Sham 69

Sham 69 are a still extant punk band formed in Hersham in 1976. Their leader and frontman, Jimmy Pursey, took the name from worn graffiti: he also wrote liner notes for their LPs and the songs in collaboration with guitarist Dave Parsons. Their debut single, I Don't Wanna, produced by John Cale (Velvet Underground) was released in October 1977 on Step Forward (later to be the first of the Fall's many labels) and led to a signing with Polydor (doubtless eager to repeat their success with the Jam). In the interim, their sole Peel Session went out, previewing their first major label single, Borstal Breakout: in this title lay the origin of their first dissolution in 1979.
Chart success had followed with songs that were basically punk football chants, such as If The Kids Are United, Hersham Boys (their biggest hit) and Hurry Up Harry. Pursey routinely sent up their appearances on Top Of The Pops with ad libs such as, "Don't turn me off, turn me up!", and violence followed them from gig to gig and a particularly egregious appearance at Middlesex Polytechnic, broken up by skinheads charging the stage, led to a cessation of gigging. Pursey attempted to change the band's image and lose the streetpunk mentality: That's Life (1978), played in full on JP's show, was a try at a punk concept album, and The Adventures Of The Hersham Boys exhibited more conventional rock elements. However, they did not feature on Peel's show after their first break-up and he later stated that the Clash had come to sound like them (and no compliment was intended). 
Moreover, their stylistic endeavours only appeared to be postponing the inevitable: Jimmy defected to the Sex Pistols and the band folded. Pursey had dabbled in production with the Cockney Rejects and Angelic Upstarts and even collaborated with Peter Gabriel. His attempts to promote 'video parties' as a new form of entertainment came to nothing, and in 1987 Sham 69 reformed for several more albums. He was last in the public eye on a remake of Hurry Up Harry in 2006, recorded for England's World Cup campaign (and involving Graham Coxon), which cracked the UK Top 10. At the moment, there are two bands using the same name, one of which Pursey claims contains a line-up close to that of 1977.
== Festive Fifty Entries ==
*1977 Festive Fifty: 'I Don't Wanna' #22
== Sessions ==
*One session, available on At The BBC (Strange Fruit).
1. Recorded: 1977-11-28. First broadcast: 06 December 1977. Repeated: 21 December 1977, 09 January 1978, 09 February 1978, 27 March 1978, 26 June 1980 (presented by Paul Gambaccini), 26 August 1986
*Borstal Breakout / Hey Little Rich Boy / They Don't Understand / Rip Off / What 'Ave We Got
"It's all a bit hazy really, just turning up in the old transit van - loading in the gear and having a bit of a laugh. John wasn't there, but the engineers were cool. We listened to the playback over a couple of beers and then went off to play a gig somewhere." (Dave Parsons, Punk 77.)
==Live==
*08 March 1978, rpt. 04 April 1978: Roundhouse, London (supporting the Adverts). Recorded 1978-02-12. Some video footage can be found on YouTube featuring these tracks, which may or may not have been TX on Peel:
#Rip Off
#Ulster (or Ulster Boy)
#Borstal Breakout
== Other Shows Played ==
;1977
*29 September 1977: 'I Don't Wanna (7")' (Step Forward)
*03 October 1977: 'Ulster (7"-I Don't Wanna)' (Step Forward)
*05 October 1977: I Don't Wanna (Step Forward)
*13 October 1977: Red London (EP - I Don't Wanna) Step-Forward SF 4
*PM055: Borstal Breakout (7") Polydor 2058 966 16 December 1977 or 19 December 1977 or 20 December 1977
*22 December 1977: 'Borstal Breakout (7")' (Polydor)
*26 December 1977: 'I Don't Wanna (7")' (Step Forward) (1977 Festive Fifty #22)
;1978
* 03 January 1978: Borstal Breakout (7" - There's Gonna Be A Borstal Break-Out) Polydor
*30 January 1978: Tell Us The Truth LP (Polydor): six tracks played
*17 February 1978: I'm A Man, I'm A Boy (LP - Tell Us The Truth) Polydor
*06 April 1978: Angels With Dirty Faces (7") Polydor 2059 023
*03 May 1978: Angels With Dirty Faces (7") Polydor 2059 023
*05 May 1978: Angels With Dirty Faces (7") Polydor 2059 023
*07 July 1978: 'If The Kids Are United (7")' (Polydor)
*28 July 1978: 'If The Kids Are United (7")' (Polydor)
:(JP: 'John Walters thinks that that's going to be a number one record.') It peaked at number 9.
*24 August 1978: Angels With Dirty Faces (7") Polydor
*06 September 1978: 'Hurry Up Harry (7")' (Polydor)
*11 September 1978: Hurry Up Harry (7")' (Polydor)
*11 September 1978: U.S.A. (No Entry)
*12 September 1978: That's Life LP (Polydor)
#Hurry Up Harry
#No Entry
#Is This Me Or Is This You?
*19 September 1978: 'No Entry (7"-Hurry Up Harry)' (Polydor)
*29 September 1978: That's Life LP (Polydor), side 1:
#Leave Me Alone
#Who Gives A Damn
#Everybody's Right, Everybody's Wrong
#That's Life
#Win Or Lose
*07 November 1978: 'Red London (7"-I Don't Wanna)' (Step Forward)
*21 November 1978: 'Is This Me Or Is This You (LP-That's Life)' (Polydor)
;1979
*05 February 1979: If The Kids Are United (v/a album - 20 Of Another Kind) Polydor POLS 1006
*06 February 1979: I Gotta Survive / With A Little Help From My Friends (7" -Questions And Answers) Polydor
*14 February 1979: Questions And Answers (7") Polydor
*21 February 1979: I Gotta Survive (7" - Questions And Answers) Polydor
*18 April 1979: If The Kids Are United (7") Polydor 2059 050
*14 June 1979: Hersham Boys (7") Polydor POSP 64
*18 June 1979: 'Hersham Boys (7")' (Polydor)
*26 June 1979: Hersham Boys (7") Polydor
*19 July 1979: 'Hersham Boys (12")' (Polydor)
*24 July 1979: 'Hersham Boys' 12", live tracks:
#I Don't Wanna
#Rip Off
#I'm A Man, I'm A Boy
#Tell Us The Truth
*25 May 1979: Hersham Boys (7") Polydor POSP 64
*30 June 1979 (BFBS): Hersham Boys (7") Polydor
*02 August 1979: 'Hersham Boys (12")' (Polydor)
*18 August 1979 (BFBS): 'Hersham Boys (Long Version) (12")' (Polydor)
*05 September 1979: 'What Have We Got? (LP-The Adventures Of The Hersham Boys)' (Polydor)
*11 September 1979: 'Joey's On The Street (LP-The Adventures Of The Hersham Boys)' (Polydor)
*13 September 1979: Voices (LP - The Adventures Of Hersham Boys) Polydor
*25 September 1979: 'Lost On Highway 56 (LP-The Adventures Of The Hersham Boys)' (Polydor)
*20 October 1979 (BFBS): If The Kids Are United
*19 November 1979: I Don't Wanna (7") Step Forward
;1980
*17 March 1980: 'Tell The Children (7")' (Polydor)
*18 March 1980: 'Tell The Children (7")' (Polydor)
*24 March 1980: 'Tell The Children (7")' (Polydor)
*27 March 1980: 'Tell The Children (7")' (Polydor)
*27 March 1980 (BFBS): Tell The Children (7") Polydor POSP 136
*24 April 1980: Dead Or Alive (album - The Game) Polydor
*29 April 1980: 'In And Out (album - The Game) Polydor POLD 5033
*03 May 1980 (BFBS): Run Wild Run Free (album - The Game) Polydor POLD 5033
*26 May 1980: 'Give A Dog A Bone (album - The Game) Polydor POLD 5033
*14 June 1980 (BFBS): Give The Dog A Bone (album - The Game) Polydor POLD 5033
*14 June 1980 (BFBS): Unite And Win (album - The Game) Polydor POLD 5033
*16 June 1980: 'Unite And Win (7")' (Polydor)
*18 June 1980: 'Unite And Win (7")' (Polydor)
*03 July 1980 (BFBS): Medley ( / Hurry Up Harry / If The Kids Are United / Questions And Answers / / /)
*03 July 1980 (BFBS): The Game (album - The Game) Polydor POLD 5033
;1983
*19 June 1983 (BFBS): Red London (v/a LP - The Defiant Pose) Illegal
;1996
*01 July 1996: Hey Little Rich Boy (session) (John Peel's Classic Sessions)
== See Also ==
* 1978 Top Twenty Albums
*Gigography 1978
*Album Plays
*Sounds
== External Links ==
*Wikipedia
*Official site
*Punk 77
;Footnotes
Category:Artists