Sham 69

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Hersham, London, United Kingdom (1976 – present)

Sham 69 formed in Hersham, Surrey in 1976 (the 12 November issue of NME notes they were rehearsing at this time, although only Jimmy Pursey would remain from this early line-up 12 months later). Sham 69 lacked the art school background of many British punk bands of the time, and brought in football chant back-up 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 one of their gigs at Middlesex Polytechnic in 1978 was broken up by National Front skinheads 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 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), “If The Kids Are United” (number 9 in July 1978), and “Hurry Up Harry” (number 10 in October 1978). The latter came from their second LP and first full studio album, That’s Life.

They then started to move away from punk rock into a sound heavily influenced by classic British hard rock bands such as Mott The Hoople, The Who and The Faces, evidenced on their third album, The Adventures of the Hersham Boys.

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Popular tags: punk, oi, punk rock, street punk, british  See more

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• The Punk Singles Collection
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• That's Life
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• Best Of - Cockney Kids Are Innocent
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• Tell Us the Truth
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1		If The Kids Are United			364
2		Borstal Breakout			305
3		Hurry Up Harry			217
4		Angels With Dirty Faces			161
5		Hey Little Rich Boy			150
6		Hersham Boys			106
7		Tell Us The Truth			86
8		Sunday Morning Nightmare			81
9		Questions And Answers			80
10		Rip Off			62
11		You're A Better Man Than I			61
12		The Cockney Kids Are Innocent			52
13		Give A Dog A Bone			49
14		Who Gives A Damn			47
15		I Don't Wanna			46

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