Sham 69

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Sham 69
Origin Hersham, Surrey, England
Genre(s) Punk rock, Oi!
Years active 1975-1980, 1989 - present
Website http://www.sham69.com
http://www.sham69online.co.uk
Members
Dave Parsons
Tim V
Ian Whitewood
Rob Jefferson
Former members
Jimmy Pursey
Mat Sargent
Billy Bostick
Alby Maskell
Neil Harris
Mark Cain
Dave Treganna
Ricky Goldstein

Sham 69 are an English punk band that formed in Hersham in 1975.

Although not as commercially successful as many of their contemporaries, albeit with a greater number of chart entries, Sham 69 has been a huge musical and lyrical influence on the Oi! and streetpunk genres. The band allegedly derived their name from a piece of graffiti that founder Jimmy Pursey saw on a wall. It originally said Walton and Hersham '69 but had partly faded away, and made reference to when Walton & Hersham F.C. secured the Athenian League title in 1969.[citation needed]

Contents

[edit] Early history

The November 12, 1976 issue of NME notes that Sham 69 was rehearsing in 1976, although only Pursey would remain from this early lineup twelve months later. Sham 69 lacked the art school background of many English punk bands of the time, and brought in football chant backup vocals and a sort of inarticulate political populism. The band had a large skinhead following (left wing, right wing and non-political), which helped set the tone for the Oi! movement. Their concerts were notoriously plagued by violence, and the band ceased live performances after a 1978 concert at Middlesex Polytechnic was broken up by National Front-supporting white power skinheads fighting and rushing the stage.

Sham 69 released their first single, "I Don't Wanna", on Step Forward Records in August 1977, produced by John Cale of the Velvet Underground, and its success in the independent charts prompted Polydor Records to sign the band. Their major label debut was "Borstal Breakout" in January 1978, followed by UK singles chart success with "Angels With Dirty Faces" (reaching number 19 in May 1978) and "If The Kids Are United" (number 9 in July 1978). They were taken from the group's debut album, Tell Us the Truth, a mixture of live and studio recordings. The group had further chart success with "Hurry Up Harry" (number 10 in October 1978), which came from their second LP and first full studio album, That's Life. The band's popularity was enhanced by their performances on Top Of The Pops.

They eventually started to move away from punk rock, to embrace a sound heavily influenced by classic British rock bands such as Mott the Hoople, The Who, The Rolling Stones and The Faces. This was demonstrated by their third album, The Adventures of the Hersham Boys.

Sham 69 originally broke up after their fourth album, and Pursey moved in a heavy metal direction after working with the remaining members of the Sex Pistols for a short time, under the name Sham Pistols. Rick Goldstein, Dave Parsons and Dave Treganna joined the 1980s glam punk/gothic rock band The Wanderers with Stiv Bators of The Dead Boys before he formed The Lords of the New Church. Stiv Bators and Dave Treganna recruited Nick Turner of The Barracudas and Brian James of The Damned to become Lords of the New Church. In 1981, Pursey collaborated with Peter Gabriel on the single "Animals Have More Fun" which was commercially unsuccessful.

[edit] 1987 and later

In 1987, Sham 69 was resurrected with a different lineup, releasing the single "Rip And Tear". "If the Kids Are United" was used in a McDonald's advertising campaign, long after the rights to the band's songs had been sold. By that time, Pursey was a vegetarian, and he appeared in the British media condemning the use of his song by what he considered a multinational abuser of animals and humans.

In 2005, the band gained media attention when "If The Kids Are United" was played during UK Prime Minister Tony Blair's entrance at the Labour Party Conference. As a result of this, the band was invited onto BBC TV's current affairs programme, Newsnight to sing a version of the song. Pursey sang altered lyrics, including "Mr. Blair / We know you care / So bring them home / Don't leave them there", referring to the troops remaining in Iraq after the the 2003 invasion.

In 2006, listeners to Christian O'Connell's Breakfast Show on Virgin Radio voted overwhelmingly for the band to record a song to support the England national football team in the 2006 FIFA World Cup.[1] Released under "Sham 69 and The Special Assembly" (O'Connell and Blur guitarist Graham Coxon were also involved), the song was based on the Sham 69 hit "Hurry Up Harry", with the lyrics "We're going down the pub", changed to "We're going to win the cup!" The resulting single, "Hurry Up England" reached number 10 in the UK Top 40, becoming the band's first such hit for over 26 years.

[edit] 2006 break-up and aftermath

In late 2006, Sham 69 broke up, and Dave Parsons has stated his wish to independently continue as 'Sham 69'. On January 26, 2007, BBC News announced that Sham 69 had split because of a bitter fallout between Pursey and Parsons.[2] NME reported that a statement released by Parsons included the message: "Sham 69 have left Jimmy Pursey on the eve of their 30th anniversary. The band had become increasingly fed up with Jimmy's lack of interest in playing live and continually letting down both promoters and fans by pulling out of gigs at the last moment".[3] Parsons and Whitewood have formed a new line-up with Tim V on vocals and Rob Jefferson on bass.[4] This line-up has performed tours of the United States, played at many major punk festivals across Europe, and released a new album, Hollywood Hero in August 2007. On Jan 21, 2008, Pursey officially announced the formation of his new band, Day 21, and relinquished any interest in the name Sham 69.[5]

[edit] Line-ups

[edit] 1977

  • Jimmy Pursey : vocals
  • Dave Parsons :guitar
  • Albie "Slider" Maskell : bass
  • Mark "Dodie" Cain : drums

[edit] 1977-1979

  • Jimmy Pursey: vocals
  • Dave Parsons: guitar
  • Dave Treganna: bass
  • Mark "Dodie" Cain: drums

[edit] 1979-1980

  • Jimmy Pursey: vocals
  • Dave Parsons: guitar
  • Dave Treganna: bass
  • Ricky Goldstein: drums

[edit] 1996-2001

  • Jimmy Pursey: vocals
  • Dave Parsons: guitar, backing vocals
  • Mat Sargent: bass, backing vocals
  • Ian Whitewood: drums

[edit] 2007-2008

  • Dave Parsons: guitar
  • Ian Whitewood: drums
  • Tim V: vocals
  • Rob "Zee" Jefferson: bass

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Title Date of Release UK Chart Position
Tell Us The Truth 1978 #25
That's Life 1978 #27
The Adventures of the Hersham Boys 1979 #8
The Game 1980 ??
Volunteer 1988 ??
Information Libre 1991 ??
Soapy Water and Mister Marmalade 1995 ??
The A Files 1997 ??
Direct Action: Day 21 2001 ??
Hollywood Hero (USA) 2007 ??
Western Culture (UK / EUROPE) 2007 ??

[edit] Singles

Sham 69 - Hersham Boys excerpt

An excerpt from Hersham Boys
Problems listening to the file? See media help.
  • "I Don't Wanna" (1977)
  • "Song Of The Street" (1977)
  • "Borstal Breakout" (1978)
  • "Angels With Dirty Faces" (1978) UK #19
  • "If The Kids are United" (1978) UK #9
  • "Hurry Up Harry" (1978) UK #10
  • "Questions And Answers" (1979) UK #18
  • "Hersham Boys" (1979) UK #6
  • "You're A Better Man Than I" (1979)
  • "Tell The Children" (1980)
  • "Unite and Win" (1980)
  • "Rip And Tear" (1987)
  • "Ban The Gun" (1987)
  • "Outside The Warehouse" (1988)
  • "Action Time" (1993)
  • "Girlfriend" (1995)
  • "Swampy" (1996)
  • "Hurry Up England" (2006) UK #10

[edit] Compilations

[edit] Live

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Music - News - Punk star to make World Cup alternative - Digital Spy
  2. ^ BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Punk band Sham 69 in bitter split
  3. ^ http://www.nme.com/news/nme/26054
  4. ^ http://www.sham69online.co.uk/HISTORY.html
  5. ^ DAY 21 - TV Home

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] External links