By: Gionni Di Gravio9th Oct 2025 11:49AMI think I remember being one of the couple of "Mansons" who attended this party organised by the Bintons. Harry Manson and me (Monkee Manson) turned up with a cassette tape of bubblegum Archies 60s stuff to disrupt (what we perceived to be) the uptight intense seriousness and unfriendliness of the uni artie crowd. harry drew a picture of a skeleton saying "boo" because we were scared to be there. I remember putting the tape on, and one of the women shouting to "turn that crap off". Obviously bubblegum was not their cup of tea, and punk was so "77" and they wanted new things. But we were naughty catholic boy school teenagers and just considered those new things un-entertaining and boring. At the time (i.e.the early 1980s) there were three younger "tribes" cramping against one another in the indie/punk scene of Newcastle. The "indie" friendly venues included Norths Leagues (Tighes Hill-ish), The Grand Hotel (Newcastle), The Criterion (Islington) Nightmoves etc. The three groups in particular included Swami Binton (Pel Mel, Uni art school types), The Rejects (very punk, port and coke drinking, comedians) and the Mansons (hybrid punk/60s/bubblegum). The indie scene of Newcastle was too small, so we all had to attend one another's parties and shows because that's where anyone who didn't fit in with the "normal Newcastle", fitted in. (Recollection for Altjiringa No. 3 (June 1982) p.9 "The Art of Parties"