THE son of a rock legend has made a documentary about a riotous 1970s Croydon band who once counted Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders as a member.
Johnny Moped were formed in Croydon in the early 1970s and were revered in punk circles for their chaotic gigs.
Growing up, Fred Burns knew nothing of the Mopeds' history – despite being the son of Captain Sensible, a former member and bass and guitar player in The Damned.
The Selhurst-born film-maker decided to chart the band's career in the feature documentary; Basically, Johnny Moped.
Fred, 29, said: "My dad was an early member of the band but growing up I never really heard anything about Johnny Moped and he didn't really tell me anything.
"It was only in about 2009 when I met members of the band after a Palace game and I was told all the stories that I realised how influential they were considered to be in the punk scene. There were so many crazy stories about them; if anything I just wanted to archive those."
Fred now wants the film's first official screening to be held at a re-launched David Lean Cinema.
He added: "It would be really fitting to hold it there, especially as many of the members still live in the area. We are talking about it but nothing is confirmed yet."
The frontman of the band – also Johnny Moped (real name Paul Halford) – now lives in Caterham and is a carer for his wife.
Things in their heyday were so chaotic that it was a struggle for the band to even get him to gigs.
"Johnny was living with his mother-in-law and the band had to kidnap him to go to gigs because the mother-in-law would sometimes not let him leave," Fred said.
"The band had to make up all these crazy excuses. But they were admired by a lot of people. Shane MacGowan (The Pogues' lead singer) said they were better than The Sex Pistols."
Their influence was such that future Pretender Chrissie Hynde joined the band twice – only to be sacked both times; once to be replaced by a lesser-known star.
Fred added: "The second time there were two guitarists auditioning for a place in the band and she got beaten to it by a guy called Slimey Toad.
"I interviewed her for the film and I was surprised how fondly she recalled the Mopeds. She was surprisingly complimentary about it."
