The Bromley Contingent were a group of followers and fans of the Sex Pistols. They owed their name to Bromley, the neighbourhood in London where some of them lived. They helped popularize the fashion of the early UK punk movement The Sex Pistols were an iconic and highly influential English punk rock band, formed in London in 1975. ... Bromley is the principal town in the London Borough of Bromley, England. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Punk fashion is the styles of clothing, hairstyles, cosmetics, jewelry, and body modifications of the punk subculture. ...

The group included Siouxsie Sioux, Jordan, Simon 'Boy' Barker, Debbie Juvenile (née Wilson), Linda Ashby, Philip Salon, Simone Thomas, Bertie 'Berlin' Marshall, Tracie O'Keefe, Steve Severin, Tony James, Billy Idol and Christopher Billett. Soo Catwoman was also associated with the Bromley Contingent, although she does not consider herself to have been a member^[1]. Susan Janet Ballion (born May 27, 1957 in Bromley, London), better known by her stage name, Siouxsie Sioux (IPA: , pronounced the same way as Susie Sue), is the lead singer of both the influential rock band Siouxsie & the Banshees and of its splinter group The Creatures. ... Steven Severin (born September 25, 1955), sometimes written Steve Severin, is a bassist and founding member of Siouxsie & The Banshees. ... Tony James on stage with Carbon/Silicon Tony James (born on 12 April 1958) is a British musician, best known as a bassist of Generation X and Sigue Sigue Sputnik. ... Billy Idol (born William Michael Albert Broad, 30 November 1955 in Middlesex) is an English rock musician. ... Famous photograph of Soo Catwoman by Ray Stevenson. ...

The Bromley Contingent attained a degree of notoriety when Sioux, Severin, Thomas and Barker appeared on ITV with the Sex Pistols to be interviewed by television journalist Bill Grundy in December 1976. Goaded by Grundy, Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones used the word "shit" on Thames Television's early evening television programme Today, as well as calling Grundy a "fucking rotter" after the interviewer made a rather inept attempt at "chatting up" Siouxsie. Although the programme was only seen in the Thames Television region, the ensuing furore occupied the tabloid newspapers for days and shortly after The Sex Pistols were dropped by their record label, EMI. Independent Television (generally known as ITV, but also as ITV Network) is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority (ITA) to provide competition to the BBC. ITV is the oldest commercial television network in the UK. Since 1990 and the Broadcasting... William Grundy (February 20, 1923 - February 9, 1993), commonly called Bill, was a British television presenter and was the host of Thames Televisions Today show in the 1970s. ... Stephen Phillip Jones (b. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A tabloid is a newspaper — especially in the United Kingdom — that uses the tabloid format, which is roughly 23½ by 14¾ inches per spread. ... The EMI Group (LSE: EMI) is a British music company comprising of the major record company EMI Music which operates several labels, based in Kensington in London, England, and EMI Music Publishing, based in New York. ...

Many of the Bromley Contingent went on to form bands themselves including Siouxsie & the Banshees and Generation X. Arguably they had greater influence than Malcolm McLaren's shops and Vivienne Westwood's designs in shaping the development and look of the early UK punk movement. The fashion statements made by Siouxsie Sioux, in particular, incorporating fetish and bondage clothing, and her innovative style of makeup, continue to live on in punk and goth fashion. Siouxsie and the Banshees were a British rock band that formed in 1976. ... Generation X were a pop-influenced punk rock band, formed on 21 November 1976 by Billy Idol, Tony James and John Towe. ... Malcolm McLaren (born Malcolm Robert Andrew Edwards, 22 January 1946, in London) is an English impresario, musician and self-publicist who is best known as being the manager of the punk rock band Sex Pistols. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Sexual fetishism is the attribution of attractive sexual qualities to non-living objects as an overwhelming alternative to the sexuality of a man or a woman, or as an enhancing element to a relationship. ... A model in bondage cuffs with a leg spreader In the context of BDSM, bondage involves people being tied up or otherwise restrained for pleasure. ... For other uses, see Cosmetic. ... Punk fashion is the styles of clothing, hairstyles, cosmetics, jewelry, and body modifications of the punk subculture. ... Goths in southern Germany Gothic fashion is a style of dress of young people who identify themselves as goths. ...

Some have it that Sid Vicious, the bassist who replaced Glen Matlock in The Sex Pistols, hated the Bromley Contingent. Some credit Vicious with inventing the Pogo as a means to knock them over at the 100 Club, while it may in fact have been more of a case of jumping up and down to see over the top of them. It seems the story of Sid hating them may not be true, because he frequently associated with them, and was briefly the drummer for Siouxsie and the Banshees. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Glen Matlock (born August 27, 1956 in West London, England) was the original bass guitarist of punk rock band the Sex Pistols. ... The Sex Pistols in 1977. ... The pogo is a dance where the dancers jump up and down to an eight-count rhythm, similar to the dances of the Pentecostal faith and various African tribes. ...

References

1. ^ Oh and I also need to say this; I never was a member of the so-called Bromley Contingent, I just knew them, I have never claimed, nor do I have any connections whatsoever with Bromley - either of them..... Soo Catwoman on Myspace

External links

• Bill Grundy interview with The Sex Pistols and the Bromley Contingent
• Punk 77 website article on The Bromley Contingent
• Berlin, Bromley - an extract from Marshall's book on SpikeMagazine.com
• an interview with Bertie Marshall by Andrew Gallix in 3:AM Magazine, October 2001
• an interview with Six/Simon Barker by Andrew Gallix in 3:AM Magazine, August 2002