Original sound from the band. As part of the original punk rock movement in
England during the mid-'70s, the
U.K. Subs scored several hit
singles in their homeland, switching between politically charged material and party-hearty rockers. Led by singer
Charlie Harper (who previously fronted a
R&B; outfit called the
Marauders), the U.K. Subs formed in November of
1976, after
Harper discovered the
Damned.
Originally called the Subversives before shortening their name, Harper recruited guitarist
Nicky Garratt, bassist
Steve Slack, and a revolving door of drummers (eventually finding a semi-permanent member with
Pete Davis), and soon after began plotting their plan of attack from
Harper's place of business, a hairdressing salon in
South London.
Around this time, the up-and-coming group recorded a live set at the infamous punk club the
Roxy (just prior to its closing), with hopes of the recording being issued as their debut
album. Although the recording did indeed go down, the tapes sat on a shelf for several years, before eventually being issued in
1980 under the title of
Live Kicks. This led to several
John Peel sessions on
BBC Radio One in
1977 and 1978, and eventually, a recording contract with the
GEM record label, and what's often considered to be their finest recording, their
1979 full-length debut,
Another Kind of Blues.
The group enjoyed success back home straight off the bat, as they had several moderate hit singles ("
Stranglehold," "
Tomorrow's Girls"), appeared at the mammoth
Glastonbury Festival, landed a cover story for
Sounds magazine, and were even the subject of a
Julien Temple-directed film documentary, entitled
Punk Can
Take It. 1980 saw the U.K. Subs attempt to crack the
U.S. market, with a few opening gigs for the
Police, as a pair of studio albums were issued,
Brand New Age and
Crash Course. But as the public's interest began to shift from punk to new wave/synth pop in the early '80s, the U.K. Subs saw their popularity quickly begin to dwindle, as bandmembers began to come and go.
The band continued on with such further releases as
1981's Diminished
Responsibility and
1982's
Endangered Species (among others), as the group's sound grew more and more a kin to hard rock/heavy metal. But despite almost all of the original
U.K. punk groups going their separate ways by the early to mid-'80s (the
Sex Pistols, the
Clash, the Damned, etc.), the U.K. Subs never split up; although Harper was often the only original member left in attendance, the group continued to issue albums and never ceased playing shows. '80s-era bassist
Alvin Gibbs would go on to briefly play bass for punk godfather
Iggy Pop in
1988, and even penned a book about his experiences,
Neighbourhood Threat:
On Tour With Iggy Pop. The '90s saw the release of countless U.K. Subs "hits" collections, the best of the bunch being
1991's
Singles 1978-1982 and
1996's
The Punk Singles Collection.
- published: 15 Mar 2009
- views: 4865