The 4 Skins

One of the key bands on the early street punk scene – the third-wave U.K. punk movement widely known as Oi! – the 4 Skins played no-frills punk rock with straightforward melodies, a heavy stomp from the guitars and rhythm section, lyrics that focused on the tribulations of urban living, and titles/choruses that prompted their fans to chant along. The 4 Skins were not one of the more stable or long-lived bands on the Oi! scene – they went through three lead singers in their original five-year run – but their core sound changed little with the passage of time, and when they reunited in the 2000s, they could summon the fury of their early days. Their 1982 debut, The Good, the Bad & the 4-Skins, established the template of their sound, with one side studio and one side live. 1987's The Wonderful World of the 4-Skins: The Best of the 4-Skins is a strong single-disc overview of their glory days, 2010's The Return was the first studio LP after their 2007 reunion, and "Five More Years" b/w "On the Streets" was an archival single, giving rare tracks from the '80s a new hearing in 2022. Formed in London's East End in 1979, the original members of the 4 Skins had ties to the local skinhead community, and some had worked as roadies with bands like Sham 69, Menace, and the Cockney Rejects. While Hoxton Tom McCourt was one of the most important figures on the scene, he stood out as a suedehead – his hair, while clean and well-groomed, was longer than that of his peers, and his fashion sense was informed by the concurrent Mod Revival scene, of which he was a recognized figure. The first edition of the 4 Skins featured McCourt on guitar, Gary Hodges on lead vocals, Steve "H" Harmer on bass, and Gary Hitchcock on drums. They made their debut opening a show featuring the Damned and the Cockney Rejects, and though they only got through a few songs, they were good enough that they were invited to record a pair of tracks for a multi-artist album focusing on the new breed of skinhead punk bands. Released in 1980, Oi! The Album featured two tracks from the 4 Skins ("Wonderful World" and "Chaos") alongside scene pioneers like Angelic Upstarts, Cock Sparrer, and the Exploited. As the U.K,. music press put its focus on the new Oi! bands, their following expanded, though some groups were linked in with neo-Nazi nationalist factions that were using Oi! as a means of reaching disaffected youth and converting them to their cause. The 4 Skins were also featured on a second Oi! compilation, 1981's Strength Thru Oi! The LP included the tunes "1984" and "Sorry," but the album became controversial when it was discovered the fearsome skinhead on the front cover, Nicky Crane, was a member of the British National Socialist Movement who had served time for acts of racist violence. (The title Strength Thru Oi! was also believed to be a play on the Third Reich slogan "Strength Through Joy," through Garry Bushell, the music critic who compiled the disc, insisted he was unaware of its Nazi past, knowing it only as the title of an EP by the Skids.) By the time they cut the Strength Thru Oi! tracks, the 4 Skins had a new lineup – Hoxton Tom McCourt moved from guitar to bass, Steve "Rockabilly" Pear became their guitarist, John Jacobs was on drums, and Gary Hodges remained their lead vocalist. This lineup also cut the 4 Skins' first single, 1981's "One Law For Them" b/w "Brave New World." In the great tradition of British punk, negative publicity and outrage in the press only made fans more devoted to the Oi! bands, and after the success of a third Oi! Compilation, 1981's Carry On Oi! (featuring the 4 Skins track "Evil"), the British punk label Secret Records signed the group. Their first full-length release, The Good, the Bad & the 4-Skins, appeared in stores in June 1982, and revealed more lineup changes – this time, McCourt was on bass, John Jacobs switched from drums to guitar and keyboards, Pete Abbot played drums, and Tony "Panther" Cummins handled lead vocals. (One track, the relatively polished ska-infused "Plastic Gangsters," featured lead vocals from original drummer Gary Hitchcock, who had become the band's manager.) The album fared well on the independent charts, and established the 4 Skins as headliners on the U.K. punk circuit. A second studio album, A Fistfull of … 4-Skins, came out in 1983, and introduced yet another version of the 4-Skins: McCourt on bass, Roi Pearce (who was also a member of Last Resort) on lead vocals, Paul Swain on guitar, and Ian Bransom on drums. The second album wasn't as successful as the debut, and with associations with racist violence following the Oi! scene like an ugly shadow, the group were growing tired of the peaks and valleys of their career. The 4-Skins staged a final show before an audience of friends and fans at a recording studio in London, documenting the event for posterity. Featuring the same lineup as A Fistfull of … 4-Skins, From Chaos to 1984 was issued in 1984, shortly after the band's breakup. After the end of the band, late-era guitarist Paul Swain would join the infamous white power band Skrewdriver. In 2007, singer Gary Hodges and bassist Steve "H" Harmer, who had been in the first lineup of the 4-Skins, revived the act for live work, joined by Mick Geggus on guitar and Andy Russell on drums. Within a year, Hodges was the band's last man standing, and he put together a new backing band, featuring Big Tom on guitar, Bakes on bass, and Sedge on drums. This version of the 4 Skins displayed a remarkable degree of longevity, regularly playing live, touring the United States, and eventually cutting a new album, 2010's The Return, issued by the German punk imprint Randale Records. While no new studio material would appear as a follow-up, the 4 Skins stayed on the road, and a steady stream of vintage live recordings and compilations of studio sessions appeared over the decades to come. In 2022, the 4 Skins released a single through Cleopatra Records, "Five More Years" b/w "On the Streets," two rare tracks recorded by the A Fistfull of … 4-Skins lineup.
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