Cock Sparrer - Career

Career

Cock Sparrer was founded by Colin McFaull, Mick Beaufoy, Steve "Burge" Burgess and Steve Bruce – who had known each other since the age of 11. Playing in nightclubs in and around London, they developed the style that was later to be known as streetpunk or Oi!. In 1976, the band met with Malcolm McLaren, who allegedly offered to sign the band alongside his newest discovery, the Sex Pistols. According to the members of Cock Sparrer, the deal never happened because McLaren refused to buy them a round of beers. Another explanation is that they refused to cut their hair in a style that McLaren wanted.

In 1977, Garrie Lammin (Burge's cousin) joined in as second guitarist and the band secured a deal with Decca Records, who were hoping to cash in on the now blooming punk movement. The first Cock Sparrer single was "Runnin' Riot", released in May 1977. It did not sell well, nor did the following singles, and Decca dropped the band in 1978. The band members had already recorded an album's worth of material, which was only released in Spain as Cock Sparrer and wasn't officially in the UK until Razor Records released it in 1987 as True Grit. Cock Sparrer disbanded in 1980, but in 1981, old Cock Sparrer songs were included on several Oi! compilation albums, and interest in the band began to rise again. They reformed in 1982 and signed to Carrere Records, which released the "England Belongs to Me" single. The next release was the band's debut album Shock Troops in 1983. It included the songs "Where Are They Now", "I Got Your Number"' and "Riot Squad." In 1984, Beaufoy left the band and was replaced by Shug O'Neill, who was later replaced by Chris Skepis. The album Running Riot in '84 was released in October 1984.

The band performed several reunion concerts in 1992 (with Daryl Smith as the new second guitarist), and in 1994 they released a new album, Guilty as Charged. In 1997, they released the album Two Monkeys. Since then, Cock Sparrer has occasionally toured and has performed sporadically at punk festivals including the Wasted/Rebellion festival. In April 2008 they headlined Rebellion Vienna and also headlined Rebellion Blackpool in August 2008. They also headlined the Punk & Disorderly-Festival in Berlin in 2009. They also played Riotfest in Chicago playing at the Congress Theater on 10/10/09 and headlined the Metro on 10/11/09.

The band released their fifth studio album, Here We Stand, in November 2007.

UFC fighter Dan Hardy has used the song "England Belongs to Me" as his walk-out music. "Take 'em All" has a long history of being sung by Major League Soccer supporter groups, including the Empire Supporters Club And Viking Army Supporters Club for the New York Red Bulls and the Emerald City Supporters for the Seattle Sounders FC. In 2012, Cock Sparrer marked their 40th anniversary along with Rancid who were celebrating their 20th anniversary. They played two sold-out concerts in New York and Cock Sparrer and Rancid are to headline the Christmas Bash in Birmingham as part of the Rebellion Festival on the 8th of December 2012.