Nick Sheppard

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Sheppard (right) with The Clash.

Nick Sheppard is a Bristol-born guitarist.

He started at 16 with The Cortinas, named after a well-known British car, the Ford Cortina. The band moved from R&B towards covering songs by punk forerunners like the New York Dolls and The Stooges. "In retrospect, I suppose we were very hip," Sheppard says. "We were listening to the right records, as we were right there at the right time." The Cortinas' singles, "Fascist Dictator" and "Defiant Pose" both appeared on Step Forward, the label run by Police manager Miles Copeland. The band split up in September 1978.

Sheppard moved to California, then back to Britain. When The Clash sacked Mick Jones in 1983, Sheppard and Vince White replaced him, and he toured America and Europe with them in 1984, playing on their final album Cut the Crap. The album attracted criticism through manager Bernie Rhodes' intrusive production and use of a drum machine. When "This Is England" reached a number 24 UK chart position, Sheppard is quoted as saying "I remember sitting in a different city watching it, thinking, 'There isn't a band'". The Clash finally split up shortly afterwards.

From 1986 to 1989 he collaborated with Gareth Sager (formerly of The Pop Group and Rip Rig & Panic) in Head, but their three albums made little impact. Sheppard next worked with Koozie Johns in Shot, which signed with I.R.S. Records in 1991, with Copeland as manager; however the band's recordings were never released. Sheppard moved to Australia in 1993, and played in Heavy Smoker and the New Egyptian Kings. In July 2002, it was suggested Sheppard would be guest guitarist on a Japanese tour with Johns' new band, Sinnerstar. The tour was cancelled.