(5 / 5)
Now you’re talking. This is a cracking long-awaited bumper six disc set which collects together the first half dozen volumes in the magnificent “Oi!” compilation series.
There’s a mouth-watering 121 tracks from 68 artists in this set celebrating the mighty “Oi! The Album” output, which was launched 40 years ago in 1980 by journalist and broadcaster Gary Bushell.
The series kicked off back then with contributions from the likes of Cockney Rejects, Angelic Upstarts, The Exploited, The 4 Skins, Cock Sparrer, Slaughter & The Dogs and Peter & The Test Tube Babies among others. That first album is found here on CD # one.
1981’s “Strength Thru Oi!” featured Toy Dolls, Infa Riot, Cock Sparrer, Last Resort and ‘newer’ bands like The Strike and Criminal Class, as well as the Oi! poet Garry Johnson. We get that second album of the series on disc # two here.
Third disc in this set is “Carry On Oi!” which hit # four in the Independent Chart and introduced the likes of The Business, The Partisans, Blitz, Red Alert and The Ejected, alongside veterans such as The 4 Skins and Infa Riot.
Disc four here is 1982’s “Oi! Oi! That’s Yer Lot! Reggae legend Judge Dread along with ‘one-man Chas ‘N’ Dave’ Frankie Flame, and established Oi! acts such as The Business and The Oppressed, are all featured.
Added to this fourth disc are five tracks originally recorded at the session for the “Oi! Oi! That’s Yer Lot!” LP, but later released on the “Back On The Streets” EP.
The penultimate disc here is “Son Of Oi!” – an Indie Chart # 11, featuring stalwarts such as The 4 Skins, Angelic Upstarts, Cock Sparrer, The Business and The Gonads. It also introduced newer acts such as Vicious Rumours, Prole and Maniac Youth.
The final disc is 1984’s “Oi! Of Sex”, which also peaked at # 11 in the Indie Chart. Another mixture of established acts such as Cock Sparrer and Gonads, and the newer bands such as The Burial, ABH and Rat Patrol.
Original series compiler Garry Bushell has provided in-depth, newly commissioned essay for this smashing collection that’ll have collectors and fans of the rambunctious and raucous ‘punky’ “Oi!” sound, drooling.
Some of my faves from back in the day also featured across this set, are Watty Buchan’s Exploited from Glasgow; what a sight he was with a bright red, great big Mohican hair style and shaved head either side. Also Blitz, Attila The Stockbroker and the bonkers Max Splodge.
Not heard of these before, but you gotta check out Angela Rippon’s Bum. I might need to re-phrase that last sentence!
For those of you too young to recall, Angela was a TV newsreader who danced a spectacular routine on the Morecambe and Wise Christmas TV show one year with the comedy duo, in a Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers type period piece, and that really shot her to fame.
For less than thirty nicker for 121 tracks, that works out to just under 25 pence per track. Cheap as chips. Oi! Oi! Fill yer boots…………
By Simon Redley
(1 / 5) ‘Dull Zone’
(2 / 5) ‘OK Zone’
(3 / 5) ‘Decent Zone’
(4 / 5) ‘Super Zone’ (5 / 5) ‘Awesome Zone’
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