The Ramones, July 1976: ‘The first punk badge. Designed on Eric Idle’s kitchen table. I had already sold a few badges at hippy fests like Trenthishoe and Stonehenge - ‘Pass it this way’, ‘Hendrix Lives’, etc. Went to see ex-Pink Fairy Martin Stone play with the 101ers in Fulham. In the dressing room, Joe Strummer told the band that he was leaving to join the Clash. I said to him, if it’s good enough for you. At the Roundhouse, John Curd had me set up next to the incense and Rizla stall. By September I had displaced them entirely’

Blondie, January 1977: ‘My printer, Letterstream, had the first public color xerox in London. This pic was in some mag and I was able to buy multiple copies to make a master. The badge was very popular. When the band came to London, they were amazed to find they had so many visible fans! They invited me to hang out at their hotel. Next time Blondie came, they brought their own merch. The manager started to give me grief at the show, but I successfully argued, pointing to my wall of many badges, that they weren’t merch – they were a medium’

The Damned, May 1977: ‘Letterstream gave me the keys to their process camera and, after hours, I was able to experiment and learn half-tone screens and other tricks. A whole new level of sophistication. Soon after, I bought my own machine’

Adam and the Ants, January 1978: ‘After the Clash ‘police’ design, this was among the earliest 32mm Better Badges. Adam would periodically appear at the door of our St Stephens Mews garage workshop with fresh art, until eventually we had ten designs. Very popular. However, in 1980, when he became a teen idol, sales stopped stone dead. No punk would touch them’

Sex Pistols, March 1977: ‘After initially lifting the “anarchy” design I gained a good working relationship with Glitterbest (Malcolm McLaren’s management company) – ie I paid them off with badges. The second ‘official’ badge was ‘I’m a Lazy Sod’, submitted by a fan to my DIY service. Then Jamie [Reid] brought in the God Save the Queen art and Virgin later ordered a ton. The problem was, the ladies at Universal Button of Bethnal Green, royalists to the core, refused to touch it. We had to make a great deal ourselves. The rest were sent up to Kidderminster, where workers had less scruples’

Joy Division, August 1978: ‘Rob Gretton had ordered earlier for Slaughter & the Dogs. Thus his first act as Joy Division manager was to have Steve McGarry, who had done the Slaughter logo, kick up a set of 12 badges to complement his “Ideal for Living” cover. There were white on black as well as black on white versions, but they only went to the band’

The Slits, October 1978: ‘The Acklam was just around the corner from Better Badges HQ at 286 Portobello Road, so bands would often get some last-minute badges. We had a particularly strong bond with the Slits and [lead singer] Ari’s roommate Neneh Cherry worked as a cutter. They were the only band we ever sent a badge stall out on the road with’

Patti Smith, July 1977: ‘The best-selling subject in the early days was Patti Smith. In fact, it was her Roundhouse show, 17 May 1976, that was the real kick-starter. I missed that, but when she returned to play Hammersmith Odeon in October, I was set up and well stocked. Later I met with Patti and her manager Jane Friedman, and the badge sales helped out with their bill at the Portobello Hotel. This 45mm version is the second version made to sell at the second Mont de Marsan Festival’

The Clash, August 1976: ‘My personal calligraphy, kind of a bizarro take on Haight-Ashbury. Deliberately ugly. Bernie Rhodes hated it with a vengeance, and eventually licensed us the Sebastian Conran “Police” design on the condition I dropped the old one. I also coughed up petrol money to get the band’s gear to Europe’

Iggy and the Stooges, October 1976: ‘This was my first big order. It was designed by Megan Green. [Label] Skydog’s Marc Zermati and Larry Debay should have wider recognition as catalysts of punk in the UK. In 1976 they used this Stooges quasi-bootleg as currency to set up London’s first punk record distro – Bizarre Records – by swapping it for 45s by artists such as the Ramones, Patti Smith, Richard Hell, the Saints, and also were Stiff’s sole distributor at the start. They also ran the Mont De Marsan Festivals’

Motörhead, November 1976: ‘The first Motörhead badge. Over the summer I’d moved on from Idle’s to John Manly’s kitchen. Motörhead were rehearsing downstairs. This was a sheet filler to sell when the Pink Fairies played the Roundhouse’