Indicators

THE INDICATORS came into being in mid 1977 when they heard the first Ramones album and began to investigate such bands as Buzzcocks, Clash, Eddie & the Hot Rods,

By this time, Dave Seal had improved significantly on guitar so Steve (who hadn't) moved to bass (rather than take the time and effort to teach someone else how to play it). As a three-piece they actually began to learn how to play songs and began the search for a vocalist. While Steve Lines was excited about the new punk bands, Dave Seal was a little more reticent and preferred the more rhythm & blues flavoured acts such as Dr, Feelgood and The Boomtown Rats and it was this mix of punk and r&b that made up their rehearsal material.

The band would rehearse wherever they could (even in a garden shed!) and played a set in someone's kitchen on jubilee day. Not quite a boat on the Thames and nobody even complained, but at least they made the effort.

In early 1978 someone told the band they had a gig if they wanted it, so they drafted in roadie and photographer Nick Beard on vocals. Unfortunately Nick couldn't sing, which wouldn't have been a problem if he'd had the punk attitude. He looked like one of the Saints but didn't really like punk music very much. After a few rehearsals the idea of a gig was abandoned and Nick went back to hefting amps.

By mid 1978 the band were rehearsing in a basement in Swindon beneath their drummer's house. Here they rehearsed regularly (still without a singer) and built up a set of tight (albeit instrumental) versions of songs by such bands as Ramones, Dr. Feelgood, and Boomtown Rats.. Their only claim to fame is that they were classed as noise pollution by Swindon Town Council.

Frustrated with their inability to find a decent singer and fed up with the long bus journey to Swindon for rehearsals, Steve and Dave decide to sack the drummer. For a while the pair would rehearse as a duo, playing instrumental versions of punk and r&b songs for hours at a time. Finally, unable to acquire a singer or drummer, they reluctantly decide to call it a day and by the end of 1978 Dave Seal had joined a club band called STICKY WICKET.