Only Fit For The Bin Records
Cleethorpes Winter Gardens was the place to be. We’d already had the SEX PISTOLS on the Anarchy in the UK tour. Then came THE DAMNED and THE ADVERTS. And one night in July 1977 we were in THE BOYS’ dressing room after their blistering performance, seeking advice for our own band, EXIT, when Kid Reid, on his Fender Mustang, gave our bassist, Dave, his first lesson. That was our first official rehearsal!
Our debut gig ended in a full-scale riot. Our audience attacked us. It resulted in a major trial at Lincoln Crown Court and a recording session for the BBC. Oh, and we were back at Cleethorpes Winter Gardens supporting The Damned. (You’ll have to read the sleeve notes to find out how it was that Captain Sensible nicked my red beret!)
Back in the studios again to record our debut single, only to realise, after sending it off to be pressed, that there were two similarly-named bands called The EXITS so we changed our name to THE WHAT and released the highly collectable EAST COAST KIDS EP as featured on the Bored Teenagers compilation series.
As the ‘70s faded and the ‘80s dawned, we reverted back to our original name EXIT, released two more ‘45s and continued to gig. And, yes – Cleethorpes Winter Gardens was still the place to be!