Formed in Croydon in mid 1976, the band were present at UK punk’s birth. Johnny Moped became one of the pioneering punk bands that played live in the first few months of London’s now-legendary Roxy Club. They played two gigs in February 1977, one supporting Eater and one backing The Damned. Again, in March, they played another two gigs, one supporting Slaughter and The Dogs and the other backing The Damned. In April, they were on a bill that included Wire, X-Ray Spex and the Buzzcocks. Johnny Moped’s ‘Hard Lovin’ Man’ appeared on the various artists album Live at the Roxy WC2 (Harvest Records, 1977). They signed for Chiswick Records and released three singles, including ‘Little Queenie’ (a cover of the Chuck Berry classic), and one album before splitting up. Sixteen years after its release, the publishers of The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music, named Cycledelic as one of the best fifty punk albums of all-time.
