ON THIS DAY ... in 1982 - THE DANCING DID

23 photos from The Venue in Victoria, London on July 15th 1982

Mick Mercer

Jul 15, 2025

THE DANCING DID - DISCOGS

My all-time favourite British band, a secret true British gothic delight, all but strolling through a virtuous set at the Venue, during the year they released both their one and only album, “And Did Those Feet” as well as probably their most popular single, ‘Badger Boys’. (If you’ve never heard them imagine Mervyn Peake set to music.) I have posted these photos before, but I will keep tinkering with some of these images and so these versions, bar one, are vastly improved. I cannot, however find the negatives for one, which suggests that image is lost on a strip of negatives where the majority of the images are of another band. I expect it will turn up one day.

If you find the band to your liking allow me to recommend the wonderful Facebook group run by the inestimable Andrew Cox » https://www.facebook.com/groups/239399570289 - it isn’t exactly busy, as you would expect for a group about a band which disappeared in the early 80’s, but it does tick over regularly and the content quality is always high and very interesting.

“Unctuous prattling Pecksniffs, quake quail and quiver
As the Badger Boys glide down the street, like pike in an empty river
Inhabiting the back alleys where no gentleman goes
Skulking in the shadows, secret as a murder of crows
Four surly churls, four brainless boys
With aimless chatter and dangerous toys
They keep their distance, they stand apart
But their cloistered whispers chill my heart
Badger Boys, bullies, beasts, brainless
Badger Boys, bullies, beasts, brainless
Badger Boys, bullies, beasts, brainless
Brainless, beasts, bullies. Badger Boys
Gold fillings in their pockets, diseases in their teeth
Nightmares in their mattresses, riches
Stitched into their sleep
The Deadly Dandies, The Poison Brothers
Racetrack riff-raff of gin house mothers
Purposeless pickpockets, pigsty lodgers
Unfaithful lovers, unartful dodgers
Urchins they are but the gentry they shun
The toffs of the toughs, the cream of the scum
Knuckledusters nestle with stolen lockets.”

(‘Badger Boys’)

You’ll probably need my Dids book too if you haven’t got one, as doctors insist it provides a genuine boost to your circulatory system. And Lulu, the publisher I use, are offering 15% off until Friday, so check below.

15% OFF ALL PHOTOBOOKS until midnight Friday July 18th.

Use code TRAVELBOOKS15 at checkout (keep all in CAPS as it’s case-sensitive there. Look for the ‘+’ top right of page, click that and the box opens for the code).

My Goth, Punk and Indie photobooks which include Adam & The Ants, Alien Sex Fiend, All About Eve, Ausgang, Bauhaus, Beast, Blur, Carter USM, Christian Death, Creaming Jesus, Daisy Chainsaw, The Damned, The Dancing Did, Flesh For Lulu, Gitane Demone, Gun Club (with Patricia Morrison), Jazz Butcher, Junior Manson Slags, Lush, Marc Almond, Penetration, PJ Harvey, Rosetta Stone, The Ruts, Sex Gang Children, The Slits, Specimen, Johnny Thunders, Toyah, TV Smith/The Adverts, UK Decay, Alan Vega and Virgin Prunes can be found here » PHOTOBOOKS LIST

Photos or posters? Click here » MICK MERCER PHOTOS - REDBUBBLE