Purple Hearts (UK band)
| Purple Hearts | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Romford, England |
| Genres | Mod revival |
| Years active | 1977–1982, 1984–1986, 1999, 2009–present |
| Labels | Fiction, Safari, Razor Records |
| Website | Purplehearts.co.uk |
| Members | Jeff Shadbolt Simon Stebbing Bob Manton Gary Sparks |
| Past members | Nick Lake |
The Purple Hearts were an English mod revival band, formed in 1977 in Romford, eastern Greater London. They were often considered one of the best English mod revival groups, the NME calling them "one of the few mod bands to actually cut it on rock 'n' roll terms".
The Purple Hearts started in 1977, when teenagers Jeff Shadbolt, Simon Stebbing, Bob Manton, and Nick Lake formed the band in Romford as The Sockets, before they even knew how to play their instruments. They formed for the purpose of getting a support slot at a Buzzcocks gig at the East London Polytechnic, to debut their tongue-in-cheek rock opera, Reg.
In 1978, their drummer Nick Lake broke his leg. He was replaced by Gary Sparks from Romford punk outfit, 1348. The band switched their name to Purple Hearts, after an amphetamine-barbiturate mixture popular with the mods of the 1960s. Accordingly, they changed their sound from the rough-edged punk rock, to a more mod-influenced sound, which, thanks largely to The Jam, was beginning to capture public attention. In September 1979, the band scored a minor hit with their debut single, "Millions Like Us" which reached number 57 in the UK Singles Chart. The band then toured the UK with Secret Affair and Back To Zero on 'the march of the mods' tour in 1979. The band's second single, "Frustration" was released in November that year. A tour of the UK to promote the single followed.
In 1980, the band released their debut album, Beat That. The album was produced by Chris Parry of Fiction Records. The single taken from the album, "Jimmy", gave the band another minor hit reaching number 60 in the UK chart in March 1980. After the commercial failure of Beat That, the band parted company with Fiction Records, before signing a one off single deal with Safari which produced the "My Life`s A Jigsaw" single, produced by Andy Arthurs. The record did make the BBC Radio One playlist, but did not make the national charts. A final single, "Plane Crash" was released in 1982, on the independent record label Roadrunner Records before the band split up in November of that year after a failed American trip.
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