Oi!

Last updated

Oi! is a subgenre of punk rock that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. [3] The music and its associated subculture had the goal of bringing together punks, skinheads, and other disaffected working-class youth. [4] [5] The movement was partly a response to the perception that many participants in the early punk rock scene were, in the words of The Business guitarist Steve Kent, "trendy university people using long words, trying to be artistic... and losing touch." [6]

Contents

History

Oi! became a recognised genre in the latter part of the 1970s, emerging after the perceived commercialisation of punk rock, and before the soon-to-dominate hardcore punk sound. It fused the sounds of early punk bands such as the Sex Pistols, the Ramones, the Clash, and the Jam with influences from 1960s British rock bands such as the Small Faces and the Who, football chants, pub rock bands such as Dr. Feelgood, Eddie and the Hot Rods and The 101ers, and glam rock bands such as T.Rex, Slade and Sweet. Although Oi! has come to be considered mainly a skinhead-oriented genre, the first few Oi! bands were composed mostly of punk rockers and people who fitted neither the skinhead nor punk label.

First-generation Oi! bands such as Sham 69 and Cock Sparrer were around for years before the word Oi! was used retroactively to describe their style of music. In 1980, writing in Sounds magazine, rock journalist Garry Bushell labelled the movement Oi!, taking the name from the garbled "Oi!" that Stinky Turner of Cockney Rejects used to introduce the band's songs. [7] [8] The word is a British expression meaning hey. In addition to Cockney Rejects, other bands to be explicitly labeled Oi! in the early days of the genre included Angelic Upstarts, the 4-Skins, the Business, Anti-Establishment, Blitz, the Blood and Combat 84. [9]

The prevalent ideology of the original Oi! movement was a rough brand of working-class rebellion. Lyrical topics included unemployment, workers' rights, harassment by police and other authorities, and oppression by the government. [6] Oi! songs also covered less-political topics such as street violence, football, sex, and alcohol.

Some Oi! bands―such as Sam McCrory and Johnny Adair's Offensive Weapon [10] ―and fans were involved in white nationalist organisations such as the National Front (NF) and the British Movement (BM), leading some critics to dismiss the Oi! subgenre as racist. [6] Other Oi! bands, such as Angelic Upstarts, The Business, The Burial and The Oppressed were associated with left wing politics and anti-racism, and others were non-political. [11] [12] [13]

Rock Against Communism (RAC) was a partial development from white power/white supremacist movements, which had musical and aesthetic similarities to Oi! Although due to Cold War fears the genre had appeal to some punk rock bands distinct from original Oi! in that they opposed all totalitarianism, [14] but was not connected to the Oi! scene. Timothy S. Brown writes:

[Oi!] played an important symbolic role in the politicization of the skinhead subculture. By providing, for the first time, a musical focus for skinhead identity that was "white"—that is, that had nothing to do with the West Indian immigrant presence and little obvious connection with black musical roots—Oi! provided a musical focus for new visions of skinhead identity [and] a point of entry for a new brand of right-wing rock music. [15]

Garry Bushell, the journalist who promoted the Oi! genre, argued that the white power music scene was "totally distinct from us. We had no overlap other than a mutual dislike". [13]

The mainstream media increased its claims that Oi! was linked to far-right racist politics after an Oi! concert at the Hambrough Tavern in Southall on 4 July 1981 ended with five hours of rioting, 120 people being injured and the tavern being burnt down. [16] [9] [17] [18] Before the concert, some audience members had written NF slogans around the area and bullied Asian residents of the neighbourhood. [6] [16] In response, local Asian youths threw Molotov cocktails and other objects at the tavern, mistakenly believing that the concert—featuring the Business, the 4-Skins and the Last Resort—was a neo-Nazi event. Although some of the concert-goers were National Front or British Movement supporters, none of the performers were white power music bands, and the audience of approximately 500 people included skinheads, black skinheads, punk rockers, rockabillies, and non-affiliated youths. [19]

In the aftermath of that riot, many Oi! bands condemned racism and fascism. These denials, however, were met with cynicism from some quarters because of the Strength Thru Oi! compilation album, released in May 1981. Not only was its title a play on a Nazi slogan "Strength Through Joy", but the cover featured Nicky Crane, a skinhead BM activist who was serving a four-year sentence for racist violence (Crane later disavowed his alignment with the far right after revealing he was gay). [20] Bushell, who compiled the album, stated its title was a pun on the Skids' album Strength Through Joy, and that he had been unaware of the Nazi connotations. [11] He also denied knowing the identity of the skinhead on the album's cover until it was exposed by the Daily Mail two months after the release. [11] Bushell, a socialist at the time, noted the irony of being branded a far-right activist by a newspaper that "had once supported Oswald Mosley's Blackshirts, Mussolini's invasion of Abyssinia, and appeasement with Hitler right up to the outbreak of World War Two." [11]

After the Oi! movement lost momentum in the United Kingdom, Oi! scenes formed in continental Europe, North America, and Asia. Soon, especially in the United States, the Oi! phenomenon mirrored the hardcore punk scene of the late 1970s, with American Oi!-originating bands such as the Radicals, U.S. Chaos, Iron Cross, Agnostic Front, and Anti Heros. Later American punk bands such as Rancid and Dropkick Murphys have credited Oi! as a source of inspiration. [13] In the mid-1990s, there was a revival of interest in Oi! music, leading to older Oi! bands receiving more recognition in the UK[ citation needed ] and bands such as The Business being discovered by young, multiracial skinheads in the US. [21] In the 2000s, many of the original UK Oi! bands reunited to perform and/or record.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Punk subculture</span> Anti-establishment subculture

The punk subculture includes a diverse and widely known array of music, ideologies, fashion, and other forms of expression, visual art, dance, literature, and film. Largely characterised by anti-establishment views, the promotion of individual freedom, and the DIY ethics, the culture originated from punk rock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skinhead</span> Working-class youth subculture

A skinhead or skin is a member of a subculture that originated among working-class youth in London, England, in the 1960s. It soon spread to other parts of the United Kingdom, with a second working-class skinhead movement emerging worldwide in the late 1970s. Motivated by social alienation and working-class solidarity, skinheads are defined by their close-cropped or shaven heads and working-class clothing such as Dr. Martens and steel toe work boots, braces, high rise and varying length straight-leg jeans, and button-down collar shirts, usually slim fitting in check or plain. The movement reached a peak at the end of the 1960s, experienced a revival in the 1980s, and, since then, has endured in multiple contexts worldwide.

Anarcho-punk is an ideological subgenre of punk rock that promotes anarchism. Some use the term broadly to refer to any punk music with anarchist lyrical content, which may figure in crust punk, hardcore punk, folk punk, and other styles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Punk fashion</span> Fashion of punk subculture

Punk fashion is the clothing, hairstyles, cosmetics, jewellery, and body modifications of the punk counterculture. Punk fashion varies widely, ranging from Vivienne Westwood designs to styles modeled on bands like The Exploited to the dressed-down look of North American hardcore. The distinct social dress of other subcultures and art movements, including glam rock, skinheads, greasers, and mods have influenced punk fashion. Punk fashion has likewise influenced the styles of these groups, as well as those of popular culture. Many punks use clothing as a way of making a statement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice</span> Group of skinheads opposing racism

Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice (SHARP) are anti-racist skinheads who oppose white power skinheads, neo-fascists and other political racists, particularly if they identify themselves as skinheads. SHARPs claim to reclaim the original multicultural identity of the original skinheads, hijacked by white power skinheads, who they sometimes deride as "boneheads".

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

Cockney Rejects are an English punk rock band that formed in the East End of London in 1978. Their 1980 song "Oi, Oi, Oi" was the inspiration for the name of the Oi! music genre. The band members are supporters of West Ham United, and pay tribute to the club with their hit cover version of "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles", a song traditionally sung by West Ham supporters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rock Against Communism</span> Music genre associated with far-right movements

Rock Against Communism (RAC) was the name of white power rock concerts in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and has since become the catch-all term for music with racist lyrics as well as a specific genre of rock music derived from Oi! The lyrics can focus on racism and antisemitism, although this depends on the band.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British rock music</span> Rock music from the United Kingdom

British rock describes a wide variety of forms of music made in the United Kingdom. Since around 1964, with the "British Invasion" of the United States spearheaded by the Beatles, British rock music has had a considerable impact on the development of American music and rock music across the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Punk ideologies</span> Group of varied social and political beliefs associated with the punk subculture

Punk ideologies are a group of varied social and political beliefs associated with the punk subculture and punk rock. It is primarily concerned with concepts such as mutual aid, against selling out, hierarchy, white supremacy, authoritarianism, eugenics, class and classism, while supporting anti-consumerism, anti-corporatism, anti-war, anti-imperialism, leftism, anti-globalization, anti-gentrification, anti-racism, anti-sexism, gender equality, anti-homophobia, racial equality, animal rights, free-thought and non-conformity. One of its main tenets is a rejection of mainstream, corporate mass culture and its values. It continues to evolve its ideology as the movement spreads throughout North America from its origins in England and New York and embraces a range of anti-racist and anti-sexist belief systems. Punk does not necessarily lend itself to any particular political ideology as it is primarily anti-establishment although leftist punk is more common due to the prevalence of liberal and conservative ideologies in the status-quo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York hardcore</span> Punk music and associated subculture

New York hardcore is both the hardcore punk music created in New York City and the subculture and lifestyle associated with that music. The scene established many aspects that are fixtures of hardcore punk today, including its simplified name "hardcore", its hardcore skinhead and youth crew subcultures, the moshing style hardcore dancing, its association with street gangs and its prominent influence of heavy metal.

Nicola Vincenzo "Nicky" Crane was an English neo-Nazi activist. He came out as gay before dying from an AIDS-related illness in 1993.

White power skinheads, also known as racist skinheads and neo-Nazi skinheads, are members of a neo-Nazi, white supremacist and antisemitic offshoot of the skinhead subculture. Many of them are affiliated with white nationalist organizations and some of them are members of prison gangs. The movement emerged in the United Kingdom between the late 1960s and the late 1970s, before spreading across Eurasia and North America in the 1980–1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Punk pathetique</span> Punk rock subgenre

Punk pathetique is a subgenre of British punk rock that involved humour and working-class cultural themes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the punk subculture</span>

The history of the punk subculture involves the history of punk rock, the history of various punk ideologies, punk fashion, punk visual art, punk literature, dance, and punk film. Since emerging in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia in the mid-1970s, the punk subculture has spread around the globe and evolved into a number of different forms. The history of punk plays an important part in the history of subcultures in the 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hoxton Tom McCourt</span> Former bassist and bandleader

'Hoxton' Tom McCourt is the former bassist and bandleader of punk rock/Oi! band, The 4-Skins. He was one of the most influential members of the skinhead revival of 1977 to 1978, the mod revival of 1978 to 1979 and the Oi! movement from 1979 to 1984.

The Burial were an English Oi! band that incorporated ska, northern soul and folk influences into their music. Formed in 1981 in Yorkshire, England, they released one album, A Day On the Town, in 1988, and worked with Bradford's anarchist rant-poet Nick Toczek on various projects under the name Britanarchists. They disbanded in 1988.

A number of overlapping punk rock subgenres have developed since the emergence of punk rock in the mid-1970s. Even though punk genres at times are difficult to segregate, they usually show differing characteristics in overall structures, instrumental and vocal styles, and tempo. However, sometimes a particular trait is common in several genres, and thus punk genres are normally grouped by a combination of traits.

No Remorse are an English white power rock band formed in London in 1985. They were one of the most prominent neo-Nazi skinheads bands of the Rock Against Communism scene. The band was led by Paul Burnley between 1986 and 1996, and by William Browning and Daniel "Jacko" Jack from 1996 onwards, following a factional dispute within British white nationalist politics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garry Bushell</span> English journalist, musician and activist

Garry Bushell is an English newspaper columnist, rock music journalist, television presenter, author, musician and political activist. Bushell also sings in the Cockney Oi! bands GBX and the Gonads. He managed the New York City Oi! band Maninblack until the death of the band frontman Andre Schlessinger. Bushell's recurring topical themes are comedy, country and class. He has campaigned for an English Parliament, a Benny Hill statue and for variety and talent shows on TV. He has been a columnist for several newspapers, including The Sun, The People and the Daily Star Sunday, and has worked as the review editor for the Sunday Express.

White power music is music that promotes white nationalism. It encompasses various music styles, including rock, country, and folk. Ethnomusicologist Benjamin R. Teitelbaum argues that white power music "can be defined by lyrics that demonize variously conceived non-whites and advocate racial pride and solidarity. Most often, however, insiders conceptualized white power music as the combination of those themes with pounding rhythms and a charging punk or metal-based accompaniment." Genres include Nazi punk, Rock Against Communism, National Socialist black metal, and fashwave.

References

  1. ↑ Travis, Tiffini; Hardy, Perry (13 April 2012). Skinheads: A Guide to an American Subculture (Guides to Subcultures and Countercultures). Greenwood. pp. 28–29. The style known as NYHC started in the early 1980s and was characterized by "driving machine gun drum beats, fast heavy guitar riffs, and simple repetitive bass lines." Also included in most NYHC was what is now known as "the breakdown" - a quintessential break in the song that would send the listeners into a full-blown frenzy. The vocals were shouted, and many bands had sing-along choruses to encourage audience participation. Lyrics of songs reflected themes of unity, brotherhood, and social justice... It is important to keep in mind that Oi! music originated in England and that American skinheads listened to those bands. As Harley Flanagan recalls, "We were aware of what was going on over there and it was influencing bands... with sing-along anthems."
  2. ↑ "HARDCORE PUNK" . Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  3. ↑ Dalton, Stephen (June 1993). "Revolution Rock". Vox .
  4. ↑ Bushell, Garry (24 January 1981). "Oi! – The Debate". Sounds . pp. 30–31.
  5. ↑ Bushell, Garry (1981). Dance Craze . Nu Image Films.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Robb, John (27 February 2006). Punk Rock: An Oral History. Ebury Publishing. ISBN   978-0091905118.
  7. ↑ "COCKNEY REJECTS". punkmodpop.free.fr. Archived from the original on 28 August 2009.
  8. ↑ Bushell, Garry (26 April 2010). Hoolies: True Stories of Britain's Biggest Street Battles. John Blake. p. 156. ISBN   978-1844549078.
  9. 1 2 Marshall, George (1 December 1991). Spirit of 69: A Skinhead Bible. S.T. Publishing. ISBN   978-0951849705.
  10. ↑ "Terror chiefs Johnny 'Mad Dog' Adair and Sam McCrory hailed as trailblazing punks in new book". SundayWorld.com. 22 April 2024. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  11. 1 2 3 4 "Oi! – The Truth by Garry Bushell". garry-bushell.co.uk. Archived from the original on 31 July 2008.
  12. ↑ Worley, Matthew (2013). "Oi! Oi! Oi!: Class, Locality, and British Punk". Twentieth Century British History . 24 (4) (December 2013 ed.). Oxford University Press: 606–636. doi:10.1093/tcbh/hwt001.
  13. 1 2 3 Petridis, Alexis (18 March 2010). "Misunderstood or hateful? Oi!'s rise and fall". The Guardian . Retrieved 19 November 2022.
  14. ↑ Barberis, Peter; McHugh, John; Tyldesley, Mike (26 July 2005). Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations: Parties, Groups and Movements of the Twentieth Century. Continuum International. p. 175. ISBN   978-0826458148.
  15. ↑ Brown, Timothy S. (2004). "Subcultures, Pop Music and Politics: Skinheads and "Nazi Rock" in England and Germany". Journal of Social History . 38 (1) (Fall 2004 ed.). Oxford University Press: 157–178. doi:10.1353/jsh.2004.0079. S2CID   42029805.
  16. 1 2 "Race Riot Strikes London". The Kingman Daily Miner . Kingman, Arizona. 5 July 1981. p. A-8 – via Associated Press.
  17. ↑ Marshall 1991 , p. 106, 110
  18. ↑ Renton, Dave (4 May 2006). When We Touched the Sky: The Anti-Nazi League, 1977–81. New Clarion Press. pp. 136–155. ISBN   978-1873797488.
  19. ↑ Marshall 1991 , p. 107–108
  20. ↑ Kelly, Jon (6 December 2013). "Nicky Crane: The secret double life of a gay neo-Nazi". BBC News . Retrieved 19 November 2022.
  21. ↑ Finnegan, William (23 November 1997). "THE UNWANTED". The New Yorker . Retrieved 19 November 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.