punkbrighton | Slaves of Janet

Charles Carr | Slaves of Janet | June 2008
Anyone remember "Slaves of Janet"? They started off in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, back in 1980 or thereabouts, had a few gigs, then the lead went back to UK, who was working for Virgin at the time. I was friends with Simon Davis, who followed "Janet" back to the UK and was living in Brixton, where I visited him a few times. Simon then came back to South Africa where he passed away shortly afterwards. Simon's parents were killed the following year in a terrorist attack at a country club in Port Elizabeth. Any of this ring a bell? All the best. Charles

(also known by the punk rock bands of the time as the "magic mechanic" as I was always repairing their amps and vehicles, kind of a general handyman and hanger-on. I play the bagpipes myself, which never quite took on as a recognized punk rock instrument - being too militaristic I suppose ;-))

The history of Punk Rock is the history of the youth at a time of the Cold War, apartheid, post-Vietnam and all the other troubles of the world then - punk rock helped the world to move forward from then and it is still needed today, more than ever.

The name is somewhat misleading - but Punk Rockers were people with real hearts and real concerns for their fellows. Many ex-punk rockers today hold responsible positions in government and the community and we can only hope that they haven't forgotten the messages of their youth.

View pdf of South African punk press

Hairbrain | Slaves of Janet | July 2008
Can't believe this website! Slaves of Janet at the Richmond with the Lillettes I think it was. Maybe it was somewhere else. I was there (wherever it was) but I cant remember anything else! Do I get a prize? HB