Cockney Rejects

W

ith the membership of Jefferson Turner (vocals), Mick Geggus (guitar/vocals), Vince Riordan (bass/vocals) and Keith Warrington (drums), Cockney Rejects singed to 'Small Wonder' with a one-off single in 1979 titled Flare 'N' Slippers but the serious comic relief came with their debut 1980 album Greatest Hits Vol 1. The album begged the question "what hits?" since it featured all new tracks and only two previous minor charters, I'm Not A Fool and Bad Man. It made 22 in the UK but the album, and live work, never got a foothold in the US, especially their live shows since the US government never issued them a work permit.

Taking on the musical style of Sham 69, the Cockney Rejects also attracted the less desirable of the right wing population including Neo-Nazi Skinheads thus making them pivotal in the punk "oi" movement, even going so far as to name that movement in one of their many football (soccer) anthems on the follow-up album. That follow-up was Greatest Hits Vol. 2 (1980) and with it the track Oi, Oi, Oi, naming the punk rock movement, not to mention their I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles, a song that would become the West Ham United anthem, a football team that included Cockney Rejects, along with Iron Maiden as their supporters.