The Medway scene consists of the bands and related cultural activities of the Medway Towns, north Kent, England. Main towns involved (from West to East) are Strood, Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham, and Rainham. The Medway scene is typically dated from the punk era of the late 1970s, when the presence of the Medway College of Design (later Kent Institute of Art & Design and now UCA Rochester) influenced a "vibrant art, poetry and music scene." History Of Medway musicians, the best known is Billy Childish (from Chatham) who formed punk band The Pop Rivets in the late 1970s, and later formed Thee Milkshakes, Thee Mighty Caesars, Thee Headcoats, The Buff Medways, The Musicians of the British Empire and The Chatham Singers, among others. His inspiration has led to many other bands forming who now have a worldwide cult following. Other notable bands include The Prisoners, The Dentists, The Claim and Thee Headcoatees. The music often draws heavily on the tradition of garage/punk/rock'n roll/raw-blues music from the 1950s and 1960s, hence references to the "Medway Delta". Records have been released on Big Beat, Media Burn and other small indie labels, as well as Childish's own Hangman Records and Hangman's Daughter, and latterly Damaged Goods Records. There has also been an accompanying, though not so well known, poetry scene, started by The Medway Poets in the late 1970s; Childish was a member of this group. There is also a crossover into art with the Stuckists art group. The music scene in Medway continued to thrive beyond the turn of the Millennium, with many bands (see below) based in the Towns. A large selection of recordings from this period is available to enjoy via The Medway Scene (Post 2000) project hosted at Internet Archive. Bands This list is incomplete A Abinger Drive Acker & The Nice Boys Antmonkey Airhead Allfather All Flags Burn All the Flesh Alvin Purple The Ambience Andy Pandys Archie Wah Wahs Armitage Shanks The Accursed Ascend To Glory Audrey, Start The Revolution Auntie Vegetable Autumn Venture Avokan B Bad Taxidermy Balance Lost Bassbreakz FM The Baron Von Marlon Bear vs Manero Bela Lugosi Blues Better Weather The Beatles (Yellow Submarine) Between the Eyes Black Light Brigade Black Lion Courtiers Blind Lemon Pie Bluevoid Bonsai Reservoir Brahma Bums The Bresslaws Brigadier Ambrose Bring The Ruckus The Bristols Broken Banjo The Buff Medways The Blue Mantras C Calling Nova Cakewalk capitalH Carpetburn