COCK SPARRER are widely considered to be one of the most influential Street Punk bands in history.
2017 sees them celebrate their 45th Anniversary.
The thing about Sparrer is that they’re not just a band. They are childhood friends and have been making a noise since they got together way back in 1972. They were playing, drinking, going to football and generally making a nuisance of themselves when the late 1970s punk scene started in London. Finally it seemed that there were hundreds of likeminded people with the same attitude.
However, the boys were from the wrong side of town and didn’t quite fit in with the ‘art school’ scene – they were more at home on the terraces wearing jeans and Dr Martens boots than being fashion victims in bondage trousers. They’ve always done things the way they wanted to. As Punk ended up with its own set of rules they were always on the outside as they just didn’t buy into it.
Despite being courted by Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren (who they turned away for not buying a round of drinks), early tours with the Small Faces, Thin Lizzy, Motorhead, Slade amongst others and a record deal with Decca, the ‘music industry’ just wasn’t ready for Cock Sparrer.
British music paper SOUNDS sums it up perfectly in a live review from April 1978:
“Musically and visually, the Cock Sparrer crew are just about as motley and uncouth as its possible for a band to project. Imagine five collectively imageless Cockneys with hair length varying from skinhead to Woody Roller, wearing clothes that looked they pool from the jumble sales, and singing about how East End life is tough but fun…(they)…create a good time sound that occasionally approximates to the original spirit of Slade.”
When the Oi! Scene started in 1980 the band found themselves on a number of compilation albums and a new breed of fans discovered them. This was Punk from the streets and Sparrer and their fans just seemed to fit in. 1983 saw the release of the bands first official album, the seminal SHOCK TROOPS which today is a certified classic and regularly features in the ‘most influential punk album ever’ polls.
Never having got (or needed) the critical acclaim they deserved from the music press the band went largely unnoticed by the masses. However, this brought them cult status amongst those that mattered; the real punk fans and the band have kept that spirit alive for the past 45 years.
1992 saw the resurgence of the band to a level that they never expected. Many new bands had come along and all cited Cock Sparrer as an influence or “the Godfathers of Street Punk”. What followed was the ability to go anywhere in the world, any night of the week and play to packed venues all singing their hearts out.
Rarely do a band get the reaction that these guys do. A Cock Sparrer show is an event. It’s like cup final day. A family singalong. Theirs is a career in reverse, they’re bigger now than they ever were. Regularly headlining all the major punk festivals in Europe and occasionally hitting the US to headline events such as Punk Rock Bowling and Riot Fest
2017 see’s the band release “FOREVER”, their first album since 2007s Lars Frederiksen (Rancid) produced album HERE WE STAND.
Cock Sparrer – 45 years on, still five blokes in a pub, five mates having a laugh, more than just a band.
With a ten year gap between Cock Sparrer’s last album “Here We Stand” and the present day, 2017 sees the release of their new full length album, “Forever”. Recorded over a four month period between the end of 2016 and February 2017, “Forever” is a collection of songs written in what only can be described as “the Cock Sparrer way”. Anthemic, filled with hooks and with lyrics relating to real life, the album is the next chapter in the band’s amazing career.
So where does it go from here? Who knows? They remain humbled that people still come out in their numbers to see them and will always be grateful for that.
When Cock Sparrer formed in 1972 all they wanted to do was have a laugh, pull some birds and give everyone a good night out.
2 out of 3 ain’t bad.
