Discharge, UK Subs, and GBH

Originally formed under the name U.K Subversives, lead singer Charlie Harper wanted his band to bridge a divide that Harper felt shouldn’t be there. A rhythm & blues blues singer by trade, he nonetheless felt a strong kinship with the up and coming punk rock movement. In his mind, it shared too many similarities with the thriving, blues influenced pub-rock scene to be separate from it. So in 1976, he put together the first line-up of what would later become the U.K Subs to act as a bridge between the two scenes. Despite the line-up of the band changing frequently at first, the band scored their first session on Radio 1 legend John Peel’s radio show in 1977, and would go on to have several more in the next two years. These sessions were vital to the success of the band, and as a direct result of them they scored a record deal with GEM Records in 1979.

They released their debut album “Another Kind Of Blues” the very same year, and both the album and its lead single “Stranglehold” were top 30 hits on the albums and singles charts. Between 79’ and 81’ the band were hailed as one of the last true punk bands to see mainstream success, with their 1980 album “Crash Course” rocketing into the top ten at number eight. However, they were not able to maintain this kind of success, especially as straight punk rock was becoming increasingly passé in the face of the much cooler New Wave movement. However, Harper and the Subs were far stronger than fashion, and the band kept on going stronger than they ever were, releasing album after album and touring with the likes of The Ramones and Agent Orange all throughout the 1980’s.

The band remain cult heroes to this very day, a band who many more famous acts wouldn’t exist without. Guns N’ Roses themselves paid tribute to them on their covers record “The Spaghetti Incident?” with a version of their track “Down On The Farm”. With a back catalogue of tracks that would make any punk band worth their salt green with envy, and a live show that delivers every single time, the U.K Subs come highly recommended.

In opposition to Thatcher’s indulgence of the middle and upper classes, punk metal band GBH arrived in 1978 to voice their concerns and launch their assault on injustice. Adorned in black leather, dyed-blonde mohicans, and an appropriate punk attitude, the band released a pair of demos in 1980 before embarking on their first overseas tour in the early 1980s. GBH’s debut release “City Baby Attacked By Rats” arrived in 1982 offering a no-holds-barred critique of British and European culture. Featuring an assaultive sound of guitar, drums and bass played loud, fast and furiously, the band became pioneers of street punk or UK82 alongside The Exploited, Picture Frame Seduction, and Discharge.

Also in 1982 GBH issued the EPs “No Survivors”, “Sick Boy”, and “Give Me Fire / Man Trap” on Clay Records, which were compiled into a compilation album later that year. The full-length “City Babys Revenge” followed in 1983 earning positive reviews and cementing the group’s reputation as a hard-hitting and politically-focused quartet. A string of studio albums were subsequently released in the ‘80s including 1986’s “Midnight Madness And Beyond”, 1987’s “No Need to Panic”, and 1989’s “A Fridge Too Far”, as well as the EPs “Catch 23 / Hellhole”, “Do What You Do”, “Oh No. It’s GBH Again”, and “Wot a Bargain”. Unlike many of their peers GBH were able to maintain their devoted following by rarely diverging from their street punk sound and style, however adopted speed metal influences on their 1992 album “Church of the Truly Warped”.

The 1996 album “Punk Junkies” followed in 1996, after which GBH enjoyed somewhat of a resurgence in popularity, after fading from view in the early ‘90s. The band’s ninth studio album “Ha Ha” was released in 2002 and was supported by an extensive international world tour like many of its predecessors and drawing huge crowds in doing so. The studio album “Cruel and Unusual” arrived in 2004 on Idol Records, followed by “Perfume and Piss” in 2010.