The very first Oi! compilation album – originally released in 1980 – gets a welcome re-issue on vinyl for the first time in nearly 30 years.

Released: Out Now

Label: Captain Oi! / Cherry Red Records

Format: Vinyl

Not for the first time on Cherry Red Records, the brilliant label that deal in many top tier reissues, they now present the original Oi! album. It is the first time in nearly thirty years that this compilation has been available on vinyl.

The set features contributions from the likes of the Angelic Upstarts, Cockney Rejects, Cock Sparrer and Slaughter & The Dogs alongside (then) newer bands like The 4 Skins, Exploited and Peter & The Test Tube Babies.

As an amalgamation of the traditional punk sound and aspects of other genres, such as pub rock and glam rock, the Oi! sound provided a scene for skinheads and outsiders. The songs generally contained subject matter including mob choruses, football terrace behaviour, sex and working class issues.

In embodying these issues, the bands here showcase the Oi! sound brilliantly. Cockney Rejects are the first band up with Oi! Oi! Oi! There is no better starter or reference point for the sound of Oi! The chanted chorus is brilliant and primal and the guitars leap out in excitement. It is not hard to see why this style of music gets the blood pumping.

Rob A Bank (Wanna) from Peter & The Test Tube Babies has an ear worm of a chorus. It seethes throughout with the unrest suggested in the title front and centre. Wonderful World by 4 Skins continues in this vein. The ironic tone in the lyrics bleeds emotion.

Just left school can’t find no work
Be a building labourer or an office clerk
Can’t believe the men you’ve seen
On the scrapheap and you’re only 17

Wonderful World – 4 Skins

The Exploited hit on Margaret Thatcher and the misery she caused many in Daily News. Angelic Upstarts sing of the issues in Afghanistan and Soviet Russia in Guns For The Afghan Rebels. Another cut from the South Shields group is the more poignant Last Night Another Soldier.

I Still Believe In Anarchy from The Exploited is another choice cut. You can feel the more hardcore viciousness coming through. As the sound of the disenfranchised, this compilation is a wonderful snapshot of a point in time where, like many other movement, music was the release. These bands serve as the mouthpiece for the many. It is easy to see why this collection of bands are revered. The gatefold vinyl comes with extensive liner notes from original Oi! curator, Garry Bushell.

Check out the Cockney Rejects, below.

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