Late 1983 – Turkey’s Wild Party

Pete Kember – Jason Pierce – Pete Bain – Tim Morris

The first Spacemen gig was held at a riotous house party in Watts Lane, Hillmorton, Rugby. The band performed in the house’s conservatory. The gig was cut short by the police, which Pete Bain thinks may have been to the band’s benefit, as they didn’t have many songs worked out.

The date is pretty uncertain. Jason left his former band, Indian Scalp, shortly after they had given a copy of their demo tape to The Cult at a gig in Aylesbury. This would have been 19 February 1983 – it is listed on this page of Cult live dates. So despite the fact that Pete Kember and Jason were already friends by late 1982, it’s a bit of a push to say that Spacemen 3 were formed in that year, which is often how things are described. The gig at this party is supposed to have lead to getting the band their first gig at the Exchange, in December 1983, so it can’t have been long before that.

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