Teenage Kicks

Fifty years ago the first punk single, New Rose by The Damned, was released. For Chris Packham this was the start of a cultural revolution that continues to define his life and ethos.

Five decades after the anarchy and attitude of punk exploded onto the UK's music scene, Chris meets the people who, like him, were touched by its energy and ideas. What happened to the ultimate teenage upstarts now they've grown old, got a mortgage and maybe even a bus pass? Chris talks to the punks to find out why the music had such an impact.

In Episode 1, Teenage Kicks, Chris hears from musician Andy Blade who, aged 15 in 1976, read an interview with Johnny Rotten who said you didn't need to be able to play instruments to get on stage. So he and his mates stole guitars from a local shop to form the band Eater. who ended up supporting The Damned.

Chris also talks to artist Alex Michon, who saw the first ever Sex Pistols gig at St Martins School of Art and went on to design clothes for The Clash that re-created Jackson Pollock paint splashes in zips; and Thomas Paul Burgess from the Belfast band Ruefrex, who crossed the sectarian divide to play gigs in Catholic areas, challenging the accepted order in Northern Ireland.

For Phil King, the impact of punk pushed him into leaving a dead-end job, getting a degree and becoming an engineer. For Chris Packham, punk took a kid who felt like an outsider and gave him an identity and a mission - the punk explosion fuelled his activism and drive to protect the natural world today. 

Produced by Sara Conkey
Sound Design by Melvin Rickarby
Music by John Cranmer
Executive Producer: Helen Lennard

A True Thought production for BBC Radio 4