Mojo - The Music Magazine

The Rich Kids, Glen Matlock and Midge Ure's short-lived punk foursome, will reunite for a one-off gig at London's O2 Academy Islington on January 7 next year. The pair are set to be joined by original members Steve New and Rusty Egan.

MOJO's Danny Eccleston caught up with Ure to discuss the reasons behind this return to his roots...

How did the Rich Kids reunion come about?

Steve New, our guitarist, isn't well. I found this out through Rusty Egan. Rusty said, "I think we should do something for him. He's got a couple of kids." Ironically, earlier this year, one of the promoters of the Ultravox reunion I was a part of had joked that, "All I need to do now is get the Rich Kids back together." So when I was talking to Rusty this idea popped up and I spoke to Glen about it. And it's been fantastic, the reaction has been phenomenal.

The Rich Kids were never an obvious combination: you a glam-pop teen idol in Slik, Glen Matlock the bassist from the Sex Pistols... Can you give us an idea of how it all fell together originally?

In hindsight, what Glen did back then by asking me to come and join the band was incredibly brave. He could have chosen any cool, punky young guitarist-singer in London - I mean, there were thousands of them. Instead he chose this teenybop, bubble-gum type guy, therefore making things incredibly difficult for himself. But it was Caroline Coon - who'd seen Slik live - who suggested me. I was still living in Glasgow back then, still trying to survive the onslaught of the whole New Wave thing. Punk had blown all of the teenybop stuff out of the water. Quite justifiably so.

I listened to what was going on and knew what was happening, but felt completely and utterly removed from it. So the idea of coming down to London for a weekend and hanging out with these guys and trying to see if it would work was incredibly exciting. So I did, I came down for the weekend and rehearsed two or three songs and ended up out that night playing three gigs! We opened up for The Police at the Angel Islington, played with The Boomtown Rats, and then we played at some party The Clash were at. One minute I was washed up in Glasgow and the next I was stuck in the middle of what I had been reading about.

Looking back, 1978 seems a really odd year. Punk has blown a lot of things away, but no-one's quite sure what's meant to replace it. Is that what it felt like at the time or was it too manic a time for reflection?

I think you're right. Punk came along to kill the dinosaurs, but it was still incredibly splintered, from the basic three-chord thrash bands through to the power pop of Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson. I suppose the Rich Kids were the Humble Pie of our day: not The Herd and Small Faces but the Pistols and Slik - you couldn't get anything more opposite. But things were moving so fast. It all happened in the span of 18 months -- this massive change from the dinosaurs to the young upstarts to the whole electro-pop thing. Even in the Rich Kids I bought a synthesizer.

Looking at the YouTube footage, Glen just looks relieved, like he's finally found a way to express himself properly.

I think it was very difficult for him. Being so oppressed within the Pistols, and then oppressed when he left the band. Everyone doubted his cred, and why? Because he liked songs with a melody? But Pretty Vacant is a pretty good melody, and I think he wrote that. It's all perception and it seemed cool not to like him for a while. Asking me into the band was asking for even more trouble but he didn't seem to care. Maybe he liked trouble!

But yeah, I think he was relieved because I think for the first time he was getting the respect that he should have had throughout the Pistols, instead of being stamped the musical geek. There was an awful lot of potential in the Rich Kids. But we were never really given a chance to fulfil it. Rusty and I were listening to a lot of music that came out of Germany at the time. But Glen hated the synthesizer and wanted to do more of a brass-section-y, happy-go-lucky rock band thing. It split us at a very, very early stage -- before we had had a chance to sort of stand on our own feet.

I presume you've already started your rehearsals? How's that going?

Well I haven't done one yet! The first rehearsal was via email - so 2009, you know. Glen and Rusty and Steve have had a couple of hours thrashing things out. My classic email to Glen was, 'How was Rusty? Rusty?' He hasn't played for a long time, but by all accounts the rehearsals went incredibly well. Full rehearsals won't start until a few days before we go up and do it. But I've got great faith. They are all great musicians.

Why are so many bands from that era now reforming? Is it the death of the "Year Zero" attitude? The punk and new wave groups didn't destroy all that came before them, but they're no longer stigmatized for that "failure". The music itself has been proven to have longevity...

We're a product of the first generation ever to have OAP rock stars. In every other genre of music it's perfectly acceptable: blues and classical and folk and jazz and whatever. Rock music has always been a bit uncomfortable with that. But it's great stand up and say, 'This is what we did, and yes we're still doing it.' I have to say I am completely stunned that people are interested. It just goes to show that there is a little bit of space in someone's heart for what we did back then, and that's great.

The Rich Kids - Ghosts Of Princes In The Tower