The Bromley Contingent were a group of followers of the Sex Pistols. The name was coined by Melody Maker journalist Caroline Coon, after the town of Bromley where some of them lived. They helped popularise the fashion of the early UK punk movement.
The core members of the group included Siouxsie Sioux, Steven Severin, Billy Idol, Simon 'Six' Barker, Debbie Juvenile (née Wilson), Linda Ashby, Philip Sallon, Simone Thomas, Bertie 'Berlin' Marshall, Tracie O'Keefe and Sharon Hayman. Soo Catwoman, another early punk aficionado, is often described as a member in later press, though Catwoman and members of the Bromley Contingent later dispute this. There were other members who, although very important to the group, did not become more recognised within the later punk scene; names such as Angel and Ruth were remembered, especially by Siouxsie.
The Today incident
The term Bromley Contingent first appeared in the UK music press after the Sex Pistols' gig in Paris on 3 September 1976, when journalist Caroline Coon decided to write an article about "the fans rather about the band". The label was a bit of a misnomer as they came from various places, including Kentish Town, Orpington, Bromley, and Burnt Oak. Siouxsie was from Chislehurst. Severin, Barker and Berlin were the ones who came from Bromley. Severin stated: "we certainly never referred to ourselves as that". Siouxsie said: "After we got back from Paris, resentments from some of the other people we used to see began to creep in. Those people all thought we'd called ourselves the Bromley Contingent, when we hadn't".
The Bromley Contingent attained a degree of notoriety on 1 December 1976 when Siouxsie, Severin, Thomas and Barker appeared on ITV with the Sex Pistols on Thames Television's early evening television programme Today. Interviewed by television journalist Bill Grundy, Sex Pistols singer Johnny Rotten used the word "shit".