Founded at the dawn of the British Punk explosion in 1976, Sham 69 was
considered one of the worst bands of the era. They were also among the many bands
that Miles Copeland signed to his fledgling punk label "Faulty Products (UK) empire."
The band consisted of (at various times) vocalist Jimmy Pursey, Dave Parsons, Dave
Tregunna (later of Lords Of The New Church), Billy
Bostick, Mark Cain, Neil Harris, Albie Slider and the wonderfully named "Johnny
Goodfornothing." They specialized in the raging guitars and scream-song leftist
political lyricism that was the rage among many bands at the time. Despite this
minimalism, they did manage to chart in their native-UK early in their career. By
1978 their style of punk was all but a memory and the band lingered for another two
years before calling it quits when lead singer Jimmy Pursey decided a solo career was
what he needed.
With his solo career doing even worse than Sham 69's (despite four solo LPs) he reunited the band in a "punk nostalgia" move. The reunion didn't last and the members went their separate ways, seemingly leaving Sham 69 in the dust of Punk Rock History... Or so one would think! There are again stirrings and reports of another Sham 69 reformation brewing in 2002. Time will tell (as will some of the links below)...
KILL YOUR RADIO (IRS29696): features "I Don't Wanna"
For a band that had so few fans in its day, Sham 69 has a surprising number of websites devoted to them. Below are the best. Use Google to find more!