oi!

The tradition & historical record

Oi! (originally known as new punk or real punk) is a subgenre of punk rock that emerged in the United Kingdom, particularly in East London in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The term was coined by Sounds magazine writer Garry Bushell in August 1979. The music and its associated subculture aimed to unite punks, skinheads, and generally disaffected working-class youth. The movement was partly a response to the perception that many participants in the early UK punk scene were, according to guitarist Steve Kent of The Business, "trendy university people using long words, trying to be artistic... and losing touch." The movement was later associated with racism and violence due to far-right infiltration. The compilation album Strength Thru Oi! (1981) sparked controversy as it featured neo-nazi Nicky Crane and referenced a Nazi slogan. Notable acts included Sham 69, Cock Sparrer, Angelic Upstarts, Cockney Rejects, the 4-Skins, the Business, Anti-Establishment, Blitz, the Blood and Combat 84. ¹

During the late 1970s, Oi! was originally referred to as "new punk", the term was coined by Sounds magazine writer Garry Bushell who published the article "Cockney Rejects and the Rise of New Punk" on 4 August 1979. The style would also be referred to as "real punk". The movement emerged after the perceived commercialisation of punk rock and new wave. Although Oi! has come to be considered mainly a conservative or skinhead-oriented genre, the movement initially emerged purely as a reaction to the fracturing of the early UK punk scene and aimed to bring together disenfranchised working-class youth. In 1978, Bushell argued "New Punk" artists such as the Angelic Upstarts had more relevance than "New Musick". Bushell would be an early supporter of Oi! as a reaction to the artistic intellectualization of punk, with "new punk" followers expressing appreciation for his support of "real kids" bands and his refusal to be an "intellectual snob". First-generation Oi! bands such as Sham 69 and Cock Sparrer were around for years before the word Oi! was used retroactively to describe their style of music. In 1980, writing in Sounds magazine, rock journalist Garry Bushell labelled the movement Oi!, taking the name from the garbled "Oi!" that Stinky Turner of the Cockney Rejects used to introduce the band's songs. The word is a British expression meaning Hey!. In addition to the Cockney Rejects, other bands to be explicitly labeled Oi! in the early days of the genre included Angelic Upstarts, the 4-Skins, the Business, Anti-Establishment, Blitz, the Blood and Combat 84. The prevalent ideology of the original Oi! movement was a rough brand of working-class rebellion.