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Last updated 16 January 2016
updated July 2021 - added Sounds review
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Details on his promotion of bands including The Clash at The Nags Head High Wycombe.
"Violence at the punk gigs at The 100 Club bought a ëpunkí ban at the Oxford Street venue ñ the infamous Sid Vicious bottle throwing incident at the September 1976 Punk Festival being the final straw. But Londonís loss was High Wycombe's gain as Watts brought the up and coming punk bands to The Nagís Head. Following the summer heatwave of 1976, Watts promoted gigs from the likes of the Stranglers, The Damned and The Clash ñ all before they had signed deal with major record labels.
Wattsí gigs at The Nags Head would play a significant part in the rise of ëpunk rockí and also helped wake up the ëterminally uncoolí High Wycombe to develop a punk movemenet of its own, putting on many local bands as support acts to the wave of artists that exploded onto the national music scene at the time. However, a brief foray into band management in 1976 with The Damned ended on a sour note when he objected to the band swearing at the paying punters, shouting from the back of the loft venue at The Nag's Head, "Keep it up and I'll fetch my shotgun. We'll see how much of a punk you are then."
See here. The Xtraverts played there a lot and there is some info here.
Not a lot known known - Google Search
Did you go? What do you remember?
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No known recording
If you know of any recording, please
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There are several sights that provide setlists but most mirror www.blackmarketclash.co.uk. They are worth checking.
from Setlist FM (cannot be relied on)
from Songkick (cannot be relied on)
... both have lists of people who say they went
& from the newer Concert Database
Also useful: Ultimate Music datbase, All Music, Clash books at DISCOGS
A collection of articles, interviews, reviews, posters, tour dates from early 1976. Articles cover the period form July to New Year.
If you know of any articles or references for this particular gig, anything that is missing, please do let us know.
Paywall - original print wanted
The Clash: Nag's Head, High Wycombe
Live Review by Kris Needs, Sounds, 27 November 1976
THE CLASH gave the provincial nightmare of High Wycombe an electric shock it won't soon forget last Thursday night. ...
76 11 27 Sounds High Wycome review
Vive Le Rock
GROWING UP WITH… NICKY WELLER!
“The Pistols looked great too, so different for the time. With their sound and Johnny’s voice, they were something I hadn’t heard or seen before. Rotten was totally memorising and had so much front. It was revolutionary at the time, and so were the five blues I’d dropped! After that, we saw them (and the five-piece Clash) at the Punk festival at the 100 club. Ron Watts was the promoter and he also ran the Nags Head in High Wycombe. Both bands blew my mind and that was it for me - I wanted to be a part of this new scene.”
Jordan - SEX shop assistant
WYCOMBEGIGS.co.uk
Thursday 18th November 1976 - Clash - Nag’s Head
Punk originals The Clash play The Nag’s Head for the only time. ‘Punk’ was still waiting to happen in High Wycombe, so it was a half-full venue who were lucky enough to witness a 30 minute electrify set, filled with anger and hate. But for some who stood among the A&R men that night in The Nag’s Head loft, it would prove another milestone in the catalyst for a change in the local music scene.
Eight months before this gig Clash lead singer Joe Strummer had played The Nag’s Head with pub rockers The 101’ers. (archived PDF version)
Strummerville to Waterlooville November 1976
The Clash at The Nags Head 18th November 1976 - advert from the Bucks Free PressWhile demand to see Wanderers’ tie at Waterlooville, some 80 miles from High Wycombe, was impressive, an event closer to home, just two days prior to the trip to Hampshire, failed to capture the imagination of the Buckinghamshire public.
Playing down The Nag’s Head, on the London Road, High Wycombe on Thursday 18th November 1976 were an up and coming punk band called The Clash. 50p would have gained you entry that night to the Ron Watts promoted gig - this assuming you could have drawn yourself away from watching the live coverage of Miss World broadcast by the BBC from The Albert Hall. The Nag’s Head was half-full that night, with much of the audience made up of record company A&R men eager to see why there was such a fuss about a band who had only debuted on the live circuit the previous July - a support slot for The S*x Pistols at a Sheffield pub.
Lead singer Joe Strummer came on stage at The Nag's Head sporting freshly dyed blonde hair and a boiler suit with HATE AND WAR painted across the back. They blasted through a set including ‘White Riot’, ‘London’s Burning’ and ’48 Hours’. Just over two weeks later The Pistols said some rude words on national TV and punk was truly born - a month later The Clash signed a £100,000 record deal with CBS.
An extended article on The Clash gig at The Nag's Head in November 1976 is due to be published on the soon to be launched www.wycombegigs.co.uk website.=
Ron Watts Promoter RIP
Online or Archived PDF
Details on his promotion of bands including The Clash at The Nags Head High Wycombe.
Ron Watts Interview Nov 2006
Ron Watts Interview part 1
Ron Watts Interview part 2
Ron Watts Interview part 3
Return of the Last Gang in Town
Marcus Gray - page 224
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