Sham 69 are an English punk rock band that formed in Hersham in Surrey in 1975. 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.
James Timothy Pursey is an English rock musician. He is the founder and frontman of the punk rock band Sham 69, which he has performed with since 1976, along with releasing material as a solo artist.
The Chords are a 1970s British pop music group, commonly associated with the 1970s mod revival, who had several hits in their homeland, before the decline of the trend brought about their break-up. They were one of the more successful groups to emerge during the revival, and they re-formed with the four original members for a UK tour during 2010.
The Sham Pistols were a short-lived punk rock supergroup composed of guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook of the Sex Pistols, with vocalist Jimmy Pursey and bass player Dave Tregunna of Sham 69. Although now referred to as The Sham Pistols no name had been decided upon at the time. There was the possibility that they may have been called The Sex Pistols.
Tell Us the Truth is the debut album by English punk rock band Sham 69, released in 1978. The first side of the album was recorded live in concert, while the other was recorded in the studio. Tell Us the Truth includes one of Sham 69's biggest hits, "Borstal Breakout", on the live side of the album. The album peaked at number 25 on the UK Albums Chart.
The Adventures of the Hersham Boys is an album by punk band Sham 69, released in 1979. It's their most successful album to date, charting at #8 in the UK.
The Game is an album by Oi! band Sham 69, released in 1980. The album was recorded in the French Alps with overdubbing and mixing completed at Rock City Studios, Shepperton.
Direct Action: Day 21 is an album by punk band Sham 69, released in 2001.
"I Gotta Dance to Keep from Crying" is a 1963 hit by the Miracles on Motown's Tamla label. It was written and produced by Motown's main songwriting team, Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Eddie Holland.
"If the Kids Are United" is a song by English punk rock band Sham 69. The single, backed by the B-side "Sunday Morning Nightmare", was a success and reached number 9 in the UK Singles Chart in July 1978. The song was also featured on their 1980 compilation album, The First, the Best and the Last. The song was covered by the German punk rock band Die Toten Hosen in 1991 for their cover album Learning English, Lesson One. Released as a single in 1992, it features Jimmy Pursey as a guest musician. Both the B-sides are Sham 69 covers. The CD single is designed to resemble a sawtooth.
Who Killed Joe Public is the Eleventh studio album by punk rock band Sham 69 and the second album not to feature original singer Jimmy Pursey. During the making of the album Pursey put up on his official site a message saying "Who Killed Sham 69?", an obvious play on words aimed at Parsons. One year after the album's release Pursey and Parsons settled their differences and reformed the 1977 line-up, thus leaving and angering the leftover members. The leftover members formed their own band called 'IF...' and toured the UK with Tony Feedback of the Angelic Upstarts and Rick Buckler of The Jam, having two drummers live. After feeling hard done by, the leftover members then decided to also tour under the name Sham 69 after original member Neil Harris joined them.
Teenage Warning is Angelic Upstarts' first album, released in August 1979. It peaked at No. 29 in the UK Albums Chart and featured three singles, "The Murder of Liddle Towers", "I'm An Upstart" and "Teenage Warning". If you take into account that the B-sides "The Young Ones" and "Leave Me Alone" are also included, then almost half the album was also available on 7" singles.
The Punk Singles Collection 1977-80 is a compilation album by Sham 69. It was originally released by Cleopatra in 1998. It features all of the singles, with their b-sides, released by the band from their start to their first break-up. It was re-released in 2006 by Captain Oi!, this time featuring the four missing live b-sides.
"Angels with Dirty Faces" is a single by English punk rock band Sham 69 from their second studio album That's Life. The single was backed by B-side hit "Cockney Kids are Innocent". The song was released as a 7" vinyl single in 1978 and 12" single in 1982. It reached number 19 on the UK Singles Chart for 10 weeks. "Angels with Dirty Faces" was written and produced by lead vocalist Jimmy Pursey, guitarist Dave Parsons of Sham 69 and Peter Wilson and it only charted in the UK. The song also features on compilations The First, the Best and the Last (1980) and The Punk Singles Collection 1977-80 (1998) and appeares on live albums including Live and Loud (1987), The Complete Sham 69 Live (1989) and Live at the Roxy Club (1990). The band performed the song on the BBC television show Top of the Pops.
"Hersham Boys" is a single released by English punk rock band Sham 69 in 1979 from their third studio album The Adventures of the Hersham Boys. It was the band's biggest and most well-known hit, peaking at number six on the UK Singles Chart and at nine on the Irish Singles Chart. This success was despite the song's poor review in pop magazine Smash Hits; music journalist David Hepworth described the song as "A tired, hollow effort struggling between weary attempts at rabble-rousing and blush-making pseudo-Springsteen 'street' songs that reek of desperation and contract fulfilling. As empty self-satisfied a record as anything they supposedly set out to replace". The song is included on live and compilation albums. Two live tracks, "I Don't Wanna (live)" and "Tell Us The Truth (live)" appear as b-sides on this single, recorded in 1978. In the music video the sign that Pursey, the rest of Sham 69 and a young boy are sitting next to is the sign for Hersham Road.
"I Don't Wanna" is a song by English punk rock band Sham 69, which was released as the band's debut single on 28 October 1977. It was their only release on independent label Step Forward Records before signing with Polydor, and was successful on the independent chart. Two B-side tracks, "Ulster" and "Red London" appear on the single. "I Don't Wanna" was written by frontman Jimmy Pursey and guitarist Dave Parsons and produced by John Cale, a founding and former member of experimental rock band The Velvet Underground. The songs were recorded in August 1977 at Pathway Studios in London. Jill Furmanovsky took the cover photograph.
BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert is a 1993 live album by Sham 69. It was recorded by the BBC during the band's concert at the Paris Theatre in London on 21 February 1979 and released as a live album in 1993.
Shams Last Stand is a live and compilation album by Sham 69 and Sham Pistols, was recorded in 1977–1979 at Rainbow Theatre, London, England. It was released as live album in 1989 and on 24 August 1999 as compilation album. The tracks includes "Pretty Vacant" by Sex Pistols and "White Riot" by The Clash was later featured on compilation album and was covered by Sham 69.
Greatest Hits Live is a live album by punk rock band Sham 69. It was recorded live at Clockwise Mobile Studio in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan in March 1991, and released in 2001 on Cherry Red Records.
The Wanderers were a short-lived British punk rock band consisting of Stiv Bators and members of Sham 69, and active between 1980 and 1981. They recorded one album before splitting up.
