Sham 69
They formed in Hersham, UK in 1976. Sham 69 lacked the art school backgroun… Read Full Bio ↴They formed in Hersham, UK in 1976. Sham 69 lacked the art school background of many rock bands of the time, and brought in football chants, drinking songs and a sort of inarticulate political populism. The band had a large skinhead and hooligan following, which helped set the tone for the Oi! movement. Their concerts were notoriously plagued by violence, and the band ceased live performances after one of their gigs at Middlesex Polytechnic in 1978 was broken up by National Front skinheads fighting and rushing the stage.

Sham 69 released their first single, "Ulster", on Step Forward Records in August 1977, and its success in the independent charts prompted Polydor 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 number 19 in May 1978), "If The Kids Are United" (number 9 in July 1978), and "Hurry Up Harry" (number 10 in October 1978). The latter came from their second LP and first full studio album, That's Life.

They then started to move away from punk rock into a sound heavily influenced by classic British hard rock bands such as Mott The Hoople, The Who and The Faces, evidenced on their third album, The Adventures of the Hersham Boys. Sham 69 broke up after their fourth album. Pursey moved in a heavy metal direction after working with the remaining members of the Sex Pistols for a short time, under the name Sham Pistols. Dave Treganna joined the pioneering 1980s glam-punk-Gothic band, The Lords of the New Church, with Stiv Bators of The Dead Boys and Brian James of The Damned.

Pursey resurrected Sham 69 in the 1990s with a different line-up, but without major success. "If The Kids Are United" was used in a McDonald's advertising campaign, long after the rights to their songs had been sold. Pursey is a vegetarian, and appeared in the UK media condemning the use of one of his songs by what - he saw - as a multi-national animal and human abuser. The band gained further media attention when "If The Kids Are United" was played during UK Prime Minister Tony Blair's entrance at the 2005 Labour Party Conference. As a result of this, they were invited onto BBC TV's current affairs programme, Newsnight to sing a version of the song. Altered lyrics were sung, including "Mr. Blair / We know you care / So bring them home / Don't leave them there", referring to the troops remaining in Iraq after the the 2003 invasion.

In 2006, Virgin Radio listeners voted overwhelmingly for Jimmy Pursey to record a song to support England in the FIFA World Cup. The song was based on the Sham 69 hit, "Hurry Up Harry", and instead of the lyric being, "We're going down the pub", it was changed to, "We're going to win the cup!" The resulting single, "Hurry Up England" reached number 10 in the UK Top 40, becoming the band's first such hit for over 26 years.

In 2006 Jimmy Pursey left Sham 69, leaving guitarist Dave Parsons to carry on with a new singer. Sham 69 continues to tour in this new line up.
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Sham 69 Lyrics


- Borstal Breakout I'm sitting in this cell for something I didn't do And…
- Hurry Up Harry Come on come on Hurry up Harry come on Come on come…
01_We Got A Fight I've been staying in watching television While my mates got …
08 Hey Little Rich Boy Hey little rich boy Take a good look at me I don't…
14 Years 14 years said the judge And give my love to Wormwood…
Angel With Dirty Face Who's got a dirty face then Angels with dirty faces Angels …
Blackpool Blackpool, 10 o'clock If everybody's ready, let's punk rock …
Borstal Breakout I'm sitting in this cell for something I didn't do And…
Break On Through You know the day destroys the night The night destroys the…
Caroline's Suitcase Johnny had to run away And Charlie he's no problem Susie's g…
Chasing the Moon I've got a car outside with no m.o.t. And I ain't…
Cold Blue In The Night They tried to tell me who I am Well I've listened…
Day Tripper Got a good reason For taking the easy way out…



Daytripper Got a good reason For taking the easy way out…
Everybody's Right Everybody's Wrong I'm the baby scared at birth I'm the kid with kicked…
Evil Way Been in the pub since half past five All day long…
Family Life Does she always shout at you Does she tell you what…
Feel It Look at that man lying in the street I don't think…
Fly Dark Angel I'm a gypsy I'm a stroller I'm a sailor lost…
Geoffrey Thomas Geoffrey Thomas was born in Wales He was in and out…
George Davies Is Innocent Everything they want to pin on you Everything you say and…
Get A Life The apeman died 2001 The ice is melting in the nuclear…
Give a Dog a Bone The writing's on the wall Saying what are you gonna do Now…
Hersham Boys Robin Hood, Robin Hood here we are again Living each day…
Hey Little Rich Boy Hey little rich boy Take a good look at me I don't…
Hurry Up England Come on, come on, Hurry up England, come on Come on, come…
Hurry Up Harry Come on come on Hurry up Harry come on Come on come…
I Do Wanna I don't wanna work in no factory And I don't want…
I'm A Man Do you ever wonder to yourself If you're a man or…
I'm Mad There's a submarine in the garden Yeah there's life on mars …
If the Kids Are United For once in my life I've got something to say I…
If The Kids Unite For once in my life I've got something to say I…
Information Libertaire We could talk mythology The emperors economy Or start all ov…
Is This Me or Is This You Is this me or is this you Look in the mirror Who…
It's Never Too Late So many people inside of me I must find the one…
Joey's On the Street As he combed his hair The night called out his name Like…
Junkie I know this bloke called Dave He took us to meet…
Kids Are United For once in my life I've got something to say I…
King Kong Drinks Coca Cola The biscuit man said he had to blow The cat's in…
Leave Me Alone Leave me alone I need no-one Leave me alone I can…
Lost Highway 46 My lifes a book with the pages ripped out A jigsaw…
Loud Mouth Do you ever think about the time of day I've wasted…
Mary's Sofa Mary said come over and you can be my lover It…
Mister You're A Berrer Man Than I Can you judge a man by the way he wears…
Money So you wake up every morning Just to work and face…
Mr. You're A Better Man Than I Can you judge a man by the way he wears…
No Entry They wanted us to go To New York shitty But the man…
Planet Trash Adevrtise, go get them kid The new sunrise, did you see…
Poor Cow Poor cow you had your chance They said she is just…
Pretty Vacant There's no point in asking You'll get no reply Oh just remem…
Question And Answers As soon as we are born We're told what to say…
Rangers in the Night They tried to tell me who I am Well I've listened…
Red London London's streets are turning red There's no democracy I reme…
Rip Off All foreign feet down Oxford street Faces from places I've n…
Roxy Was A Tourist I was sitting in a caf' in London A tourist and…
Run Wild Run Free They never seem to care about the things we would They…
Saturdays and strangeways Oh my sisters and brothers do you feel like you…
Slangbang No this world's not getting smaller They just made concrete…
Spunky Candy You're the one that had it sussed Never in a hurry…
Studenthead Wasn't it you that said to me You need a job…
Sunday Morning Nightmare Me dad don't want me coming home late from the…
Swampy Swampy, he went underground He didn't get lost, he just coul…
Tell the Children Junior gangsters Playground jesters In the heat of the night…
Tell Us the Truth Through the corners of our eyes We can see them pass…
That Morons all around me Not one of them can tell me What…
Thats Life Morons all around me Not one of them can tell me What…
The Cockney Kids Are Innocent Everything they want to pin on you Everything you say and…
The Game Todos dicen que es mentira Que te quiero Porque nunca Me hab…
They Don They don't understand no they don't understand They don't wa…
Trainspotter There's sand in my hair from the wind and the…
Ulster Ulster boy You know its gonna last A few more years So when…
Ulster (live) Ulster boy You know it's gonna last a few more years So…
Unite and Win They say "It's the time of year" But we're living in…
Uptown Uptown We got up late, because we couldn't sleep We go upto…
Voices Voices in my head shouting their pain While everyone around …
We Got a Fight I've been staying in watching television While my mates got …
What About the Lonely Lonely What about the people that are lonely Some are young …
What About the Lonely? Lonely What about the people that are lonely Some are youn…
What Have We Got What have I got I've got you What have I got I got…
What Have We Got? What have we got What have we got What have we got What…
Who Gives a Damn Running for the bus in my flash blue suit Someone shouts…
Wild And Wonderful She said she took a ride At the fair last night She…
Win or Lose You're at the start I get a kick in the…
Windowstare 15 miles from a service station I really need a piss,…
With a Little Help from My Friends What would you think if I sang out of tune, Would…
Wot Have We Got What have I got I've got you What have I got I got…
You're a Better Man Than I Can you judge a man by the way he wears…


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