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In 1979 the kitchen got too hot.Guitarist and and Pursey's co-writer Dave Parsons was fed up with the stage invasions and disillusioned at how Sham had consistently failed to fire on all four cylinders(as a band)because of it.Sham broke up.
From then on Jimmy pursued an undistinguished madcap solo career,taking in everything from video scratching to pseudo performance art,all of which succeeded in identifying him as a has-been.He then retreated to his home base at Hersham near Walton On Thames and set about getting his shit together....again.
And now,nearly ten years after,he's back,with his old partner Dave Parsons and a phenomenon that to many was uniquely '1978'-Sham 69.And what i want to know is why,Jimmy why?
"Because the music today is in such a fucking state",he says with the kind of venom Sham fans came to know and love."Its become a tupperware party of boredom,so we decided to get back out there.We were always at the forefront of the punk scene-we knew what was going on-and it seems that ten years on,nothings changed."
"In fact,the musics probably more complacent now than it was then.I mean,Mel & Kim,and all that other bunch of crap thats in the charts...and the Beastie boys-which is just a very bad version of Sham 69-riding high in the top ten,thats when you can turn around and laugh." I'm laughing,honestly,I'm laughing.It says in your press release that this is 'a new band,a new idea'.
"A totally new idea" says Jimmy,leaving me with the impression i've just thrown a lit match into a box of fireworks."We've just come back from Germany where we went down a total storm.The least amount of encores we got was three.I mean,you can't do better than that when you go out with completely new material,and it's totally new material."
Gasp!
"In England we were never really allowed to show that we were a true band because most of the gigs we ever played there were,er,disturbances.But in Germany we've been allowed to play and because of that they see us for the best of what we are,rather than some ranting,raving,riot band." But there'll always be a legacy as long as theres a band called Sham 69.All the old Sham fans will undoubtedly turn up,just as they at a special Sham party at Londons Limelight Club just before Christmas..
"They've all grown up" spits Jimmy."They've grown up.And if you notice whats going on with Big Audio Dynamite....they have Progressed.Their lyrics are just as strong as what they(The Clash)were in 1977,except theres a tune in the background instead of a stance.An that's exactly what Sham are about...But anyway" he says,returning to the theme of legacy,"that's up to England and,to tell you the truth,I couldn't give a shit about England at the moment because they treaeted us in such a way...calling us this,that and everything else,saying we're a skinhead band.we've always been a punk band and we always will be,it's those ideals that we've carried forward from 1977 and thats what we stand for now." So what's the music like now,Jim old bean?
"The music hasn't changed in that it still has that same ingredient of...life" he says,obviously believing himself."Rather than the pretentious,listen to this lyric because it means something,man, it wraps itself together now.It's dance music(He's into BAD,Westworld and assorted hip hop)there's no thrash,bang,thank you man stuff,its'...it's...it's there.It's totally there and we've proved that in Germany.
"We're gonna be one of the biggest bands in the world and it's about time this country woke up to the fact"
Sham 87,sorry 69 will be testing the water in Germany soon with a single 'Rip and tear'.If all goes well they are thinking of "doing something here"...wash this space.Quickly!
