Severe

Jimmy Severe, whose punk guitar and shouty voice spread his fame throughout the pop music world of Coley Park and the rest of West Reading, was born and brought up in the small flats.

The story goes that he traded a bushel of Beano comics for his first guitar. And, when Severe attended the School of Hard Nuts, the guitar went along with him and helped pay for his beer.

An injured leg ended his career as a centre-back, so it was only natural for him to turn to his guitar as a means of support. He found out early on that playing the songs of others, especially good old singalong classics, was far more fun than writing his own self-indulgent dirges, and soon joined up with the Blue Christmas Boys, a bunch of local punks who specialised in bringing vitriolic cheer to the local estate at Christmas time with their very special interpretations of Yuletide classics.

Jimmy & The Boys picked the ones that portray all sides of the season – from revelry to irreverence – from White Christmas to Mary’s Boy Child – with strictly for drinking songs like Senor Santa Claus and The Merry Christmas Polka for good large measures.