Oi! is a working class street-level subgenre of punk rock that originated in the United Kingdom in the 1970s.^[1] The term working class is used to denote a social class. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Punk rock is an anti-establishment music movement beginning around 1976 (although precursors can be found several years earlier), exemplified and popularised by The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned. ...

The music and associated subculture had the goal of promoting unity between punks, skinheads and other non-aligned working class youths (sometimes called herberts). The Oi! movement was partly a response to a sense that many participants in the early punk rock scene were, in the words of The Business guitarist Steve Kent, "trendy university people using long words, trying to be artistic...and losing touch".^[2] Originally the music style was called street punk, streetpunk, new punk or real punk.^[3] Other terms that have been used at certain points are street rock, street rock 'n' roll, Oi!/street punk and streetpunk/Oi!.^{[4] [5]} In 1980, writing in Sounds, rock journalist Garry Bushell labeled the movement Oi!, taking the name from the garbled "Oi!" that Stinky Turner of the Cockney Rejects used to introduce the band's songs. The word Oi! is an old Cockney expression, simply meaning hey! or hello! In sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, a subculture is a set of people with a set of behaviors and beliefs, culture, which could be distinct or hidden, that differentiate them from the larger culture to which they belong. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Skinheads, named after their shaven heads, are members of a subculture that originated in Britain in the 1960s, where they were closely tied to the Rude boy of the West Indies and the Mods of the UK. English Skinhead on cutdown circa 1991 Categories There are a number of different... The Business is a UK based Oi! band formed in the late 1970s. ... Garry Bushell Garry Bushell (born May 13, 1955 in Woolwich, South East London) is a newspaper columnist, rock music journalist, television presenter and author. ... St Mary-le-Bow The term cockney refers to working-class inhabitants of London, particularly east London, and the slang used by these people. ...

Oi!-related clothing items include (but are not limited to) traditional British punk and skinhead-oriented items such as: leather jackets (sometimes customized with paint and metal spikes or studs); flight jackets; Harrington jackets; denim jackets, or vests; T-shirts (usually with images or text related to the skinhead or punk subcultures); Ben Sherman or Fred Perry polo shirts, button-down shirts or sweaters; jeans (sometimes splattered with bleach); bondage trousers; bullet belts; studded leather belts; braces; spiked or shaven hairstyles (including mohawks, bihawks, and trihawks, often dyed); combat boots or Dr. Martens boots; and flat caps. Punk fashion is the styles of clothing, hairstyles, cosmetics, jewelry, and body modifications of the punk subculture. ... Skinheads, named after their cropped or shaven heads, are members of a working-class subculture that originated in Britain in the 1960s. ... Leather jackets A leather jacket is a type of clothing, a jacket made of leather. ... If traced to its very beginnings, the flight jacket was created for practical reasons. ... A Harrington jacket is a short, lightweight jacket, usually with a tartan or check lining, favoured by mods and skinheads. ... Denim as used for blue jeans, with a copper rivet to strengthen the pocket. ... A jacket is a lightweight, sleeved thigh- or waist-length coat that may be worn by anyone, as jackets are now made for children, adults, the elderly, and even infants. ... T-Shirt A T-shirt (or tee shirt) is a shirt with short or long sleeves, a round neck, put on over the head, without pockets. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Ben Sherman is a British clothing company, producing shirts, suits, shoes and other items. ... Fred Perry hitting a backhand volley Frederick John Perry (May 18, 1909 – February 2, 1995) born in Stockport, Cheshire. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Business shirt A shirt is a piece of clothing for the trunk of the body. ... A jumper from Marks & Spencer A sweater (also called sweatshirt, pullover, jumper, and jersey) is a relatively heavy garment intended to cover the torso and arms of the human body (though, in some cases, sweaters are made for dogs and occasionally other animals) and typically to be worn over a... Blue Jeans (Levis 506) Jeans are trousers traditionally made from denim, but may also be made from a variety of fabrics including corduroy. ... Commercial chlorine bleach To bleach something, is to remove or lighten its color, sometimes as a preliminary step in the process of dyeing; a bleach is a chemical that produces these effects, often via oxidation. ... Bondage pants are pants with superfluous zippers, straps, rings and buckles, all to give the appearance of some sort of BDSM style. ... A bullet is a solid projectile propelled by a firearm or air gun and is normally made from metal (usually lead). ... Bold textA belt is a flexible band, typically made of leather or heavy cloth, and worn around the waist. ... Modern leather-working tools Leather is a material created through the tanning of hides and skins of animals, primarily cattlehide. ... A man wearing classic suspenders, which hook directly into the trousers instead of using clips. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... These paratrooper boots have rubber lug outsoles and side zips. ... Dr. Martens is a brand of shoe, often known as Doc Martens, Docs, or DMs. They have a characteristic air-cushioned sole, dubbed Bouncing Soles, developed by Dr. Klaus Maertens (note the different spelling). ... Rear view of a flat cap Front view of a flat cap A flat cap (see alternate names below) is a rounded soft mens cap with a small brim in front and a somewhat stiff peak in the back. ...

History

The Oi! genre began in the latter part of the 1970s, fusing the styles of early punk bands such as The Clash and the Ramones; early British rock (i.e. the Rolling Stones, The Who); football chants; pub rock (i.e.101ers, Eddie and the Hot Rods); and glam rock bands (i.e. Slade, Sweet). The first Oi! bands included Sham 69, Cock Sparrer, the Cockney Rejects and the Angelic Upstarts, although some of them were around for years before the word Oi! was used to describe their style of music. The original wave of Oi! bands was followed by groups such as The Business, The Gonads, The Last Resort, The 4-Skins, Blitz, Combat 84, Infa Riot, The Blood, Condemned 84 and The Oppressed.^[6] The general ideology of the original Oi! movement was a rough sort of quasi-socialist working class populism. Lyrical topics included unemployment, workers' rights, police harassment and government oppression.^[7] They also covered less-political topics like street violence, football (with chants), sex and alcohol. Although Oi! has become to be considered mainly a skinhead-oriented genre, the first Oi! bands were mostly comprised of punk rockers and people who fit neither the skinhead nor punk label. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... The Rolling Stones are an English band whose blues, rhythm and blues and rock and roll-infused music became popular during the British Invasion in the early 1960s. ... The Who are an English rock band that first formed in 1964, and grew to be considered one of the greatest[1] and most influential[2] bands in the world. ... Football chants are chants, sometimes repetitive, sung/chanted by the crowds at football matches. ... Pub rock was a mid- to late-1970s musical movement, largely centred around North London and South East Essex, particularly Canvey Island and Southend on Sea. ... The 101ers were a pub rock band from the 1970s, notable only as being the band that gave Joe Strummer (later of The Clash) his initial start as a musician. ... ... Glam rock (also known as glitter rock), is a style of rock and roll music, which initially surfaced in the post-hippie early 1970s. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Sweet (referred to as The Sweet on albums before 1974 and singles before 1975) were a popular 1970s British band. ... Sham 69 are an English punk rock band from Hersham, Surrey. ... Cock Sparrer (initially Cock Sparrow) is a punk rock band from East London. ... The Cockney Rejects are an Oi! punk band which formed in the East End of London in 1979. ... The Angelic Upstarts were a staunchly anti-fascist, anti-police, pro-IRA, Socialist working class oi! punk band of late 1970s and early 1980s. ... The Business is a UK based Oi! band formed in the late 1970s. ... The 4-Skins are a working class Oi! punk rock band from East London, England. ... Blitz is a British punk/Oi! band who enjoyed success in the indie charts in the early 1980s. ... Cover of The Bloods False Gestures for a Devious Public The Blood are a London-based punk rock band, formed in 1982. ... A skinhead/Oi! punk rock band from Wales. ... Socialism is a social and economic system (or the political philosophy advocating such a system) in which the economic means of production are owned and controlled collectively by the people. ... A player (wearing the red kit) has penetrated the defence (in the white kit) and is taking a shot at goal. ...

The Oi! movement lost momentum in the United Kingdom, but Oi! scenes formed in continental Europe, North America, Asia and other continents. In the United States, the Oi! phenomenon was mirrored by the hardcore explosion of the early 1980s, especially by bands such as U.S. Chaos, Agnostic Front, Iron Cross and S.S. Decontrol. Although similar in spirit and influence to Oi! (particularly in the earlier stages), hardcore expounded itself in an American middle class (rather than working class) fashion as its influences spread. Other notable bands that have been influenced by the original Oi! scene include: The Press, Anti-Heros, The Templars, Oxblood, Wretched Ones, Brassknuckle Boys, Those Unknown, Pressure Point, The Bruisers, Dropkick Murphys, Oxymoron, Paris Violence, Street Dogs, Roger Miret and the Disasters, the GC5 and Hard Skin. World map showing the location of Europe. ... North America North America is a continent[1] in the Earths northern hemisphere and (chiefly) western hemisphere. ... World map showing the location of Asia. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... [[1]] U.S. Chaos: U.S. Chaos: Seminal Punk band; Was the band aftermath formed by members of The Radicals Gary Rightmeyer, Alex Kinenn (whom would later go on to form Cause For Alarm and later separated from the group to form seminal hard-core group; Agnostic Front. U.S... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... SSD (Society-System Decontrol) was a Boston hardcore band. ... The middle class (or middle classes) comprises a social group once defined by exception as an intermediate social class between the nobility and the peasantry. ... The term working class is used to denote a social class. ... The Templars are an Oi! band formed in Long Island, New York in April of 1991. ... The Wretched Ones are an Oi! band from New Jersey. ... The Brassknuckle Boys are an american band who play a uniquely american style of street rock and roll. ... Those Unknown are one of the most influential, albeit understated, bands in modern punk rock. ... For information about articles that involve variations on the term Bruiser, please see Bruiser. ... Dropkick Murphys are a celtic punk band formed in Quincy, Massachusetts, USA.[1] First playing together in the basement of a friends barbershop, they blended Oi!, Irish music, and hardcore. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Paris Violence is a french Punk Oi group from Paris formed in 1994 . ... Street Dogs is a punk rock band from Boston, Massachusetts. ... Roger Miret and the Disasters promotional photograph, c. ... The GC5 (Grady Coffee Five) was a punk rock band from Cleveland, Ohio, formed in 1997 and split in 2003. ... Formed in London in the mid 1990s, Hard Skin are an Oi! band from Gypsy Hill. ...

In the mid-1990s, there was a revival of interest in Oi! music, with new bands emerging such as Pressure 28, Another Mans Poison, Boisterous, Argy Bargy, Straw Dogs and older bands receiving more recognition. With this revival came a further concerted effort to distance Oi! from racism. Many of the original UK Oi! bands have reunited to perform and/or record in the 2000s, and some of them never broke up in the first place. Some of those bands are: Peter and the Test Tube Babies, Cock Sparrer, Angelic Upstarts, The Business, Cockney Rejects, Red Alert and Sham 69 (who announced another breakup in late January 2007). Racism is a belief or concept of Ryan Dunbar who inhereted differences between people, in particular those upon which the concept of Stupitidy is based, determine cultural or individual achievement, and may involve the idea that ones self-identified race or ethnic group or others race or ethnic group... Peter and the Test Tube Babies are a punk rock band formed around Brighton in 1977 and still touring today. ... Cock Sparrer (initially Cock Sparrow) is a punk rock band from East London. ... The Angelic Upstarts were a staunchly anti-fascist, anti-police, pro-IRA, Socialist working class oi! punk band of late 1970s and early 1980s. ... The Business is a UK based Oi! band formed in the late 1970s. ... The Cockney Rejects are an Oi! punk band which formed in the East End of London in 1979. ... Sham 69 are an English punk rock band from Hersham, Surrey. ...

Controversy

Garry Bushell

Because some fans of Oi! were involved in white power organisations such as the National Front and the British Movement, some histories of rock music dismiss Oi! as racist.^[8] However, none of the original Oi! bands promoted racism in their lyrics, and some bands, such as the Angelic Upstarts and The Oppressed were associated with left wing politics and anti-racism.^{[9] [10]} The mainstream media associated Oi! with far right politics following a concert by The Business, The Last Resort and The 4-Skins on July 4, 1981 at the Hamborough Tavern in Southall. Asian youths firebombed the tavern, mistakenly believing that the concert was a neo-Nazi gathering.^[11] Garry Bushell. ... Garry Bushell. ... White Power is an ideology and a political slogan describing the views of white supremacists. ... In the United Kingdom, the British National Front (most commonly called the National Front or NF) is a far right political party that had its major political activities during the 1970s and 1980s. ... The British Movement was a British neo-Nazi group. ... Racism is a belief or concept of Ryan Dunbar who inhereted differences between people, in particular those upon which the concept of Stupitidy is based, determine cultural or individual achievement, and may involve the idea that ones self-identified race or ethnic group or others race or ethnic group... The Angelic Upstarts were a staunchly anti-fascist, anti-police, pro-IRA, Socialist working class oi! punk band of late 1970s and early 1980s. ... A skinhead/Oi! punk rock band from Wales. ... In politics, left-wing, political left, leftism, or simply the left, are terms which refer (with no particular precision) to the segment of the political spectrum typically associated with any of several strains of socialism, social democracy, or liberalism (especially in the American sense of the word), or with opposition... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into far right. ... The Business is a UK based Oi! band formed in the late 1970s. ... The 4-Skins are a working class Oi! punk rock band from East London, England. ... It has been suggested that Southalls South Asian community be merged into this article or section. ... Asian people[1] is a demonym for people from Asia. ... Molotov cocktail is the generic name for a variety of crude incendiary weapons. ...

In the aftermath, many Oi! bands condemned racism and fascism. These denials were met with cynicism from some quarters because of the Strength Thru Oi compilation album, released May 1981. Not only was its title a supposed play on a Nazi slogan (Strength Through Joy) but the cover featured Nicky Crane, a British Movement activist who was serving a four-year sentence for racist violence. Garry Bushell, who was responsible for compiling the album, insists its title was a pun on The Skids album Strength Through Joy. He also denied knowing the identity of the skinhead on the album's cover until it was exposed by the Daily Mail two months later.^[12] Bushell, who was a socialist at the time, noted the irony of being branded a far-right activist by a paper who "had once supported Oswald Mosley's Blackshirts, Mussolini's invasion of Abyssinia, and appeasement with Hitler right up to the outbreak of World War Two." ^[13] Many believe the Mail's attack on Oi! - later disowned by Simon Kinersley, the journalist who wrote it - was related to the fact that Sounds was owned by the Daily Express group. Fascism is an authoritarian political ideology (generally tied to a mass movement) that considers individual and other societal interests subordinate to the needs of the state, and seeks to forge a type of national unity, usually based on, but not limited to, ethnic, cultural, or racial attributes. ... National Socialism redirects here. ... Kraft durch Freude (KdF, literally Strength Through Joy) was a large state-controlled leisure organization in the Third Reich, a part of the German Labour Front (Deutsche Arbeiterfront - DAF), the national German labour organization at that time. ... Nicola Vincenzio Nicky Crane was born on May 21, 1958. ... The British Movement was a British neo-Nazi group. ... Garry Bushell Garry Bushell (born May 13, 1955 in Woolwich, South East London) is a newspaper columnist, rock music journalist, television presenter and author. ... The Skids The Skids were an art-punk/punk rock and new wave band from Dunfermline, Scotland, founded in 1977 by Stuart Adamson (1958 - 2001, guitars / vocals / keyboards), Richard Jobson (vocals / guitar), Thomas Kellichan (drums) and William Simpson (bass guitar / vocals). ... The Absolute Game was The Skids 1980 third album (not counting the two different mix versions released of their second album 1979s Days in Europa) and was produced by Mick Glossop. ... The Daily Mail is a British newspaper and the oldest tabloid, first published in 1896. ... Socialism refers to a broad array of ideologies and movements which aim to improve society through collective and egalitarian action; and to a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to control by the community. ... Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (November 16, 1896 – December 3, 1980), was a British politician known principally as the founder of the British Union of Fascists. ... The flag of the British Union of Fascists showing the Flash and Circle symbolic of action within unity The British Union of Fascists (BUF) was a political party of the 1930s in the United Kingdom. ... Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (July 29, 1883 – April 28, 1945) was the prime minister of Italy from 1922 until 1943, when he was overthrown. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Hitler redirects here. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

Sound samples

To download a song, right click on the download link and select 'save target as'.

• "British Oi! Is Fighting Back" by Bakers Dozen:
  click here to download
• "Flashback" by Splinter:
  click here to download

Footnotes

This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

External links

• History of Oi! by Garry Bushell
• Punk and Oi! in the UK -includes interviews and news about Oi! bands
• Oi! the Web Site -includes information about the original Oi! compilation albums
• Chapter on Oi! in Skinhead Nation