Cockney Rejects - Greatest Hits Vol. 1

Inspired by the critically reviled working-class punk of Sham 69, football hooligans the Cockney Rejects helped give voice to the punk subgenre tagged Oi!, partly thanks to the group's 1980 song "Oi! Oi! Oi!" The Rejects' sound was loud, brash, and crudely performed, with an irreverent sense of humour and an inclination toward mindless anarchy that made them appealing to frustrated lower-class youth and, unfortunately, the more extreme right-wing racist faction among the growing skinhead movement, an association the group did not encourage but for which it was soundly berated. Vocalist Jefferson Turner, guitarist Mick Geggus, bassist Vince Riordan, and drummer Keith Warrington were discovered in London's East End by Sham 69 singer Jimmy Pursey, who helped the group get a record deal. The Rejects' initial output was voluminous; their first two albums were both released in 1980 and jokingly titled Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2.

Though they didn’t get around to (allegedly) naming the genre of Oi! until their second album, working class Cockney Rejects went a long way towards defining the sound. The raw street punk on the cheekily titled Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 dismisses English punk’s art-schooled class of ‘77 to embrace the everyday Brit thug who downs a pint while watching his favourite team (in the Cockney Rejects’ case, West Ham United). This is what it was all about when you're young and stupid. Could this be one of the best punk rock albums ever? Of course this is stupid loudmouth arrogant football hooligan shit, but then again, who cares? This one was a blueprint for hundreds of apeing "Oi!" bands. Unbeatable.

Various Artists - Small Wonder Vol.2

It has been a while since I posted the first ten Small Wonder singles, hasn’t it?!. Well thanks first of all for being so patient and for recognising just how difficult it is to find some of the additional B side tracks. It has to be noted that without great resources to visit like Always A Wanker with his incredible selection of punk and post-punk bands, collating complete compilations would be near impossible. So, without further bla bla blah, I am taking it as understood that you are all familiar with the concept of Small Wonder Records, it being an early independent label that specialised in releasing punk and post-punk bands. This 25 track collection covers releases “Small Eleven” through to “Small Twenty” which includes artists such as The Cravats, Fatal Microbes, The Wall, Cockney Rejects, The Molesters and The Cure. With a tiny bit of help from the indie archives of a real collector, it’s time to get acquainted / re-acquainted with some real gems from the vaults.