Sham 69: Set List: The Anthology

Punk anthems re-recorded.

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Another decade, another reunion and the ‘69’ in Sham’s name begins to look like the number of years they’ve been together.

But their unique melding of The Ramones’ superchug, terrace chants and, if we’re honest, music hall (Hurry Up Harry is a lost Dan Leno singalong) changed punk forever, and if they’d been to Oxford, they’d be a seen as a national treasure. So let’s celebrate this latest – the inevitable re‐recorded set of Sham 69 classics like Borstal Breakout and If The Kids Are United with new songs like the splendidly‐named Asbo Sportsday – in the spirit it’s intended.

They are in fact excellent, spirited versions, with a spring in their pogo, and a visit to a contemporary Sham gig – even with elderly skinheads in the audience trying to remember what they were so angry about – might well be worth it.

David Quantick

David Quantick is an English novelist, comedy writer and critic, who has worked as a journalist and screenwriter. A former staff writer for the music magazine NME, his writing credits have included On the HourBlue JamTV Burp and Veep; for the latter of these he won an Emmy in 2015.