James Timothy Pursey (born 9 February 1955) is an English rock musician. He is the founder and

frontman The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

of the

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band

Sham 69 Sham 69 are an English punk rock band that formed in Hersham in Surrey in 1975. They changed their musical direction after seeing the Sex Pistols play live in early 1976. They were one of the most successful punk bands in the United Kingdom, ac ...

, which he has performed with since 1976, along with releasing material as a solo artist.

Early life

Pursey was born in

Hersham Hersham is a suburban village in Surrey, within the M25 and the Greater London Built-up Area. It has a mixture of low and high rise housing and has four technology/trading estates. Hersham is contiguous with Walton-on-Thames, its post town, t ...

, in the county of

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

on 9 February 1955. His father was a plumber and former

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

soldier, and his mother worked as a

cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking ** Filmmaking, the process of making a film * Movie theate ...

usherette. He received his education at Hersham House & Burhill Infants, Hersham Juniors, and at Rydens School, which he left at the age of 15 to work in a curtain shop. In his youth he was a regular attender at the local

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

, the Walton Hop at the Playhouse Theatre, where he met the record producer

Jonathan King Jonathan King (born Kenneth George King; 6 December 1944) is an English singer, songwriter and record producer. He first came to prominence in 1965 when "Everyone's Gone to the Moon", a song that he wrote and sang while still an undergraduate, ...

. He began performing in public after taking the stage as a drunk fourteen-year-old at the disco, miming to

Bay City Rollers The Bay City Rollers are a Scottish pop rock band known for their worldwide teen idol popularity, as a band in the 1970s. One of many 70s acts heralded as the "biggest group since the Beatles", they were called the "tartan teen sensations fro ...

and

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

songs.Thompson, pg. 612-3Hume, Mick (2003)
"I was a teenage Walton Hopper"
", ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', reproduced at spiked-online.com, 20 January 2003, retrieved 2010-10-04

Career

In 1976 while working at Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium with Albie Slider, Billy Bostik and Neil Harris, having been inspired by the music of

The Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band formed in the New York City neighborhood Forest Hills, Queens in 1974. Known for helping establish the punk movement in the United States and elsewhere, the Ramones are often recognized as one of t ...

, Pursey formed a

band called 'Jimmy and the Ferrets', which went on to become 'Sham 69'. The band initially rehearsed at Slider's parents' pig farm, where Jonathan King sometimes came to watch them, considering the option of becoming the act's promoter.Ogg, p. 508Strong, p. 140-1 Before securing a record contract the lineup changed, with Harris and Bostock being replaced by Dave Parsons and Mark Cain. Slider left shortly afterwards and was replaced by Dave Tregunna on the bass guitar. Sham 69 went on to release four long-players via

Polydor Records Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

, and had six UK top 50 singles before they broke up in 1980, with the violence that regularly marred their gigs having taken a toll on the band. Pursey set up a short-lived new band with Steve Jones and

Paul Cook Paul Thomas Cook (born 20 July 1956) is an English musician, best known as the drummer and a founding member of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols. He is nicknamed "Cookie" by friends in the punk music scene. Early life and career Cook was ...

, formerly of

The Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they became culturally influential in popular music. The band initiated the punk movement in the United Ki ...

, titled the " Sham Pistols", before embarking on a solo career. He also worked around this period as a record producer on the early releases by

Cockney Rejects Cockney Rejects are an English punk rock band that formed in the East End of London in 1978. Their 1980 song "Oi, Oi, Oi" was the inspiration for the name of the Oi! music genre. The band members are supporters of West Ham United, and pay tr ...

, and the

Angelic Upstarts Angelic Upstarts are an English punk rock / Oi! band formed in South Shields in 1977. AllMusic calls them "one of the period's most politically charged and thought-provoking groups". Angelic Upstarts Biography AllMusic. accessed 3 July 2006 The ...

. His first solo material was released via Polydor Records, being the single ''Lucky Man'' (1980), and a long-player entitled ''Imagination Camouflage'' (1980), recorded with Derwood Andrews and

Mark Laff Mark Laff (born Mark Red Laffoley; 19 May 1958) is an English retired drummer who was a member of several rock bands, including Generation X. Early life and career Mark Red Laffoley was born on 19 May 1958 at Barnet General Hospital, at C ...

, formerly of

Generation X Generation X (often shortened to Gen X) is the Demography, demographic Cohort (statistics), cohort following the Baby Boomers and preceding Millennials. Researchers and popular media often use the mid-1960s as its starting birth years and the ...

as session musicians, who also received co-writing credits for two of the LP's songs. Pursey then moved to

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

for three further singles releases, including "Animals Have More Fun" (1981), co-written with

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis. He left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career wit ...

, and a second solo LP entitled ''Alien Orphan'' (1981). In 1983, a third long-player, entitled ''Revenge is not the Password'', was released on the Code Black label. He later released a fourth solo album entitled ''Code Black'' (1997). In 1986 Pursey reformed Sham 69 with Dave Parsons, and a new line-up.Ogg, pg. 515 The band continued to play live and record until 2006. In 2006, Pursey recorded a new version of the Sham 69 hit "Hurry Up Harry" as an unofficial World Cup song in aid of a cancer charity; "Hurry Up England" was recorded with

Graham Coxon Graham Leslie Coxon (born 12 March 1969) is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter who came to prominence as a founding member of the rock band Blur. As the group's lead guitarist and secondary vocalist, Coxon is featured on all of Blur' ...

's band but credited to 'Sham 69 & the Special Assembly'.Sham 69 guitarist hits back in singer feud
, ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'', 29 January 2007; retrieved 4 October 2010. In January 2007 the band broke up. ''

'' reported that a statement released by Parsons included the message: "Sham 69 have left Jimmy Pursey on the eve of their 30th anniversary." Pursey initially stated that he would be retaining the Sham 69 name,Sham 69 singer accuses bandmates of 'jumping ship'
, ''

'', 26 January 2007; retrieved 4 October 2010. but in January 2008, he announced that: "to avoid confusion to fans he wanted it known that he did not want to be associated with the band still performing as Sham 69". In 2008 he set up a new band titled Day 21 with Mat Sargent on bass, The Rev ( Towers of London and

The Prodigy The Prodigy are an English electronic music band formed in Braintree, Essex, in 1990 by producer, keyboardist, and songwriter Liam Howlett. The original line-up also featured Rapping, MC and vocalist Maxim (musician), Maxim, dancer and occasi ...

) on guitar, and Snell (Towers of London).Zacharias, Adam (2008)
Final farewell from Punk icon
, Getsurrey.co.uk, 27 June 2008; retrieved 4 October 2010.All Rev-ed up by new band
, Thevisitor.co.uk, 12 August 2008; retrieved 4 October 2010. In July 2011 Pursey reformed Sham 69 again with the band's late 1970s members. At a meeting held between Pursey and Dave Parsons, original Sham 69 guitarist and co-writer of nearly all of the Sham repertoire with Pursey, the two ironed out their differences. Dave Tregunna, on bass, and Mark Cain, on drums, were called in to complete the original lineup for a show in London.

Personal life

Pursey lives in the

town of

Chertsey Chertsey is a town in the Borough of Runnymede, Surrey, England, southwest of central London. It grew up around Chertsey Abbey, founded in AD 666 by Earconwald, St Erkenwald, and gained a municipal charter, market charter from Henry I of Engla ...

. He is a part-time artist, and has been known to sell paintings to raise funding for the Hersham Hounds

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a dog breed, breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Some are kept as show dogs or pets. Greyhounds are defined as a tall, muscular, smooth-c ...

Sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...

. In 2002, Pursey received a police caution for indecent assault, after admitting to forcibly kissing a teenage girl in

Weybridge Weybridge () is a town in the Borough of Elmbridge, Elmbridge district in Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. The settlement is recorded as ''Waigebrugge'' and ''Weibrugge'' in the 7th century and the name derives from a cro ...

, Surrey. In May 2005 there was a disturbance at The Head

art gallery An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The long ...

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

, when Pursey interrupted an art show opening drinks party and removed a number of his paintings from the display after a disagreement with the curator over them.

Discography

With Sham 69

Solo

Albums

*''Imagination Camouflage'' (1980), Polydor *''Alien Orphan'' (1981), Epic *''Revenge is not the Password'' (1983), Code Black *''Code Black'' (1997), Scratch

Singles

*"Lucky Man" (1980), Polydor *"Animals Have More Fun" (1981), Epic *"Naughty Boys Like Naughty Girls" (1981), Epic *"Alien

Orphan An orphan is a child whose parents have died, are unknown, or have permanently abandoned them. It can also refer to a child who has lost only one parent, as the Hebrew language, Hebrew translation, for example, is "fatherless". In some languages ...

" (1982), Epic *"The First Deadly Sin" (1982), Epic *"Man Worries Man" (1983), Code Black *" Eyes Shine Killidoscope" (1983), Young Limbs Numb Hymns (as James T. Pursey) *"If Only Before" (1984), An

Eskimo ''Eskimo'' () is a controversial Endonym and exonym, exonym that refers to two closely related Indigenous peoples: Inuit (including the Alaska Native Iñupiat, the Canadian Inuit, and the Greenlandic Inuit) and the Yupik peoples, Yupik (or Sibe ...

- credited to James T. Pursey *" Zap Pow!" (1986), Vide Cat

Notes

References

*Ogg, Alex (2006) ''No More Heroes: a Complete History of UK Punk 1976-1980'', Cherry Red Books, *Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, *Thompson, Dave (2000) ''Alternative Rock'', Miller Freeman,

External links

*
Sham 69
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pursey, Jimmy 1955 births Living people English punk rock singers English record producers People from Hersham