The Ruts

Formation (1977) Paul Fox met and befriended Malcolm Owen and Paul Mattocks during his schooling days in Hayes; the three originally formed Aslan, a progressive rock band, and resided in an intentional community until the community's disbandment in 1975, at which point Fox joined a ten-piece funk band called Hit & Run alongside Dave Ruffy and eight other members total. The Ruts officially formed in Hayes in August 1977 when Fox reunited with Ruffy and Owen. The band's "classic" lineup consisted of singer Malcolm Owen, guitarist Paul Fox, bassist John "Segs" Jennings, and drummer Dave Ruffy. Rock Against Racism, debut single, BBC Peel Sessions (1978–1979) The Ruts soon became involved in political and anti-racist musical initiatives partially as a response to the band members witnessing the National Front, a Neo-Nazi movement, recruiting youths. Jennings recalled in the same interview that Malcolm Owen met the members of Misty in Roots through connections in the town in which he lived. "In a Rut" piqued the interest of BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel. Months after the release of the single, Peel invited the band to perform in one of his radio show's Peel Sessions. The band did not perform "In a Rut" during their set, but their set led to a second session for the BBC, this time at the invitation of DJ David Jensen, in February 1979; Peel invited the band to a second Peel Session in May 1979. Following the band's BBC sessions, Virgin Records executives offered The Ruts a record deal in spring 1979. "Babylons' Burning" proved to be The Ruts' highest-charting single, peaking at number 7 on the UK singles chart, remaining on the chart for 11 cumulative weeks, and becoming the fifth most successful punk rock song in UK chart history, behind four songs by the Sex Pistols. Their follow-up single, "Something That I Said," peaked in the top 30 of the UK singles chart. The Ruts released "Jah War" as their next single to promote the album. "Jah War" is more reggae-influenced and dub-influenced than "Babylon's Burning." It contains lyrics that also address urban unrest and riots but are more blatantly political than "Babylon's Burning", specifically taking inspiration from London's Southall riots following the death of Blair Peach at the hands of London police. "Jah War" did not chart at all and was "informally banned" from being played on British radio stations due to its controversial lyrical content. ==The Ruts D.C. (1980–present)==

Initial reformation as The Ruts D.C., Animal Now (1980–1981) The Ruts, at the time consisting of Ruffy, Fox, and Jennings, renamed themselves The Ruts D.C. with "D.C." standing for the Italian phrase da capo, meaning "from the beginning," to signify a restart in the aftermath of Owen's death. Part of the band's restart involved shifting their musical style, performing more in line with dub music and a more dedicated fusion of reggae and punk rock. In 2006, Paul Fox, who had been in semi-retirement, performed several of The Ruts' songs with his son Lawrence playing drums; the two performed under the name Foxy's Ruts and were the support act for Bad Manners, a British ska band, during their December 2006 tour of the UK. On 25 January 2008, London's Shepherd's Bush Empire venue featured an event wherein Henry Rollins presented a short film about the Paul Fox benefit concert titled The Gig, to support the charity Macmillan Cancer Support. The event at Bush Empire also featured live performances from Alabama 3, T. V. Smith, members of the Members, the Damned's Captain Sensible, and Beki Bondage. In 2016, The Ruts D.C. announced their plans to release a new album, Music Must Destroy. Unlike the prior Rhythm Collision albums, Music Must Destroy was a return to form for the band and more rooted in punk rock. Jennings stated that one of the album's tracks, "Psychic Attack," was "the first punk rock song [they wrote] for The Ruts since 1980," and as a result, the band chose to make it their first release prior to the full album's eventual release on 16 September. Guest musicians on the project included Rollins, who sang on the title track; additionally, "Kill the Pain" features Jake Burns of Stiff Little Fingers and Kirk Brandon of Theatre of Hate. By that point, Jennings and Ruffy were resolute about keeping The Ruts D.C. a three-piece band at most, consisting of Jennings, Ruffy, and Heggarty. Ruffy stated in a 2019 interview that although the band had attempted to be a five-member group when they first reformed The Ruts D.C. in 2007, "the only people who really knew who we were was [Jennings] and I, so we had to keep it in-house. And that's why now we are a trio, not a four-piece or a five-piece." ==Legacy and influence==

In 2010, The Quietus writer John Robb identified The Ruts as the first of several "second wave punk rock" musicians, praising the band for their short but "stunning 18-month assault that should be remembered to this day" and for the band's creativity, innovation, and imagination. Robb singled out Owen's charismatic stage presence as a defining feature of the band's early success. Robb acknowledged that Owen's death disrupted the band's momentum and left unanswered the question of "what [The Ruts] and Malcolm Owen could have become," although he also acknowledged that The Ruts were "one of [the] key bands of their generation." Henry Rollins has identified The Ruts as an influential band he explored in his youth. In 2024, he called The Crack an album "without peer" and "one of the most important records of [his] life." Several years prior, Rollins tracked down and purchased the original painting The Ruts used as the cover art for The Crack. Brian Baker, one of Bad Religion's guitarists, cited "Babylon's Burning" as being influential to him. Baker stated that he found the song's prominent riff particularly influential and "copied" it on several Bad Religion records: "I'd heard Ramones and Sex Pistols, but never anything articulated like this and nothing that built this kind of tension." Baker stated that Paul Fox's performance on the song inspired him to begin playing the guitar. ==Discography==

Albums Live • BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert (Windsong International – split with Penetration) • The Ruts Live (1987: Castle Communications) • ''Live at Deeply Vale 1970's'' (2006: Ozit) • Get Out of It Live (2006: Ozit) • Live On Stage Ruts DC 2014 Sosumi SOSLP103 Selective compilation albums and EPs • The Peel Sessions (December 1986: Strange Fruit) • Peel Sessions – Complete Sessions 1979–1981 (May 1990: Strange Fruit) • Demolition Dancing (1994: Receiver) – mostly live material, and including two tracks with the Damned: "Shakin' All Over" and "In a Rut" • Something That I Said: The Best of the Ruts (March 1995: Virgin) • Bustin’ Out: The Essential Ruts Collection (June 2001: EMI) • The Crack/Grin and Bear It (2003, EMI; both original albums on one CD) Singles ==See also==