In 1976 while working at
Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium with Albie Slider, Billy Bostik and Neil Harris, having been inspired by the music of
The Ramones, Pursey formed a
punk rock band called 'Jimmy and the Ferrets', which went on to become 'Sham 69'. The band initially rehearsed at Slider's parents' pig farm, where Jonathan King sometimes came to watch them, considering the option of becoming the act's promoter. Before securing a record contract the lineup changed, with Harris and Bostock being replaced by Dave Parsons and Mark Cain. Slider left shortly afterwards and was replaced by Dave Tregunna on the bass guitar. Sham 69 went on to release four long-players via
Polydor Records, and had six
UK top 50 singles before they broke up in 1980, with the violence that regularly marred their gigs having taken a toll on the band. Pursey set up a short-lived new band with
Steve Jones and
Paul Cook, formerly of
The Sex Pistols, titled the "
Sham Pistols", before embarking on a solo career. Pursey then moved to
Epic Records for three further singles releases, including "Animals Have More Fun" (1981), co-written with
Peter Gabriel, The band continued to play live and record until 2006. In 2006, Pursey recorded a new version of the Sham 69 hit "Hurry Up Harry" as an unofficial World Cup song in aid of a cancer charity; "Hurry Up England" was recorded with
Graham Coxon's band but credited to 'Sham 69 & the Special Assembly'. In January 2007 the band broke up.
NME reported that a statement released by Parsons included the message: "Sham 69 have left Jimmy Pursey on the eve of their 30th anniversary." Pursey initially stated that he would be retaining the Sham 69 name, but in January 2008, he announced that: "to avoid confusion to fans he wanted it known that he did not want to be associated with the band still performing as Sham 69". In 2008 he set up a new band titled
Day 21 with Mat Sargent on bass, The Rev (
Towers of London and
The Prodigy) on guitar, and Snell (Towers of London). In July 2011 Pursey reformed Sham 69 again with the band's late 1970s members. At a meeting held between Pursey and Dave Parsons, original Sham 69 guitarist and co-writer of nearly all of the Sham repertoire with Pursey, the two ironed out their differences. Dave Tregunna, on bass, and Mark Cain, on drums, were called in to complete the original lineup for a show in London. ==Personal life==