Jimmy Pursey
Encyclopedia
Jimmy Pursey is an English
singer and record producer
. He was the founder and frontman of the English punk rock
band
, Sham 69
from 1976 to 1980, and from 1986 to 2006.
in 1955. His father was in the army
and his mother worked as a cinema
usherette
. He was educated at Hersham House & Burhill Infants, Hersham Juniors and Rydens School
, leaving aged 15 to work in a curtain shop.
He was a regular attendee at the local disco, the 'Walton Hop' at the Playhouse theatre, where he met Jonathan King
. Pursey claimed that he began performing after taking the stage as a drunk fourteen year old at the disco and miming to Bay City Rollers
and Rolling Stones songs (miming contests were a regular event at the Hop). He formed Sham 69 in 1976, inspired by The Ramones and initially called Jimmy and the Ferrets, along with Albie Slider, Billy Bostik and Neil Harris, while employed at Wimbledon Stadium
, and they rehearsed at Slider's parents' pig farm, where King sometimes came to watch them. The band released four albums and had six UK top 50
hits before splitting up in 1980 (after several splits in 1979 that proved to be temporary) with the violence that regularly marred their gigs taking its toll. Pursey briefly worked with Steve Jones
and Paul Cook
of The Sex Pistols as Sham Pistols
before the final Sham 69 split, and embarked on a solo career. Pursey also worked as a record producer, on early releases by Cockney Rejects
and Angelic Upstarts
.
Pursey's first solo releases were on Polydor Records
, the label that Sham 69 had been signed to - the "Lucky Man" single and Imagination Camouflage album. He then moved to Epic Records
for three further singles (including "Animals Have More Fun", co-written with Peter Gabriel
) and second solo album Alien Orphan. In 1983, a third album, Revenge is not the Password was issued on the Code Black label, and occasional releases followed until he formed a new line-up of Sham 69 in 1986 along with guitarist from the band's most successful line-up, Dave Parsons. Pursey released a fourth solo album in 1997 (Code Black). Sham 69 continued to play live and record until 2006. In 2006, Pursey recorded a new version of the Sham 69 hit "Hurry Up Harry" as an unofficial World Cup song in aid of a cancer charity; "Hurry Up England" was recorded with Graham Coxon
's band but credited to 'Sham 69 & the Special Assembly'.
On 26 January 2007, BBC News
announced that the band had split because of a bitter fallout between Pursey and guitarist Parsons. NME
reported that a statement released by Parsons included the message: "Sham 69 have left Jimmy Pursey on the eve of their 30th anniversary." Pursey initially stated that he would be retaining the Sham 69 name, but on 21st Jan 2008, he announced through TaM Management http://tam.littlelondonstudios.com that "to avoid confusion to fans he wanted it known that he did not want to be associated with the band still performing as Sham 69" and had formed a new band Day 21
with Mat Sargent on bass, The Rev (Towers of London
and The Prodigy
) on guitar, and Snell (Towers of London). Pursey also paints, selling his work to raise money for the Hersham Hounds greyhound
sanctuary.
Pursey had been due to appear as a contestant on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in 2008, but pulled out after finding out that he would have been a late entrant to the camp and concerned that he would be portrayed as a "trouble-making punk".
In July 2011 Pursey made the decision to reform Sham 69 with the original lineup. A meeting held between Pursey and Dave Parsons, original Sham 69 guitarist and co-writer of nearly all of the Sham repertoire with Pursey, ironed out their differences. Dave Tregunna, on bass, and Mark Cain, on drums, were called in to complete the lineup for a special show in London.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
singer and record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
. He was the founder and frontman of the English punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
, Sham 69
Sham 69
Sham 69 is an English punk band that formed in Hersham in 1976.Although not as commercially successful as many of their contemporaries, albeit with a greater number of chart entries, Sham 69 has been a huge musical and lyrical influence on the Oi! and streetpunk genres. The band allegedly derived...
from 1976 to 1980, and from 1986 to 2006.
Biography
Pursey was born in HershamHersham
Hersham is a village in Surrey, within the M25 boundary. It is within easy reach of Heathrow and Gatwick airports. The main A3 London to Portsmouth road runs through its boundaries...
in 1955. His father was in the army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
and his mother worked as a cinema
Movie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
usherette
Usher (occupation)
Ushers assist visitors by formally showing the way in a large building or to their appropriate seats. This may coincide with a security role. The word comes from the French huissier, with the same meaning , ushers were servants or courtiers who showed or ushered visitors in and out of meetings in...
. He was educated at Hersham House & Burhill Infants, Hersham Juniors and Rydens School
Rydens School
Rydens Enterprise School or RES is a mixed, secondary school situated on the Hersham Road between Hersham and Walton-on-Thames in Surrey, England. The school has been awarded Specialist Business and Enterprise College status.-Houses:...
, leaving aged 15 to work in a curtain shop.
He was a regular attendee at the local disco, the 'Walton Hop' at the Playhouse theatre, where he met Jonathan King
Jonathan King
Jonathan King is an English singer, songwriter, impresario and record producer. He is also the author of three novels, Bible Two and The Booker Prize Winner , and Beware the Monkey Man , and an autobiography, 65 My Life So Far .King first came to prominence as an...
. Pursey claimed that he began performing after taking the stage as a drunk fourteen year old at the disco and miming to Bay City Rollers
Bay City Rollers
The Bay City Rollers were a Scottish pop band who were most popular in the 1970s. The British Hit Singles & Albums noted that they were "tartan teen sensations from Edinburgh", and were "the first of many acts heralded as the 'Biggest Group since The Beatles' and one of the most screamed-at...
and Rolling Stones songs (miming contests were a regular event at the Hop). He formed Sham 69 in 1976, inspired by The Ramones and initially called Jimmy and the Ferrets, along with Albie Slider, Billy Bostik and Neil Harris, while employed at Wimbledon Stadium
Wimbledon Stadium
Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium is a greyhound racing track located in Wimbledon in southwest London, England. It also hosts speedway, stock car and other racing events....
, and they rehearsed at Slider's parents' pig farm, where King sometimes came to watch them. The band released four albums and had six UK top 50
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
hits before splitting up in 1980 (after several splits in 1979 that proved to be temporary) with the violence that regularly marred their gigs taking its toll. Pursey briefly worked with Steve Jones
Steve Jones (musician)
Stephen Philip "Steve" Jones is an English rock guitarist, singer and actor, best known as guitarist and founding member of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols.-Childhood:...
and Paul Cook
Paul Cook
Paul Thomas Cook is an English drummer and member of the punk rock band Sex Pistols.-Early life and career:...
of The Sex Pistols as Sham Pistols
Sham Pistols
The Sham Pistols were a punk rock band composed of guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook of the Sex Pistols, and vocalist Jimmy Pursey and bass player Dave Treganna of Sham 69.-Formation:...
before the final Sham 69 split, and embarked on a solo career. Pursey also worked as a record producer, on early releases by Cockney Rejects
Cockney Rejects
Cockney Rejects are an English punk rock band that formed in the East End of London in 1978. Their 1980 song "Oi, Oi, Oi" was the inspiration for the name of the Oi! music genre...
and Angelic Upstarts
Angelic Upstarts
Angelic Upstarts are an English punk rock/Oi! band formed in South Shields in 1977. The band espoused an anti-fascist and socialist working class philosophy, and have been associated with the skinhead subculture...
.
Pursey's first solo releases were on Polydor Records
Polydor Records
Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...
, the label that Sham 69 had been signed to - the "Lucky Man" single and Imagination Camouflage album. He then moved to Epic Records
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
for three further singles (including "Animals Have More Fun", co-written with Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
) and second solo album Alien Orphan. In 1983, a third album, Revenge is not the Password was issued on the Code Black label, and occasional releases followed until he formed a new line-up of Sham 69 in 1986 along with guitarist from the band's most successful line-up, Dave Parsons. Pursey released a fourth solo album in 1997 (Code Black). Sham 69 continued to play live and record until 2006. In 2006, Pursey recorded a new version of the Sham 69 hit "Hurry Up Harry" as an unofficial World Cup song in aid of a cancer charity; "Hurry Up England" was recorded with Graham Coxon
Graham Coxon
Graham Leslie Coxon is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and painter. He came to prominence as the lead guitarist, backing vocalist and occasional lead vocalist of rock band Blur, and is also a critically acclaimed solo artist, having recorded seven solo albums...
's band but credited to 'Sham 69 & the Special Assembly'.
On 26 January 2007, BBC News
BBC News
BBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
announced that the band had split because of a bitter fallout between Pursey and guitarist Parsons. NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
reported that a statement released by Parsons included the message: "Sham 69 have left Jimmy Pursey on the eve of their 30th anniversary." Pursey initially stated that he would be retaining the Sham 69 name, but on 21st Jan 2008, he announced through TaM Management http://tam.littlelondonstudios.com that "to avoid confusion to fans he wanted it known that he did not want to be associated with the band still performing as Sham 69" and had formed a new band Day 21
Day 21
Day 21 are an English punk rock group, led by Jimmy Pursey.On 21 January 2008, Pursey announced that, due to ongoing confusion to fans, he would no longer be associated with the name Sham 69, and that his new band would perform under the name, Day 21....
with Mat Sargent on bass, The Rev (Towers of London
Towers of London
Towers of London are a Punk Rock n Roll band, fromLondon, England, who formed in 2004. Their music mixes elements of rock and heavy metal music with 1977 style British punk...
and The Prodigy
The Prodigy
The Prodigy are an English electronic dance music group formed by Liam Howlett in 1990 in Braintree, Essex. Along with Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, and other acts, The Prodigy have been credited as pioneers of the big beat genre, which achieved mainstream popularity in the 1990s and 2000s...
) on guitar, and Snell (Towers of London). Pursey also paints, selling his work to raise money for the Hersham Hounds greyhound
Greyhound
The Greyhound is a breed of sighthound that has been primarily bred for coursing game and racing, and the breed has also recently seen a resurgence in its popularity as a pedigree show dog and family pet. It is a gentle and intelligent breed...
sanctuary.
Pursey had been due to appear as a contestant on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in 2008, but pulled out after finding out that he would have been a late entrant to the camp and concerned that he would be portrayed as a "trouble-making punk".
In July 2011 Pursey made the decision to reform Sham 69 with the original lineup. A meeting held between Pursey and Dave Parsons, original Sham 69 guitarist and co-writer of nearly all of the Sham repertoire with Pursey, ironed out their differences. Dave Tregunna, on bass, and Mark Cain, on drums, were called in to complete the lineup for a special show in London.
Albums
- Imagination Camouflage (1980), Polydor
- Alien Orphan (1981), Epic
- Revenge is not the Password (1983), Code Black
- Code Black (1997), Scratch
Singles
- "Lucky Man" (1980), Polydor
- "Animals Have More Fun" (1981), Epic
- "Naughty Boys Like Naughty Girls" (1981), Epic
- "Alien Orphan" (1982), Epic
- "The First Deadly Sin" (1982), Epic
- "Man Worries Man" (1983), Code Black
- "If Only Before" (1984), An Eskimo - credited to James T. Pursey
- "Zap Pow!" (1986), Vide Cat
External links
- Jimmy Pursey on Myspace
- Sham 69