The Banned | |
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| Origin | Croydon, London, England |
| Genres | Power PopBubblegum musicPunk rockNovelty songnew wavegarage rock |
| Years active | 1977–1978, 2009 |
| Labels | Harvest |
| Past members | Paul Sordid Pete Fresh John Thomas Rick Mansworth Ben Dover Tommy Steal David Owen Smith |
The Banned were anEnglishPower Poppunk/new wave band active in the late 1970s.
The Banned had a minor UKhit in 1977 with "Little Girl", acover version of a 1966 U.S. hitsong by theSyndicate of Sound.[1] The Banned's original home pressing on Can't Eat Records (Eat Up 1) was taken up byEMI'sHarvestlabel.[1] The Banned originated fromTooting andCamberwell inLondon.
Originally the Banned were:
Harvey and Davie had previously been members of theprogressive rock/folkband,Gryphon.[2] Aitken had been a member of Precious Little.[2] They recorded "Little Girl" in an attempt to take advantage of the popularity of punk rock, or in Aitken's words to "work a scam to do this punk thing".[2] The line-up changed in the first few months withTommy Steal (real nameJimmy Hughes) replacing Davie on bass and Ben Dover (Ben Grove) replacing Harvey on guitar. This line-uprecorded the secondsingle "Him or Me" with "You Dirty Rat" on theB-side.[3] For theirTop of the Pops performance of "Little Girl" in December 1977, Sordid, Fresh and Steal were joined bySugar Kane (real name David Owen Smith) on 12 string guitar.
Due tomanagement problems the band folded six months later, but Aitken and Grove continued working together in a band called The Retros.[2] Paul Sordid appeared onNever Mind The Buzzcocks in 2004.Jimmy Hughes joinedKen Lockie andKeith Levene's electronic pop bandCowboys International.
The Banned reformed in 2009 and played at the 12 Bar Club in London, and the Rebellion Festival in Blackpool.
The track "Little Girl" is on a number ofcompilation albums – notablyThe Best Punk Album in The World Ever 2,Totally Sensational 70s, andRare Stuff. A historicalCD of their recordings was released byCherry Red Records in 2004, including tracks by Precious Little and The Retros.[2]
With only one single making theUK Singles Chart (No. 36 in December 1977 for "Little Girl"),[4] the Banned join the list ofone-hit wonders; a list that includes other UK punk rock, pub rock, or new wave acts such asJohn Cooper Clarke, The Fruit Eating Bears,Jilted John,999, theRadio Stars, theRich Kids andThe Vibrators.
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