Hand On Heart

Description

NEW CD CRYSTAL EDITION The first Hardback edition is now sold out. Cock Sparrer (originally Cock Sparrow) is a British punk rock band formed in 1972 in London's East End. According to French journalist Pierre Mikaïloff, Cock Sparrer is a band that, while not openly positioning itself on the left like other groups such as Angelic Upstarts or Red London, nonetheless shares their ideas. However, this should be put into perspective considering songs like England belongs to me, which evoke more of a national consciousness than a leftist message. Although they rarely play for causes, the band is nonetheless considered by the left-wing skinhead scene as a SHARP (SkinHeads Against Racial Prejudice) group, a movement they have supported several times and are appreciated for this reason. The audience is politically very diverse. Even though they did not achieve great success at the time, the band is regarded as a precursor of punk rock and oi! and is a major influence on bands such as Dropkick Murphys, Roger Miret and the Disasters, or Agnostic Front. Cock Sparrer was formed in 1972 by Colin McFaull, Mick Beaufoy, Steve "Burge" Burgess, and Steve Bruce – who have known each other since they were 11 years old. Playing in nightclubs in and around London, they developed the style that would later be known as street punk or oi!, mixed with pub rock and RnB harmonic accents. In 1976, Garrie Lammin (Burge's cousin) joined them as a second guitarist, and the band met Malcolm McLaren, who wanted to manage Cock Sparrer alongside the Sex Pistols. In 1977, the band signed with Decca Records and hoped to make a living from the punk movement. Cock Sparrer's first single is titled Runnin' Riot, released in May 1977. Now a classic of punk and oi! culture, it did not sell well at the time but was nonetheless followed by another single (a cover of We Love You by the Rolling Stones), before Decca terminated the band's contract in 1978.