![]() ![]() ![]() Sham 69 had seen the film and had asked Jerry to make a film about them and their tour of China in 2009. MFW: How did you get involved with Sham and the China project?ĭunstan Bruce: What happened was that Jerry Rothwell, he’d made the documentary Heavy Load, and Heavy Load the band had played with Sham 69. Can the passionate rebellion of punk still unite the kids across gulfs of language, culture, and time? Can a band of middle-aged true believers survive trying to find out? Finding that out was no easy ride, Bruce told MFW – and getting through two weeks in China was just the half of it. At that point Sham had only one original member, guitarist Dave Parsons (founder and frontman Jimmy Pursey having left a few years earlier), a fact of little moment to their enthusiastic Chinese audiences but an unspoken source of friction between Parsons and his bandmates: drummer Ian Whitewood, bassist Al Campbell, and singer Tim V.īruce, a former member of long running anarcho-punk collective Chumbawamba (that’s him singing lead on their unlikely galactic hit “Tubthumping”), was no stranger to intra-band dynamics, and This Band Is So Gorgeous!, his DIY document of the tour, captures Sham splintering as they find themselves again serving as punk pied pipers, amid the disorienting reality of a fast-changing society viewed from train windows and club stages. Three decades later, Sham was still soldiering on, if not quite so united, as filmmaker Dunstan Bruce discovered when he accompanied the band on a tour of China, the first such trek by a major UK punk act. Sham 69′s 1978 anthem “If the Kids Are United” was one of the signature songs of British punk. With their usual fine taste, the programmers selected several films MFW has reported on previously, so we’re reposting some of those pieces for the benefit of the Leeds audience, and anyone else who might have missed them the first time around. So this is SHAM 69 now and though many have scoffed at their existence they have come to regret it having been overwhelmed by the power of the performance.MusicFilmWeb is pleased to be a media partner of the 2012 Leeds International Film Festival, focusing on the music documentary lineup. The band who are praised for kicking arse onstage and at a ripe age are dumbfounding audiences world wide with their passion and total stage presence. Now with such anthemic songs as SING WHEN YOUR WINNING making the charts both here in the UK and Europe and other songs in the last 4 years such as LAST GANG IN LONDON being used in movies the band have achieved so much against the tide. Tony is most noted for leading the Mod revival in 78-79 with his band LONG TALL SHORTY and his string skills saw him join the ANGELIC UPSTARTS during their most successful period. Last but not least the band decided upon returning to SHAM 69’s original format of 2 guitarist’s and so on Lead guitar we have Tony Feedback who joined the band in 2011. On Bass guitar we have Al Campbell, Al who joined SHAM 69 in 2009 has a pristine pedigree in Punk after serving 13 years with the UK SUBS and also playing guitar with both MARKY RAMONE and JAYNE COUNTY AND THE ELECTRIC CHAIRS. The band currently features along with Tim V and Neil, the bands longest serving drummer at 28 years behind the kit for SHAM 69. Tim V’s reign saw him take the band from its lowest point to get it touring worldwide with 3 successful selling albums along with World Tours and major festivals…and he has clocked up more shows than any other previous line up. The band has had many line up changes but the most notable was Jimmy Pursey’s departure following his sacking in 2006, in which he was immediately replaced by the now vocalist Tim V. With hits such as BORSTAL BREAKOUT and HEY LITTLE RICH BOY being performed in 76-77, the band went on to have others such as HURRY UP HARRY, ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES and the anthem IF THE KIDS ARE UNITED. The band which was formed in 1975, to which its original founding member and guitarist Neil Harris still remains today. ![]() The band had just released their last album THEIR FINEST HOUR along with their new film THIS BAND IS SO GORGEOUS about the bands successful tour of China, which has been premiered around the world at various film festivals and continues to do so. Steaming into 2014 the band finished a successful first part of a World Tour 2013, and within 2 month’s they started the 2nd part of the tour Scandinavia and Europe with 15 more countries to go. ![]()
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