LONG BEFORE THEN JERICO, A YOUNG MARK SHAW WAS JUST ANOTHER FACE IN THE QUEUE AT BILLY’S AND BLITZ. JOHN EARLS HEARS HIS INSIDER’S STORIES…

MARK SHAW

Although Then Jerico didn’t find fame until the end of the decade, their singer Mark Shaw had already been a key onlooker in New Romantic circles. Having been a regular at Billy’s, Mark witnessed many of the major moments at Blitz – including the day an England World Cup winner turned up…

How did you become a New Romantic in the first place?

I was the right age for it, but I don’t know if I ever considered myself to be a New Romantic. I loved punk, but I was more of a New Wave kid. That was really my era, and I had the funny hair for it. I started going to Billy’s when it was literally just a night of David Bowie music every week. I was a massive Bowie fan, and I saw it all develop from there.