Oi Polloi

The anarcho-punk genre, which is generally regarded as the third wave of UK punk music, is arguably the most interesting. By 1979-80, most of the people who were into punk as a fashion had gone onto something else and much of the first wave of bands had burnt themselves out or irrevocably changed. The anarcho-punk scene was extremely popular but was far more grass roots than the two waves that preceded it. There was more of a sense of community between the bands, fans and fanzines, with records selling for low prices and gig entry often being only around 1GBP.

Crass are regarded as the leaders of the genre, with their highly effective corporate image of black clothing and liberal use of stencils in their highly original artwork. Seeing them live was quite a strange affair as there was barely any lighting and it was more akin to an art installation rather than a concert. It was highly effective as you really felt that you were experiencing something radically different to what had gone before. I saw Crass at least twice in Edinburgh back in the days but the memories of these gigs are very hazy today.

Lyrically, the anarcho-punk bands were the most political that punk had ever witnessed. Crass revelled in very shocking lyrics, in particular those of an anti-religious nature, which often felt like childish sloganising. Having said that, they were a breath of fresh air and really established a new way forward for the punk movement, successfully introducing ideas around communal living, vegetarianism, animal rights and direct action against capitalist targets.

Many bands on the scene were just poor carbon copies of Crass but others stood out in their own right like Poison Girls, Zounds, Conflict, Flux Of Pink Indians, Subhumans, and the subject of this blog, Oi Polloi.

Oi Polloi hailed from Edinburgh in Scotland and were formed back in 1981. They never managed to release any records for five years due to a fluctuating line-up but when they did they swiftly became one of the most important bands of the genre. Oi Polloi’s lyrics matched the hardcore politics of anarcho-punk with music that came straight out of the Oi! punk genre. The band were renowned for their anti-racism and tunes like "Bash The Fash" and "Nazi Scum" are among the most powerful anti-fascist songs ever committed to wax.

A concise, informative and often extremely funny account of the history of Oi Polloi can be gleaned by reading Ian Glasper’s superlative book "The Day The Country Died" which documents the most important British anarcho-punk bands. Although they laugh at it now, the band had some hair-raising experiences out on the road and ended up staying in some truly disgusting squats. The band have never been into it for the money and it is remarkable that thirty years on they remain true to their principles and continue to play the same kinds of venues and events that they have always done. For example, last week they came to Bradistan’s legendary 1 in 12 Club in order to do a prisoner benefit gig.

I went down there to meet up with band leader Deek Allen and to hopefully photograph him for my Middle Aged Punks photography series. I was successful in my mission and I will publish his portrait shortly. The gig itself was as exciting as you would expect it to be with Deek effortlessly communicating to the audience as if playing to a bunch of friends. He was clearly enjoying himself, often proclaiming "so good!" after many songs, which often lasted only a couple of action-packed minutes. Whilst still pumping out the old classics (Bash The Fash being a real highlight), the band are not afraid to tackle all sorts of issues. For example, one song was about promoting the Linux operating system and other open source software, and singing many songs in Scottish Gaelic as part of keeping indigenous culture alive.

I only took a few live shots on the night, all from the side as it seemed just a touch too dangerous to go to the front of the stage!