Sham 69

Punk pioneers

Sham 69 were quite simply one of THE top punk bands of the late 1970's. Led by the charismatic and irrepressible Jimmy Pursey they produced a stream of catchy, populist, short and sweet punk tunes including 'If The Kids Are United', 'Hurry Up Harry' and 'Angels With Dirty Faces' that made the British charts. What makes Sham 69 even more interesting though is their arrival on the scene when Punk began to move from the more elitist fashion driven art scene to a rougher, more working class ethic. While some original faces on the scene perceived this as a dumbing down, others saw it as a breath of fresh air on a moribund scene.

Although not as commercially successful as many of their contemporaries, albeit with a greater number of chart entries, Sham 69 has been a huge musical and lyrical influence on the Oi!/streetpunk genres. The band allegedly derived their name from a piece of graffiti that founder Jimmy Pursey saw on a wall. It originally said Walton and Hersham '69 but had partly faded away, and made reference to when Walton & Hersham Football Club secured the Athenian League title in 1969.

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