The Cockney Rejects: The Definitive History Of

Cockney Rejects are an Oi! punk band that formed in the East End of London in 1979. Their song "Oi, Oi, Oi", from their album Greatest Hits Volume 2, was the inspiration for the name of the Oi! music genre.[1] Their biggest hit record in the United Kingdom, "The Greatest Cockney Rip-Off", was a parody of Sham 69's song "Hersham Boys". Other Cockney Rejects songs were less commercial, partly because they tended to be about hard-edged topics such as street fighting or football hooliganism. The band members are staunch supporters of West Ham United F.C., and their hit song "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" was a cover of a West Ham supporters' chant, which had been sung since the 1920s.
The violence depicted in their lyrics was often mirrored at their concerts, and the band members often fought to defend themselves (often from supporters of opposing football teams) or to split up conflicts between audience members.[2] Jeff and Mick Geggus (who are brothers) had both been amateur youth boxers, and had fought at the national level. Cockney Rejects expressed contempt for all politicians in their lyrics, and they rejected media claims that they had a British Movement following, or that the band members supported the views of that far right group. In their first Sounds interview, they mockingly referred to the British Movement as the "German Movement" and stated that many of their heroes were black boxers.[3] Jeff Turner's autobiography Cockney Reject describes an incident in which the band members and their supporters had a massive fight against British Movement members at one of Cockney Rejects' early concerts.[4]
Cockney Rejects released their most recent album Unforgiven on the G&R London independent record label in May 2007.[5]
Contents[hide]
1 Band members
1.1 Original line up
1.2 1979-1980
1.3 1980
1.4 1980-83
1.5 1984-1985
1.6 1987-1991
1.7 1999
1.8 2000-2006
1.9 Present line up (2007)
1.10 Previous band members
2 Discography
2.1 Albums, EPs and singles
2.2 Compilations
3 References
4 External links
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[edit] Band members

[edit] Original line up
Jeff Geggus, aka Jeff Turner, aka "Stinky" Turner (vocals)
Mick Geggus (guitar)
Chris Murrell (bass guitar)
Paul Harvey (drums)

[edit] 1979-1980
Stinky Turner (vocals)
Micky Geggus (lead guitar)
Vince Riordan (bass)
Andy Scott (drums)

[edit] 1980
Stinky Turner (vocals)
Micky Geggus (lead guitar)
Vince Riordan (bass)
Nigel Woolf (drums)

[edit] 1980-83
Stinky Turner/Jefferson Turner (vocals)
Mick Geggus (guitars)
Vince/Vinnie Riordan (bass)
Keith "Stix" Warrington (drums)

[edit] 1984-1985
Jeff Turner (vocals)
Mick Geggus (guitars)
Ian Campbell (bass)
Keith Warrington (drums)

[edit] 1987-1991
(See line-up 4)

[edit] 1999
Jeff Turner (vocals)
Mick Geggus (guitar)
Tony Van Frater (bass)
Andrew Laing (drums)

[edit] 2000-2006
Jeff Turner (vocals)
Mick Geggus (guitars)
Tony Van Frater (bass)
Les "Nobby" Cobb (drums)

[edit] Present line up (2007)
(See 1999 Line Up)

[edit] Previous band members
Micky Burt (drums) (1991) (Uncertain if he actually played any gigs) (#)
(Record producer Peter Wilson played drums on the "Flares & Slippers" EP)

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums, EPs and singles
"Flares & Slippers" (7-inch, EP) (Small Wonder, 1979)
"I'm Not a Fool" (7-inch single) (EMI, 1979)
Greatest Hits Volume 1 (Album) (EMI, 1980)
"Bad Man" (7-inch) (EMI, 1980)
"The Greatest Cockney Rip Off" (7-inch) (EMI/Zonophone, 1980)
"I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" (7-inch) (EMI/Zonophone, 1980)
"We Can Do Anything" (7-inch) (EMI/Zonophone, 1980)
Greatest Hits Volume 2 (Album) (EMI/Zonophone, 1980)
"We Are the Firm" (7-inch) (EMI/Zonophone, 1980)
"Easy Life" (7-inch, Live EP) (EMI/Zonophone, 1981)
Greatest Hits Volume 3 (Live & Loud) (Album) (EMI/Zemaphone, 1981)
"On the Streets Again" (7-inch) (EMI/Zonophone, 1981)
The Power and the Glory (Album) (EMI/Zonophone, 1981)
"Till the End of the Day" (7-inch) (AKA 1982)
The Wild Ones (Album) (AKA1, 1982)
Quiet Storm (Album) (Heavy Metal Records, 1984)
"Back to the Start" (7-inch) (Heavy Metal Records, 1984)
Unheard Rejects (Album) (Wonderful World Records, 1985)
Lethal (CD Album) (Neat Records, 1990)
The Punk Singles Collection (CD Album) (Dojo, 1997)
Greatest Hits Volume 4 (CD Album) (Rhythm Vicar, 1997)
Out of the Gutter (CD Album) (Captain Oi Records, 2003)
Unforgiven (CD Album) (G&R Records, 2007)

[edit] Compilations
Oi! - The Album (1980)
"Total Noise" (7-inch EP) (1983)
Lords Of Oi! (Dressed to Kill, 1997)
Back on the Street (Victory Records, 2000)
Addicted to Oi! (2001)

[edit] References
^ www.garry-bushell.co.uk - Oi! – The Truth by Garry Bushell
^ Turner, Jeff; Garry Bushell (2005). Cockney Reject. London: John Blake Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1 84454 0545.
^ www.garry-bushell.co.uk - Oi! – The Truth by Garry Bushell
^ Turner, Jeff; Garry Bushell (2005). Cockney Reject. London: John Blake Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1 84454 0545.
^ Cockney Rejects

[edit] External links
Official Cockney Rejects site
History of Oi! by Garry Bushell
Oi! the Web Site
Chapter on Oi! in Skinhead Nation
G & R London website
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockney_Rejects"