| Strength Thru Oi! | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Compilation album by various artists | ||||
| Released | May 1981 | |||
| Recorded | Various | |||
| Genre | Oi!, punk rock | |||
| Label | Decca | |||
| Various artists chronology | ||||
| ||||
Strength Thru Oi! is a 1981 Oi! compilation album, featuring various artists and released by Decca Records, released in collaboration with Sounds magazine.
The album was the sequel to Oi! The Album (1980), and itself was followed by Carry On Oi! (Oi 3!, 1981) and Oi! Oi! That's Yer Lot! (Oi/4, 1982).
When Strength Thru Oi! was released, it was controversial because its title was alleged to be a play on a Nazi slogan ("Strength Through Joy"), and the cover featured Nicky Crane, a British Movement activist who was serving a four-year sentence for racist violence. Rock critic Garry Bushell, who was responsible for compiling the album, said its title was a pun on The Skids' EP Strength Through Joy and that, as an active anti-fascist in the 1970s, he had been unaware of the Nazi connotations. He also denied knowing the identity of the skinhead on the album's cover until it was exposed by the Daily Mail two months later. The intended cover model was bodybuilder Carlton Leach but the pictures, taken at the Bridge House pub in Canning Town, East London, weren't good enough. A cover drawn up by the record label showing a young skinhead from above with the title on his head was rejected. The Crane image was taken from a Christmas card pinned to a wall in the Sounds office. [1]
It was not so easy to deny the album cover's glorification of violence and the sinister tone of its sleeve notes: "A mass of boots, straights, and combat jackets, skins and boot boys, grins and hoots and oy-oy's, young blood on the prowl.... Getting nicked for wearing steel caps, a flick blade flashing in the moonlight." However, otherwise suggested that this was meant to reflect the reality of the lives of the British working class, as opposed to glorifying the violence faced by them. [2]
A skinhead is a member of a subculture which originated among working class youths in London, England, in the 1960s and 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.
Toy Dolls are an English punk rock band formed in 1979. Departing from the angry lyrics and music often associated with punk rock, the Toy Dolls worked within the aesthetics of punk to express a sense of fun, with songs such as "Yul Brynner Was a Skinhead", "My Girlfriend's Dad's a Vicar" and "James Bond Lives Down Our Street". There is often alliteration in their song titles. They are probably best known however for their sole UK hit, a punk-rock cover of "Nellie the Elephant".
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, and pejoratively known as Boneheads, 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 Europe, Russia and North America in the 1980–1990s.
Punk pathetique is a subgenre of British punk rock that involved humour and working-class cultural themes.
The Oppressed are a Welsh Oi! band that formed in 1981 in Cardiff, Wales. Most of the musicians in the band's various lineups have been skinheads. Throughout the band's career, the members openly expressed opposition to racism and fascism — in their lyrics, interviews, on-stage comments and other actions. In 1989, Moreno visited New York City and met a few members of Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice (SHARP). On his return to the United Kingdom, he started promoting SHARP ideals to British skinheads. The band has also had ties to other anti-racist groups, such as Anti-Fascist Action. Moreno is a Cardiff City F.C. supporter, and some of the band's songs express that support.
Cock Sparrer is an English punk rock band formed in 1972 in the East End of London. Although they have never enjoyed commercial success, they helped pave the way for the early '80s punk scene and the Oi! subgenre., Their songs have been covered by many punk, Oi!, and hardcore punk bands.
The Business were an English punk band formed in 1979 in Lewisham, South London, England. The band lasted for four decades until their frontman Micky Fitz died from cancer in December 2016.
Oi! is a subgenre of punk rock that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The music and its associated subculture had the goal of bringing together punks, skinheads, and other disaffected working-class youth. 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."
The 4-Skins are an English working-class Oi! band from the East End of London, England. Originally composed of Gary Hodges (vocals), 'Hoxton' Tom McCourt (guitar), Steve 'H' Hamer (bass) and John Jacobs (drums), the group was formed in 1979 and disbanded in 1984 – although new line-ups formed in 2007 and 2008. Many of their songs dealt with violent topics, but the band has claimed they were discussing the realities of inner city life, not promoting violence. Other 4-Skins song topics include police harassment, political corruption, war and unemployment.
'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.
Captain Oi! Records is a punk rock and Oi! record label based in High Wycombe, England. The company has released over 300 albums by many notable punk and Oi! bands of the late 1970s and 1980s. The label was set up by Mark Brennan, former bassist of The Business, who had previously co-run Link Records and the Dojo subsidiary of Castle Records. Brennan's inspiration had been Ace Records, with Captain Oi! targeted at being "the Ace Records of retro punk rock", reissuing material by classic punk bands.
Combat 84 were an English punk rock band active during the early 1980s. Formed in 1981 in Chelsea, London by skinheads 'Chubby' Chris Henderson and 'Deptford' John Armitage, Combat 84 rose to national prominence after being featured in a controversial 1982 BBC Arena documentary about the skinhead movement.
Oi! The Album is a 1980 Oi! compilation album, released in 1980 by EMI, then re-released by Captain Oi! and Cleopatra Records on CD in later years. It was conceived and compiled by then Sounds columnist Garry Bushell who had coined the phrase "Oi!" to denote what he called a new breed of working class punk rock with "terrace" or mob choruses. Of the bands labelled 'Oi!', Bushell had managed the Cockney Rejects and went on to manage the Blood.
Carry On Oi! is a 1981 Oi! compilation album, featuring various artists and released by Secret Records. Also known as Oi 3!, it was compiled by Garry Bushell.
Oi! Oi! That's Yer Lot! is a 1982 Oi! compilation album, featuring various artists and released by Secret Records. It is also known as Oi/4.
Son of Oi! is a 1983 punk compilation album, released by Syndicate Records. It is 5th in the Oi! compilation series.
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. His TV column Bushell on the Box still appears weekly in the Daily Star Sunday, and he is the Review Editor of the Sunday Express.
Pirates Press Records is a punk rock record label founded in 2005. The label is based in the San Francisco Bay Area, with its headquarters located in Emeryville, California. The label releases music representing a variety of punk rock subgenres, including Oi!, street punk, hardcore, ska-punk, and pop-punk, as well as related genres such as ska, reggae, and indie rock. Some of the best-known artists who have released music with the label include Rancid, Cock Sparrer, Subhumans, The Aggrolites, The Slackers, The Bar Stool Preachers, and more. Bands affiliated with the label regularly feature on lineups at major festivals such as BYO Punk Rock Bowling & Music Festival in Las Vegas, NV, USA; Rebellion Festival in Blackpool, UK; and Riot Fest in Chicago, IL, USA. The label has also released several notable compilations, including the Oi! This is Streepunk! series, label sampler One Family One Flag, and Oi! 40 Years Untamed, a 40th anniversary follow-up to Garry Bushell's Oi! compilation series. The label also released Under One Flag, a year-long, weekly 7" record subscription.
 | This 1980s punk rock album–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
