This piece was written in 1989 by Lois Lane for Soul Underground magazine…
STOP THAT TRAIN!
Last month (2nd July) saw the rarity of the infamous train party on the circle line. Meeting first at a predestined location the majority of people were made up of graffiti artists, some carrying stylishly coloured ghetto blasters, others held bags containing an assortment of pens. Unfortunately uninvited thieves were amongst the true party goers. It seems like anything nowadays is worth taxing as an assortment of namebelts, personal stereos and even coats were just few of the items obtained. I approached one guy holding a newly acquired name belt.
“We don’t come down to start trouble, but if we see something we like, we take it” Moving swifty away before I could be fleeced as they call it in the trade, I waited while the rest of the ravers turned up. An hour or so later the massive crowd of people swarmed into the underground to start the mixture of music and graffiti writing.
With the large amount of people present in the carriages I began to wonder how they get together. Who better to ask than the guy next to me, a writer by the name Jut.
“It’s all planned weeks before and the word is spread writer to writer.”
About 7 stops later it was time to change lines, this was where the real trouble started. A passenger whilst being stung let loose a canister of what appeared to be tear gas (judging from the affect it had on people in the carriage) in self defence.
After spilling out onto the platform of the next station the victim was promptly found and knocked to the floor which would have made even Mike Tyson cringe.
It was at this point, as I quickly left the scene, I could not help but agree with one of America’s ‘Guardian Angels’ who was on the scene earlier.
“You lot over here don’t know how to jam properly. There’s no need to act violently when you’re out to have fun.
