Album Review: Sham 69 - The Albums 1978-80
Reviewed by Dan Barnes
Formed in 1975 in Hersham, Surrey, as Jimmy & The Ferrets (according to Punk77.co.uk) by singer Jimmy Pursey, before changing their style and name after witnessing the Sex Pistols in concert, Sham 69 were the real-deal when it came to Street Punk as they were four working class lads from rough neighbourhoods, who wrote and sung about the world they saw.
Early line-up changes settled in 1977 when Pursey was joined by Dave Parsons, bassist Dave Tregunna and drummer Mark Cain, who would see the band through the initial recordings and releases of their first two influential albums.
Such is the complicated history of Sham 69 – one that still needs a blank wall and yards of red string to fully articulate – that the band found themselves burning brightly in the latter years of the Seventies, only to implode and sit most of the Eighties out, a footnote in the genre throughout most of that decade.
As is their jam, Cherry Red Records is to issue a four-CD box set of Sham’s first wave of albums, running from the Tell Us the Truth debut in 1978, through the to final recording for eight years, The Game in 1980. As ever, Cherry Red have sweetened the deal further but loading each disc with more bonus tracks than you can shake a stick at, and producing a full colour booklet packed with pictures and comprehensive liner notes from Vive La Rock’s Phil Singleton.
Disc one is the first of the two albums released by Shamin 1978: the debut Tell Us the Truth, which is unusually split between what was then the side 1, of six live tracks, and side 2 the studio stuff.
Recorded at various venues across London, side 1 captures the raw aggression of a Seventies Sham show, opening with We Got a Fight – about getting you head kicked in – Pursey’s uncultured vocals are the perfect fit for the subject matter, with the band smashing out aggy punk attitude. Rip Off, a drum-led Ulster, the protest of George Davies is Innocent proved politics was never far from Punk’s radar. They Don’t Understand and one of Sham’s biggest hits, Borstal Breakout.
The studio side opens with Family Life and a snippet of a typical working-class home in the Seventies, the following Hey Little Rich Boy seems to follow perfectly, addressing many of the same themes from a different angle. I’m A Man, I’m a Boy and What About the Lonely? are both Street Punk to the core, with the former having a real Cockney Rejects vibe. The title track and It’s Never Too Late veer into more traditional punk territory, as the latter adopts something of a Ramones’ feel. Closer, Whose Generation! stands out for its dissonance.
The bonus material includes all three tracks from the 1977 gritty single, I Don’t Wanna, including B-sides Ulster and Red London; the single version of Borstal Breakout and Song of the Streets, also known as What Have We Got?
Tell Us the Truth released in the Spring of 1978 and its successor, That’s Life saw the light of day that same November. Hitting number twenty-seven in the UK Album charts – two places lower than its predecessor, this sophomore record was a far more coherent listen, with the bulk of the material being written as a collaboration between Jimmy and Dave Parsons.
As the fatalistic title suggests, That’s Life is something of a concept album, taking all the trails and tribulations of the unceasing daily grind of just trying to survive, and turning it into something that anyone caught on the eat-sleep-work-repeat treadmill can appreciate. The initial release courted two singles: Hurry Up Harry – with its iconic “We’re going down the pub” chorus – out before the album and reaching number 10 in the UK Singles chart; and Angels with Dirty Faces which hit number 19 six months later.
The B-sides of both those singles can be found among the bonus material: No Entry, from …Harry is unremarkable, but Angel’s… flip side, Cockney Kids Are Innocent, is worthy of more exposure. A 7” version of Sunday Morning Nightmare adds thirty-seconds to the run-time, released at the other side of one of Sham 69’s biggest moments: If the Kids are United; as much a stone-cold punk classic as Pretty Vacant, War on the Terraces, or New Rose.
It was nearly a whole year before album number three was released, The Adventures of the Hersham Boys also saw a change in personnel with Ricky Goldstein picking up the sticks following Mark’s departure.
While not as critically well received as the first two, Adventures… broke into the UK Top Ten Albums charts on release. Accusations were levelled that the band had lost their Street sound and had become too refined. The balladic Fly Dark Angel, the Rock N Roll of Joey’s on the Street Again, and The Yardbirds’ cover of You’re a Better Man Than I, do take some of the band’s energy out of the album early on.
The introduction of Hersham Boys’ gang shouts, Lost on Highway 46’s driving rhythms and the rabble-rousing What Have We Got? goes someway to right the ship.
Bonus material here includes the single edit of Questions and Answers, B-sides of Gotta Survive and an unceremonious cover of The Beatles’ With a Little Help From My Friends; insult to injury comes when they took on Day Tripper, giving it the Sham treatment. There’s the 7” version of Hersham Boys, which made number 6 in the UK Singles chart in the summer of ’79 and 12” edits of both Borstal Breakout and If the Kids Are United.
Disc four is what would be Sham 69’s last album for some years, The Game, recorded in the French Alps it seems a world away from the gritty Streets of Hersham. The criticism levelled at the last album fits suitable here too, with the bulk of The Game’s songs being rather toothless compared to other Sham tunes on offer in this boxset.
Give a Dog a Bone, Spray It on the Wall, Déjà Vu and Run Wild Run Free are the standout tracks for me. Single, Tell the Children, includes saxophone by Hawkwind’s Nik Turner; Lord of the Flies has backing vocals courtesy of The Royal School of Music. The bonus material is more scant here than on the other three discs, with …Children B-side, Jack, a synth accompanied Unite and Win, and another version of the debut’s I’m a Man, I’m a Boy.
Following the release of The Game, Sham 69 would disappear, with only an occasional compilation or live record to keep them in the minds of the public. Pursey and Parsons would come together again for 1988’s Volunteer album, both writing and producing in partnership.
A steady stream of albums was released through the Nineties, up to 2001’s Direct Action Day 21, after which things start to get messy. At one point there were two functioning bands bearing the Sham 69 name: one featuring the Pursey / Parsons / Tregunna line-up, the other with original guitarist Neil Harris. It’s the Pursey / Parsons / Tregunna iteration who regularly headlined at such festivals as Rebellion and Calling. Sadly, Neil passed away in January 2018, aged 63.
One of Punk’s most enduring acts is celebrated in this sixty-six-track boxset, covering their most successful and influential period. Well worth a look.
