The (Fading) Memories of an Old Punk: Part 2

(Pictured above: the top-floor of the Ambulance Station today)

I put up the post 'The (Fading) Memories of an Old Punk' thinking it would be a one off but, soon after it was sent out a lengthy comment was left by a man named Chas Loft. In it he describes his own experiences of The Ambulance Station music venue/squat that was on Old Kent Road during the 1980s and once again I just cannot resist reposting this fine write up.

Flowers in the Dustbin - Lick My Crazy Colours

I think i recall both the gigs Pete mentions. My band Flowers in the Dustbin played at the venue with Flux of Pink Indians in 1983 and i think this must be the gig Pete refers to as I do remember they made a truly dreadful noise that night, it was around the time they were experimenting with new sounds of the kind on 'Uncarved Block' but the experiment produced some horrible results and if this isn't the gig where their bass player apologised to the audience then she should have done! They were even worse than us, although I had the advantage of hearing us from the stage where the sound may have been better - Pete Wright of Crass was mixing allegedly and the other band playing were the band that later became the sugarcubes although whether bjork was in them at the time I can't remember now. What does stick in my mind is that it was a very hot night and the venue was packed, the doors at the back of the gig room were opened to let some air in but it didn't seem any cooler. I remember sweat andnaked torsos dancing in twilight and heat. This gig was reviewed briefly in sounds by someone called Winston Smith. As I recall there was a stage arranged so that when you played you had your back to the old kent road side of the building. The final memory of that night is that there seemed to be an underlying threat of violence, not in the venue but around outside - whether there was a rumour that skinheads were going to attack or whether I just feared this, knowing what that part of London was like I can't remember (we rehearsed in Bermondsey and I was once threatened with a knife in the street for having dyed hair - in 1983 for chrissake!) The JAMC gig was later (1985?) and there was no stage, in fact the whole place seemed smaller. I 'm not sure if I saw the gig or the soundcheck, which I believe can be heard on the Kill Your pet Puppy website, but they were dreadful and I went home after a couple of songs - otherwise i would have missed the last tube - this gig soon assumed near legendary status as one of the notorious early riot-like performances that initially allowed certain music press types to pretend JAMC were the new pistols - but I stand by my original analysis, they made some ok records later on but they were half hype and half shite! Having said that maybe I'd have been won over if I'd bothered to see he whole set. My memory is that this was one of the best and longest-lived squat venues in London but I only went their the two times as I lived in Stoke Newington so Old Kent Rd might as well have been Mars. The two best squat venues I remember were the blue house (Sutton House) in Hackney and the house on Bonnington Sq with a floor removed. However I think the mob played a party at Canonbury railway station when some people squatted it in the basement which was like a dungeon - if they didn't play it must have been a record and I must have been drinking tenants and thunderbird wine - either way it was a night to remember (or try to)!

Chas Loft, March 2011