Alan Lee Shaw (guitar, vocals) and Rod Latter (drums) came at the end of 1976 from Cambridge to London and founded alongside John Twink Alder and Dennis Stow (bass) the group The Rings. Following a few live gigs and one 7 single 'I Wanna Be Free' the group parted ways. Alan Lee Shaw and Rod Latter found via an add in Melody Maker the new bass player Robert Crash and the Manicas were found. The first concert was in France (Mont De Marsan Punk Festival) with The Clash, The Damned, and The Police on the same bill. In September 1977 the band recorded five songs, two of them made it to be released as the 7 single 'Chelsea '77 / Ain’t No Legend'. In January 1978 the band split. Latter went on to play with The Adverts, Shaw got a member of The Brains (lead by Brian James ex-Damned) and Crash founded the group Psychotik Tanks (now having taken over guitar & vocals) alongside Schengel.