Mickey ‘Penguin’

In 1979, aged twelve going on thirteen, Mickey’s pre-teen and early teen obsession was buying

records, The Skids ‘Into The Valley’ and Generation X ‘King Rocker’ were the first two records in

the collection. Records by bands like the UK Subs, Stiff Little Fingers, the Clash, the Pistols, the mod

revival and 2-Tone bands, shortly followed. Eventually more obscure band’s records begun to be

added to the collection. Bands like Chron Gen, Discharge, the Mob, Zounds, the Poison Girls and

Crass. Mickey’s main priority around this time was buying records and finding out about new bands,

school was not a priority (as his canings, detentions, daily reports, and his dismal exam results would

eventually prove!) The first major punk gig that Mickey witnessed was the UK Subs at the Stevenage

Bowes Lyon House in October 1981 aged fourteen. He walked out the venue buzzing. More gigs

shortly followed. Fast forward some years, towards the end of 1985, and Mickey started to help out at

the All The Madmen record label (and mail order) helping there for over two years until All The

Madmen wound down during the early months of 1988. Shortly afterwards Mickey started his own

small mail order business, King Penguin Distribution, to fill the void of the All The Madmen mail

order winding down. During March 1989, and while still running King Penguin Distribution, John

Loder from Southern Studios, offered Mickey a position working at Southern Record Distribution, the

record distribution arm of Southern Studios, a position that Mickey enjoyed up until November 2017.

In 2007 Mickey helped to start the Kill Your Pet Puppy (punk and anarcho-punk) blog along with

Gerard (ex) of Flowers In The Dustbin, Alistair (ex) of All The Madmen records, and Tony Drayton,

AKA Tony D, who had produced, written and edited the legendary Kill Your Pet Puppy fanzine from

1979 until 1983, a fanzine that produced six issues.

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Greg Bull heard the Sex Pistols as a twelve year old and liked the noise they made. He liked their

energy. He liked their attitude. And he liked their dress-sense and their rejection of authority. He

didn’t really know or understand this at the time as he just felt these things without understanding

them. He didn’t become a punk then. Later in the early eighties Greg met up with like-minded

individuals who turned him onto the ‘black clothed’ bands such as Crass. Greg met and followed the

legendary band Antisect, following the band from gig to gig. On a few occasions, Greg would support

Antisect with his own band, Sedition. Greg listened to a wide range of music though, certainly not just

‘anarcho-punk’. Greg tried his hardest to avoid proper ‘work’ until the mid-nineties. Greg has also

been co-editor on three other books on the anarcho-punk scene,

‘Tales From The Punkside’, ‘Some Of

Us Scream’ and ‘And All Around Was Darkness’, all co-edited with Mike Dines.