A PUNK rock band who sold their gear 20 years ago to finance a farewell single are set to have their record re-released.

And a picture of the band taken by the Lancashire Evening Telegraph on the streets of Blackburn in 1978 is set to grace the cover of the new compilation.

Accrington punks Schoolgirl Bitch were led by Nick Name - real name Nigel McHugh - who sold his gear after the band split up to meet the production costs of their only single, 'Abusing The Rules.'

The band, split in early 1978 after Nick's brother, bass guitarist Phil, decided he could not play well enough, and drummer Paul Milek said he was fed up with not making any money. Nick managed to get 1,000 copies of the single produced and the record became an underground hit after it was played on Radio One and Radio Luxembourg.

He recruited a new bass player Evil Doc Talbot, alias Nigel Talbot, from Accrington, and the two struck a typically aggressive pose for a photo in the Lancashire Evening Telegraph. David Holmes, of Detour Records, which is producing the new compilation, said: "The photo really sums up the attitude of punk bands after 1977, and we hope to use it on the cover of our new compilation.

"There are constant revivals of punk music and groups like the Sex Pistols and The Buzzcocks have their back catalogues re-issued quite often. But we want to remember some of the smaller bands who were a vital part of the punk scene."

Nigel Talbot, alias Evil Doc, still lives in Accrington, although he stopped playing several years ago after spells with with local bands Buffalo and Oxyn.

Nigel, who is unemployed, said: "I'm not embarrassed about what I did back then. They were great days and forming a band was the thing to do then. I saw Nick last year, but the last I heard of Paul the drummer was that he had gone to Austria, although he could be anywhere now."

Nick Name now lives in London, where he is still involved in the music business.

The compilation album, which is still being produced, will feature lesser-known underground punk bands including The Crime, Amazing Spacefrogs and other groups with names too rude to print in a family newspaper.

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