The Flamin’ Groovies relaunched themselves in the UK after a five-year hiatus in 1976 – supported by a new band called The Ramones. 

Back in 1976 I used to go to The Roundhouse every Sunday night. It was a social event where friends would gather, watch music and (let’s be honest) take drugs.

That year the lineups started to evolve from a typical three-band bill of, say, Kokomo, FBI and Carol Grimes; Curved Air, Brand X and A Band Called ‘O’; Canned Heat, Harvey Mandel and Sassafras; to, for example, Pink Fairies, Motorhead and Strife.

Those are all real examples.

In April that year I had seen Patti Smith supported by The Stranglers, and six months later there was Kraftwerk, supported by National Health and the Penguin Cafe Orchestra.

In between, on 4 July, there was an extraordinary night that still remains fresh in my memory when The Ramones supported a band I didn’t know called The Flamin’ Groovies.

In their black suits, white shirts and Cuban heels they looked a bit like The Beatles and they had a retro sound to match, based around jangling guitars and harmonies.

I don’t remember much about their performance because I was so blown away by the blitzkrieg bop of The Ramones but, perhaps because of that night, the Groovies became associated with the emergent UK punk scene.

In fact they had been going for years before that – they formed way back in 1965 in San Francisco – and this was a comeback for the group after a long hiatus following the departure in 1971 of front man Roy Loney, with Cyril Jordan taking over as vocalist and guitarist.

For years the only song I knew by them was Shake Some Action, first recorded by them in 1972 – produced by Dave Edmunds. While the group faded into obscurity, the song has gone on to become a power-pop anthem.