The North Poly student body & friends clarify their stance, 15 March 1985.
 
By the spring of 1985, The Jesus and Mary Chain had become the Western world’s most intriguing new band. With punk a tired memory and the charts full of “Ghostbusters” and “Say Say Say,” there was very little dynamism in pop music and very little out there to excite anyone.

Enter singer Jim and guitarist William, the spotty Reid brothers from the Glasgow suburb of East Kilbride, accompanied by bassist Douglas Hart and drummer Bobby Gillespie (who would go on to sing for Primal Scream). Signed by fellow Scot Alan McGee to his fabled Creation Records after he heard one of their sound checks, The J&MC had both a widely reported drug bust under their belts and their first single “Upside Down” firmly entrenched in the UK indie chart by the time they hit the stage at the Polytechnic of North London in the spring of 1985.

The college itself was embroiled in unrest the previous year over the lectures of National Front fascist Patrick Harrington, which engendered a threat from the Secretary of State for Education to shut the place down. So the place was in a hot mood in general.

Finally, chaotic rock noise had made it into the charts, and these geezers had a TV spot on their hands on which to sport their unique brand of soft-spoken post-punk arrogance. Now, would the crowd come through in response to their speed-drenched 20-minute headline set?
 

 
Previously on Dangerous Minds:
Piano duo perform lovely cover of the Jesus and Mary Chain’s ‘Just Like Honey’