To start out the ‘show’ or track one, Pursey announces the band and starts off with one of his best tracks, which shows the great ability of what the vocalist of a more harsh british punk band could achieve. Pointing out that the first six tracks are all live, the other eight are brilliant recordings, of which the band is surely proud of, and got them out to the public.

In their first full-length debut LP, Tell Us The Truth, the band includes a strange mix of live tracks and recordings that add up to be one of the best by the band. While sooner or later, after their first 4 or 5 albums, the original Sham lineup split up, the band’s first 4 albums are the ones that really count, and the ones that would later cause big influence in the genre. The band is also famous for being the first punk band with a top ten U.K single, “Hurry Up Harry”). Sham grew to later be one of the most influential punk bands of the 70’s, and while they brought the style of nasty violence and illegal happenings to most of their shows, they are also the founders of the famous OI! football punk chant that was later used by countless bands. Populated by Jimmy Pursey (Vocals), the original founder of the band, Dave Parsons (Guitar), Dave Tregenna (Bass), and Mark Cain (Drums), the band got their name from an entry of graffiti that Pursey spotted out in a bathroom stall. Sham 69 originally hailed from Surrey, London. As violence and battery carries on in the unforgiving crowd, faint distortion lights up the stage, and “Borstal Breakout” arises into the stale air that creates the ambience that sham 69 was originally born into.

The band gets onstage, and a riot commences on the audience floor.

Band sham 69