Formation Sham 69 formed in
Hersham,
Surrey in 1975, although originally known (according to some sources) as Jimmy and the Ferrets. 'Sham 69' is said to have derived from a piece of
graffiti that co-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 F.C. secured the
Athenian League title in 1969. The 12 November 1976 issue of
NME noted that Sham 69 was rehearsing in 1976, although only Pursey would remain from this early line-up twelve months later. Original guitarists Johnny Goodfornothing (a.k.a. John Goode) and Neil Harris were replaced by Dave Parsons, and drummer Billy Bostik (a.k.a. Andy Nightingale) by Mark Cain. Albie Slider (a.k.a. Albie Maskell) remained for the group's first single in 1977 before being replaced by Dave Tregunna. The Pursey/Parsons/Tregunna/Cain line up then remained stable until 1979,
Recordings Sham 69 released their first
single, "
I Don't Wanna", on Step Forward Records in August 1977, produced by
John Cale (formerly of
the Velvet Underground), and its success in the independent charts prompted
Polydor Records to sign the band. Their major label debut was "Borstal Breakout" in January 1978, followed by
UK Singles Chart success with "
Angels with Dirty Faces" (reaching No. 19 in May 1978) and "
If the Kids Are United" (No. 9 in July 1978). The band eventually started to move away from punk rock, to embrace a sound heavily influenced by classic
British rock bands such as
Mott the Hoople,
The Who,
the Rolling Stones and
Faces. This was demonstrated by their third album,
The Adventures of the Hersham Boys.
Demise in 2012 The original incarnation of Sham 69 disbanded in 1980, following the release of the band's fourth album,
The Game. Pursey was enormously critical of the album, calling it "a pile of shit" in a 1989
Flipside interview, noting: "I was forced into making it, you understand? I called it
The Game because that's how the music business had become to me. Like a little
roulette wheel where everything we did had all of this political value to it, but it didn't make any difference because you spin the wheel and if it landed on the right number you were all right, the wrong number and you were not all right." Pursey formed the short-lived band
Sham Pistols with former
Sex Pistols members
Steve Jones and
Paul Cook, before moving on to a solo recording career.
NME reported that a statement released by Parsons included the message: "Sham 69 have left Jimmy Pursey on the eve of their 30th anniversary. The band had become increasingly fed up with Jimmy's lack of interest in playing live and continually letting down both promoters and fans by pulling out of gigs at the last moment". Parsons and Whitewood continued as Sham 69 with Tim V on vocals and Rob Jefferson on bass. This line-up performed tours of the United States, played at many punk
festivals across Europe, and released the album,
Hollywood Hero, in August 2007. Pursey and Sargent formed a new band
Day 21 with Rev & Snell from
Towers of London. The band was named after the last Sham 69 album and also to avoid confusion with the fans over the name. Day 21 recorded an album titled
4:10am which was not released, although a CD single, "'Aving It Rock 'N' Roll", was released in 2009. Bassist Rob Jefferson left Parsons' Sham 69 and was replaced by the former
U.K. Subs member Alan Campbell. In 2009, Sham 69 was the first major punk band to tour
China. They released an album titled
Who Killed Joe Public, in late 2010.
2011–present In May 2011, Parsons stated on his website that he had disbanded Sham 69, although this was disputed by the other members. In July 2011, Pursey announced on
Twitter the re-formation of most of the 1977 line-up, comprising Pursey, Parsons and Tregunna. This meant that there were two active bands using the same name, with three of the classic line-up (Pursey, Parsons and Tregunna) in one band, and Harris in the other. In June 2012, Pursey registered the name as a trademark. As of 2016, both bands were still touring using the name, with the Pursey version often using the "Original 1977 line-up" tagline, and the other using the "Tim V" name. On 28 January 2018, Sham 69 co-founder Neil Harris died from cancer at the age of 63. Drummer Robin Guy died from cancer on 12 September 2024, at the age of 54. ==Legacy==