The Innocents were an English punk rock band, that formed in the spring of 1978 and played frequently with

The Clash The Clash were an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they are considered one of the most influential acts in the original wave of British punk rock, with their music fusing elements ...

and

The Slits The Slits were a punk/post-punk band based in London, formed there in 1976 by members of the groups the Flowers of Romance and the Castrators. The group's early line-up consisted of Ari Up (Ariane Forster) and Palmolive (a.k.a. Paloma Rom ...

. The original lineup was predominantly female with four women and one male. The band began when Sarah Hall, (ex- Flowers of Romance) approached Marguerite Martin, later

Marguerite Van Cook Marguerite Van Cook (née Martin, born 1954) is an English artist, writer, musician/singer and filmmaker. Early life and education Van Cook was born in Portsmouth, England. She attended Portsmouth College of Art and Design, Northumbria Universi ...

, in the

Vortex Club The Vortex Jazz Club is a music venue in London. It was founded by David Mossman in 1988. Background The Vortex started as a jazz club in 1988 and was located in Stoke Newington Church Street, north London. But after the acquisition of that ...

on Wardour Street in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and invited her to start a band. Sarah Hall borrowed a

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

from

Paul Simonon Paul Gustave Simonon (; born 15 December 1955) is an English musician and artist best known as the bassist for the Clash. More recent work includes his involvement in the supergroup the Good, the Bad & the Queen and playing on the Gorillaz alb ...

, and they invited Greg Van Cook, who was in the process of breaking away from the Electric Chairs, to play guitar. Greg Van Cook was an original member of the New York Backstreet Boys of Max’s Kansas City, who became The Electric Chairs. He co-authored the punk anthem, "Fuck Off" with

Jayne County Jayne County (born Wayne Rogers) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, record producer, and visual artist whose career has spanned six decades. Under the name Wayne County (inspired by Wayne County, Michigan), she was the vocalist of infl ...

. The lineup was completed by the addition of Fiona Barry on the

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

and Susy Hogarth on

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...

s. They performed self-penned

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

songs. The Innocents played gigs at multiple punk friendly venues in

, among them several at Acklam Hall opening for The Slits. In early November 1978, Sarah Hall asked The Clash if The Innocents could join them on their upcoming "''Sort It Out Tour''". They agreed and the lineup for the tour was set with the Innocents opening for The Slits and The Clash. The "''Sort It Out Tour''" began in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and covered stops all over

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, though several of the venues were canceled due to ad-hoc town ordinances that banned The Clash in fear of the influence of punk. Including the tour, The Innocents played thirty-one gigs in a row with only a single day’s break to end at the tour at the

Lyceum The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Basic science and some introduction to ...

. The DJ on the tour was Barry (Scratch) Myers. These gigs included the

Sid Vicious Simon John Ritchie (10 May 1957 – 2 February 1979), better known by his stage name Sid Vicious, was an English musician, best known as the second bassist for the punk rock band Sex Pistols. After his death in 1979 at the age of 21, he remai ...

Benefit Gig. They also played with

Siouxsie and the Banshees Siouxsie and the Banshees ( ) were a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. Post-punk pioneers, they were widely influential, both over their contemporaries and later ...

at the Music Machine in London, before the 3 January 1979 date with The Clash, which was added due to an overbooking of the "Sid Vicious Defense Fund" benefit show. After the tour, Sarah Hall quit the band and was replaced on bass by Jo Hurst. Greg Van Cook joined Front and then

The Vibrators The Vibrators were a British punk rock band whose greatest success was in 1977–1978 with the albums ''Pure Mania'' and ''V2 (album), V2''. Their first Epic Records single "Baby Baby (The Vibrators song), Baby Baby" is considered a punk cla ...

, but continued to perform with The Innocents as well, except at the

Marquee Marquee may refer to: * Marquee (overhang), a secondary covering attached to the exterior wall of a building * Marquee (structure), a structure placed over the entrance to a hotel, theater, casino, train station, or similar building. * Pole marquee ...

when The Innocents opened for The Vibrators and Henry Silver played guitar with The Innocents. Terry Smith took over as drummer. The band ended in 1980. Terry Smith was approached by Marguerite to come with them to New York to do a small tour. after three rehearsal's at Halogan's in Holloway Rd where Smith worked. Soon they left for New York, and ended up playing at

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in the East Village, Manhattan, East Village in Manhattan, New York City. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for ''Cou ...

for one gig in November. They disbanded soon after. Smith went back to the UK to continue his career as a drummer with The Nipple Erectors, The Barracuddas, and The Temper.

Recordings

The Innocents recorded songs for an EP with

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they became culturally influential in popular music. The band initiated the punk movement in the United Ki ...

producer and musician, Dave Goodman, but the tapes never were made available to the public. A reported record deal with "Sticky Records" never materialized."Innocents Sign," Record Mirror 13 October 1979: 5

References

External links

The Arteries Group / Marguerite Van Cook

{{DEFAULTSORT:Innocents (UK punk band), The All-female punk bands English punk rock groups Musical groups established in 1978 Rock music groups from London