and all that,

and there's me old
man had a motorbike.

Just got involved with them.

It was the first thing I
really felt happy with, really.

- Skinhead, reggae,
went hand in hand.

- It was weird that we all
got into sort of black music,

because you could understand

if you lived in sort of
Wilsden or somewhere like that,

but sort of Tunbridge Wells
in those days was like really

unusual for Tunbridge Wells,
having a couple blacks

in Tunbridge Wells.

- If you was black, you
was treated like royalty

really, weren't they?

- All the older girls
wanted a black boyfriend,

my sister, she used to go
up to Lewisham and had like

a black boyfriend and
that sort of thing.

It was just...

- Reggae.

- My Mom started
playing acoustic guitar.

I watched her and I thought,
ooh, I fancy a bit of that.

13 or 14 I started.

And I sort of taught
myself really.

I idolized Marc Bolan.

I loved all the early
stuff they did, Get It On,

Jeepster, Hot Love.

I wanted to start a band,
but I could never find anyone

who'd have me, 'cause
I wasn't good enough.

- One of my friends,
sort of the greasers,

I saw him with a
book, and I just said,

what's the book about?

Oh, it's about Hell's Angels,
California Hell's Angels.

So I said, well
can I have a read?

I read the book inside out,
and it just opened the world

up to me, instead of
being in Tunbridge Wells

and Southborough.

These guys were doing
this in California,

riding these motorcycles,
and they were just outlaws,

and they were just
you know, wild west.

And it just, wow, you know.

I'm gonna do that one day.

- Nick was a skinhead up
'till the age of about 16.

And then he got a bike,
and became a greaser.

- I bought this
first motorcycle,

he had his first bike,

and then we all got a
little gang together.

We were the Tunbridge
Wells rebels.

- [Chris] Winston was in
the same gang as well.

- On my 17th birthday,
luckily I went straight

on to a Norton Commando,
which was a big bike.

We all had chops.

- In those days, you didn't
buy them like, you know,

buy yourself an image nowadays,
you'd go to a local shop,

and they'd build you something.

In the '70s you had
to make everything,

you couldn't buy anything.

- You had to go round and get
your mate to weld a bit up,

and try and find
somebody who could paint

that or chrome that.

You made it up as
you went along.

- You'd make them, and then
you'd go out on the road

and it would break, and
you'd make it again,

weld it a bit stronger
and it would break.

And it was a
process of learning.

Everything was, it was great,

and it taught you, if you
want something just go out

and do it, just
go out and make...

You know, if you wanna
do something, just do it.

Try and do it, even if you
fail, have another go until

it works.

And that was our sort
of philosophy really.

- If you want to
build this magnificent

uncontrollably unrideable
pile of fucking shite,

then nobody'd stop
you, you know.

- We'd used to go over
Broad Oak Village Hall

to local dances.

- Mashing people up.

- Yeah, it was always
the thing in those days,

you were there to like, you
know the villages and places

like that, the
girls was easy lays.

That's why we used to go there.

- We used to go for the fights.

- Yeah, but there used to be
more, there was more happening

in the villages, yeah, than
there was in Tunbridge Wells.

- I mean sometimes I
had to take a kicking.

Because if they got into
a fight, if you run off,

that would've been it, you know.

So you had to jump in, not
that you could do much,

but you jumped in as well.

And yeah, it's just
that sort of camaraderie

that was, I think it was good.

It was, you know, it
sets you up really.

- Together we was
a formidable force,

and people liked to come
along and think they could

take you on, but they
fucking couldn't.

- Bought myself my first
Harley and then obviously

you know, you're in
the big boys' league.

You'd meet up with other
guys and they'd say,

oh, prospect with us and stuff,
and it just goes from there.

And then you have your
initiation, pledge your loyalty

to everyone, and
then you're in there,

running with your brothers.

- Well, I couldn't join the
local Hell's Angels gangs,

'cause I wasn't cool enough.

So I thought, I know,
I'll do a parody one.

So we called ourselves
the Slimy Toads.

We had a picture of a toad
on the back of our jacket.

- It was sort of a bit
like a Monty Python's take

on a...bikers.

- Yeah, no, I think there's
about four of us in there.

I think we lasted
about three months.

[laughs]

It's great fun.

- A fucking weird bunch,
but they found it funny.

- Wasn't really my thing to
be in the back patch club

to be honest with you.

Although I was quite
an obnoxious bastard,

and I probably could've
been quite good

in a back patch club
with all the dirty,

earning your wings and
all that sort of stuff.

- You would have been the best.

- I was quite happy being,
I s'pose being a little bit

of a conformist and
all that really.

- You were still a
skinhead, really,

weren't you?
- Yeah.

- You rode a motorcycle,
but really, used to hang out

down the Roebuck, and the
Roebuck was a notorious

skinhead haunt.

If you walked past the Roebuck,
you can guarantee a fight.

- Everybody crossed over
the other side of the road

when they walked past

it and all that.
- Yeah.

- [Winston] And it's now a
Muslim temple believe it or not!

- It was, I think 1977.

And I saw T-Rex and
The Damned advertised.

And I got two lots of
tickets for The Rainbow

on the Friday night.

I went with Winston and myself.

- Me and Chris went to
London, and we see T-Rex

and the The Damned
were supporting.

And was really
taken by The Damned.

- The rawness, the rawness
of the guitar playing,

was what I loved.

I was thinking, this
is what I want to do.

[laughing]

- Music wasn't important.

It didn't mean
anything to me then,

as I chasing round
Europe with bike gangs.

We didn't take any
interest in punk,

because it just
wasn't our scene.

- All the other
greasers hated it.

You know, Nick hated
it, he was into Genesis.

- My mind was completely
out with the bike club.

Riding across Europe, 25
choppers, all together,

flying the same colors.

Just your cut-offs on, the
sun shining, no crash helmets.

All spread out
across the Autobahn.

All throwing great big packets
of blue speed at each other.

[laughing]

Pull over the side of the road
and everybody'd be cutting

all this speed out
and buck knives.

And we'd ride for four days
without stopping sometimes.

Fucking great blokes.

They were big, hairy,
tough bastards.

'78 was the golden
moment for me.

It was living the dream
that I always thought

that I was going to.

- We had this local nutter
in Tunbridge Wells called

Speedy Sparkle.

Because I was so desperate
for someone to sing,

I went up to him and said,
look, there's a talent contest

next week, do you fancy
having a go with me?

'Cause, you know, I
wanna play guitar.

I've got two songs that
I've written, I said,

but I can't sing
to save my life.

He goes, all right,
I'll do that.

[laughs]

So, I taught him these songs

and we turned up at The
Harvesters in Tunbridge,

and I was really nervous
'cause I'd never done anything

like that before in my life,

you know played in
front of everyone.

If we didn't come last,
we came second to last.

I didn't give up.

I was determined I was gonna
play and I didn't know how.

- And I'd settled down,
'cause I'd had twin girls.

So I was trying to be sort
of like a decent citizen

and responsible Father,
and responsible husband,

if there could be such a thing.

- Winston stayed with
the skinheads scene
in Tunbridge Wells

and he was notoriously known,
henchman in Tunbridge Wells.

He was, any trouble,
Winston was there.

- I used to do like three
or four nights security

at different
nightclubs round here.

I used to deal
drugs on the doors,

deal speed to all the soul
freaks and that sort of thing.

I was bringing in 120 a week,
just for giving the people

a cuff round the ear,
and throwing them out

when they're pissed up,
so it wasn't too bad

to be honest with you.

- 1979, they had a little
punk concert at Speldhurst

Village Hall for
all local bands.

And I saw that and
thought, that's it!

If they can do it,
I can bloody do it!

And I asked a few people,
I said do you know anyone

who wants to start a band?

This bloke come up to
me called Chris Elvy.

He goes, well I play bass,
I've got a bass guitar.

I said, oh right.

Started playing, and I wrote
about five or six songs,

every song I ripped off.

I had the T-Rex or an
old rock and roll song.

And they were doing another
one of these concerts

for local bands.

- He said we're gonna be
playing down the local hall,

as a three piece
and he said to me,

come along, and I
said yeah, of course.

It was pretty awful.

But there was something
about Magoo's guitar.

- My guitar playing
was, I got away with it,

but my singing was
really rubbish.

- He said I've tried to
sing and play the guitar,

I can't do it.

So I said, well I'll
have a shot at it.

- Of course you
can mate, you know.

I didn't know what
he'd sound like.

But he came to the studio.

We had this, we used to practice
behind this record shop.

- If you've not ever sung
into a microphone before,

it's very powerful.

That thing sitting
there looking at you.

It took me about 10 minutes
to try and make a noise.

All that was coming out
my mouth was squeaking.

Eventually, I started
shouting, and he went,

that's fucking awful.

- He nailed it.

I said yes, that's
definite mate, from now on,

you're the singer.

We just went for it after that.

I thought of the name about
two years before the band.

I was very frustrated with
some of the people I worked

with, and I then started
calling them nowhere's.

A nowhere person was someone
who maybe would have a dream

and didn't chase it.

Didn't chase anything
he wanted to do.

Waste of time, isn't it?

You've only got one life.

And I said, right, I'm
starting up a political party,

and I said, I'm gonna call
myself the Anti-Nowhere League

and I'm gonna be President.

[laughing]

Used to make all these rules up

and pin them on notice boards,
just to annoy people at work.

We started the name Anti-Nowhere
League and that was it.

It stuck.

- The band, they was all right,

I mean they were just
playing a load of old

rock and roll,
Numbers, Eddie Cochran

and stuff like that.

I can't remember what happened,
but I know the bass player

they had didn't fit in at all.

I mean, he looked like a
spare prick at a wedding.

- He didn't really fit in
with what we wanted the band

to be at the time.

I said, well who can
we get as bass player?

I said, 'cause I really
don't like musicians at all.

- And I said, I
know just the man.

- I can't remember
if it was Nick or me,

but we both said Winston.

- Winston.

- Yes!

- He said, that's
fucking dangerous.

- The one person, the one
character that will fit

in with us two.

- 'Cause he was known as a
complete headcase, Winston.

- [Chris] Nobody else would do.

- Bones said, this is either
gonna be the best thing

this band's ever done, or
it'll be the biggest mistake

of your life.

Driving down the high
street, there he is,

and Winston was walking
down with his missus.

I went, oi, Winston!

- Do you wanna play in our band?

And he goes, what d'you mean?

He goes, do you want to play
bass guitar in our band?

We got a gig at the weekend.

- I went, well I can't
fucking play guitar!

- We'll teach you,
but do you want to?

We want you in the band!

It's as simple as that!

- We turned up at his flat,
and he's got a new bass

there, got a new amp,
he's got everything.

Completely sourced.

- I sold my reccy
collection, about 450 quid,

to buy my first bass
guitar and amp and that.

So that's how committed
I was to the band.

- So I didn't know anything
about playing bass.

But I taught him how
to play the songs.

- I mean, everything they
was playing in those days

was Ade, so I mean, you
know, my granddaughter could

bleedin' play it!

- We had a couple of
practices and on the Saturday,

we dove up to Lakenheath
US Army Airbase,

and we're playing to sort
of real big heavy bikers.

- Nick couldn't sing,
Chris could only play

three chords I think.

And Bones, who was the drummer,
well you could have played

it on a saucepan what he played.

And when you're
playing to a bunch

of drunk drugged up bikers and
it sounds like Eddie Cochran,

come on Eddie, or whatever, it
don't really matter does it?

- It was a bloody awful row.

[laughing]

[punk rock music]

We had about five or six songs
that are really dreadful.

- It's just made up
as you went along,

so if you did your
version of you know,

Born to be Wild, it
would sound nothing like

Born to be Wild, that
was what punk was about.

[punk rock guitar music]

- You know, if you find
something you like,

drag it in, nick it,
use it, change it.

Just choose the good bits and
then put them in our songs.

And then suddenly you
create something yourself,

you go wow!

Where did that come from?

Oh, I like this, this is good!

- Don't bother trying
to write songs,

just rip some
other fucker's off.

- You know, cheat, yeah cheat.

[punk rock music]

I think Nick and I inspired
each other an awful lot.

You know, he'd have an
idea, I'd have an idea,

I'd come up with a riff,
he'd come up with a subject.

- When him and I started
writing together,

it was a simple
recipe, you know.

He laughed, my foot tapped.

And if together we would
both look down at each other

and he was giggling and
my foot was tapping,

we were on the right
mode for song writing.

- The whole song
writing subject matter

was taking the mickey
out of someone.

You know, some poor
unfortunate person somewhere,

you know whoever we saw
them when we used to laugh

about this, write
a song about him.

It'll get him, write
a song about him.

- It was a lot better
than punching people.

You know, I found it
a real great help.

Writing songs, writing
horrible songs,

didn't get me in so much trouble
as doing horrible things.

[punk rock music]

- None of us were punks.

We jumped on the
punk band wagon,

'cause we couldn't
play very well.

We were bikers
playing punk music.

- We just went on and
just got popular really.

You know, got popular locally.

- But we wanted
to play in London.

We really wanted
to play in London.

One evening I was
reading a music paper.

And I saw The Damned were
playing up at Canning Town

at this place called
The Bridge House.

I phoned Nick up, I
said, shall we go up

and ask if we can support them?

- I didn't really know
much about The Damned.

Magoo thought they were
good and it was his idea

saying right, we gotta get
on tour with these guys.

How do we do that?

- And he rightly said,
they'll get bands every day

asking to support them.

He goes, offer them some money.

He says, don't ask 'em.

He says, bribe them!

So we went up to Canning
Town, Nick and I.

We saw the drummer
there, Rat Scabies.

Never met him before.

- That was it, collared
Rat in the bog.

- These sort of piles of dirt
with tattoos shuffled up.

I would have almost
certainly been intimidated.

- Hello Rat, we play in a
band in Tunbridge Wells,

of course, he
couldn't care less.

We'll give you some money
if we can support you.

- The Damned were really
broke at the time.

And I just remember thinking,
well if these muppets

want to give us a couple hundred
quid to come on the bill,

then we'll put them
on, you know, why not?

- A week later, he phoned me up.

He said, we've got
three gigs up north.

Shrewsbury Town Hall,
Walsall Civic Hall

and Retford Porterhouse.

Said, do you wanna do them?

Will we?

Bloody right we will!

So we did.

- We had no money of course.

We had a van.

Dogs in the van.

Equipment in the van, we slept
under the van in the snow

some nights.

- We drove up to Shrewsbury.

The Damned were there.

We watched their
soundcheck and I'm going,

bloody hell, this is amazing,
I'm actually this far away

from The Damned!

You know, 'cause
they'd be my idol.

We played, and we actually
blew the place apart,

it was brilliant.

The audience went mad.

- We are the League!

["We're The League" by
The Anti-Nowhere League]

♪ Another boring night

♪ I'm feeling pissed

♪ My head's fucked up
and I'm in a mess ♪

♪ Too many drugs
that make me high ♪

♪ I wanna cause
havoc, I wanna die ♪

- What the fuck is this?

They can't play, their songs
are fucking totally obnoxious.

The audience
fucking adored them.

It was just kind of,
we don't give a fuck

what you think of us.

Here we are, we've done
this, we've made this.

This is the League.

Take 'em or leave 'em.

- We'd never played
on a stage before.

You know, we'd only
played ground level

to sort of bikers.

And suddenly we were
playing on this big stage,

and there's people
shaking their fists at us,

they're spitting us, so we
were shaking our fists back.

And the weird thing was,

this is where the
biker thing come in.

We weren't phased by it.

The adrenaline
rush was so great,

that it just made
us play harder.

♪ Well we are the League

♪ And we are mad

♪ We are the League
and the music's bad ♪

- They were proper hard nuts.

That's why they managed
to carry it off,

with all these dreadful songs.

♪ We are the League

♪ We are the League

♪ The Anti-Nowhere League

- The Damned loved us.

We had a great time
with them afterwards.

I was out, just
completely on cloud nine,

'cause I was with the
heroes of my life.

The Damned were my heroes,
and I was drinking with them,

as an equal, not as
like as a spectator.

- We had loads of speed, loads
of amphetamine and all that,

and served them up and it was
just like a really, really

good weekend of acting
up and taking drugs

and everything else you do.

- They were a lot
of fun to hang out,

'cause they all had
this sense of humor

that went with misery.

- You've got to
remember at that point,

we didn't have any money
to buy food, did we?

So The Damned used to
feed us, didn't they?

- We'd got to the point
where we could say,

oh, if we're gonna play, then
we want 24 cheese and tomato

sandwiches, and you know, so
we'd have food in the dressing

room, and I remember we'd turn
up and they'd all be sitting

there, sort of all
blankets and things.

And they'd come in and
they'd see this food

and it'd be, is it all
right if we have some?

'Cause they were
really polite as well.

That was the odd thing.

- I think it was Sensible
and Magoo's birthday.

- [Chris] So we said, yes,
get a hotel for the night.

And we thought, we're a
rock and roll band now,

we're in a hotel,
we gotta party.

- The Damned obviously
came to our room.

I think either Sensible or
Scabies had some pyrotechnics,

and ended up blowing this
fucking wardrobe to bits.

[loud explosion]

- We blew everything up,
you know, and the whole,

smashed, trashed the
room totally, you know.

And then said goodnight.

And left us in this pile of...

In the morning everyone's
waking up with a hangover,

going fucking hell, we're
gonna have to pay for this,

we've got no money.

- Well I remember the next
day that we had to piece

all this wardrobe together
and we had to prop it up with

matchsticks and bits of
cardboard and everything.

And so we could all, so
we could leave the hotel.

- Yeah, we got
away with it, yeah.

- It was a great evening.

[laughs]

It was really good fun.

[laughs]

- Well I'd joined a
few and certainly six,

and I finished with them in '80.

You've got to give full loyalty.

You can't flit between,
I'm your mate today,

but by the way, I'm going
on tour tomorrow, you can't.

So that's when I had to say
to the rest of the club,

I'm now in a punk band.

Please don't kill me.

- After we'd done those three,

John Curd decided he wanted
to get involved with them.

- I discovered them in 1981,
and I just thought it was

such a brilliant name,
the Anti-Nowhere League.

Anybody with a name like that
was bound to be quite creative

people, you know, and they were.

- And he didn't have any
of their phone numbers,

nobody knew how to
get hold of them.

- I'm reading melody maker.

And there's an advert,
Apocalypse Now tour,

and it's got Discharge,
The Exploited,

Anti-Pasti, Chron Gen
and at the bottom,

Anti-Nowhere League.

And I see it and
went, that's us!

We're in the music papers,
what's going on there?

So I phone up the
promoter, and I said,

I've seen this advert for a gig.

I said, you've got our
name of our band on it!

- And I said, do
you want to do it?

And he said, yes please!

- We are the League
and I hate people!

- A load of the fans, I think
they had a couple of coaches

from Tunbridge Wells
followed us up there

and wanted to see us play.

And we went down
a fucking storm.

- We were playing on a
massive stage, to 2000 people.

["I Hate People" by
Anti-Nowhere League]

♪ God I wish that
I could hide away ♪

♪ And find a wall
to bang my brains ♪

♪ I'm living in a fantasy

♪ A nightmare dream, reality

♪ People ride about all day

♪ In metal boxes made away

♪ I wish that they
would drop the bomb ♪

♪ And kill the pigs
that don't belong ♪

♪ I hate people

♪ I hate the human race

♪ I hate people

♪ I hate your ugly face

♪ I hate people

♪ I hate your fucking mess

- I'd never seen anything
like it, you know.

Nick was, had these big thick
chains, that criss-crossed

across his chest.

[laughs]

He was waving this massive
great ax around and smashing

it into the stage, and I
just thought they looked

fantastic and were fantastic.

They went down a
storm with the people

at the Lyceum that
night, that's for sure.

♪ I hate your fucking mess

♪ I hate people

♪ And they hate me

- They'd go onstage, and
they'd play and they'd sneer

and they weren't very good,
and Magoo had the guitar

in open tuning and
played everything
with one finger and...

- We were so different, I
mean, I think at that time,

we was all covered in tattoos.

We looked like a bunch of
fucking toerags really.

You know, and I mean
Nick wielding an ax

and screaming I'm a child
molester and things like that!

♪ God I wish that
I could hide away ♪

♪ And find a wall
to bang my brains ♪

- And after that, I put
them on at the Lyceum

supporting the Dead Kennedys.

- And then we were
playing with The Clash.

It was just an incredible thing.

And all we did, walking
on stage and took the piss

out of The Clash audience,
saying that they were all

bunch of wankers and
that, and then The Clash

wouldn't come on unless
you spat on them.

[laughing]

Of course, that pissed
The Clash right off.

- You remember who pays your
wages, who pays your money

and everything else.

And then you told them
they're cunts, that's great.

I tell you what, they
won't come again.

- [Woman] You
speak for yourself!

I like being called a cunt!

- They were hard guys.

And they were in a bike
gang and you wouldn't really

want to argue with,
especially Winston,

and especially Nick.

- We were the young pretenders,
who were just pissing

on their parade.

- It was sort of like,
larger than life you know.

None of us ever expected
it to sort of happen,

I mean the way we thought
about it, we was a fucking poxy

old band from Tunbridge Wells.

I mean, we knew fuck all
about the music business.

- It was exiting, but
it wasn't you know,

you wasn't musically inept
to think that you can get

a future out of it, you know.

- Our drummer, Bones, I
don't think he really wanted

to commit long term.

I think he had other
things he wanted to do.

- He was, I think went off to
become a gold bullion dealie,

or something.

- We realized we needed
a more powerful drummer.

Winston knew PJ.

- PJ, Christ Almighty, well
that's a story in itself.

He was, or in those
days, called a Persian.

And he was always in the local
pub which was The Bristol,

he used to go in there and
he'd be playing the fruit

machines.

And I give the nickname, the
nickname's PJ's Persian John.

That's what it stands for.

- Pj was a bit of
an outcast, really.

He came here
obviously from Iran.

We didn't know him from Adam
when he first turned up.

- PJ was playing for a
band believe it or not,

called The Ayatollahs.

We had him come and
play with the band.

- I didn't know
their songs at all.

So we went for a rehearsal,
and they started playing

their songs, and I
just played them.

One after the other.

Bang, bang, bang, bang.

12 songs, done it.

And they went, they
said, do that again?

I said yes, let's do it again.

We did it again,
exactly the same.

And that was it and it
stayed like that forever.

- He was the last link, we
needed a good drum sound,

a very powerful drum
sound behind us.

That just made it, you
know, we had the raw sound

of the guitar, Winston's
bass and persona,

Nick's vocals and persona.

For a while, it was
absolute dynamite.

We were there.

- It was here, I actually got
him a cake, there was this

obnoxious bike gang, singing
these fucking obnoxious

songs, you couldn't get a more
obnoxious line up than them.

And to top it off there
was an Iranian drummer,

the most hated nation
in England at the time.

It was an accident
waiting to happen.

- It's an horrible
story, but it's I mean,

it's part of the Anti-Nowhere
League folklore and all that.

When PJ first joined the band,

we had loads of sort of
skinhead followers and that.

And 'cause a lot of skinheads
at that time was you know,

sort of racially motivated
or racist and all that,

we thought, what
are we gonna do?

We've got an Iranian
joining the band,

but you know, were gonna lose
a lot of fans and everything.

So we made PJ wear a
stocking on his head.

- Yeah, the fuckers, they did.

You know, why would you do that?

I've no idea.

- I really can't remember
if it was a thing because

we had noy following or if
it's just because we thought

he looked ugly.

[laughing]

- He wore the stocking, it
was one leg of a pair of his

wife's tights.

[drumming]

Anyway, we said we'd
have this big unveiling

that if he played with
a stocking on his head,

he'd be like the
mystery drummer,

and we'd do a big unveiling
sort of weeks later,

but we never ever did.

I think we just made him
take it off one night.

- I thought it was a joke.

I thought it was a joke.

I mean, what can you
say about how people

behave in those days, you know?

With foreign people.

You know, you know, that's
just the way it was, you know.

You couldn't do
anything about it.

[punk rock music]

- John Curd was a major
player in our career move

from Tunbridge Wells to London.

- I'd started up a record label.

It was called WXYZ and
they were the first band

on that label really.

Then it all kicked
off from there.

- We were going in to do
a demo but we financed

it ourselves.

And there was a couple
of songs on it, you know,

including Streets of London.

["Streets of London"
by Anti-Nowhere League]

♪ Well did you see the old man

♪ Outside the Seaman's mission

♪ Memories are fading with
the medals that he wears ♪

It was my idea to do
Streets of London.

I did like listening
to folk songs there,

and I did like Ralph
McTell's Streets of London.

It was pretty awful, when
we first started to play it,

'cause Magoo couldn't play at
all, so we had to cut the song

to the couple of chords
that he could play.

♪ Don't say to me

♪ That your sun don't shine

And then of course we
had to butcher it down

with the lyrics and stuff.

♪ And have you
seen the old girl ♪

♪ Who walks the
streets of London ♪

♪ She ain't got no money

♪ And she's all
dressed in rags ♪

♪ And have you
seen the old girl ♪

♪ Who walks the
streets of London ♪

♪ She carries her old knickers

♪ In two polythene bags

♪ So how can you tell
me you're lonely ♪

- John Curd got us to come
up to Maida Vale Studios

in London.

He said right, he said, I
want you to record your cover

of Streets of
London as an A side.

He said, and do So
What? on the B side.

And we thought, well that's
the worst song in the set!

He goes, no, no, everyone
loves it, trust me.

- So fucking what?

["So What?" By
Anti-Nowhere League]

- And I'd already
written So What?

And the whole subject
of it was there,

but once Nick and Winston
got their teeth into it,

and we'd had a few drinks
when we were recording it,

the subject matter
got lewder and lewder.

And it was funnier and funnier.

♪ And I've been there

♪ And I've been
every fucking where ♪

♪ So what, so what

♪ So what, so what you
boring little cunt ♪

And the more we had to drink,
the ruder we had to be.

♪ And I fucked a sheep

♪ And I fucked a goat

♪ I rammed my cock
right down its throat ♪

♪ So what, so what

♪ So what, so what you
boring little cunt ♪

We all take the blame for it.

I fucked a goat, I think that's
the funniest thing actually.

[laughing]

I think that's quite
amusing really.

- 'Cause then you had two
extremes there if you think.

You had a folk song
that was punk-rocked up,

and you had this mad, obscene
So What? on the other side!

[laughs]

Quite funny the whole thing.

♪ Well who cares

♪ Who cares what you do

♪ And who cares

♪ Who cares about you

♪ You

- He virtually
posted half of London

with these big A1, A0 posters
of us and the big fists,

and Streets of London
So What? double B side.

They were pretty
much all over London.

It was a real buzz
driving through London

and seeing them.

- We were all chuffed when
it got into the bottom

of the charts.

- [Chris] It was
flying off the shelves,

it really was selling.

- I've had skank,
I've had speed,

I've jacked up until I bleed.

- I had listened to the
lyrics and thought they were

a bit out of order, but it
didn't occur to me that some

straight twat out there,
was gonna complain about it.

- And who cares, who cares
about you, you, you, you?

- Some straight guy
had bought the record

or had heard about how
obscene the B side was.

And made a complaint
to the police.

- So fucking what?

Yeah.

- It's not really
a surprise is it?

I've fucked sheep, I've
fucked goat, you know,

come on, really, please.

- So the porn squad
raided these offices.

And took every copy
they could find.

And they went down
the pressing plant

and confiscated the, that
makes the records, the stampers

that makes the records.

They confiscated that
and they confiscated

anything that had
their name on it.

And I got taken to court.

It was just absolutely
ridiculous, the
whole thing really.

- When they seized So What? I
mean, that was massive press.

It was in all the papers.

And it just did
nothing but help us.

- One of the most fantastic
things that happened,

we managed to get Nick
on the front cover

of The Sounds.

And Nick looked great.

You know, he was a big
guy, he was six foot two,

six foot three.

You know, had that mad hair.

And the chains and the ax.

It's beautiful, it's perfect.

- And they had their
own little magic bubble,

and that was the thing,

the League were this little,
at that one point in time,

they'd got it exactly right.

And there was nothing that
they could do that would

make it go wrong.

- We were sort of
kick-started into this nearly

semi-stardom, and it's
a real weird buzz,

but great, I mean, I
left work immediately.

I thought, this is it, you know.

Don't need to work anymore.

[phone ringing]

- It had caused such
a stir that record.

That's how we managed to
get on Top of the Pops.

- We were selling a
fucking lot of records.

They said, well you can come
up and do Top of the Pops,

but the singer must
not bring an ax.

It's like having
Tourettes, innit?

I must not bring an ax,
I must not bring an ax.

Yeah, gotta have to hadn't I?

So, that was it, I
stuffed an ax up my shirt

and that was it.

- We turned up at BBC studios
and as we got in the lift,

there was Kenny Everett
and Billy Connolly

getting in the lift.

Well, Kenny Everett was like
a right pompous little prat.

- We was definitely
the sort of shitty,

did not like at all.

And I still think he
did that Sid Snot thing

because of us.

- Hello transvestite bashers.

Sid Snot here with a little
tale about our friends,

the animals.

- [Nick] I think that
character came from us.

- We got as far as
the dressing room,

and then we got kicked out.

- It all kicked off I think.

We was gonna bash up
Haircut 100 or something,

something kicked off anyway.

And something usually does.

- You've got Nick wielding
that ax and everything,

and they wouldn't
allow us on in the end.

- I was so upset about that.

'Cause it could have
gone bang from there.

But I mean had they got
on, I think that would have

stormed up the
charts that record.

- At the time, we didn't
really give a fuck to be honest

with you, it didn't
really matter.

["So What?" by
Anti-Nowhere League]

- Poor blokes.

As in normal bands.

Haven't got any interest
in nothing at all.

We don't believe anything
what anybody's ever told 'em.

We've got respect for
absolutely nobody.

Who cares about
absolutely nothing.

And produce a row, which
nobody's every heard before.

People try and say what we are,

they try and put it together.

They say the Anti-Nowhere
League are this and that.

But if we don't know, I'm sure
that people who have seen us

don't know.

Like I say, we do things,
'cause we like upsetting people.

We like laughing at them.

We find their whole human
race totally stupid.

We've got our own
morals we live by.

You know, respect for
one another, we have.

But we have no respect
for anybody else.

At all.

- [Winston] Just being a truly
obnoxious bunch of bastards.

So it got us somewhere really.

- You know, it was punk rock
metal biker gang madness.

- Me, I always used to like
outdo the person that was

doing something exceedingly
dirty and disgusting.

I could do something far
more exceedingly dirty

and disgusting than they could.

- He had no stop
button, Winston.

He didn't have a sort of
better not do that button.

[laughing]

Anything you said
to him, that was it.

You know, you was in peril.

- Class act our Wins,
you know, class act.

[laughing]

In many ways.

- Do you understand
what class means?

His dares really.

And Winston used to do
some pretty crazy dares.

You could dare him to do
anything and he would do it.

- I mean, The Damned were,
we were the fucking boys,

you know, we were
outrageous, we you know,

we didn't give a
fuck about anything.

And then the League turned up.

- It was in Doncaster
Rotters' dressing room

and we were talking to
Rat, and he was going,

I love touring with you lot,
he goes, you're a right laugh

he says, but there's nothing
that you can do that would

shock me.

Unfortunately, he
said that to Winston.

Which was the
wrong thing to say.

- And they had some like
food laid out, sandwiches

and sort of crudites,
and stuff like that.

- Captain, being a veggie,
used to insist on fresh veg.

And cottage cheese.

- So Winston picks this
carrot up, out of this big

plate of crudites, he shoved
it in some cottage cheese,

dropped his trousers,
shoved it right up his arse,

and then ate it!

- I think it was
in thousand island,

it was either thousand
island or blue cheese dip

or something.

I can't, and I stuck it
up me arse, pulled it out

and ate it.

And everybody's like, ugh!

- Fucking hell.

You cunt.

Ugh, stop, stop, stop!

That's it, I'm done.

And it was at that
exact point I went,

I'm not the fucking
most outrageous

punk rocker in the world.

These guys can fucking have it.

They've won.

- What life?

What life have we got?

- John Curd did a lot for us.

The main thing I think
that really worked for us

was the tour of America.

- [Winston] The tour with
the UK Subs was called

Hardcore Storms America.

And it was bloody brilliant.

We went down a treat.

- [John] It made
a great package.

It did really well right
round America, north, south,

east and west.

- [Nick] UK Subs introducing
the Anti-Nowhere League.

- They played the Peppermint
Lounge, I remember that well.

In New York.

- You cunts, we took
a few fuckers anyway.

- Oh fuck off home then.

- This west one's our new
single, so you gotta go out

and buy it, all right?

- Don't fucking go out and
buy it, we don't want your

fucking money.
- Tossers.

- We were out of
control at that point.

It's called Let's
Break The Law Tonight.

We were in the land
of cocaine dreams.

Everywhere you went,
everybody had cocaine.

Wasn't like a dodgy little
place in the back of a bog hole

in London.

These blokes had
fucking bags of it.

[laughing]

["Let's Break The Law" by
the Anti-Nowhere League]

I don't think we
slept the whole tour.

It just got worse
and worse you know.

♪ I'm going out on the
streets and I'm feeling high ♪

♪ But you wanna fight
me and I dunno why ♪

- And we did something that's
never been done before,

actually in my opinion,
we did something called

flight hop.

So it was $1000 per person,
and you could fly anywhere

you wanted to.

But if the plane was full,
peak, you couldn't get on.

But generally
speaking you got on.

Just carried their guitars.

And the promoters had to
supply all the equipment

at the other end.

- We were just in an
aero plane all the time.

We had a cheap ticket
with Republic Airlines,

so we'd end up doing three
or four flights a day,

you know, one, two, three, four.

- Getting from A to B, you
might have had to go XYZ

to get there, you know.

- It was horrendous.

It was just awfully boring.

- [John] It was a band then mind

and it was a quicker
way of doing it.

- Now bearing in mind, that
was the time of the Iranian

hostage siege.

So feelings between Americans
and Iranians weren't really

that good.

And PJ was obviously an Iranian.

So we're walking
through customs,

and the alarms go off, 'cause
he's got a bullet belt,

it was fashionable at
the time, bullet belt.

Security guard goes
up to him and says,

hey boy, what you
got round those belt?

What's on your belt?

And PJ wisely says,
bullets you cunt.

What do you think they are!

And within a minute, his
collar was pulled up,

and he was off.

I think we had to do a couple
of gigs with the UK Subs

drummer.

- His passport was always a
pain in the arse, you know.

Everything about PJ
was a pain in the arse.

- He just was a liability, I
mean, Nick'll tell you that

and Chris'll tell you that.

- PJ got such a rough end
of the stick, didn't he?

He was, first of all, he
was a great fucking drummer.

But his English
wasn't very good.

And I know Winston used to
give him shit all the time.

- When he'd say something,
it wouldn't come out like

it was mean to come out,
'cause if he pulled a girl,

he'd say she had lovely eye.

Well you know, she had two
eyes, so she had lovely eyes,

she didn't have
lovely eye, did she?

So just things like
that and you think,

well you know what, you
don't make no sense mate!

- Obviously my accent was awful.

And very difficult
getting a word out,

without someone saying
something about it.

- I got boxing boot.

Well, no, you got a
pair of boxing boots.

It's...we had some fun actually.

- I know they were
having a laugh.

It was all one sided as far
as I'm concerned, you know.

- He was the whipping
boy, I guess.

'Cause he wasn't Tunbridge
Wells, he wasn't one of them.

- He was a winger, he'd never
stop moaning and winging

all the time.

And...er, Nick...

It was always Nick he
would be moaning at.

♪ One, two, three, four, why

♪ Why me

♪ Why

♪ Am I so ugly

- God, flying here
was just hell.

You know, three, four times
a day, going up and down.

I think everyone
went on a strike,

we just went to the bar.

Basically, everyone ordered
a bottle of tequila.

Got on the plane.

Spewed everywhere.

- The guitarist, he
puked up on the seat.

And someone else stuck their
hand up the cleaner's skirt

and it wasn't me.

I don't know...no it wasn't me.

- I always thought it was you!

- No it wasn't me, no
I was, hand on heart,

it wasn't me.

- And the Captain came
up and said right,

I'm not flying this
plane anywhere,

because you, until you lot get
off, and everyone was going

fuck off you old cunt,
fuck off you old cunt.

We'll fly it then, you old cunt.

- And next thing, the
police are saying, come on,

off you go.

- The next thing we know,
they've forcibly frog marched us

off the plane.

But no, it definitely
wasn't me that put my hand

up the cleaner's skirt.

- Got us off and into
a hotel for the night

and you know, had to
cancel the next show.

- We had this big flash
Holiday Inn with food

and swimming pool and
everything like that,

so it was like a bit
of a win double really.

- Every tour we'd have
stopped for a month.

Then I don't remember
a month of it.

- It was about three months.

- Oh right, let's
go, mother fucker!

- The first two things we had
in the charts was one was,

Streets of London/So What?
and then I'm pretty sure after

that it was, it
was I Hate People.

- Hello rakers.

["I Hate People" by
Anti-Nowhere League]

♪ God I wish I could hide away

♪ And find a wall
to bang my brains ♪

♪ I'm living in a fantasy

♪ A nightmare dream, reality

♪ People ride about all day

♪ In metal boxes made away

♪ I wish that they
would drop the bomb ♪

♪ And kill you
bastards don't belong ♪

♪ I hate people

♪ I hate the human race

♪ I hate people

♪ I hate your ugly face

♪ I hate people

♪ I hate your fucking mess

♪ I hate people

♪ And they hate me

- We had a the League
album, went top 20,

and I think it was number
one in the independent chart.

I think we started
taking ourself

a little bit more seriously
than what we had done

in the past, because obviously
we must have had something

to warrant, or generate
all those sales.

- I still think it's a
great album that should

be in the top 100
albums in my opinion.

- Curd lifted us up.

We knew he was selling
millions of our records,

but keeping us on the
road, and we had nothing.

- They didn't sell millions.

I wish they had. If they had,
we'd all be millionaires,

we'd all be out there
driving around in big cars.

- Gonna be thrown out my house,

I can't pay £3.50 a week rent.

- Groups are always like,
it's always somebody else's

fucking fault, and
they never got paid,

and they were due millions,
and it's all a load

of bollocks to be
honest with you.

- So then I had to go
and sign on the dole,

which I really hated.

That was the worst for me.

So I used to have
to go and dress up,

grease me hair back and
wear fucking nutty glasses

and me you know, an old
coat and stuff like that,

and go in there...

And I had to do that fucking
performance every week

to go down and get
a £10 dole money.

- Why do you think we
all chose assumed names?

I tell you why, it's 'cause
Chris Miller went to sign on,

and Chris Miller was in the
paper, and the dole office

would find out.

Rat Scabies was a
different character.

- It's a case of changing
peers or get a job and join

the scrounge.

♪ So fucking what

["So What?" by
Anti-Nowhere League]

♪ Well I've been to Hastings

♪ And I've been to Brighton

♪ I've been to Eastbourne too

♪ So what, so what

- The tour had to be
called the So What?

tour didn't it, really?

That was the first
headline tour they had.

♪ And I've been there

♪ And I've been
every fucking where ♪

♪ So what, so what

♪ So what, so what you
boring little cunt ♪

- Stewart Copeland, the
drummer of The Police

had come on tour with us
and made movie he called

The So What! movie.

- On punk bands.

In order to put out on
the television though.

No, cinema.

Is it legit, you know?

- It was my first film.

I had no idea what goes
in to making a film.

- First they go left.

- I kinda liked it,
because I grew quite fond

of those bands.

And I did enjoy watching them.

- [Nick] We were gonna come in

and be all nice to you tonight.

Tell you how much
we loved you all.

But we'd only be fucking lying.

- I probably went out there
to shoot my good buddies

in Chelsea, but
they were supporting

the Anti-Nowhere League.

They were a pretty
happening band, actually.

When the Anti-Nowhere
League came on,

there was kind of a
sense of an upgrade.

["Streets of London" by
the Anti-Nowhere League]

♪ My fair lady

♪ Well did you see the old man

♪ Outside the Seaman's mission

♪ Memories are fading

♪ With the medals
that he wears ♪

It all had a kind of
a greaser look to it.

Animal's hair was
not buzz-cut punk.

He had long hair!

Dude, you got long
hair going on there!

You know, and I'm not even
sure if that was allowed

by punk rules.

He was a big guy with a
lot of presence onstage.

He was a little more
hostile than most.

Magoo, I remember the top hat.

And the drummer, yes,
some strange ethnicity.

He had a problem,
a cloud over him.

You know, he was kind
of more mysterious

than the others, kind
of culturally distinct

from the others.

I remember Winston.

Winston has the
visual, he was kind of,

short blond hair, he looked
like a member of Village People.

Real hostile.

- I went on to wear like
a leather gay's hat.

And it was known
in the King's Road.

They were sold as Winston hats!

So whether people thought
that I was the other way

or whatever, I
don't really know.

- He loved it, didn't he?

He was a gay icon.

Winston was a gay icon.

- I had a pair of leather
chaps made in the King's Road,

so we must have been sort
of like a punk version

of Village People or something!

♪ Don't say to me that
your sun don't shine ♪

♪ Well let me take
you by the hand ♪

♪ And drag you through
the streets of London ♪

♪ I'll show you something

♪ That'll make
you fucking sick ♪

- We were starting to get
a bit bored with it all.

And unfortunately, Copeland
got us at that period of time.

I fucking hate this.

I get up at the fucking peak,
take you out in the mornings,

don't get nothing to eat,
don't get no fucking money,

nobody gives a fucking shit.

Here, go on, run in
that caf, I'll film,

run in that cafe
and smash it up.

- [Winston] All the things
that people expect you to do.

- Yeah, go on,
beat that bloke up.

Oh fuck off, he
ain't done nothing!

- Oh, I did a lot of that.

I got the punks to
pull down their pants,

and I was trying to get
the punks to be photogenic.

Could you like, break something?

[laughing]

Could you do
something, anything?

Come on, your world
is a piece of shit,

aren't you a little bit mad?

Hey, let's do some anger!

- What, no, I got
a fucking hangover,

and I really wanna go in there
and have a cup of coffee.

[laughing]

The more people expect it,
the more we backed off.

- They had a pose of
seen it all before.

They had kind of a fin de
siècle vibe about them,

and I'm sure that's an
expression that Animal used

all the time.

- Copeland's film was dull.

I think he wanted us out
on the road being wild,

but if you remember at the
time, we were fucking pretty

much burnt out.

- I remember when So
What! opened in New York.

I think it played for one night.

I believe there were...

Three people in the theater.

And I remember, that
there was applause.

I think when the end
title roll start, oh yes!

Fuck, thank God!

- I think really, we peaked.

Streets of London, So What?

Six months before and six
months after was the peak.

And we couldn't follow it up.

We couldn't write better
songs than the earlier ones.

We got to the point where
the songs we needed to write,

we needed someone
clever in the band.

And we all talked
about it, said well,

we need a lead guitarist,
'cause I was really only

a rhythm guitarist.

- Chris just lost his...

- He lost his confidence.
- Absolutely.

- And he lost interest in it,

to be honest with you, I think.

- We'd been in the public
eye for about a year.

And we just wanted a
slightly different sound.

And we got Gilly
in the band then.

[guitar music]

- Guess that one.

I first met PJ in the,
I'd say, '78 or '79?

And we formed the
band The Ayatollahs.

And he phoned up
out of the blue,

and I hadn't seen him for ages.

And he said, do you want to
join the Anti-Nowhere League?

And I said, actually,
I'd love to!

- We were good friends.

Maybe I felt like wanting
my friend to come and play

with me, you know?

- So I drove up to
Tunbridge Wells,

and met Nick and he
gave me the first album,

with basically
things crossed out.

He said, if you learn these
bits, learn these songs.

And I worked everything out.

Note for note.

And it was a joy.

Nick used to come over a lot
and we used to write songs

together.

We started doing demos.

And they were all
sounding very, very good.

♪ We see the boys all run

♪ At the sight of a gun

♪ The men lay down and die

- When I came along
with the second album,

the Branded album, following
up We Are The League,

Curd had just lost his
bollocks on putting Motorhead

on at Wembley.

Hundred thousand pounds
I heard, he owed.

It was a lot of money back then.

- No, it's bollocks.

I made a lot of money
out of Motorhead.

I sold out a week at
the Hammersmith Apollo

as it was called.

- So he needed all his money
from We Are The League album

to pay this debt off.

So when I come along
with the Branded album,

he said, oh, it's
stupid that is.

- Well yeah, when
Nick brought his,

the demos of the, for the
new album, I just thought

it was all too lame for me.

There was no balls,
no bollocks, you know.

And in the Anti-Nowhere
League you think of like,

balls and bollocks
really, don't you?

♪ Why do we laugh a lot

♪ Why do we cry a lot

♪ At the things
that people say ♪

♪ 'Cause we are branded

♪ We are branded

♪ And from the cradle

♪ We are commanded

There was a guy that worked
for me called Stewart Lyon,

and he came up with a brain
wave, which was to take

them to Yugoslavia.

- We was the first Western
band to record a live album

in an Eastern Bloc country.

And I think it was just
one of these hair brain,

scatter brain bleedin'
ideas our record company

come up with.

- We found a radio station
which was called Belgrade Radio

I think.

We blagged them into
using their live recording

machine that they had.

We went out on the road,
and recorded probably about

eight or 10 shows,
and made the album.

- My first engagement,
live engagement,

which was Live in Yugoslavia.

It was a baptism of
fire, definitely.

- You can't believe how we
went down, it was unbelievable.

It's like when you hear
these live albums of massive

bands, you know, say for
argument's sake, Pink Floyd,

or Led Zeppelin and all that,
the audience would always

before we went on stage, was,
I mean, talk about a buzz.

You couldn't have got much
more of a buzz, you know.

It was yeah, a real good gig.

- We took the Live in
Yugoslavia tapes into Rockfield,

in Wales, where we
had them mastered.

While we were there
doing this, I went out,

wandered outside and I saw
wandering across the yard,

some bloke where I
vaguely recognized him,

in wellingtons.

And he had the same hair as me.

And he got closer
and closer to me

and I realized it
was Robert Plant.

And he came over and said,
hello, I just came to see

what you're doing.

And anyway, he was
a really nice bloke.

And he came in and sat next to
me while we were doing this,

and listening to it, and
he was going like this,

really getting
very excited by it.

He said, that reminds
me of my first album!

And I thought, well it's
not that bad then is it?

And of course, Robert Plant
was doing a song called

Big Log then, and I went
over to listen to that,

him doing that as well and
it was absolutely beautiful.

And then he wandered
off, with his wellies,

never to be seen by me again!

- We released the live
album and it done,

as far as I remember, it
done really, really well.

- Yeah, it sold all right.

Got all the hits and more on it.

- Live in Yugoslavia sold a
fucking lot of records again,

off the back of
We Are The League.

But of course, all
the money was pocketed

for all these debts he had.

[plane engine roars]

- American tour
was in June, 1983.

Couple of months I think it was.

We got well looked after
on this second tour,

because we were a
little more established.

- In those days, they had MTV
jukeboxes in sort of clubs

and all that, and you know,
our video for Streets of London

was one of the
most played there.

So, going into the
Peppermint Lounge,

people already knew
me and you think,

fucking hell, I've come
from like Tunbridge Wells,

Tunbridge Wells, I'm in New
York and people know me.

You know that's
quite a buzz really.

- Winston and this porn
queen fell for each other.

Her name was Annie Sprinkle.

And she used to do
dirty cassettes.

And they had great fun together.

- One was called Annie Sprinkle,
the queen of the stream.

And Veronica Vera
and I can't remember

who the other one was...

Oh, Long Jane Silver,
she was an amputee.

So she only had one leg!

So I had my liaisons with them.

[whistling]

And I got taken to a
sex club in New York,

which was down in the meat
packing area of New York,

which was called
The Hellfire Club.

I couldn't believe it, I
mean, that was like a real

eye opener.

And I remember someone giving
me a sniff of amyl nitrate,

I think it was butyl
nitrate over there.

Well, I took so much of it,
I collapsed on the floor.

When I woke up, there was
all these blokes with their

pricks out over the top of me!

- Yeah, yeah that's
right, yeah, yeah, yeah,

he was in the bog and they
all wanted to piss on him,

I think.

- And it was quite,
quite, quite weird!

- The gays loved him.

Because he was muscly,
blond hair, tattoos,

good looking.

- I always had a saying that
I would try anything twice,

just in case I didn't
like it the first time.

- I was the same.

I was the same, I embraced it.

It was exactly that, it was
sex, drugs and rock and roll.

I'm unashamed to say
that I enjoyed it.

This is the dream.

It even made Motley
Crue look lightweight.

It was that indulgent.

- It was like being in a Charlie
and the Chocolate Factory,

it was like, wow,
all of a sudden,

these boys from Tunbridge
Wells were whipped out of our

shall we say...
- Comfort zone.

- Yeah comfort zone of
Tunbridge Wells, into the world,

where everything went.

And everything you could absorb.

- [Winston] In fact, it were
the sweet shop syndrome,

that's what is was, wannit?
- It was, it was just like,

sex drugs and rock and roll.

- [Winston] You could have
as much sex as you wanted,

as much drugs, you know
people were giving you drugs,

not often you have to buy them.

- I know.

And even if you didn't
want them, you take them.

- And being totally
obnoxious to people,

and people really liked you
being obnoxious to them.

= Yeah.

- I mean it don't get any
better, does it really?

- There were some very
distressing and powerful things

going on at that time for us,

because we were overindulging.

- The fun turned
into the darkness.

Me pulling Winston in a
hotel room out of New York,

he wanted to kill
himself, you know.

He'd done so much gear
and Billy Idol's car

was just down below the hotel.

He said, I'm gonna throw
myself on the roof of that.

We were 50 stories up.

And I'm pulling him back in.

Saying, Winston, don't.

He said my head hurts, I
can't fucking do this anymore,

I can't fucking do it.

And I've got one foot up
on the side of the window,

pulling him in the
window, you know.

- You take drugs and you
get to a certain high,

and then you keep taking
them and then you just sit

in the corner and you're
sort of hyperventilating.

- The worst thing I ever done,
I locked, I was with Magoo

one night, drunk, drugs,
stupor, you know, really upset

him and it cut me bad.

I thought, I don't do
things like you know.

These four boys from Tunbridge
Wells are now well out

of their depth.

We were just burning and
spiraling out of control.

- You then learn that being
in a band ain't really

that glamorous.

It's not really
what you want to do

for the rest of your life!

- If we hadn't of been
friends as from before school,

and known each
other through bikes

and all that sort of thing,
I don't reckon we would have

lasted as long as we did
to be honest with you.

I mean, we'd all fall
out with each other

on tour and all that, but we'd
have a like a heated argument

and all that, and then it'd
be forgotten, you know.

- Apart from a
little young drummer.

- Yeah, yeah.

[laughing]

Well PJ leaving
the band, I mean,

I think it was on the
cards, 'cause he was,

he was getting a
bit of a liability.

- Bless PJ, as much as I love
him now, he was a real pain

on tour.

- We went to Spain,
we did a gig out in,

I think it was Madrid.

- However, when we got off
the boat, there was a big

hold up, and we suddenly
realized that PJ wasn't with us.

And he'd been hauled over
by the Spanish customs,

and put on a boat back.

And he was seen as
being uninvited.

- And John Curd kept him on
the ferry for like two days

or something, going
between France and England,

because nobody would
admit to having him,

or giving him the right
work papers and stuff.

- There'd always be something
like that would happen

with him, it would be an
absolute bleedin' nightmare.

- It does happen all
the time in bands,

but because he wasn't
one of the old gang,

it was different.

It was just so easy
just to out him,

than it was trying to patch up,

which you would with your mates.

- I got the task of saying we
didn't want him in the band

anymore and I remember
him saying to me,

it shows what sort
of cunt you are.

You made me wear
stocking on head.

[laughing]

- Carrot crunches.

Haha!

I just suddenly heard that
they had another drummer!

[laughing]

And I thought well, fine.

Where's my drum kit?

And they said, what drum kit?

I went, my drum kit.

We don't know what
you're talking about.

They took my drum kit,
and I think my lucky

underpants as well.

They was yellow.

So yeah, that was it, that
was the end of me playing

with Anti-Nowhere League.

- Poor PJ.

- Kentish people.

- We were just, little
bit then, wondering where

do we go from here?

We'd upset everybody.

How many times can
you upset people?

Should we just fuck
off and disappear?

Which we should
have done in a way.

- The way we saw it, punk
was sort of dying a bit.

We needed to get into another
sort of sphere of music.

- And I suddenly thought,
am I going to spend another

few years going out doing So
What? over and over again?

As a man in his 30's?

The business of actually
dressing up in leather trousers

and often not wearing a top
or just a leather jacket

didn't seem as appealing.

I couldn't be gobbed at
forever more, you know.

- Gilly was probably
the only musician,

or proper musician in the
band, and I think his influence

really over-influenced us, if
anything, didn't it really?

- In a way, I don't blame
Gilly, I blame a little bit

Chris because he gave
the reigns over to Gilly,

didn't he?

- I got very lazy, because
we were looking for a change

in direction that we
couldn't do ourselves,

so we let Gilly do a
lot of the song writing.

- Through 1983, into '84,
we started doing demos.

John Curd loved the
songs we were doing,

he loved where we were going.

He was very excited about it,

he put us into a
recording studio.

- We recorded with a big
name producer, Chris Kimsey

who does Rolling Stones.

We used to love dropping
his name, it was great.

Oh yeah, we're
with Chris Kimsey,

rock and Rolling
Stones producer.

- Chris was incredible.

He gave us some magic.

["Out On The Wasteland"
by Anti-Nowhere League]

- We're gonna get a
really big producer in,

produce this really
horribly musical song,

and we're gonna be massive!

You know, we were deluded
enough to think that.

♪ Nomadic man

♪ Cold and mean

- We were getting comparisons
to being like bands like

MC5, in one we were
compared to Steppenwolf

would you believe?

But we weren't forcing that
change, it was just happening.

- It died a death, that single.

It was terrible.

- At that time, we was a
reasonably successful band.

- We were selling millions.

- We wan't getting you
know, the money in,

I mean Curd, we got
well and truly fucked

to be honest with you.

- Yeah.

- Well, we were all short
of money, you know...

It was difficult being an
independent record label,

and it was difficult with
the music they were doing.

Maybe that's why Nick
wanted to commercialize it.

And I remember having
a meeting with them,

about the whole situation
and I just, you know,

maybe I've shit myself in
the foot, but that's what

you wanna do, that's what
I think, let's just forget

about it and you know,
still be friends.

- You know, it ended up in
fisticuffs and that was it,

you know.

- Yeah, we had a little
bit of a fight-ette.

- Oh no, they went
to it one day.

And apparently it was like
it lasted for about an hour.

- I think we're talking
about five minutes, maybe.

Not fighting for an hour.

I was really furious with
them, it was fucking stupid!

There was a big future
for them in America.

If they kept to what we
originally were gonna do,

I think they would have ended
up making a lot of money.

- We just wanted
obviously to sell records,

make money, but you know,
follow the rock and roll dream,

like you know,
like everyone does.

But, like with all untalented
bands, their first album

is brilliant, and their,
unless they're brilliant,

they will never,
ever write an album

as good as their first one.

- Up pops Doug Smith,
Bronze Records.

So we went along with a demo.

And Doug said they were amazing,
he said these are the best

rock songs I've ever heard.

So he said, I'll put up
20 grand for the album.

20 grand, I mean, to us, it
was like fucking 20 grand,

you know.

Christ almighty, all we've
got to do is go to the studio

and do that.

If we do it for five grand,
we have 15 grand between us,

life's gonna be pretty good,
we're back on the road again.

["Crime" by Anti-Nowhere League]

♪ Brother to brother

♪ Man to man

♪ Nation to nation

♪ We enter the age

♪ Of crime

- One of the most peculiar
things about this album

called Perfect Crime, was
where it was recorded.

It was called ICC Christian
Studios in the nearby town

referred to of course in
So What? as Eastbourne.

- We got 10% off, if we
said we were Christians.

- It wasn't our idea to go
to this Christian studio.

It was the most peculiar thing.

I mean, if you wrote
a comedy script,

no-one would believe
it, would they?

[laughing]

- Why, no, I know, it
was just an awful time.

We just wanted to do anything.

You know, half of
us were thinking of
chucking the band in.

Nick never wanted to
chuck the band in,

but I think Winston and I
were sort of getting a bit,

oh God, really?

- We totally and
absolutely lost the plot.

We were headed into a
territory we always said

we didn't want to go to.

- It was a drug
fueled cacophony.

- We thought we could get
in there and produce it with

a sound engineer and that.

Obviously we couldn't.

It shows how we'd
got up our own arse,

we had Dave Steer
playing keyboards for us,

looking like fucking...
- That's it.

- We should never have put
bloody keyboards on it.

It was the most
awful thing to do.

It was just dreadful.

I will put my hand up,
because I was so keen

to be of the '80's.

- We went along with
it, we're guilty.

We're not trying to put the
blame on anyone. We were lazy.

Yeah, that's good.

And it's like the King's
New Clothes, oh he likes it,

so it must be
good, I'll like it.

- Our drummer at the time
had a septic bollock,

do you remember?

- [Nick] Oh, I
remember that, yeah.

- Jonathan Birch, our drummer,
he had a septic bollock.

He had to have it in a sling!

And every time he's gone and
hit the bass drum, he's oh!

[laughing]

- He had it in a sack, like
one of those hair nets!

- Yeah!

[laughing]

- Like in a hair
net, his bollocks.

- Like the hair net or the
ones you put your washing in,

that you get in the
washing machine.

Yeah, his bollocks
was in a sack.

Poor bastard!

- He was drumming with his
legs wide apart, and this

swinging bollock!
- That's it.

- [Nick] Like in a hair net.

- I think in the end, we had
to, we sampled something,

'cause the bass drum was crap,
'cause he couldn't hit it.

- And it was awful, all of it.

- We went along, I don't know,
about two, three weeks later,

sporting the first cut
of the album to Doug.

He heard the songs and just
sat there with his head

in his hands in his office.

[laughing]

And we was there sort of
like looking at each other.

And he said, what the fuck
have you done to my songs?

[laughing]

We went, what?

What's the matter,
what's the matter?

They're good, ain't they?

He was, oh, fucking hell,
fucking hell, you know.

- I was almost in
bloody tears over it,

because it was such a disaster.

- He nearly had a
breakdown over it,

'cause we'd
absolutely fucked him.

We still at that time,
went on television playing,

thinking that we were
the next Duran Duran.

♪ I had a vision
of a new world ♪

♪ Another Eden in
a southern place ♪

♪ There's no way from
the Western wars ♪

♪ And in this land we
shall start again ♪

We'd gone past the point
of self-destruction.

But we'd come out of it as
this fucking nancy band.

♪ We'll be open for
the chosen few ♪

It was just so not
Anti-Nowhere League.

- You sell-out wankers.

Why would you do such a
heap of trash as that?

- [Nick] Strange things
drugs and money does to you.

- We lost it big time.

We fucked up to be honest.

- Yeah, that's when we
knew it was the end.

[audience cheer]

I met the missus anyway.

She came along in '84.

We finished the band
about '86 really.

That was it, we
went off, her and I.

You know, getting
a life together.

[church bells ring]

- I got a publishing deal and
went off and worked on that.

And that was the
end of it for me.

- We held on in there for a bit.

And then we decided about
'88, '89, do you know what?

Shall we just call it a day now?

And we did a final farewell at
Victoria Hall, Southborough.

[audience cheer]

- How are you doing, all right?

Welcome to the final farewell.

["Let's Break The Law"
by Anti-Nowhere League]

♪ I'm going out on the
streets and I'm feeling high ♪

♪ But you wanna fight me
and I don't know why ♪

- It was my stag night, it was
probably the best stag night

a person could ever have really.

It was a bloody
good gig, wan't it?

♪ But you turn on me,
all I see is blood ♪

- PJ came along I think and
played on there as well.

- It was punks there, but
then it was bikers there,

then there was like, I think
some of the band's parents

had even come, and sat
in the box upstairs.

Rather than go off on a fart,

we went off on a
fucking bang, you know?

♪ And they hate me

- Yeah, fuck off!

[audience cheer]

- That was it really.

We weren't gonna do anything
else, until Metallica

released So What?

- So fucking what?

["So What?" By Metallica]

♪ Well I've been to Hastings

♪ And I've been to Brighton

♪ And I've been to
Eastbourne too ♪

♪ So what, so what

- JB phoned up and said, oh
they're covering So What?

So what, you know.

And he said, yeah, metal band.

So fucking what?

He said yeah, but
they're really big!

You know, we got to go
along to see them, you know.

I don't want to fucking
want to see them, you know.

I'm not interested
in music anymore.

- We thought it was sort of
like, much ado about nothing

to be honest with you.

With hindsight, I mean
it was quite a big deal,

wan't it really?

- I'd no idea they'd want me
on stage with them, you know.

JB said, I'll drive you up
there now, they want you

on stage now, yeah you
got to help them there.

So he kept screaming
he'll pick me up.

Yeah, he drove like a
lunatic, got us there,

but I was shitting myself.

Half of me was going, go on
it'll be great up on stage.

The other half was going,
fuck off, you old bastard!

Get out of it, quick
as you can, run!

- Invite someone up here
to do some singing for us.

His name is Animal.

- And I sort of...oh, go for it.

How you doing, all right?

[audience cheer]

It's a real number they've
just fucked up from us.

And they ain't fucking
paid me yet all right?

[audience cheer]

It's called So Fucking What!

♪ Well I've been to Hastings
and I've been to Brighton ♪

♪ I've been to Eastbourne too

- They gave me the bug again.

♪ Who cares, who
cares about you ♪

♪ You, you, you, you, you,
you, you, you, you, you, you, ♪

♪ Everybody is so fucked

- Metallica released So What?
and suddenly there's a load

of money kicking about.

And we were being
offered big gigs again.

We jumped on board and
had a second shout at it.

It was a bit of fun for a while.

- Yeah!

Everybody changes.

And I think the band members
had their own changes,

they had their own jobs,
they had their own families.

Oh, I can't come tomorrow
night, missus is out,

I gotta look after the kids.

There's a million reasons
why you can't get five blokes

in the same room.

Obviously we decided
then that, I decided that

the Anti-Nowhere League
would be a long mission.

["Skull and Bones" by
Anti-Nowhere League]

♪ Are you ready boys?

Band members would come and go
as they want to come and go.

But for me personally,
it was always ongoing.

["Skull and Bones" by
Anti-Nowhere League]

It was a struggle.

But because I liked
performing punk music

and as simple as that,
I pushed on with it.

["Skull and Bones" by
Anti-Nowhere League]

- Nick, he is the Anti-Nowhere
League really, isn't he?

["Skull and Bones" by
Anti-Nowhere League]

- I think Animal
carries the band.

I think perhaps if
you lose Animal,

then you lose the League,

but the new lads
slot in very well.

- There's been a lot of
lineup changes over the years.

I think the band now,
as it is at the moment,

it's the best it's ever been.

There's a chemistry now, raw
chemistry between everyone

in the band.

And it can only get better
from now on I think.

- It usually starts off that
people are roadies first.

That's usually the thing,
you roadie with us for a long

time, they're like, if
you're gonna run prospect

for a bike gang.

- I was driving, lump lugging
gear, I was helping out,

you know.

It was so cool to be like,
oh, I'll be you know.

Even with Winston taking the
piss out of you all the time.

[laughing]

It's quite funny.

- Barnsy had been
with us forever.

We tried having
people out of town.

It don't work, Tunbridge
Wells people have,

they're a certain breed.

Tommy was a prime example.

He roadied with us for years.

And now he's taken over,
he's an amazing guitarist.

He's such a rock God.

He is, he doesn't realize it.

But he is fucking amazing.

- I got involved with
the band through,

it was actually through
a friend of mine.

He was working for
the band as road crew.

And then yeah, basically
they needed someone else

who sort of knew what they
were doing with guitars

and drums, and he just asked
me if I wanted to come away

for a weekend and
that was it really.

I was road crew for four years,
and then ended up joining

as guitarist.

- Sammy is a very good
friend of Tommy's.

They've played in smaller
bands in the past.

Tunbridge Wells guy, bit
of a crazy guy, Sammy.

He fits in quite nicely.

I first got involved with
the League through Tom.

We were teenagers
together, basically.

Went different schools,
but used to ride BMX bikes

when we were kids.

Obviously he was roadying
for the League for years

and years and years.

I think probably the
most civil conversation

I've ever had with Nick
was the day he asked me

to join the band, when
we were down the pub

with his wife, and I
think other than that,

I don't think he
said fucking once!

It's like a full
stop to him, innit?

[laughing]

- Punctuation.

[laughing]

- I go on stage no
different than I'm going

into a bare knuckle fight.

It's no difference.

It's me versus them, and
there's a last man standing.

If you had a fight,
you're gonna go down,

or you're gonna stand up,
it's the same attitude.

Happy Christmas!

[crowd cheer]

["Can't Stand Rock 'n' Roll"
by Anti-Nowhere League]

- He's still as
angry as he ever was.

- [Sammy] What is
he not angry about?

Nick is angry about
absolutely everything.

But then that's what gives him
his edge over everyone else,

it's 'cause he's so wound up.

- Yeah, other car drivers,
people on the road.

- People riding bicycles.

- Anger is dope, and
anger is good fun.

Anger is warm, it's empowering,
it's like a good curry,

it has a glow to it.

[inhales deeply]

Few things are as satisfying
as a towering rage.

♪ I can't stand rock and roll

♪ Fuck it up your
arsehole rock and roll ♪

- He dragged a fan onstage
last week and punched him,

'cause he threw a beer at him!

At 62, still beating people
up in front of everyone else.

It was great fun!

- After going to an
Anti-Nowhere League gig,

I just feel really energized.

It just makes me walk
away pleased and smiling.

I'm just sort of buzzing
round like a five year old

at Christmas time.

This is the sort
of band I'm after.

This is the sort of
heaviness I'm interested in.

It feels like somebody's just
basically smashing my face in,

it sort of just goes like that.

It just sort of sets
me off, I'm just like,

yeah, this is brilliant,
this is awesome!

And it's made me do
the typical thing like,

Vyvyan from The Young
Ones, I'm pogering about,

just doing stuff that makes
me look like a complete

idiot, but I know for a
fact, this is my world,

I don't care!

- And that's all!

[crowd cheer]

- Most of the time, you can't
go round smashing plates,

and punching people in the face.

But at an Anti-Nowhere
League show, you can.

- I hate people!

[crowd cheer]

- You know, they're boxed in
in this little cage in life

and when they come to an
Anti-Nowhere League show,

that's their chance to
jump out and punch someone

in the face.

And then they can go back to
being normal people afterwards.

- Yeah, I think that,
at the garage show,

someone actually
got knocked out.

- Yeah, probably.

["I Hate People" by
Anti-Nowhere League]

- I hate people.

I hate every cunt!

- Well the Anti-Nowhere
League exists on the planet

to do and say that which
should not be done or said.

And if anything that
they do say, or sing,

is acceptable,
that's it for them.

- We've always believed
in freedom of speech.

It's what punk music's about.

So I say to you
brothers and sisters,

don't be dictated to what
you can and cannot say.

[crowd cheer]

You're feeling a
little bit like me.

In the way that we know
we are the last cowboys.

When we wrote songs in the
past, So What?, I Hate People,

Animal, child molester, you
know, I'm your next door

neighbor, you know, all these
songs, it was a bit of fun.

Obviously now we're in this
new age, where probably old

people like me shouldn't be
anyway, you get into trouble,

you're not allowed
to say it anymore.

The day the world turned
gay to me, was just funny.

You know, and it always will be.

- You know what, if you
start burying things,

and saying you can't do this,
you drive it underground,

and as soon as you
drive it underground,

there's no opportunity to
say, you are wrong because...

♪ I sat beside the wall

♪ But no-one stand at all

♪ I stand convicted for
a crime I do not know ♪

♪ You are the judge

♪ You are the jury

♪ And all my life has
been the same old story ♪

- He's got the front to say it.

You know, I don't
care, I'll say it.

I'll wear glasses
and I'll say it.

You know.

Does he mean it?

No.

[bike engine rumbles]

- Fucking Anti-Nowhere League,
how deep do you wanna go?

Really, spare me.

- The appeal to young
people with the League

is it's two fingers
to the establishment.

It's purely simple that.

It's what it is.

- So my Dad Got it into
me, and then I introduced

it to Jody, and ever since.

- I've just loved them.

- We've brought my Mom and Dad
back again to see them again.

'Cause you've just
gotta see them.

- Following them around
the country when I can,

two or three gigs a year.

Particularly if
they're in London.

And I love it.

God bless the League!

- We are the League!

["We Are The League"
by Anti-Nowhere League]

- When you're an uneducated
come from Tunbridge Wells,

and I'm an uneducated come
from Redhill which is just

down the road, you
know, it's like, yeah,

we get out of that,

and to move into
a different place.

It's like walking on water.

And they managed it, and for
that, they should be applauded.

["We Are The League"
by Anti-Nowhere League]

- Tunbridge Wells people
spend their lives saying

I'm gonna leave this town.

And then when you leave
it, you suddenly say,

I wanna come back.

- What keeps me in
Tunbridge Wells.

Well this is the question
we all ask ourselves

all the time.

Because, it's an
awful place to be in.

["We Are The League"
by Anti-Nowhere League]

- It was weird, we'd be
away on tour you know,

and we'd be like you know,
doing American and Canadian

tour, or whatever, but
couldn't wait to get back

to Tunbridge Wells.

It was like a magnet drawing
you back all the time.

You know, I s'pose it's
home, innit really, you know?

- I'm still here.

I own the place.

[laughing]

I'm only kidding.

[laughing]

I own half of it.

["We Are The League"
by Anti-Nowhere League]

- I'm still here, I've
moved out a couple of times.

I'm back now.

I'm a homing pigeon here.

Thank you brothers and sisters!

We salute ya!

We salute ya!

[crowd cheer]

We're in the hands of the
punters, we always have been.

And this is it.

Punters will tell you if
they want to see you or not,

and I think, you know, I'll
be the first one to know

soon as they tell
me to fuck off.

I will do it all the time
until they tell me to fuck off!

[motorbike engine rumbles]

- [Interviewer] Is there
anything you'd do differently?

- Yeah, I had sauerkraut
and bratwurst in Germany

and I didn't like it.

That's about the only thing.

I didn't like sauerkraut
and I didn't like bratwurst

sausage, but other than
that, everything I've done,

I've enjoyed.

[dog barks]