London SS was an early British
punk
rock group founded in March 1975 by guitarist Mick Jones and
bassist Tony
James.
The band spent most of its short history auditioning potential
members. Besides Jones and James, however, guitarist Brian
James (not related to Tony) was the only other semi-permanent member.
Other musicians who played with them included Matt Dangerfield and Casino Steel, then of The Hollywood
Brats, who would later go on to play in The Boys.
Many other notable musicians tried out for the band but didn't
make the cut including future members of The
Clash Paul Simonon and Terry
Chimes. Another future Clash member, Nicky
"Topper" Headon was asked to join but declined. Rat
Scabies, future drummer for The Damned played with the band
even though he was in his own proto-punk band, Rot, at the time. Roland Hot also served as drummer. Punk
poet Patrik Fitzgerald also
claims to have auditioned for the band.
The London SS's only recording was a demo featuring James,
Jones, James, and Hot. Musically they played straightforward rock
'n' roll and covered classic 1960s R&B although some former members felt
the band's music was pretty poor.
After Hot was kicked out in January 1976, Brian James left
with Scabies to form The Subterraneans and later The
Damned. The other James joined the band Chelsea
with Billy
Idol and the two later started Generation X. Jones,
Simonon, and Chimes teamed up with Joe
Strummer and founded The Clash. Chimes was later
replaced by Headon and then Headon was replaced by Chimes again.
Ultimately, the London SS was more famous for what its members did
later on in life than it was for anything that happened during its
existence.
The group's name caused disquiet in some quarters, because "SS"
was generally understood to refer to a Nazi military force. This later came to haunt
Mick Jones, when
the Clash became Britain's premier left-wing political band. However, the
members of London SS later claimed that it referred to their poverty at
the time, and stood for "social security". Other accounts say
that it was used for its ambiguity and shock
value, rather than as a statement of fascist political sympathies.