I was in a little punk band and we put out a few punk records that weren't very political, at all.

Were it not for the Clash, punk would have been just a sneer, a safety pin and a pair of bondage trousers.

My theory is this; I'm not a political songwriter. I'm an honest songwriter.

We read our own political content into The Clash, and they accepted it.

There are quite a few honest songwriters out there writing about relationships and their own personality traits. But for some reason, once they step out of the bedroom, their honesty doesn't seem to come with them.

By the time I was 19, punk had occurred. It had a completely different cultural dynamic to it which rejected everything and started again from the year zero.