U.K. Subs: История британского панк-рока

English punk rock band

U. K. Subs are an English punk rock band, among the earliest in the first wave of British punk. Formed in 1976, the mainstay of the band has been vocalist Charlie Harper, originally a singer in Britain's R&B scene. One of the first hardcore punk bands, elements of rhythm and blues music including harmonica also remained an occasional element of their work.

Although the U. K. Subs were part of the original punk movement in England, the band originally started playing as part of the pub rock scene under the name The Marauders. In 1976, after seeing a couple of punk rock shows at The Roxy, the band decided to become a punk rock band, changing their name at first to the Subversives but later modifying it to the U. K. Subs. By the time the band recorded their first single, Pete Davies had replaced Lyons and was the band's regular drummer. Their style combined the energy of punk and the rock and roll edge of the then thriving pub rock scene. The band's first six hit singles, including "Stranglehold", "Warhead", "Teenage", and "Tomorrow's Girls", all managed to enter the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart. Their first four albums would also make the U. K. charts. However, they never had another single or album make the charts after 1981. The first two songs released by the band were on the April 1978, Farewell to the Roxy album. The film was released theatrically.

In May 1979, the band signed to GEM Records, a punk rock offshoot of RCA Records. At this point some of the songs took on a more heavy metal influenced edge. Following the recording of the album, Steve Roberts was fired at the end of 1981 and the Subs used both Mal Aisling and John Towe as replacements. The band toured the U. S. in support of the album, hoping to get signed to a U. S. label. It was their second tour of the U. S.; the first occurring in 1979. In July 1982, they became the first Western band to perform in Poland since the imposition of martial law, and the suppression of the trade union Solidarity. Their concert was held in Gdańsk, and they were supported by Brygada Kryzys. In 1983, the band released the three song Shake Up the City EP on Abstract Records, which they also recorded at Jacobs studios. Drummer Kim Wylie played on the EP and for the subsequent tours of the U. K., Europe, and the U. S. They again played several concerts in Poland in 1983 with new wave Polish band Republika. Differences in musical direction, as well as the inability to secure a U. S. record deal, led to Gibbs, Garrett, and Harper going their separate ways, although Harper would continue to use the U. K. Subs name with frequently changing members backing him. U. K. Subs joined the bill for the 2006 Fiend Fest. The band have toured with The Misfits, The Adicts, Osaka Popstar, Agent Orange, and The Ramones. The U. K. Subs song "Warhead" is played in the movie, This Is England. U. K. Subs are one of the regular bands to play the Rebellion Festival nearly every year since its origins as The Holidays in the Sun Festival in 1996. In 2002, the band was featured with D. R. I and The Eight Bucks Experiment on a seven inch compilation record called F*#k You Punks vol.3, with an anti terrorist song called "Terrorista". In 2007, drummer Jamie Oliver was a contestant on the UK quiz show Nothing But the Truth. Vocalist Charlie Harper was among the panel of witnesses. Oliver reached the £5,000 mark, but lost it all in a bid to double his winnings. In recent years, the band's work has been critical of British politician Nick Clegg, with the 2013 song "Coalition Government Blues" describing the Liberal Democrats' leader as "liking his perks". The band's 2015 album Yellow Leader was widely suspected of referring to Clegg, with yellow being the official colour of his political party. To celebrate 40 years since its release, Demon Records issued a special edition copy of Another Kind of Blues in a box set of two 10" coloured vinyl on 13 April 2019. This was soon followed by the next album in succession, Brand New Age on 12 July 2019. Crash Course and Diminished Responsibility have also been reissued and Cleopatra Records has released an expanded version of Endangered Species. In September 2021, to celebrate 40 years since the band's concert at Gossips, the official live cassette of the show was rereleased on CD and Download as Danger: The Chaos Tape via Cherry Red. On 17 October 2021, Alvin Gibbs announced on Facebook that "Charlie Harper, Steve Straughan and I have decided Jamie Oliver will no longer continue as drummer for the UK Subs" over his "his post seemingly celebrating the tragic and abhorrent death of Conservative MP, David Amess". Anti Pasti drummer, Kevin Nixon, agreed to temporarily take over the role vacated by Oliver, enabling the band to meet live commitments in France in October 2021.

In what was advertised as the U. K. Subs' final album, Reverse Engineering a studio record of new material was released on 1 July 2022. On 20 August 2022, the band played what was billed as their "last ever" show on the island of Ireland, performing at Voodoo in Belfast. Former drummer Steve Roberts,AKA Steve ZeSuicide, died on 13 October 2022. In December 2022, the band announced drummer Dave Humphries had left the band. European and UK tours planned for 2023 were advertised as being the "final full" tours by the U. K. Subs. The band added: "Rest assured the band will then continue to play Festivals and the occasional mini weekend tour in various countries as and when." The UK tour is culminated with five consecutive sold out nights at the 100 Club in London.

Successive U. K. Subs album titles start with consecutive letters of the alphabet, although the band released several live albums and compilations that were not part of the 26 alphabetical titles. All but one of their 21 studio albums are a part of this 26 album sequence while the two albums consisting solely of covers are not part of the sequence. The six non studio albums in the sequence comprise four live albums, Sub Mission: The Best of the U. K. Subs 1982–1998, a compilation album which also contained a bonus disc with a live recording from a show in Bristol in 1991, and Peel Sessions which compiled their three late 1970's sessions with BBC DJ John Peel. In May 2016, the band released an album starting with the letter "Z", Ziezo, which completed their alphabetical series of album titles. The album was recorded in November 2015 at Perry Vale Studios in South London. At the time, the band announced that, although they intended to continue to release EPs and singles, Ziezo would be their last full album. After releasing Ziezo, the Subs released a double single in 2017 and an EP in 2018 in addition to two albums of covers, titled Subversions and Subversions II, which were released in 2018 and 2019, respectively. On 1 July 2022, Cleopatra Records released the Subs' latest studio album, Reverse Engineering. Alvin Gibbs announced on behalf of the U. K. Subs in January 2021 that the band had begun recording the new album due to the large amount of new material they had written both as a band and individually. He said that this new album "will categorically be the last ever UK Subs album."

The UK Subs' tempo exceeded that of many of the original British punk bands, earning them a reputation as a pioneer of hardcore punk music. They retained limited elements of rhythm and blues due to Harper's previous years as an R&B singer. Music writer Colin Larkin described the band as specialising in "shambolic sub three minute bursts of alcohol driven rock ‘n’ roll".