Al Gregg

Last updated

Al Gregg
Born (1963-06-09) 9 June 1963 (age 61)
West Brompton, London, England
Occupation(s) Actor, writer, musician

Al Gregg (born 9 June 1963) is an English actor, writer and musician.

After leaving school at sixteen he played guitar and sang in various punk bands including Three Minute Warning later Four Minds Crack produced by Dave Parsons Sham 69 and Rab Fae Beith The Wall band (soon to be featured in Ian Glasper's book on DIY punk; A Country Fit for Heroes - Volume II) and then The Wall (band), produced by Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols, Jimmy Pursey of Sham 69, Pete Wilson Sham 69/Angelic Upstarts/Vapors and Dennis Munday The Jam The Style Council,and appeared in music magazines like Melody Maker, and recorded on the Wall's Day Tripper 12" and EP, recorded at the Crass Southern Studios in 1982. He also appeared live in various UK venues. Recently the Wall have reformed and appeared at the Rebellion Festival punk festival in Blackpool and on UK tours.

After the band's split in 1983, Al trained as an actor at the Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama (1985–88); The Oxford School of Drama (1984/7) and was in two RADA productions; Worthless Thing at Etcetera/Watford Palace in 1999/2000 and The Zoo Story Gielgud Theatre RADA 2004. Among his many theatre credits: Edmond at the Theatre Royal Haymarket

His many television credits include EastEnders , Casualty , Conquest , Van Der Valk , The Bill , Soldier Soldier , Inspector Alleyn , Moon and Son , All the Rage , Screenplay: A Safe House , Captive , Next , Passport to Murder and Lovejoy . He has recently appeared in the films The Real American: Joe McCarthy; Operation Chastity ; The Final; Dead Ideas; A Modest Proposal . Most recently Harrigan; Dr Easy; Squat; Write the Future , starring Wayne Rooney and directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, has appeared in Fuelling the Future for the London Olympics/Paralympics 2012. He played the lead role of Clint Hill in film A Life for Kennedy and the main role of Malcolm Riley in Flawless a domestic violence psychological drama, directed by Tito Sacchi for Valhalla Pictures and the charity ManKind. Most recently, Al has appeared in the main role of Robert Kissel in Passport to Murder for Sky Television, and the lead role of Pierre Korkie in hostage series Captive , produced by Doug Liman for Netflix.

Al has voiced film trailers for T2 Trainspotting; Dunkirk (2017 Film); video games Assassin's Creed and has been a brand voice for many companies including; Grundig, DSM, Jaguar, Purina, Floris, Loro Piana

Gregg was the lead guitarist for rock singer Caroline Alexander (Organic/Universal) produced by Ace (Skunk Anansie) and also for Rip It Up (Ankh Music). He frequently appeared live, including headlining The Forum (2006) and supporting Girlschool at the London Astoria (2005). In 2016, Al re-appeared with the Wall at the 40th anniversary Rebellion Punk festival, at the Opera House, Winter Gardens, Blackpool, and also appeared with the band live on their UK tour, co headlining with Spizz Energi as well as recording new material. In February 2022 the four track 'Back to the Wall - Manchuria' EP by The Wall was released by Spectacle Music Ltd featuring two previously unreleased Wall songs written by Ian Lowery and two new songs written by Al Gregg, as a tribute to both Ian Lowery and Andy Griffiths. The EP received positive reviews from the likes of Louder than War and Phonotonal.

Al Gregg's novel The Wrong Outfit, about football and punk rock, published by AuthorHouse UK, was released in the autumn of 2010.

He co-wrote and composed the original music in the Punk play 'Reality Chokes', and appeared as one of the main characters Dan, both in London and at the Edinburgh Festival in 2009. His other writing includes Next (BBC), and two historical plays 'Soldiers of Babylon' and 'Murder, My Lord'. He has also co-adapted with his brother Rob Gregg, Aristophanes' comedy 'Frogs Reimagined' as a play about music, for productions in Greece, Cyprus and at the Stockton Theatre, New Jersey in the US in 2014. Further musical co-adaptations of Shakespeare, 'Midsummer Night's Scream' (performed at the Dante Hall Theatre, Atlantic City US (2013) and 'Much ado 'bout Nothin' in 2014. A further play with music about Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd and his alter ego Arnold Layne titled 'Piper' is due for. He became the voice for the podcast animation series CodEye, written by Martin Kaluza and Martin Cooper with drawings by Luke Harkus-Jeffries.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sham 69</span> English punk rock band

Sham 69 are an English punk rock band that formed in Hersham in Surrey in 1975. They changed their musical direction after seeing the Sex Pistols play live in early 1976. They were one of the most successful punk bands in the United Kingdom, achieving five top 20 singles, including "If the Kids Are United" and "Hurry Up Harry". The group's popularity saw them perform on the BBC’s Top of the Pops, and they appeared in the rockumentary film D.O.A.. The original unit broke up in 1979, with frontman Jimmy Pursey moving on to pursue a solo career.

Angelic Upstarts are an English punk rock / Oi! band formed in South Shields in 1977. AllMusic calls them "one of the period's most politically charged and thought-provoking groups". The band espouse an anti-fascist and socialist working class philosophy, and have been associated with the punk and skinhead subcultures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Varukers</span> British hardcore punk rock band

The Varukers are a British punk rock band formed in 1979 by vocalist Anthony "Rat" Martin. They produced their most influential recordings in the early 1980s. The band play in D-beat, the musical style of Discharge. Also like Discharge, the Varukers' lyrics carry an anarchist political ideology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">D-beat</span> Genre of hardcore punk

D-beat is a style of hardcore punk, developed in the early 1980s by imitators of Discharge, after whom the genre is named, as well as a drum beat characteristic of this subgenre. D-beat is known for its "grinding, distorted and brutally political" sound. Discharge may have themselves inherited the beat from Motörhead and the Buzzcocks. D-beat is closely associated with crust punk, which is a heavier, more complex variation. The style was particularly popular in Sweden, and developed there by groups such as Crude SS, Anti Cimex, Mob 47, and Driller Killer. Other D-beat groups include Doom and the Varukers from the UK; Disclose from Japan; Crucifix and Final Conflict from the U.S.; Ratos de Porão from Brazil; and MG15 from Spain. While the style initially developed in the early 1980s, a number of new groups working within the subgenre emerged in the mid-1990s. These include the Swedish groups Wolfbrigade, Totalitär, Avskum, Skitsystem, and Disfear.

Eater are an early British punk rock band from North London who took their name from a Marc Bolan lyric.

Dave Ellesmere is an English rock musician and later electronic DJ, born in Southport, England, who played drums during the 1980s in UK punk bands such as The Insane, Discharge, Flux of Pink Indians and Doctor and the Crippens, as well as guitar in Disgust. He has also drummed with Gaz Sumner in Hylas and the Nymphs.

Skrewdriver were an English punk rock band formed by Ian Stuart Donaldson in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, in 1976. Originally a punk band, Skrewdriver changed into a white power skinhead rock band after reuniting in the 1980s. Their original line-up split in January 1979 and Donaldson reformed the band with different musicians in 1982. This new version of the band played a leading role in the Rock Against Communism movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UK Decay</span> English post-punk band

UK Decay are an English post-punk band based in Luton.

Ian Craig Marsh is an English musician and composer. He was a founding member of the electronic band the Human League, writing and playing on their first two albums and several singles, until leaving in 1980 to form the British Electric Foundation and later Heaven 17.

The Ejected were an English punk rock/Oi! band from Dagenham, London, active mainly between 1981 and 1983.

The Fits were a punk rock band from Blackpool, Lancashire, England, who were active between 1979 and 1985, having several hits on the UK Indie Chart. They reformed in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foreign Legion (band)</span> Welsh punk band

Foreign Legion is a punk band from South Wales.

Street punk is an urban working class-based subgenre of punk rock, which emerged as a rebellion against the perceived artistic pretensions of the first wave of British punk. The earliest street punk songs emerged in the late 1970s by bands including Sham 69, the U.K. Subs and Cockney Rejects. By 1982, bands such as Discharge, GBH and the Exploited had pushed this sound to become faster and more abrasive, while also embracing the influence of heavy metal music. In the 1990s and 2000s, a street punk revival began with bands such as the Casualties, Rancid and the Analogs.

The Defects are a punk rock band from Belfast, Northern Ireland, formed in 1978.

The Wall were a punk rock band formed in Sunderland, England, in early 1978. They have released two studio albums.

Red London is an English punk band formed in Sunderland in December 1981, influenced by The Clash, Chelsea, SLF, The Angelic Upstarts, The Ruts and The Jam. The band named themselves after a Sham 69 song.

Ski Patrol were a British post-punk band formed in London in 1979 by former The Wall and future Folk Devils singer Ian Lowery and Nick Clift of The Debutantes.

Major Accident is a punk band from the North East of England.

Ian Lowery was an English vocalist and poet who fronted several bands, including The Wall, Ski Patrol, Folk Devils, and King Blank, as well as recording as a solo artist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hardcore punk in the United Kingdom</span> Genre of music in the UK

Hardcore punk in the United Kingdom began in the late 1970s and early 1980s with the second wave of punk rock in the country. The scene produced many successful and influential hardcore punk bands throughout the 1980s such as Discharge, GBH and the Exploited and led to the pioneering of genres such as grindcore, street punk, crust punk and D-beat.

References