UK Subs’ Charlie Harper (81) has served 50 years in the punk wars. Give this man a medal!

UK Subs formed in 1976 when Charlie Harper was 32. They’ve had over 80 members, some of whom he can’t remember. They never split up and are touring in 2026 to celebrate his 82nd birthday. “I vowed I’d keep playing as long at the Stones - which I’m now starting to regret!” After 50 years on the punk frontline, he’s the first to see the humour in going deaf and “having to have the occasional sit-down”. This fond and honest conversation looks back at …

… seeing the Stones at Ken Colyers’ jazz club and drinking with them in the Porcupine

… making £4 a day – “a fortune” – playing tube stations in 1964: “ex-buskers never get stagefright”

 … “dreadlocks, Afros, convoy cuts” – confessions of a teenage hairdresser

… what he learnt from Joe Strummer and the 101-ers

… his punk epiphany: seeing the Damned at the Roxy in 1976

… playing France’s Hellfest to 30,000 people and why the spirit of ‘77 still burns on the West Coast

… famous fans: Guns N’Roses, Hanoi Rocks, Dinosaur Jnr

… the UK Subs’ run-in with US Immigration

… skiffle, Jesse Fuller, Woody Guthrie, Big Bill Broonzy, Donovan and mid-‘70s R&B

…the onstage rigours of getting old: “I don’t get adrenaline anymore and have to have the occasional sit-down!”

… Where Did I Leave My Glasses? Why Did I Come Upstairs? – our fantasy tracks for the senior citizen!

Order UK Subs tickets here: https://ww.uksubstimeandmatter.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=16899&Itemid=161

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