I was at Leed University in 1976. The release of the first Ramones album that year was a pivotal moment in my life.

Listening to the Ramones turned right up to 11 on the balcony of my student flat in North Hill Court is one of my strongest memories of that year. Maybe it's the guilt. I should have been studying for my first year exams. Or maybe it's the home-brewed iced Mild we were drinking as Blitzkrieg Bop stormed from the speakers. Who knows.

A few months later the Ramones the Ramones played Leeds Poly. A whole bunch of us went along. Me, my brother, Pete, Matt, Tym. We started the evening in the Eldon. A Tetley's pub, like most others in Leeds. Several pints of Tetley Mild got us nicely warmed up for the evenings fun. They might have played just 50 minutes, but they crammed in almost as many songs.

Over the next 10 months I saw most of the punk greats - The Clash, The Sex Pistols, The Damned, The Jam - and culled my record collection. I've never looked back. Never returned to the pretension of progressive rock. And what was the beery accompaniment to all things punk? Mild. Tetley Mild.

Mild: beer for punks.





The arrow marks the spot where the iced Mild was drunk:




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