Alrighty folks. I have decided to make this thread in order to bring some education into this forum, and to cut back on threads asking what Oi! is. This may come a little be inaccurate, as I'm going off of what I've read on sites and in the forums. So if there is anything that needs correcting, please post about it, and I'll add it to this post.
At the end of the 70s and beginning of 80s, the punk revolution and explosion was turning towards artsy music, such as new wave and art-punk. This did not go over well with the orginal British punks who thought punk should stay on the street and be rare, powerful, fun music. They didn't want anything to do with this artsy crap.
So they started bringing back the old punk, going back to the roots of its true rock and roll sound. Taking influences from early punk bands and early british rock bands, they started their own new genre of music. Oringall this music was called street punk, or reality punk. It wasn't until the 1980s, that Gary Bushell started calling the music Oi! after the Cockney Rejects song "Oi Oi Oi".
Some of the orginal Oi bands were Cock Sparrer (Actually formed in the early 70s before the oi! revolution), Angelic Upstarts, Slaughter and the Dogs, Thre Lurkers, and Sham 69. They were follower later on with The Business, Last Resort, 4-Skins, Combat 84, Infa-Riot, Etc. These bands sung about working class, having a good time with your friends, football, drinking beer. It was life music, it was fun music.
This changed when the neo-fascist organisation, national Front exploited the Oi! music fans and skinheads love of their country. They slowly injected their racist bullshit into the scene, giving Oi a bad rep. One of the most famous of these racist oi bands was Skrewdriver, whose first album was considered classic oi, but they ended up going racist because of lead singer Ian Stuart Donaldson's newly found love of racism. The orginal band parted Ian, denouncing his racist tendencies. Many bands after that took it upon themselves to fight racism, and bringing back Oi!'s good name of fun friendly music.
As the 80s went on, the British oi movement lost some momentum, but Oi! had become spread by then, moving throughout Europe, Japan, and North America. In the US Oi! blended well with Hardcore, especially in New York creating bands like Agnostic Front, who blended the working class of Oi with the heavy sounds of Hardcore.
Even to this day Oi! band still appear, trying to return punk music back to its street roots, and getting away from the racism of past oi!. Some of these bands include The Templars, the Wretched Ones, and others. Along with the reissuing of classic Oi! records.
So that's your education, anything else that anyone would like to add, please post. This thread can be kept around for general discussion, but don't spam it up, or it will be closed.
JAtomic adds
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by JAtomic
Oi is cockney slang for hey.
NYHC, where hardcore got its oi influence due to alot of skinheads getting into hardcore, included such bands as Agnostic Front, Warzone, Murphy's Law, Cro-Mags, Sheer Terror, etc. It, btw, started around the time of 81-82-ish
Oi started in the early 70's not the late 70s and early 80s. Keep in mind the working class influence came from the fact that most Oi of the time was done by skinheads and its sub-groups (i.e. suedeheads, mods, etc. note: Sham 69's singer was a suedehead as was the 4Skins' bassist).
The National Front did not exploit and corrupt the impressionable youth through the music, it was mostly simply through skinheads trying to make them boneheads. their form of oi dint come around til later.
|