Chain Gang
Image by Dave Cross
Another blast from the past. I’m second from right.
It’s summer 1982 and I’m nineteen. I was walking down Goswell Road one morning when someone stops me and asks if he can take a polaroid of me. Turns out he’s from a photographic studio nearby and they’re doing a shoot of a heavy metal band that evening. Someone has dropped out of the shoot at the last minute and he’s out looking for a replacement. A couple of hours later, having shown the polaroid to his boss, he calls me to ask me to come along to their studio that evening.
I spent a couple of hours having my photo taken with these other people. I got paid £35 for the evening and we also all got more than a little drunk on the crates of beer the studio people brought in. I should point out that there isn’t really a band called Chain Gang. None of us had met before that evening.
The advert was for BASF tape. The slogan was "Metal by Chain Gang – Metal tape by BASF". It was part of a series of similar adverts for various types of BASF tapes. The only other one I can remember is a picture of a mod on a really shiny scooter. The slogan on that one was "Chrome by Colin – Chrome tape by BASF".
The adverts appeared in the music press (and on huge posters in tube stations) in about September of that year.
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