Were Johnny & The Self Abusers fuelled by anger and outrage like the rest of the punk bands?
No. The punk that I related to was more the American punk – Lou Reed, The New York Dolls, The Stooges and stuff – and although there was anger there, it wasn’t like the British punk, which was more politicised. For us it was more the fact that you could learn three chords and get a hell of a noise going. When you’re 18 you’re just dying to let go, heh heh. In that sense there were links to early rock ‘n’ roll, where people just wanted to make this noise out of natural exuberance. Noise that made them feel 10 feet tall. Simple Minds were influenced by Bowie and Roxy Music too. We had them in terms of language, yes. Unfortunately, we couldn’t play! That was the great thing about Lou Reed and The velvet Underground: if you could play three chords you could play a dozen of their songs. Whereas Bowie and Roxy, brilliant stuff although it was, and also influenced by the The Velvet Underground, they were more art-rock. There was a finesse that I think we finally accomplished, but not in the e
