Before It Went Rotten

Before It Went Rotten takes a trip back to the world before punk.

When Anarchy in the UK appeared, London enjoyed one of the most vibrant music scenes in the world. A network of mainly Irish owned pubs and clubs provided music every night, much of it free of charge, whilst working as a testing ground for up and coming talent. This book traces the evolution of what was quickly labelled ‘pub-rock’: from rock and roll revival acts via late blues bands, country rock, funk, soul and art school bands to the sound that eventually burst on the scene as punk rock in 1976.

Specific chapters cover the career of Brinsley Schwarz, the Southend bands and the step by step rise of the Sex Pistols. Among those interviewed are former members of Fumble, Darts, the John Dummer Blues Band, Blue Goose, Legend, Eddie and the Hot Rods, Brinsley Schwarz, Bees Make Honey, Ducks de Luxe, Kokomo, Roogalator, Burlesque, Kilburn and the High Roads, GT Moore and the Reggae Guitars, Clancy, the Fabulous Poodles, the Sex Pistols and Meal Ticket. With acts like Dire Straits, Elvis Costello, Ian Dury and Graham Parker all emerging from this terrain, the reader is asked to consider, what, if anything, would have been different if McLaren’s band had never been around.

Extensively researched, and drawing on contemporaneous reviews and articles from the music press of the time, Before It Went Rotten bids fair to be the definitive study of an overlooked era.

‘Addresses everything with a thoroughness and eye for detail that’s hugely impressive’ Irish Times

‘[An] absorbing, fact-filled book’ Herald

‘Simon Matthews’s comprehensive and enjoyable overview… excels as a gazetteer of film genres as varied as black cinema, dystopian futures, the rise and fall of punk rock, 1980s agitprop, and the big-screen careers of Joan Collins and David Bowie’ Spectator

‘A must-purchase for fans of British films and pop music’ Goldmine

Author Biography

Simon Matthews has had a varied career including serving as a local councillor in London for more than ten years, a spell running the British Transport Films documentary film library and several years singing in semi-professional rock groups. He has contributed articles on music, film and cultural history to Record Collector, Shindig! and Lobster magazines. Psychedelic Celluloid, his illustrated history of UK music, film and TV between 1965 and 1974, was published by Oldcastle Books in 2016; the sequel, Looking for a New England, followed in 2021; House in the Country, which examines developments in urban planning and residential architecture, was published in 2022; and Free Your Mind!, an exploration of Giovanni ‘Tinto’ Brass and 1960s ‘Swinging London’, is due for publication in spring 2023.