Sham 69

Formed in Hersham, Surrey in 1975, Sham 69 were the ultimate "lads" band. All pints of lager, football terrace chants and menacing cock-sure attitudes. Jimmy Pursey was a fierce, working-class idealist and avenging angel of the unemployed. Ironically, he sacked most of the original line-up of the band within a year due to their lack of commitment. A streamlined aggregation featuring Dave Parsons (guitar), Dave Treganna (bass) and Mark Cain (drums) helped Pursey reach the UK charts with a series of hits including Angels With Dirty Faces, If The Kids Are United and Hurry Up Harry.

Pursey's idealistic working class warrior philosophy backfired however as their air punching Oi! by-numbers began attracting more and more face punching neo-Nazi skinheads causing wary promoters to shun the band.

After a troubled couple of years attempting to reconcile his ideals and their results, Pursey finally disbanded the group in the summer of 79, only to reform a couple of months later with a final album, The Game. This failed to chart and Jimmy subsequently pursued a low-key solo career. In 1987 he resurrected Sham 69 releasing a largely ignored LP, Volunteer. Their sound ultimately softened (and went a bit weird, adding a saxophone to their line-up!).