Before THE UNINVITED Steve had made two unsuccessful attempts to put a band together. The first was THE VISITORS, which featured fellow Calne musician, guitarist Nigel Easton and a drummer and singer from Corsham. They began rehearsing for a gig in Bath in the cellar of Dominion House in September 1979 but sessions didn't go well. The drummer was only 14 and couldn't even spell his name, let alone play drums. They attended the gig in bath but decided it wiser not to play and to split up instead. Lines & Easton then recruited Calne drummer Simon Bewlay and put together THE GUESTS, who much to Steve's dismay, were still firmly rooted in the 'pub rock' tradition. This band managed to play one dire gig at The Greyhound in Swindon on November 14th 1979 (Steve's first) before splitting up.The nucleus of The Uninvited began in a Chippenham band called RADIATION SICKNESS, who's major claim to fame was a song titled My Cock's Rising'. After the demise of THE VISITORS and THE GUESTS, Steve was still keen to put a punk band together (most, if not all, bands in Calne were still playing 'pub rock'. Unfortunately the debacle that was THE GUESTS proved that there were no musicians in the town with punk sensibilities, so Steve had to look further afield. He caught a gig by RADIATION SICKNESS at the Neelde Hall in Chippenham and was impressed by their guitarist, a Captain Sensible clone called Steve Case. It transpired that the band were unhappy with their bassist so a jam was arranged at a Sickness rehearsal with Steve filling in on bass chores before their bassist arrived. They belted through a handful of Ramones classics and Steve Case & Steve Lines decided to put a band together. Soon after this decision, RADIATION SICKNESS split up.They took the drummer from RADIATION SICKNESS, Jeff Grundy, with them and began rehearsing while they waited for their proposed singer Keith Jeffries to show up. He arrived eventually but in the shape of Richard Wicks. The band started rehearsing in the back room of the Black Horse pub in Chippenham and a gig was booked at the Lysley, a pub half way between Calne and Chippenham and a support band, MAXIMUM ATTACK were also booked. For more on MAXIMUM ATTACK click HERE.
The Lysley gig was a success so now it was time to bring punk rock to Calne (or to be more precise, Compton Bassett) and another gig was booked at Compton Bassett Village Hall, again with MAXIMUM ATTACK (Compton Bassett's only punk band) as support.
The Compton Bassett gig also went well and the band continued to rehearse in Compton Bassett Village Hall and in the back room of The Black Horse pub in Chippenham. But it was to be short-lived. Drummer Jeff Grundy kept missing rehearsals, as did Richard Wicks and the final blow came when Steve Case moved to Crawley. In June 1981 the band split.
