St Annes artist and ex-Fleetwood publican celebrate punk's Slaughter and the Dogs at Royal Exchange exhibition

Mick Rossi in hat and Maurice Murray (second right) with Slaughter and the Dogs original drummer and bass player during the exhibition launch in London

A St Annes artist, a former Fleetwood publican and a punk rock pioneer all got together to celebrate an exhibition of art work in London.

Former Rossall Tavern landlord Maurice Murray, artist Ray Rossi and his guitarist brother Mick Rossi are all linked to rock band Slaughter and the Dogs, originally from Manchester and one of the first punk groups to be formed in the north of England.

When the Sex Pistols played a famous gig in the city’s Lesser Free Trade Hall on June 4 1976, it was credited with inspiring a string of young music fans to form bands themselves – including future members of The Fall, Joy Division, Buzzcocks, Frantic Elevators (later Simply Red) and many more.

Slaughter and the Dogs played a unique part in the event – they were the support band for the Pistols on that eventful night and Ray’s gifts as band manager and influencer were much to the fore.

Mick recreates the famous pose with the guitar which became a part of iconic promotional art work

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In London last month, Ray’s first major showcase as an artist went on display in an exhibition aptly called The Gig That Changed the World, being presented at Red Eight Gallery in the Royal Exchange until February 17.

Ray always had a passion for painting but had little time to concentrate on it due to his successful musical career.

One of his pieces is an iconic ‘poster’ of Mick and a guitar which was inspired by a T-shirt created by Maurice.

While Ray was the band’s original manager, Maurice later took on a promoting role with the band, who have often appeared at Blackpool’s Rebellion festival with Mick and a new line-up.

Manchester-born Maurice, who attended the launch of the exhibition, said: “One of Ray’s paintings which is creating a lot of interest is one he did of an idea of mine that I created and put out on a T-Shirt to promote Mick and the band.

"Mick flew over from Los Angeles to perform with the original bass and drum members from Slaughter and the Dogs but so many people turned up for the red carpet evening the gallery had to get the band to play in the street.

"The band brought the street to a standstill and managed to get four songs played before the police arrived to bring an end to proceedings!”