Information AboutSham 69 |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT SHAM 69 | |
| english musical groups | |
| music from london | |
| early punk groups | |
| english punk rock groups | |
| 1970s music groups | |
| english socialists | |
| streetpunk | |
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 Football -related Graffiti that founder Jimmy Pursey saw on a urinal wall that originally said ''Hersham '69'' (the ''Her'' part had been washed away). 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 Skinhead s fighting and rushing the stage. Sham 69 released their first Single , "Ulster", on Step Forward Records in August 1977, 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 . Dave Parsons and Dave Treganna joined the 1980s Glam Punk / Gothic Rock band The Lords Of The New Church , with Stiv Bators of The Dead Boys , Nick Turner of The Barracudas and Brian James of The Damned . In 1981, Pursey collaborated with Peter Gabriel on the single "Animals Have More Fun" which was commercially unsuccessful. 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 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. 2006 break-up In late 2006, Sham 69 broke up, and Dave Parsons has stated his wish to independently continue as 'Sham 69'. On January 26, 2007, 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".http://www.nme.com/news/nme/26054 Parsons and Whitewood have formed a new line-up with Tim V on vocals and Rob Jefferson on bass.http://www.sham69online.co.uk/HISTORY.html This lineup has performed a handful of concerts and released a new album, ''Hollywood Hero'' in August 2007. Pursey is planning to release a new album ''We Interrupt This Program'' and continues to work with his line up of Sham 69. LINE-UPS 1977-1979 1979-1980
1996
2007 (Dave Parsons-led lineup)
DISCOGRAPHY Albums Singles
Compilations
Live
FOOTNOTES BIBLIOGRAPHY
EXTERNAL LINKS
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