Egad! Seventies punk icons Jimmy Pursey and Johnny Rotten got into a bit of a row Wednesday outside the U.S. Embassy in London, BBC 6 Music news reports.
Pursey was on line queued up to collect a visa prior to his trip to New York City for the upcoming Sham 69 benefit shows for CBGB this coming Sunday and Monday; Rotten was there for reasons that were not disclosed (a reality tv show casting call in the States, perhaps?). A long-smoldering feud was re-kindled when Rotten spurned Pursey's offer of a handshake and threw coffee over the Hersham Boy instead. Pursey landed a retaliatory kick before armed Embassy guards stepped in, at least one of whom was a fan of the combatants. As Pursey explained: "It's not every day you get a guy with a submachine gun round your head telling you he's a Sham 69 fan."
Improbably -- especially considering that it was 7:30am! -- the kafuffle was witnessed by 80s has-beens The Proclaimers, who were also at the Embassy. No doubt their overly large mouths were agape.
Suggested soundtrack for this post (all RealAudio):
"If The Kids Are United" by Sham 69, from Hova's show
"Anarchy In The UK" by the Sex Pistols, from Ken's show
Sham 69's "Hurry Up Harry" as performed by Terre T and the Hoof & Mouth Sinfonia, from the 2003 Marathon Finale
Hmmm...the Proclaimers and the Declaimers both in the same queue
Posted by: Guest | August 26, 2005 at 02:45 PM