1979: The Story So Far: continues from our September issue:

While the far right were causing a lot of problems around town - among them firebombing Infinity Foods, assaulting perceived left wingers and generally spreading mayhem at a few punk gigs - 1979 saw the rise of another new wave of Brighton bands to counteract all the negativity that was going down, both locally and nationally.

By the end of the year, with the rubbish piling up in the streets and Thatcher's Iron Lady promising yet more shite, early trailblazers like Wrist Action, Flesh and the Depressions (DP's) had evolved into Fan Club, The Lillettes and the Vandells respectively, while the Molesters pushed on with changed personnel.

As well as the Molesters, bass player Paul Martin played in Fan Club, Siren, the Relatives, Life Size Models, Venus In Furs and Tower of Babel. Paul has been a mine of information and this site is indebted to him for all the new cuttings, photos, posters and audio clips (coming soon) that are now uploaded in cyberspace. Cheers mate! Read his extensive piece on the evolution of the Life Size Models. And there is still more to come. Watch this space.

One of Pauls' cuttings was from the Brighton & Hove Gazette. John Wellington had written a pithy piece entitled THE WORST BAND IN BRIGHTON! To those on the scene Fan Club were certainly by then one of the best bands around, but if you're out there John, good on ya, you were one of the few local reporters who had the bottle to go to a punk gig. To read the original press cutting check out the extended Fan Club Gallery.

Many thanks to Dick Damage, whose scrapbook hit my scanner last week, revealed previously unseen photos of his various incarnations as DD & the Imitators, DD & the Destroyers, DD & the Dilemma and the DD Big Band. Along with a few new Molesters photos, enough to build a gallery for both bands.

Meanwhile, the Chefs had morphed from Joby & the Hooligans a year earlier and by '79 were starting to attract a bit more attention, especially from John Peel, as were the Golinski Brothers with the memorable track 'Bloody'.

Along with the Vandells, the Lillettes, Ijax All Stars and Woody & the Splinters, they featured on the eagerly awaited second Attrix Records album, Vaultage 79. All these bands can be found on this site. Go > for the bands' control panel.

Bassist Paul Martin in his Fan Club days, also played in the Molesters, Siren, and the Relatives before Life Size Models, who were featured on Vaultage 80. Click on his mugshot to read his LSM story

• Helen McCookerybook, formerly singer and bassist with the Chefs and later, Helen & the Horns, appears live on stage in a solo gig at the Albert on Wednesday October 18th. Also playing are the Popguns. Tickets on the door or in advance from Rounder and Resident Records. See you down there