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It was 50 years ago today... Mr Tennant taught the band to play
Posted: Fri 24 Apr 2026, 10:21 am
by telys
Crazy new story in the Pet text section....
https://www.petshopboys.co.uk/pet-texts ... -ago-today
About Neil's letter to NME after going to a Sex Pistols' concert where the band beat up the audience!
Oh, how one wishes that Neil had got a record deal in the 70's. A song about this concert would've been his equivalent to Smoke on The Water.
Re: It was 50 years ago today... Mr Tennant taught the band to play
Posted: Fri 24 Apr 2026, 2:33 pm
by DopeFiend
Taught the band to play?
He attended a punk concert and wrote about it to the local press who published his writings.
I don't get why this thread is titled as suck.
Re: It was 50 years ago today... Mr Tennant taught the band to play
Posted: Fri 24 Apr 2026, 2:52 pm
by leesmapman
They were going in and out of style
A great find, this letter.
Re: It was 50 years ago today... Mr Tennant taught the band to play
Posted: Fri 24 Apr 2026, 3:39 pm
by Sandy Shaw
''Fag hag'' nowadays sounds like a very derogatory phrase. It referred to a woman who was a friend or a gay man or of gay men.
Re: It was 50 years ago today... Mr Tennant taught the band to play
Posted: Fri 24 Apr 2026, 8:24 pm
by Future Lover
Surprisingly catty and bitchy of him. I get that he's kind of sentimental, but this clashes with the persona he's built over the decades. Not every piece of history should be public, eh?
Re: It was 50 years ago today... Mr Tennant taught the band to play
Posted: Sat 25 Apr 2026, 6:19 am
by petshopgrrl
Surprisingly? Have you read his Smash Hits reviews?!
If the music press in the 70s was anything like it was in the 80s, then vicious and bitchy was just the way it was done.
Fag hag doesn’t sound like a compliment in any era though.
It’s an interesting historical artifact because it shows where he came from and how far we’ve come. History shouldn’t always be comfortable otherwise we wouldn’t learn from our past.
Re: It was 50 years ago today... Mr Tennant taught the band to play
Posted: Sat 25 Apr 2026, 9:17 am
by OakeyDokey
Neil's always had a bit of the Queen Bitch in him. Oh, I say!
Re: It was 50 years ago today... Mr Tennant taught the band to play
Posted: Sat 25 Apr 2026, 2:37 pm
by Sandy Shaw
OakeyDokey wrote: Sat 25 Apr 2026, 9:17 am
Neil's always had a bit of the Queen Bitch in him. Oh, I say!
Hehe!
I've met Glen Matlock a couple of times more recently and a less punky type of person is hard to imagine!
Re: It was 50 years ago today... Mr Tennant taught the band to play
Posted: Sat 25 Apr 2026, 4:10 pm
by Gabby
He probably quoted that NME article in his Smash Hits job application.
Re: It was 50 years ago today... Mr Tennant taught the band to play
Posted: Sat 25 Apr 2026, 7:26 pm
by telys
petshopgrrl wrote: Sat 25 Apr 2026, 6:19 am
Surprisingly? Have you read his Smash Hits reviews?!
If the music press in the 70s was anything like it was in the 80s, then vicious and bitchy was just the way it was done.
Fag hag doesn’t sound like a compliment in any era though.
It’s an interesting historical artifact because it shows where he came from and how far we’ve come. History shouldn’t always be comfortable otherwise we wouldn’t learn from our past.
Yep, the letter is definately written in a certain style, of its time, otherwise NME would never had published it.
But I reiterate: imagine this story in a song by Neil on one of his solo albums in the 70's, had he got a record deal!
Re: It was 50 years ago today... Mr Tennant taught the band to play
Posted: Sat 25 Apr 2026, 7:26 pm
by telys
DopeFiend wrote: Fri 24 Apr 2026, 2:33 pm
Taught the band to play?
He attended a punk concert and wrote about it to the local press who published his writings.
I don't get why this thread is titled as suck.
Sgt Pepper.