Sham 69 formed in Hersham, Surrey in 1976. 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.
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.
Sham 69 were quite simply one of THE top punk bands of the late seventies. Led by the charismatic and irrepressible Jimmy Pursey they produced a stream of catchy, populist, short and sweet punk tunes including 'If The Kids Are United', 'Hurry Up Harry' and 'Angels With Dirty Faces' that made the British charts.
But above all Sham 69 are a fantastic, full on punk band with great tunes, a top singer and a dynamic live act: “One of the best live bands in the world”.
