| Oi! | |
|---|---|
| Other names | New punk (early)Real punk (early) |
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | Late 1970s – early 1980s,United Kingdom (particularly theEast End of London) |
| Derivative forms | Tough guy hardcore[1][2] |
| Subgenres | |
| Punk pathetique | |
| Other topics | |
Oi! (originally known asnew punk orreal punk) is asubgenre ofpunk rock that emerged in the United Kingdom, particularly theEast End of London in the late 1970s and early 1980s.[3] The music and its associatedsubculture aimed to unitepunks,skinheads, and general disaffectedworking-class youth.[4]
The movement was partly a response to the perception that many participants in the earlyUK punk scene were, in the words ofThe Business guitarist Steve Kent, "trendy university people using long words, trying to be artistic... and losing touch."[5] The movement was later associated withconservative ideologies.
Notable acts includedSham 69,Cock Sparrer,Angelic Upstarts,the 4-Skins,the Business,Anti-Establishment,Blitz,the Blood andCombat 84.
During the late 1970s, oi! was originally referred to as "new punk",[6] the term was coined bySounds magazine writerGarry Bushell who published the article "Cockney Rejects and the Rise of New Punk" on 4 August 1979.[7] The style would also be referred to as "real punk".[8][9] The movement emerged after the perceived commercialisation ofpunk rock andnew wave,[9] along with the artistic intellectualization of "new musick".[10][6] Oi! fused the sounds of first wave punk bands with influences from the 1960sBritish Invasion groups, themod subculture,football chants,drinking songs, and Englishpub rock.[citation needed] Although Oi! has come to be considered mainly aconservative orskinhead-oriented genre, the movement initially emerged purely as a reaction to the fracturing of the earlyUK punk scene and aimed to bring together disenfranchisedworking-class youth.[11][12][8]
In 1978, Bushell argued "New Punk" artists such as theAngelic Upstarts had more relevance than "New Musick".[10] Bushell would be an early supporter of Oi! as a reaction to the artistic intellectualization of punk, with "new punk" followers expressing appreciation for his support of "real kids" bands and his refusal to be an "intellectual snob".[6]
First-generation Oi! bands such asSham 69 andCock Sparrer were around for years before the wordOi! was used retroactively to describe their style of music. In 1980, writing inSounds magazine, rock journalist Garry Bushell labelled the movementOi!, taking the name from the garbled "Oi!" that Stinky Turner ofCockney Rejects used to introduce the band's songs.[13][14] The word is aBritish expression meaninghey. In addition to Cockney Rejects, other bands to be explicitly labeled Oi! in the early days of the genre includedAngelic Upstarts,the 4-Skins,the Business,Anti-Establishment,Blitz,the Blood andCombat 84.[15]
The prevalent ideology of the original Oi! movement was a rough brand of working-class rebellion. Lyrical topics included unemployment, workers' rights, harassment by police and other authorities, and oppression by the government.[5] Oi! songs also covered less-political topics such as street violence, football, sex, and alcohol.
Some Oi! bands―such asSam McCrory andJohnny Adair's Offensive Weapon[16]―and fans were involved inwhite nationalist organisations such as theNational Front (NF) and theBritish Movement (BM), leading some critics to dismiss the Oi! subgenre asracist.[5] Other Oi! bands, such asAngelic Upstarts,The Business,The Burial andThe Oppressed, were associated withleft-wing politics andanti-racism, and others were non-political.[17][18][19]
Rock Against Communism (RAC) was a partial development fromwhite power/white supremacist movements, which had musical and aesthetic similarities to Oi! Although due to Cold War fears the genre had appealed to some punk rock bands distinct from original Oi! in that they opposed alltotalitarianism,[20] it was not connected to the Oi! scene. Timothy S. Brown writes:
[Oi!] played an important symbolic role in the politicization of the skinhead subculture. By providing, for the first time, a musical focus for skinhead identity that was "white"—that is, that had nothing to do with the West Indian immigrant presence and little obvious connection with black musical roots—Oi! provided a musical focus for new visions of skinhead identity [and] a point of entry for a new brand of right-wing rock music.[21]
Garry Bushell, the journalist who promoted the Oi! genre, argued that the white power music scene was "totally distinct from us. We had no overlap other than a mutual dislike of each other".[19]
The mainstream media increased its claims that Oi! was linked to far-right racist politics after an Oi! concert at the Hambrough Tavern inSouthall on 4 July 1981 ended with five hours of rioting, 120 people being injured and the tavern being burnt down.[22][15][23][24] Before the concert, some audience members had written NF slogans around the area and bullied Asian residents of the neighbourhood.[5][22]
In response, local Asian youths threw Molotov cocktails and other objects at the tavern, mistakenly believing that the concert—featuring the Business, the 4-Skins and the Last Resort—was a neo-Nazi event. Although some of the concert-goers wereNational Front orBritish Movement supporters, none of the performers werewhite power music bands, and the audience of approximately 500 people included skinheads, black skinheads, punk rockers,rockabillies, and non-affiliated youths.[25]
In the aftermath of that riot, many Oi! bands condemned racism andfascism. These denials were met with cynicism from some quarters[who?] because of theStrength Thru Oi! compilation album, released in May 1981. Not only was its title a play on aNazi slogan "Strength Through Joy", but the cover featuredNicky Crane, a skinhead BM activist who was serving a four-year sentence for racist violence. Crane later disavowed his alignment with thefar right after revealing he was gay.[26]
Bushell, who compiled the album, stated its title was a pun onthe Skids' albumStrength Through Joy, and that he had been unaware of the Nazi connotations.[17] He denied knowing the identity of the skinhead on the album's cover until it was exposed by theDaily Mail two months after the release.[17] Bushell, a socialist at the time, noted the irony of being branded a far-right activist by a newspaper that "had once supportedOswald Mosley'sBlackshirts, Mussolini'sinvasion of Abyssinia, and appeasement with Hitler right up to the outbreak of World War Two."[17]
After the Oi! movement lost momentum in the United Kingdom, Oi! scenes formed in continental Europe, North America, and Asia. Soon, especially in the United States, the Oi! phenomenon mirrored the hardcore punk scene of the late 1970s, with American Oi!-originating bands such as the Radicals,U.S. Chaos,Iron Cross,Agnostic Front, and Anti Heros. Later American punk bands such asRancid andDropkick Murphys have credited Oi! as a source of inspiration.[19]
In the mid-1990s, there was a revival of interest in Oi! music, leading to older Oi! bands receiving more recognition in the UK[citation needed] and bands such as The Business being discovered by young, multiracial skinheads in the US.[27] In the 2000s, many of the original UK Oi! bands reunited to perform and/or record.
The style known as NYHC started in the early 1980s and was characterized by "driving machine gun drum beats, fast heavy guitar riffs, and simple repetitive bass lines." Also included in most NYHC was what is now known as "the breakdown" - a quintessential break in the song that would send the listeners into a full-blown frenzy. The vocals were shouted, and many bands had sing-along choruses to encourage audience participation. Lyrics of songs reflected themes of unity, brotherhood, and social justice... It is important to keep in mind that Oi! music originated in England and that American skinheads listened to those bands. As Harley Flanagan recalls, "We were aware of what was going on over there and it was influencing bands... with sing-along anthems."
