Gavin Friday

Musician/composer

I like the earrings the way other people might like shirts, or ties. I feel a bit naked without them now

I have two piercings in each ear, two sleepers — hoops — and two studs. I got the first set in the 1970s when I was about 12. A friend did them in my kitchen with a hot needle, ice and a cork. Heat the needle to disinfect it, numb the area, hold the cork against the back of the ear and push.

The pain was so bad I nearly passed out, but I wanted them done more than I was bothered by the pain. The reason? David Bowie had his done, and I was a big fan. Kids are impressionable. It was around the time of Ziggy Stardust. There was a whole thing about if you got the right side pierced, it meant one thing, and if you got the left side done it meant something else. I didn’t care about any of that, I liked the look of two.

The most trying thing was dealing with my father, and the kids around the area who didn’t like me. I’d come home and my mum would say, ‘ Take them out, love, before your father gets home.’ He’d come in and check whether I was wearing them. Sunday lunch I had to take them out, too, or there would be a row and dinner might end up on the floor.

Punk really escalated the use of piercings — safety pins in the nose, the lips, the eyebrows; I would put the occasional safety pin in, to shock. I got the second set of earrings around the time of the Virgin Prunes, in 1978. I had them done in the George’s Street Arcade.

I’m 54 now, and I’ve worn the earrings constantly, so it’s as natural as putting on socks in the morning. It’s an old Romany gypsy tradition, and a sailor’s tradition. I like those idioms, but, also, I like the earrings the way other people might like shirts, or ties. I feel a bit naked without them now.