CHAPTER SEVEN

1987

On Saturday, 3 January Skrewdriver headlined a White Noise gig, aptly named ‘Into 1987 with White Noise!’ at the Warehouse in Croydon with No Remorse who were playing their first gig, Sudden Impact and German skinhead group Boots and Braces. Some five hundred people attended the gig. Fitz was among them. Having dropped out of the scene between 1984 and 1986, he had returned to the fold. He got to see Ian who asked him to join Skrewdriver Security. Fitz said yes, regarding it as ‘an honour to do it for him.’ He got a Skrewdriver tattoo done on his lower left arm for 50p ‘in someone’s garage in Dagenham.’

Boots and Braces played first and fell flat because of the language barrier. Sudden Impact, playing in their hometown, were under-rehearsed and not at their best. Vocalist Paul Dunbar explained:¹¹ ‘We had just two weeks earlier got the band back together (again) and with two rehearsals we only got four numbers together but it was still great.’ No Remorse went down well, even though guitarist Mark thought the sound was not that good. Songs in their set included ‘This Time the World’ and ‘Solly.’

Interview with Paul Dunbar of Sudden Impact, fanzine British Oi! no. 3.

After a long wait, Skrewdriver took to the stage with a new line-up of Ian Stuart on vocals, Merv Shields on bass, Martin Cross on guitar, Mark Sutherland on drums and Adam Douglas on guitar ‘making a guest appearance whilst on leave from the French Foreign Legion.’ Skinzine Offensive Weapon reviewed Skrewdriver’s performance as follows:²²

Review, fanzine Offensive Weapon no. 1.

             They went straight into ‘White Power,’ which made about 200 skins in front of the stage go mad. Next was ‘Hail the New Dawn’ followed by ‘Europe Awake,’ which was dedicated to quite a large European skinhead contingent. In the calm between songs Ian Stuart told us that Australia has Pakis like us too, but out there they’re called Aborigines, which got a good laugh around the hall. Next number was an oldie in the sound of ‘Government Action.’ The last time I had seen Skrewdriver was at Morden and they were a bit shabby but with this line-up they were well back on form and playing one classic after another. At one stage Ken McLellan climbed onto a speaker and helped Ian Stuart in the vocals department. The evening was brought to a close with ‘Race and Nation’ ringing through our ears…

Chelmsford skinhead Alex Ellul, of whom we shall hear more later, reviewed the gig for skinzine British Oi!. He wrote of Skrewdriver:³³ ‘Then, after waiting ten minutes, Skrewdriver came on. Well worth the wait. They started with ‘White Power’ which the audience went mad to. Skrewdriver didn’t play any new material, but their songs included: ‘I Don’t Like You,’ ‘When the Boat Comes In,’ ‘Voice of Britain’ and ‘Government Action.’ They ended with ‘Free My Land,’ my personal favourite, and Ken McLellan and the lead singer of No Remorse all got on stage and sang along.’

Review, fanzine British Oi! no. 2, 1987.

Another review even remarked that this was a ‘Skrewdriver performance to remember’ and ‘the atmosphere in the hall was reminiscent of the Skrewdriver gigs at Skunx and the 100 Club.’⁴⁴

Review, White Noise no. 2.

Operating out of the postal box for the White Noise Club, Skrewdriver now produced Skrewdriver News, ‘an occasional news sheet’ packed full of information about the band spread across one or two pages. The newsletter ran to four issues [before it was superseded by Blood & Honour magazine]. ‘To defeat the music press’ blacklisting,’ Skrewdriver also set up a mailing service to let people know well in advance about forthcoming gigs.

On Sunday, 15 March, No Remorse played Coventry supported by Close Shave. Like No Remorse, this was only the second time that Close Shave had played live. Mark of Voice of Britain skinzine had helped book the gig:

             Yes, I was certainly a cog in that wheel. Originally it was meant to have been a skinhead/non-political gig. Bands booked to play were Condemned 84, Close Shave and Section 5. Vocalist of Section 5 (Tosh) had apparently come down with laryngitis or some such throat infection and therefore didn’t turn up. In a short space of time, and through the assistance of a fellow skinzine editor Benny Davies of Beyond The…skinzine, I was offered a slot by an up-and-coming band at the time called the Macc Lads. Oddly, at that time I had not heard much by them, and frankly, wanted an out-and-out skinhead band, as opposed to some scruffy, rocker-looking non-skins (tee hee hee), and thus I refused. To my eternal shame, years later, and to this day, I still can’t believe I turned down a gig by the now-legendary Macc Lads. Subsequently, I got a call from Paul Burnley, if memory serves me correctly, and so I booked No Remorse to play.

                  The venue was called The Hand & Heart and it was in Far Gosford Street. The pub has not been a pub for some 20 years now. It later transpired that the landlords or owners of the pub — Jon & Brenda — were supporters of the local SWP (Socialist Workers Party) activists and on at least two occasions, my friend and I witnessed with our own eyes, the landlord giving stickers/flyers to local ‘red’ activists. Therefore, it was obvious that it was the landlord himself that had told the local reds about the gig. It didn’t stop the landlords taking our money and business though! But in my opinion, he would have told the local activists to not smash his pub up, but instead make phone threats and if there was any violence to be had, make sure it’s away from the pub.

Vocalist Paul Burnley recalled that ‘Coventry was good because we headlined our second gig and went up in a coach of our supporters and had a good laugh.’⁵⁵ Among those on board the coach which left from London Bridge was Nick Rich who remembers well the date of this gig because it fell on his birthday.

Interview with Paul Burnley of No Remorse, fanzine White Revolution no. 1.

On Saturday, 21 March, Skrewdriver were due to make a guest appearance at a gig in Kingston upon Thames, London, but it did not go ahead as Skrewdriver News explained:⁶⁶

Skrewdriver News n^o. 2.

             This was not a White Noise concert and due to the open advertising of the gig certain communist vermin got to know about it. The communist scum resorted to their usual trick of visiting the pub in question, assaulting the barmaid and issuing empty threats about petrol bombing the gig. Of course, we as Nationalists realise that the Reds have never had the guts to attack patriotic concerts, but the landlords do not… Remember we are in a war with the red filth and any of their supporters that cross our path are enemies and will be treated as such.

Skrewdriver apologised to those who made the journey to Kingston to attend the gig.

On Monday, 23 March 1987, Vengeance supported Section 5 and Condemned 84 at Norwich British Legion. Local Norwich band Y.O.B. (Youth of Britain) also played. Alex Ellul attended this one and did a gig review for British Oi!⁷⁷ Vengeance performed a set of some 15 songs. Recorded for release on tape as a ‘live bootleg,’ the idea was dropped because the ‘quality wasn’t up to standard.’ Drummer Tom recalls:⁸⁸ ‘The gig was a huge success and we got a taste for playing live.’

Fanzine British Oi! no. 3.

Interview with Tom of Vengeance, Glory Days of the RAC blog.

Despite Stuart’s growing disillusionment with the NF and the White Noise Club, Skrewdriver headlined a St. George’s Day festival on Saturday, April 25 at the same farm near Halesworth in Suffolk which hosted the RAC Summer festivals. Also billed to play were Brutal Attack, No Remorse, Sudden Impact, British Standard and Prime Suspects. However, for a variety of reasons, four of the five bands cancelled. Brutal Attack had pulled out because Paul, their bass player, was still very much out of action following his car crash. Prime Suspects had need of the services of a guitarist to replace Gordon who had left the band and a drummer to replace Craig who, by all accounts, had been sacked by Danny and Spike.

Vengeance and French National Socialist skinhead band Legion 88 played instead. Legion 88 were asked to play at the very last minute and agreed without hesitation. Luc Taymans of fanzine Pure Impact Skins attended the festival and reviewed it for his fanzine:⁹⁹

Fanzine Pure Impact Skins no. 5.

             After four hours of a long travel by cars we arrived. There were less people than at the last R.A.C. but again many European countries were represented. First band to play was Vengeance. They played a good set though their sound hasn’t anything too exceptional. The crowd did not move a lot but give the band a bit of time and they’ll progress. They hope to be on ‘No Surrender 3’ and will play at the summer R.A.C. gig. Next came Legion 88 (first band from out of Britain to play there, it’s about time) unknown to most of the audience, they made a strong impression with to-the-point songs, a good surprise to everybody. They opened the way so let’s hope other foreign bands will have the chance to play there in the future. Again came Vengeance to play a few cover versions. Sudden Impact followed and what a disappointment it was, all seemed to go wrong. What happened? At the last R.A.C. they played well and now this, a total off-day for them, too bad. And like always the last band was Skrewdriver who were way better than at the last R.A.C. putting on a great performance with all their hits and some new songs like ‘Strike Force.’ Again a line-up change had happened with a new bassist and a second guitarist, hope they’ll stay longer than the others. All in all, a good time was had by all.

A review of the festival in fanzine 14-UP provides yet more information about the performance of the support bands:¹⁰¹⁰

Fanzine 14-UP no. 3, 1987.

             The first band on stage were the newly turned nationalist band Vengeance. This is the first time that this Norwich band have played at a National Front organised gig. Their nine-song set included ‘Pride and Pain,’ ‘Backs Against the Wall,’ ‘England’s Glory’ and ‘Working Class Hero.’ Vengeance also appeared again later during the day, with a shorter set, while Skrewdriver were getting ready. Considering this is the first time Vengeance have played like this, they did very well and were well received. I know from speaking to Daz (lead singer) that they were very nervous, but they played well and the crowd obviously thought so too… The next on were a French five-piece band called Legion 88. They played a long set of about 12 songs. Although they sang in French, musically they were very good. As there were many French skins in the crowd, they were popular for them and gained a few dancers…. The third group to come on stage were Sudden Impact and while they were preparing, Paul Dunbar (lead singer) said that it was a pity Skullhead couldn’t be there because of Kev Turner’s unfortunate sentence. So a Skullhead tape was played over the speakers until Sudden Impact were ready. This was appreciated by the Newcastle crew who had travelled the previous night to get there. Sudden Impact played a long set and their songs included ‘Ulster Is Forever British’ and ‘Nigger-Loving White Slag.’ I had only seen them once previously at the White Xmas gig last January and they definitely played better this time…

Vengeance said of playing the festival:¹¹¹¹

Interview with Vengeance, White Noise no. 4.

             We all enjoyed it very much. Although there wasn’t a very big crowd reaction everyone seemed intent on listening to us and what we had to say. But we didn’t expect much reaction as it was the first time that most people had ever heard of us. We were told afterwards that we went down well and at the end of the second set when we played one or two covers, people started dancing.

Years later, Tom of Vengeance would remember that day as bloody hot!

Legion 88, who ‘went down well’ despite the language barrier, were filmed and their set included such classics as ‘Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Führer’ (‘One People, One Nation, One Leader,’ the infamous Nazi propaganda slogan), ‘Skinheads’ and ‘Violence Nocturne.’ This festival was only the fourth time they had played live.

Legion 88 — 1987 St. George’s Day Festival, Suffolk

Paul Swain, the ex-4-Skins guitarist, was back with Skrewdriver after a short break from the band to ‘play with his chopper.’ It proved his last concert with the band. When Skrewdriver played there was a flashpoint as one member of Skrewdriver Security recalls:

Vengeance —1987 St. George’s Day Festival, Suffolk

             The night before the festival I was up the skinhead disco at the George in Hammersmith and was asked by none other than Nicky Crane if I wanted to do security. We went up on coaches from Euston Road. The other security was Paul D, Paul G, Dave W, Taffy, Des, Bear, Butty and Mark L (that’s the ones I remember being there). During the Skrewdriver set, this bloke from the NF, who was wearing the SA uniform, started waving a pistol at Taffy who promptly kicked it out of his hand. I caught it and gave it to Mark L. Taffy then got the geezer on the floor and went to punch his head in!

Skrewdriver —1987 St. George’s Day Festival, Suffolk

Vengeance — ‘Fight For Your Life’ demo

After the St. George’s day festival, Tim and Rach decided to leave the band because of musical differences. Tom and Daz wanted to play more melodic, slow material, whereas Tim and Rach, the two guitarists, wanted to move into hardcore punk. They were replaced by Vernon on bass guitar and his good friend Andy on guitar. Both Vernon and Andy had played with the band Runnin’ Riot, who had supported Vengeance when they played live for the first time. This new line-up practised for several months and a single was planned, but then vocalist Daz announced he was leaving because of family problems. The rest of the band was gutted.

Determined to carry on, Vernon, Andy and Tom tried looking for a new singer, but they could not find a decent one anywhere. So they decided to become a three-piece band with Vernon taking on vocals as well. Alex Ellul remembers it a little differently, though: ‘Tom was considering using me as the singer, but Vernon, who by all accounts was a difficult character, wanted to sing himself. That’s what gave me the idea of singing in a band and was one of the sparks that started the whole Battle Zone thing.’ Incidentally, Tom was the only remaining skinhead in the band.

Vengeance recorded another demo called ‘Fight For Your Life’ at the eight-track Scoop studio. The demo featured five new songs: ‘Fight For Your Life,’ ‘Working Class Hero,’ ‘I Don’t Wanna Know,’ ‘Vengeance’ and ‘Pride and Pain.’ The demo is a total revelation. Leaving their Oi beginnings behind, the band had now adopted a harder sound. The guitars wail, the drums plod along and the vocals are shouted. The pick of the demo is the song ‘Vengeance,’ their story of everyday life:

                  Standing in the street people pass us by

                  Waiting for a ruck if you want to try

                  Nothing for us to do in this dead town

                  Violence is our life, see it all around

British Oi described the demo as ‘pure brilliance.’ The band sent a copy of the ‘Fight For Your Life’ demo to Rock-O-Rama Records which Herbert liked. The five songs on this demo were later released on vinyl by Street Rock ‘N’ Roll Records and White Power Records. A short time after recording the demo, Vengeance supported Oi! band Section 5 in Stoke. The planned single was shelved.

Sudden Impact

Sudden Impact also suffered another change of line-up. Bass player Phil was replaced by Darren McEvilly a.k.a. Flubs, who used to play in a psychobilly garage band. Also of interest is that Sudden Impact started to use the logo of a large capital E superimposed upon a slanting sword, which was actually the German-made collar patch for the Second World War Estonian Division of the Waffen-SS (official final title of 20. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (estnische Nr. 1). Similarly, Sudden Impact had stickers made sporting a round mobile swastika with the legend ‘Wiking,’ which refers to a Second World War division of the Waffen-SS (official final title of 5. SS-Panzer-Division ‘Wiking’). The round mobile swastika was the divisional insignia of Wiking. Some other stickers are racially insensitive, in particular the one of a hooded member of the KKK holding the decapitated head of a black man with the accompanying slogan of ‘Death to n****r scum.’

A time of change

By the early summer of that year, Ian Stuart had parted company with the NF and the White Noise Club. Ian Stuart, once the most ardent and loyal of NF supporters, said of this parting when interviewed in 1988:

             None of the actual National Front leaders at that time did any of the work towards White Noise. They left it to people involved in the bands and they just pocketed all of the money. Now we in the bands got a little bit fed up with it. Because what was meant to be happening was that the money made by White Noise Records was meant to go to bring out more records and bring more Nationalist groups into the actual recording studios and get out material. But in the end the National Front leaders, which were the two that actually had control, Patrick Harrington and Derek Holland, they were actually using the money more for the political side of things, which was National Front News and Nationalism Today, their magazine.

Ian Stuart also alleged that NF representatives visited Rock-O-Rama Records in West Germany, where, masquerading as Skrewdriver’s managers, they collected all royalties due from Skrewdriver record sales, including those from the repressing of Hail the New Dawn. Furthermore, he had to suffer the disappointment of not taking Skrewdriver on the upcoming American tour set up by the White Noise Club, but really enough was enough!

Brutal Attack followed Skrewdriver. Ken McLellan, who had been working in the NF’s head office in Croydon, received a letter from Derek Holland stating that ‘Skrewdriver had definitely had their day and that, with the help of White Noise, Brutal Attack would become bigger than Skrewdriver could ever dream of becoming.’¹²¹² He was not swayed. He too was convinced that Harrington and Holland were robbing the bands to line their own pockets:¹³¹³

Paul London, Nazi Rock Star, page 78.

Interview with Ken McLellan, Offensive Weapon no. 3.

             The White Noise Club, which I worked for, must have made thousands and thousands from the likes of Skrewdriver etc… A few examples are: White Noise were buying our LPs for £2.50 and selling them for £7.50 and I saw thousands going through that bookshop and the biggest joke of all was one of the White Christmas gigs, when just over 500 people turned up each paying £3.00 to get in, and Pat Harrington turned up in a cab from his house and collected the takings from the door, then paid the bands £100 each and pocketed the rest of the money and fucked off home.

Later, Ken McLellan would admit that ‘he was completely duped by Derek ‘Raving Priest’ Holland and his au pair, Patrick Harrington, into believing in White Noise.’¹⁴¹⁴ He angrily described Harrington and Holland as ‘two of the most corrupt arseholes ever to have robbed the NF.’¹⁵¹⁵

Interview with Ken McLellan, fanzine Truth at Last no. 11.

Interview with Ken McLellan, Blood and Honour no. 2.

Skullhead and Violent Storm, however, remained loyal to the White Noise Club, as did a number of fanzines, the most important being Welsh Leak and British Oi! Ian Stuart was disappointed, but Ken McLellan was more outspoken:¹⁶¹⁶ ‘The people I feel sorry for are the ones being brainwashed by the White Noise Club. People like Kev Turner who is still in a cell with his mind being turned inside out by the lies he is hearing from the likes of Derek Holland.’

Ibid.

In response to the likes of Ian Stuart and Ken McLellan, Kev Turner of Skullhead explained his decision to stay with the White Noise Club as follows:¹⁷¹⁷

Interview with Kev Turner, fanzine Welsh Leak no. 1, circa 1987.

             One thing is certain for the future: Skullhead will be staying with the White Noise Club. We have our own reasons for doing this and contrary to rumour it is not because we have been ‘brainwashed.’ We are fully aware of the decision by other bands to leave White Noise, whether it be a musical decision or political one, due to differences of opinion. I respect those decisions and I wish them all the best in their ‘independent’ venture. I only hope they respect our decision. Our reasons for staying with the White Noise Club are:

                  (a)  Skullhead, as a band, support the National Front and have no intention of withdrawing that support. White Noise, being the NF’s musical side, it automatically follows that we support White Noise as well.

                  (b)  We have never been ripped off by White Noise and neither have our friends who support the White Noise Club. In fact, everyone we have met associated with the White Noise Club has been very friendly and helpful.

                  (c)  The support I have received since I started this [prison] sentence has been excellent. Most of that support has come from the NF and its members. It would be impossible for me to even think about betraying that support which I feel we would be doing if Skullhead left the White Noise Club.

                  As I’ve said, we wish the bands that’ve left White Noise all the best with their ‘independent’ venture, but Skullhead will definitely stay with White Noise.

As for Welsh band Violent Storm, who had no records to their name and thus nothing to lose and everything to gain by sticking with the White Noise Club, they stated, admittedly in the pages of their patron’s fanzine, White Noise:¹⁸¹⁸ ‘All members of Violent Storm are in full support of the NF. We think it is the only true nationalist movement worth backing. The Zionist media image of us as race-hating Nazis is just rubbish: they are confusing us with the Nazi reactionaries of the Flag. We think that White Noise is doing a good job in promoting bands, gigs, records and so they will have our support in the future. We would like to say to all members of the Club to stick with it, and not to be fooled by phoney organisations.’

Interview, fanzine White Noise no. 8, February 1989.

Violent Storm repeated their support for the White Noise Club in the pages of British Oi and denounced the hypocrisy of ‘Nazis like Ian Stuart and his confused following’ for ‘singing about the evils of Capitalism when in fact they are themselves.’¹⁹¹⁹ Perhaps of more interest is that Violent Storm blamed Ian Stuart for the cancellation of a White Noise gig in Oldham they were due to play. [The date and venue of the proposed gig are not known. This would have been the first live performance by Violent Storm.]

Interview with Violent Storm, fanzine British Oi no. 8.

Unfortunately for Ian Stuart, the separation from the White Noise Club was not straightforward and soon became like a messy divorce. The White Noise Club still owed Rock-O-Rama Records a ‘lot of money’ for merchandise taken on credit, reported as £3,000, and, until such time as the debt was paid in full, the German label refused to release any further material for the White Noise Club and Skrewdriver. To retain the support of Kev Turner, described as ‘the new jewel in their crown,’²⁰²⁰ the White Noise Club had need of the German label to release the debut LP by Skullhead, which had been recorded back in November 1986. Harrington flew over to Germany to meet Herbert Egoldt, the boss of Rock-O-Rama Records, and pay the outstanding debt. To gain much-needed credibility, Harrington then asked for a letter from Egoldt stating that the debt had been paid. Egoldt said he could have his letter, but added that there had been a delay in payment of 11 months! Harrington returned to England with very little to show from his trip. At least he could comfort himself with the knowledge that there would be no further delay to the release of the Skullhead LP.

Paul London, Nazi Rock Star, page 86.

Blood and Honour

On Thursday, 4 June, no longer under the auspices of the corrupt White Noise Club, Skrewdriver and No Remorse played the St. Helier Arms, Carshalton, Surrey, which was billed as ‘A best of British night.’

Nearly four hundred people attended the concert, which Paul Burnley of No Remorse regarded as a resounding success,²¹²¹ although guitarist Mark felt ripped off because they were not paid.²²²² Either way, the night was overshadowed by the sickening rape of a 17-year-old girl on the way home from the gig. In the pages of his fanzine, The Truth at Last, Paul Burnley wrote: ‘In our view people like these sick rapists deserve more than a soft sentence. They deserve to be hung!’²³²³

Paul London, Nazi Rock Star, page 78.

Interview with Mark, fanzine Offensive Weapon no. 2, 1987.

Fanzine, The Truth at Last no. 10.

Mark Sutherland left Skrewdriver after the Carshalton gig, angered once again at the way in which people were taking advantage of Ian.²⁴²⁴ He was replaced on drums by John Burnley, Paul Burnley’s brother. With a new line-up of Ian Stuart on vocals, Martin Cross on guitar, Merv Shields on bass and John Burnley on drums, Skrewdriver entered Mark Sutherland’s studio to record a new album entitled White Rider. The band was not satisfied with the outcome and decided to re-record the entire album, which they did weeks later.²⁵²⁵ The band hoped to have the new album out in October, but the release date was put back to late November.

Paul London, Nazi Rock Star, page 57. However, according to Skrewdriver News no. 3, Mark Sutherland left the band to ‘concentrate on mixing and engineering records, instead of playing on them.’

The complete first recording session for White Rider can be heard on the unofficial Skrewdriver 1st White Rider Studio Session ’87 CD.

Ian Stuart and Merv Shields of Skrewdriver at St. Helier Arms, 4 June 1987

Meanwhile, with support from close friends and bands No Remorse, Brutal Attack and Sudden Impact, Ian Stuart founded Blood and Honour, billed as ‘The Independent Voice of Rock Against Communism.’ Never again would Stuart join another political party. In July 1987, the first issue of the magazine Blood and Honour appeared. The front cover image of a lightning bolt striking a red star was drawn by Alan Pond. In an unprecedented move, a free copy of the first issue was sent to White Noise members and the Skrewdriver mailing list. It was accompanied by a handwritten note signed by Ian Stuart which explained and apologised:

             We (Skrewdriver, Brutal Attack, No Remorse and Sudden Impact) brought this paper out as an alternative to ‘White Noise,’ which we have now discovered is a corrupt rip-off. Because we at first took part in ‘White Noise’ believing that it was a good thing, we have sent all ‘White Noise’ members Blood and Honour issue one free of charge. This is a way of apologising for ever having gotten people involved in something as dishonest as ‘White Noise,’ and its chief owners Derek Holland and Patrick Harrington.

Skrewdriver News encouraged members to ‘subscribe to this excellent paper which is far removed from the corruption and the dishonesty of the White Noise Club.’

Page 2 of Skrewdriver News No. 2 advertising the concert on 4 June 1987

The Blood and Honour masthead incorporated the triskelion of the AWB, short for the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (in English, ‘Afrikaner Resistance Movement’). With its National Socialist agenda, Blood and Honour differed politically from the likes of White Noise and New Dawn. The editorial of the first issue, written by Ian Stuart, read: ‘This is Blood and Honour, a new independent rock against communism paper. This paper will be run by people who really care about the nationalist music scene. Not by people who are out to line their own pockets, or further their own flagging political careers, as in the case of White Noise.’

The first issue featured a short interview with Ian Stuart, who reinforced the message that Blood and Honour was independent and that Skrewdriver was an independent National Socialist band. He added, however, that they were prepared to work with ‘Nationalists of any party if we consider them to be trustworthy.’ Of course, the Official NF, made up of the likes of ‘money-pocketing traitors’ Harrington and Holland, was not considered trustworthy. The war of words between Blood and Honour and the Official NF, referred to as ‘The Nutty Fairy Party,’ filled the editorials and the ‘White Whispers’ column of future issues.

Blood and Honour would later accuse the White Noise Club of ripping off nationalist music fans and of trying to intercept mail for Skrewdriver Services, Ian Stuart’s merchandising outlet. After some six months of silence, the leadership of the NF publicly refuted the allegations made against leading members by Blood and Honour²⁶²⁶:

‘Ripping Yarns,’ National Front News no. 100.

             The main allegation held against the movement is that it has ‘ripped off’ Mr. Stuart. Nothing could be further from the truth. Up until now we have not made this public because we have learned that during the time he was receiving money for running White Noise he was getting money from the DHSS and his rent from Camden Council. Advertisements were also placed free of charge in all NF journals for Stuart’s private business Skrewdriver Services. All profits from this business went directly to Stuart. Mr. Stuart is the registered owner of the Post Box from which the business is operated.

                  In addition to the money he received from the White Noise Club, he also received £300 in cash the morning he was released from prison from one of the NF administration staff; this money was drawn out of an Anglia Building Society account the same morning, and which had been opened for him so that the NF could show its appreciation for his efforts in a practical way. Furthermore, Mr. Stuart was also bought a £400 guitar in London by the NF by way of payment for his services…

                  Mr. Stuart has also made vile allegations against two leading members of the National Directorate, Derek Holland and Patrick Harrington. Stuart’s real complaint against these two officers is that they told him exactly what they thought of his reactionary Nazi views, and his constant cry of ‘I want more.’ They insisted on putting the NF first and objected having to massage the ego of an ageing would-be rock star…

The National Directorate now proscribed Blood and Honour and made it a ‘disciplinary offence for any NF member to support this publication in any way.’ Furthermore, it ordered branches to sell all stocks of merchandise bearing the name of Skrewdriver. Once this was completed no new merchandise bearing the name Skrewdriver was to be produced and yet Holland continued to sell Skrewdriver tapes through his Defendant Tapes business.

The National Front continued with the White Noise Club, which threw all of its resources behind Skullhead and ‘other bands of proven loyalty and ideological soundness.’ The NF National Directorate also ordered: ‘Every effort must be made through “White Noise” to root out the sordid and politically suicidal Nazi cult which has tainted the White music scene for some years.’ In the belief that ‘the vermin who run the discredited White Noise Club’ (Harrington and Holland) were trying to destroy Rock Against Communism, Ian and Blood and Honour fought back:²⁷²⁷

Editorial, Blood and Honour no. 2.

             We will not allow them to do this as we are the true Nationalist music fans. We will not tolerate phoney Nationalists splitting up White people and movements in Europe. We won’t put up with their pathetic attempts to gain power by lies and deceit. Nor will we allow them to destroy the destiny of Blood and Honour. We will follow the example of the one uncorruptable [sic] ideal: National Socialism, and its great martyr Adolf Hitler. Victory will be ours.

Besides music charts and concert reviews, Blood and Honour magazine also carried advertising for Skrewdriver Services and ‘No Remorse merchandise’ which featured the infamous No Remorse ‘One day the world will know Adolf Hitler was right’ T-shirt. Blood and Honour became a one-stop shop for the RAC scene and it is little wonder that the magazine took off and was soon outselling its print run. Ian Stuart ascribed the success of Blood and Honour to its idea:²⁸²⁸

Interview with Ian Stuart, fanzine Last Chance.

             There has been no other magazine that promotes the advancement of the White race and that does not tie itself to any political party. B&H is not tied to any party. It is mainly run by the bands. The bands are popular so the magazine is popular. Its main achievement has been to get more people involved in the White cause and to push the music of the bands over to a lot more people than would be possible otherwise. Food for thought, that Blood and Honour has got at least five times the circulation of Searchlight. That’s a fact.

Comparing Blood and Honour to White Noise, Ken McLellan of Brutal Attack had this to say:²⁹²⁹ ‘It does not edit anything the bands do or say. It is run by the bands for bands and therefore totally incorruptible. It offers the bands freedom.’

Interview with Ken McLellan, fanzine The Truth at Last no. 11.

The creation of Blood and Honour reverberated throughout the NF. Hounslow NF skinhead William said of the impact:

             When Ian left the Front and White Noise he formed the musical resistance Blood and Honour. We as in my area followed him en masse and then while in my early twenties I joined the British Movement, which at the time Ian was also a member of. The BM wasn’t street confrontational like the Front, it had become more underground, but was still very active in different areas and present although discreetly at all nationalist activities and was politically a lot more mature than the Front. Once Ian left the Front and took all the skinheads with him it signalled its demise from a once formidable street fighting force to mere shadow of its former self. The massive revenue generated from the White Noise Club and record sales was also lost and took the Front away from being what can only be described as a major player in the British party political system. At its height the Front could field way over a thousand skinheads at any march in London and that was a thousand fighters, and there was always a gig after a NF demo or major activity. The White Noise Club was such a cash cow for the NF.

The creation of Blood and Honour and the prospect of this far-right grouping forging European links prompted Jeremy Corbyn, Labour MP for Islington North, to write to the Home Secretary to express his concerns.³⁰³⁰

‘Far-Right youth forging links with ‘white-power’ music, The Independent, 16 September 1987.

On Saturday, September 5, now under the umbrella of Blood and Honour, Skrewdriver played a gig at the St. Helier Arms,³¹³¹ Carshalton, Surrey, supported by Brutal Attack, No Remorse and Sudden Impact. The gig very nearly did not go ahead. Fitz, a member of Skrewdriver Security, was on the door. Two rastas pulled up in a van with a PA for a certain Mr. Donaldson. Fitz did not know anybody by that name, told them that they must have got the wrong place and sent them on their way. Just to be on the safe side, he phoned Ian Stuart to let him know. Ian Stuart’s reply is not printable. The PA was for him, which he had booked under his real surname of Donaldson. The situation was soon recovered and the gig went ahead with two Rastas doing the sound!

Various locations have appeared as the venue for this concert, among them the Star, Croydon. According to Colin H, the venue was not The Star: ‘I went to gigs at the Star and the Ship in Croydon and it wasn’t there.’ The venue was definitely the St. Helier Arms. Also, Skrewdriver played the St. Helier Arms twice in quick succession, with no more than a couple of weeks separating the gigs. However, Eddie Stampton and many others are convinced the first of the two gigs was on a Thursday and the second was on a Saturday. A number of sources confirm that Skrewdriver, Brutal Attack, No Remorse and Sudden Impact definitely played the St. Helier Arms on Saturday, 5 September. Therefore, the possibility exists that Saturday 5 September was the second of the two gigs. If this is the case, then the date of the first gig remains unknown. If Saturday 5 September was the date of the first gig then the date of the second gig is unknown. The author has not seen flyers for either of the two gigs.

The gig was well-attended, attracting some seven hundred to one thousand people. Clearly the popularity of Skrewdriver was growing. Colin H. from Enfield was there, so was Eddie Stampton, so was Nick Rich from Kent, so was Mike from Feltham, so was MJ, so was William from Hounslow, so was Glyn from South London, so was Mark from Coventry, so was Val Drury, so was David Webster, so was Chad from Barrow, as was Mark from Birmingham, newly seduced by Skrewdriver:

             I joined the National Front in 1986 as a full member. Then the party split. I swear it wasn’t me! The branch was quite well-organised and had copies of White Power by Skrewdriver for sale. I bought a copy because, to be honest, I was curious to hear a nationalist band. The sentiments of ‘Smash the IRA’ appealed to me as the IRA were anti-British. Let’s smash the bastards! Still agree now to be honest. I subsequently picked up ‘Voice of Britain’ 7″ and Hail the New Dawn LP along with the ‘Back With a Bang 12″, I think. I travelled down to the Croydon gig on a bus organised by the Birmingham branch of the NF. We used to go to gigs together as a branch. There were around 15 of us on the bus. I was excited to see Skrewdriver live for the first time.

With great enthusiasm, the packed audience welcomed back Brutal Attack ‘into the fold’ after a year-long hiatus. The Brutal Attack line-up included Ken McLellan on vocals, Martin Cross of Skrewdriver on guitar and Len Fleckney on drums. Their set of mainly new numbers did not disappoint. Skrewdriver was joined on stage for the first time by new drummer John Burnley. The concert was filmed and later released on video through Blood and Honour. For Nick Rich, this gig remains the best he ever witnessed and for very special reasons. From the stage Ian Stuart thanked him for his RAC chart which had appeared in the first ever issue of Blood and Honour and then dedicated ‘Voice of Britain’ to him, along with the Chelsea Headhunters. And as if that were not enough, Nick Rich also got to do a sing-along with Ken Brutal Attack and Ian Skrewdriver. For Mark from Birmingham, the gig was well worth the long journey home: ‘It was a great night and enjoyed by all very much indeed. We were all buzzing. I returned home with a No Remorse demo tape and a No Remorse ‘One day the world will know that Adolf Hitler was right’ T-shirt if I remember correctly.’

The No Remorse demo tape featured six live songs from the first few gigs: ‘Hail the Order,’ ‘Six Million Lies,’ ‘Bloodsucker,’ ‘The Shadow of Death,’ ‘Time Will Tell’ and ‘This Time the World.’ The tape is of reasonable quality and none of the songs differ radically from their later vinyl counterparts.

Mark from Coventry, who probably came down on the same bus organised by the Birmingham Branch of the NF, recalls the gig for very different reasons:

             Firstly, because due to silly rumours spread by a jealous bloke from Essex regarding a girl he fancied who had been writing to me for my skinzine, but was also chatting me up, unbeknown to me, she was an on-off girlfriend of his. This fella had said if I turned up at the gig he was going to ‘do me.’ Then in the car park, Paul Burnley said hello to me and told me he didn’t expect to see me there. When I asked him why, he said that this same fella had told him I had got a half-caste girlfriend. At that point, I didn’t know whether to laugh, thinking it was a joke and I was waiting for the punch line, or whether to confront Paul. It had come from the same fella who’d said he was gonna ‘do me.’ My good friend and I found the same fella at the bar and confronted him. He certainly didn’t ‘do me’ and quite the contrary, motioned to me that it was all a mistake and that his source was wrong. Problem solved. For the record, I didn’t even have a girlfriend at that time. And neither had I then, nor ever, been with any female of non-white ethnic origin!

                  Another memory from that gig was Nicky Crane, the giant Skrewdriver security doorman, frisking everyone on the way in, dressed in his white vest and red braces. When it later transpired that he was a homosexual, most of us shuddered at the thought of him ‘enjoying himself” running his hands up other blokes’ legs and groin areas, supposedly searching for weapons.

For Chad, the long journey from Cumbria to London and back mattered not because he got to meet Ian Stuart for the first time and see Skrewdriver:³²³²

Chad thinks he may have attended the last RAC festival in Suffolk, which would have made it the first time he saw Skrewdriver.

             A group of us came down from Barrow in a transit van. One of the skins was actually from South London. He had been a skinhead since the ’70s. We arrived late so we missed Sudden Impact and some of No Remorse, who were already playing. I remember talking to Nicky Crane because one of the lads was in jail with him. I was surprised at how effeminate he was. I overheard some West Ham skinheads talking about getting out of jail for a fight on a ferry. I met Ian Stuart and yes it was for a photo. He was a pure gent and always took time out to get photos with his ‘fans.’ For Skrewdriver, I danced with a Union Jack wrapped around my neck. They were brilliant. I bought a copy of the first edition of Blood & Honour, which I still have, as well as a Skrewdriver poster and a Brutal Attack ‘Return of St. George’ poster, which I had for years, but no longer.

For Eddie Stampton, this was his first gig since early ’85, when he’d hung up the boots so to speak and turned casual:

             I’d been knocking around with Chubby Chris and his lot for a while, more so since he’d moved to Camberwell from Mitcham. I was the only skinhead in a firm of now casual ex-skins. Add to this I was attending less and less skinhead events and more and more BNP activities. The BNP had few skinheads at the time either, probably because Ian Stuart had stayed with the NF after Tyndall had left the Front and Tyndall himself had always made his position on skinheads perfectly clear — he didn’t like them. I grew my hair and started drinking in the bars of the Old Kent Road and Hackney Road. The attitude we shared seemed to be that we were the elite — more violent, more clued-up and in my case, someone that was actually politically active, as opposed to most of the posers that just attended gigs and listened to songs about what they really should have been doing. I was 20, my mates a bit older. We saw the skinhead thing as strictly a youth cult and anyone still walking round as a skinhead past the age of 21 in 1985 we viewed as some kind of mug! Also, a lot of queers had adopted the dress sense, we didn’t know it at the time, but that was probably influenced by Craney and his patronage of gay nightclubs. Being casual did have pros and cons, though. The clobber cost a fortune but there was far less police or ethnic attention and the birds you would never pull walking around in DMs. Anyway, I didn’t stay casual long. Influenced by a mate from Birmingham (Mark Walsh) who now lived just up the road in Clapham South, I started attending lots of Psychobilly gigs, bands like the Meteors and Guana Batz — I became a Rockabilly.

                  The firm I was part of was the same lot that went on to form the Chelsea Headhunters and it was a friend from Stockwell and I that designed and had the very first now infamous Headhunter calling cards printed up. They bore a Totenkopf with the slogan ‘Congratulations, you have been nominated and dealt with by the Chelsea Headhunters.’

                  Anyway, I’d been invited to this first 28 gig by Ian who I still saw regularly as I was a visitor at 40 Argyle Square at least a couple of times a week. Not always there to see Ian, but usually Rockabilly pals and members of Skrewdriver Security — Des Clarke and Andy ‘Jock’ Dewan, also my very good friend in the basement flat, Pearse Lehey, an Irish skinhead from Cork. Add to this I was a regular at the Prince Albert pub which was located off of York Way in Kings Cross that held a skinhead night every Thursday.

                  On the night of the gig, I was a bit apprehensive. There were around eight of us, two Rockabillies and six casuals. In the past there had been a feud between me and Ken McLellan. I’d been good mates with him when we were around 17, drinking together regularly in places like the Tooting Castle and Sound and Vision in Soho. All this changed when he hooked up with an ex of mine who he later married. I never had a problem with it, in fact it was me that dumped her, but he did for some irrational reason. We had had a couple of fights, the last being extremely violent. The crowd at the gig would be 99.9 percent very volatile skinhead. Now we were going into the lion’s den so to speak, in which would be six or seven hundred of his admirers and to top it all we weren’t skinheads and Chubby and Ken also shared an intense mutual dislike.

                  When we all went through from the bar to enter the actual hall where the gig was, there was a curtained doorway and before going through, Fitz of Skrewdriver Security was searching everyone. We had got tooled up to the eyeballs for this, just in case. We were all carrying, and I had a knuckle duster with a built-in flick knife and a lead-weighted black jack (which is a lead-weighted spring with leather around it). A couple of the others had flare guns and coshes. As we went through, Fitz took all our weapons off us in turn, winking. We walked through to the hall and Fitz reappeared and gave us everything back!

                  Anyway, I spent most of the gig at the bar with an ex I’d not seen for ages. A funny thing was that the sound man was actually a Rasta!! I thought it hilarious and, fair play to him, he had bottle staying in there and seeing the night out. No one laid a finger on him and I recall actually buying him a drink. There was a strange atmosphere and it did nearly kick off a few times but still it was a brilliant gig. I think that is why Ian gave us a dedication and mentioned that we’d been with Skrewdriver since day one of the ‘Back With a Bang’ days. This was to reassure people we weren’t there to cause any trouble. A couple of ours spent most of the gig on stage with Ian too. This gig, although not billed as a Blood & Honour gig, was actually by invite only and was the very first and was held on a Thursday night. The second, which was actually the official launch, was a short time later at the same venue and held on a Saturday. We attended that too.

Ian Stuart and Skrewdriver left a lasting impression on Mike from Feltham for an altogether different reason:

             In all my decades of gig-going, Skrewdriver still remains the only band I have ever come across who often provided free coaches at the end of the night to take supporters back to the nearest tube or train station. As Ian said, this was so that the police would have no excuse for arresting people in the street outside after a gig, for one spurious reason or another. I remember being on a coach travelling back to Carshalton Station after a gig at the St. Helier Arms. It was so packed that people were crammed three to a two-man seat and others were standing in the aisles, with everybody singing ‘Tomorrow Belongs to Me’ at the top of their voices. A priceless memory!

Skrewdriver sound check at St. Helier Arms

Blood and Honour released the concert on video. Fanzine The Truth at Last reviewed it, giving it a glowing endorsement. Praise was heaped on the bands except for Sudden Impact who ‘didn’t quite make the right impression on the 800 in attendance.’³³³³

Review, fanzine The Truth at Last no. 11, 1988.

Skrewdriver played St. Helier Arms, Carshalton again on a Saturday night. The date of the concert is not known. Mark from Birmingham was there and recalls:

             This was another outing for the Birmingham branch of the NF. We got there early from an NF function in London earlier that day. Before the gig I watched Skrewdriver rehearse a few songs off their White Rider album and with an old Kodak instamatic camera took a few pictures of the band while they played. Not far from me and in contrast was a professional photographer with a tripod. Now what happened to those photographs taken by the professional? Ian was wearing a UDA sweatband on his wrist and Merv Shields, an Ulsterman, was wearing a UDA patch on his shirt. The UDA were recruiting at that time on the mainland and were in attendance. Later I approached Merv Shields at the bar and got talking to him for a good while about the Ulster situation and the UDA. He was a nice chap. Nicky Crane, who I recognized from the Strength Through Oi LP, was there as head of Skrewdriver Security. He was one of the most menacing individuals I’ve ever met. I don’t recall the support act, but again Skrewdriver were great live. I came home from that gig with a Skrewdriver T-shirt: the sunwheel surrounded by flames with the logo ‘Skrewdriver Rising.’ I don’t remember any trouble, but again I probably got a bit pissed. I loved my beer back then.

UDA recruitment flyers, circa 1987–1988

The loyalist paramilitary UDA [Ulster Defence Association] was very close to the hearts of Merv and Ian Stuart. Advertisements for Ulster, the magazine of the UDA, would later appear in the pages of Blood and Honour. Ian Stuart even hoped to play a benefit concert in Ulster for UDA prisoners, but this fell through just like the plans to play Italy, Holland and France before the end of the year.

Eddie Stampton also attended a second gig at the St. Helier Arms:

             This was the official launch of Blood and Honour, held on a Saturday night at the St. Helier arms in Carshalton. Like the first 28 gig, a little while before at the same venue, again me and pals from the Chelsea Headhunters attended this gig. I remember the day well, well most of it anyway! It was a hot sunny day and I’d met up with Chubby and the others in the Griffin pub in the west end of London’s Charing Cross. From there we went to see Gary Hitchcock and his mate Bill L who had a stall in the market at Villiers Street, right near the old ‘Soldier of Fortune’ shop owned by BM member Tim Danvers. This was before exotic weaponry was illegal to sell and Gary sold all sorts of crazy stuff sure to make a load of thugs like us shoot our loads. Knuckle dusters, expandable batons, lead-weighted coshes, knives disguised as pens and combs, sometimes even cans of CS under the counter. We bought a few odds and ends for the gig, not that we were going to cause trouble, but our presence at the first gig had drawn a frosty reception from some; our philosophy regarding weapons was one of ‘clunk click every trip.’ We moved on to Victoria where we were to get the train to the gig. We all decided to have a few beers in the Duke of York pub.

                  Again there were only around eight of us and we arrived at the gig late as we had had a close call outside the Duke of York with a load of QPR that had recognised Chubby, who was making a bit of a name for himself on the football hooligan scene. Anyway, nothing happened and we got the train to the gig. When we arrived the usual suspects, or to be more precise, suspect, again gave us a very frosty reception. I can’t remember the ins and outs now of what caused it, but once inside the hall, an incident happened and the crowd opened up around us and there was a bit of a stand-off between us and a load of skinheads of which Ken McLellan was right at the front. A flare gun was fired by one of our lot, but everything seemed to be smoothed over and nothing else happened. This gig was actually videoed and one of the only copies was later given to me by Ian. It was never released on video or DVD till years later when I found it in the loft and sold the rights to an American label. It is on sale now, wrongly titled Skrewdriver Live in London 1988. My fault due to getting the year wrong! On the Brutal Attack part of the DVD, Ken can be heard trying to whip the skinhead crowd up against us — first by dedicating the song ‘Long Live Death’ to us ‘latecomers’ and then by telling the crowd, ‘Let’s not forget we are all skinheads’ and ‘there are certain people in here tonight trying to ruin the only venue in London we’ve got. Skinheads stick together.’ The original tape was edited somewhat by the record label that produced the DVD and one part edited out was Ken on stage with a baseball bat exclaiming, ‘Ready!’ Forever the showman, if he wasn’t standing on a speaker with his shirt off or dangling from a venue’s chandelier, Ken was always doing this sort of thing. Ian Stuart had nicknames for most people and had nicknamed him Ken McGlitter! I’d hate to know what mine was. I remember at a gig in Embankment around ’84 he changed all the words to a cover version of the Troggs’ ‘Wild Thing’ that Brutal Attack used to perform. He slagged me off all through the song, ‘Stampton, I’m gonna kill you,’ that sort of thing. I’d already left the gig anyway and there is a live tape knocking around somewhere that includes the song. Hated but rated, that’s me...

                  Again, once Skrewdriver took the stage, Ian gave us dedications, probably to calm the skinheads and show them we were OK. Well the gig ended with no more trouble and we made our way home. A good night was had by all and there were around seven or eight hundred in attendance. I’m proud to say I was at the first 28 gigs, and the ‘Back With a Bang’ gigs too. I was part of something that went worldwide — Ian Stuart’s legacy. It’s just such a pity, what they call the ‘scene’ in England has become what it has — a fucking big joke and not a very funny one at that — run by someone that is not and never has been politically active who sees 28 as his personal fiefdom Ian Stuart would be spinning in his grave if he knew what was happening.

The landlord of the St. Helier Arms was so impressed with the security provided at the RAC gigs that he offered Fitz and later Nicky Crane jobs as bouncers. They started to work there full-time along with two others. Fitz would drop out of the scene halfway through 1988 after he met a girl and moved away. He still has his two Skrewdriver Security T-shirts with different designs, as well as a big plaque signed and given to him by Ian Stuart.

On Saturday, 19 September, Skrewdriver planned to play a pub in the seaside town of Worthing on the south coast. The author does not know if the gig went ahead or not.

On Saturday, 26 September, Vengeance supported Condemned 84 at the Bowler Hat, Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent.

On Thursday, 8 October, Brutal Attack and Fatal Blow were advertised to play the Star, London Road, West Croydon. Things turned out differently. Fanzine Offensive Weapon reported:³⁴³⁴

Fanzine Offensive Weapon no. 2, 1987. Interestingly, the review dates the gig on Thursday, 15 October.

             The venue was a pub with a smallish hall around the back. Originally advertised playing was Fatal Blow and Brutal Attack. Fatal Blow did not show up so the local band Sudden Impact took their place… Sudden Impact played a good set which showed great improvement over their last gig. Unfortunately no one danced which later Paul Dunbar the lead singer said disappointed the band. Next on stage to everyone’s surprise was Skrewdriver, who put in a guest appearance. They only played three to four numbers, which drove everyone in the hall to the front dancing. Following Skrewdriver’s departure from the stage, another guest appearance by No Remorse, who hammered out a few numbers which were well-received by the crowd. Finally around half nine Brutal Attack stormed the stage who from the first moment they played had the crowd dancing. They played a lot of new numbers from the forthcoming LP Rocking for Race and Nation, which was well-received, but the highlight of the evening was ‘White Pride — White Passion’ which went on for about half an hour or seemed to plus Ken asking Mick (ex-Pride of the Lion singer) to round off the song which he did very well and was applauded for it. Brutal Attack finished off their set after an encore and the crowd dispersed peacefully well satisfied. Overall it was a good gig but I found out the next day that there was quite a bit of trouble following the gig with the police refusing to let people leave from West Croydon station. Also, apparently the gig was also marred by the fact that a few members of the band playing and a few of the crowd were viciously and mindlessly attacked by black youths. This led to a young lady, Ken’s wife, being stabbed in the arm.

On Saturday, 17 October, Lionheart, which now had a new line-up, played their first gig at the Bowler Hat, Stoke-on-Trent. A decent live soundboard recording exists of this momentous occasion, which amounted to a handful of songs, some of which were covers! The band was under-rehearsed, having only learnt of the gig five days before.

Jaki, who was in a relationship with guitarist Jon Hickson, recalls of her growing involvement with the band: ‘I used to go to the band practices at Icky’s house back when Hammy was the singer and I used to jump in and sing backing vocals because I love to sing. Then when Nana joined we became more of a duet.’ Original vocalist Hammy was replaced by Nana in 1988. Sid became the guitarist around the same time. He was their fourth guitarist after losing one to the army, one to another band and one to injuries received in a motorcycle crash.

On Saturday, 24 October, Rebelles Européens, a new French nationalist record company, staged an RAC festival in the Brittany port of Brest. Skrewdriver and No Remorse were booked to play along with French RAC bands Bunker 84, Legion 88, Skinkorps, Snix and Brutal Combat, but the two British bands did not make the journey across the English Channel.³⁵³⁵ Rebelles Européens hoped to record the concert for a live double LP. Disappointingly, nothing came of this mouthwatering prospect.

French fanzine Skinhead Pour L’Éternité no. 4, Sep-Oct 1987, announces the forthcoming concert with solely No Remorse, which strongly suggests Skrewdriver cancelled first. The author has assumed that No Remorse later cancelled because there is a distinct lack of coverage of them playing the concert.

Skrewdriver — White Rider LP and more

In late 1987, Skrewdriver released the White Rider LP (catalogue number Rock-O-Rama Records RRR 66), regarded by many as their finest recording, both musically and lyrically, and a benchmark for all future white power releases, which has rarely been surpassed, if at all. On the front cover is a design by a German supporter which refers to the poster of the 1915 movie The Birth of a Nation directed by D.W. Griffith, glorifying the American Ku Klux Klan. The design is inflammatory, perhaps one of the most inflammatory ever to grace the front cover of an album: a torch-brandishing Klansman in full hooded regalia riding a white-clad horse. And of course mention should be made of the small swastika lurking in the background.

Musically, White Rider was more heavy rock than punk rock. The album, which featured 12 songs, unleashed some of Ian Stuart’s most passionate compositions to date, none more so than ‘I Can See the Fire,’ which had started life as ‘Anger in Your Eyes’ and remained one of Ian Stuart’s favourites. Interestingly, Ian Stuart wrote 23 songs for White Rider which was originally subtitled ‘The Flame That Never Dies.’³⁶³⁶ Many of the songs remain unrecorded. Many were written while Ian Stuart was languishing in prison and this theme is evoked on the likes of ‘Where Has Justice Gone?’ and ‘Behind the Bars.’ Elsewhere, the song ‘Strikeforce’ sides with the white minority in South Africa fighting for survival against the ANC, labelled as terrorist, with such lyrics:

According to two credible sources, ‘White Rider’ was going to feature 14 songs. The extra songs which did not make it onto the album were ‘The Road Goes On’ and ‘The Solution’ (interview with Ian Stuart in Australian fanzine The Storm Troop no. 1) or ‘Battle Cries,’ ‘No Surrender’ and ‘The Future is Ours’ (Skrewdriver News no. 1). Curiously, only ‘The Future is Ours’ appears on the list of ‘Songs Written For New L.P. to be entitled White Power.’

                  I want to tell you about South Africa and the so-called fight for freedom,

                  The much praised black resistance and the communists who lead them

                  Not too far in Angola and nearer home in Zimbabwe

                  The Marxist-backed dictators are looking south in fear to see

                  Strikeforce, white survival, strikeforce

The recent expulsion of BBC and ITN news reporters from South Africa for unfair and biased reporting was applauded by the band:³⁷³⁷

Skrewdriver News no. 3.

             The two so-called British companies have both been full of praise for the communist, black and Jewish students who have been staging demonstrations in favour of the black terrorist A.N.C. as well as supporting race mixing. As most of us (especially skinheads and Nationalists) know, the British media are notorious for their anti-white, pro-communist reporting. It is about time that this pathetic scum, who claim to speak for British people, learnt that not everyone is prepared to sit back and take their lying abuse without some sort of retaliation. The people of South Africa have shown what they think of these traitorous vermin. When will we?

Ian Stuart’s handwritten list of songs written for the White Rider LP

The haunting ballad ‘The Snow Fell’ returns once more to the theme of World War II and vividly recounts the German 1941 march on Moscow, which ended in disaster when the weather changed:

                  They took the old roads that Napoleon had taken before

                  They fought as the forces of light against darkness in a holy war

                  One day they were looking out in the sunshine on the cornflowers

                  The next day they were freezing to death, in snow and the ice-cold showers

Defeat and retreat followed. The last verse finds the Red Army positioned along the borders of the Fatherland, with Ian Stuart bitterly concluding: ‘And still it sickens my heart to see the picture of the red flag in Berlin.’ Fitz was present when Ian wrote this historical masterpiece, which has since been covered by nationalist bands the world over.

‘Pride of a Nation’ is a rather poetic view of the Waffen-SS, the armed branch of the SS, an organ of the Nazi Party, with such lyrics:

                  A uniform of midnight with silver on their necks

                  Their honour was loyalty to join their Eastern trek

                  They fought against such massive odds, earning glory in the fields

                  But history tries to put them down for their loyalty won’t yield

The ‘uniform of midnight’ refers to the black parade dress worn by members of the General SS and Waffen-SS alike, the ‘silver on their necks’ refers to the collar insignia of SS runes and the origin of ‘their honour was loyalty’ is the SS motto ‘My honour is called loyalty.’ After the war the Waffen-SS was declared a criminal organisation and veterans faced arrest, imprisonment and denied the rights and benefits granted to other WWII German veterans.

Other songs concentrate on racial struggle, racial survival and the racial warrior ideal, typified by ‘White Warriors’:

                  Fighting in the city it’s a matter of life and death

                  It’s as easy as black and white, and you’ll fight ’til your last breath

                  They’ll try and tell you that nothing’s yours, but you’re white men and they are wrong

                  You are the warriors fighting for the people and you fight cos you are strong

                  And they’ll never, never beat the warriors

                  White warriors, white warriors

                  And they’ll never, never beat the warriors

                  White warriors, white warriors

                  If they would bother to take a look around they’d see the writing was on the wall

                  A lot of young people are waking up and answering the white man’s call

                  If they try to put us down and they don’t destroy us we’ll get strong

                  Their constant lies and harassment only helps to make us carry on

                  When the battle is over and the victory is won

                  And the white man’s lands are owned by true white people

                  The traitors will all be gone

Ian Stuart believed that the white race was in great danger and ‘that anyone who endangers our racial survival should be obviously executed for the good of the White race.’³⁸³⁸

Interview with Ian Stuart, Australian fanzine The Storm Troop no. 1, 1987.

The virtues of loyalty, honour, honesty, integrity, pride and self-sacrifice, the virtues of the race warrior, are evoked time and time again throughout the album. Indeed, according to Ian Stuart:³⁹³⁹ ‘We feel that these virtues are very important as recently we have come across certain people who consider them-selves to be political soldiers who wouldn’t recognise honesty or loyalty if they came and belted them in the mouth.’

Interview with Ian Stuart, Blood and Honour no. 1.

The album ends with a rather surprising, but improved reworking of ‘Built Up Knocked Down’ which had first appeared some eight years before. ‘The demand for this song at gigs prompted the band to do the song on record again, for the people who can’t get hold of the original,’ explained Skrewdriver News.⁴⁰⁴⁰

Skrewdriver News no. 3.

White Rider was very well-received and easily outsold all previous Skrewdriver releases, selling some 5,000 copies in the first six weeks after release.⁴¹⁴¹

Interestingly, one issue of The Order fanzine noted in the mid-’90s that Skrewdriver had sold over 87,000 copies of their White Rider album.

Hot on the heels of the White Rider album came the Boots and Braces album (catalogue number RRR 67) which comprised the two tracks from the ‘Back With a Bang’ 12″, the three tracks from the ‘Built Up, Knocked Down’ 7″ (1979), ‘Tearing Down the Walls’ from the No Surrender Volume One compilation LP and the two tracks from the United Skins compilation LP (1982).

A new label by the name of White Power Records, in fact another subsidiary label of Rock-O-Rama Records, released the Skrewdriver ‘Voice of Britain’ 12″ which comprised all the tracks from the White Power 7″, the ‘Voice of Britain’ 7″ and the ‘Invasion’ 7″, as well as ‘When the Boat Comes In’ from This is White Noise comp 7″. Harrington took exception to this release and threatened to take Rock-O-Rama Records to court because ‘these songs belonged to him.’ Defiantly, in ‘White Whispers,’ Ian Stuart stated ‘nothing of Skrewdriver belongs to you.’ This dispute came to nothing.

Vintage Skrewdriver patches

Perhaps of greater concern was the release of a Skrewdriver bootleg album titled We’ve Got the Power on Viking Records (catalogue number VIK 1), although Ian Stuart was well aware of it. Colin H. recalls: ‘I bought my copy of this bootleg album when it first appeared from a market stall called Trumps Records down Petticoat Lane market, not far from the Last Resort shop. Later that same day I met up with Ian Stuart in the railway pub in Liverpool Street station for a drink, asked him to autograph it, which he was happy to do.’

This bootleg album is a live recording of listenable quality and noteworthy for featuring an early version of ‘Strikeforce’ with the shouted warning of ‘Watch out nigger’ which never made it into the ‘official’ version of the song released on White Rider. The back cover features unnamed photographs of Ian Stuart, Martin Cross, Merv Shields and John Burnley, even though Mark Sutherland drummed on the live recording.

Viking Records planned a live Brutal Attack album called Rocking for Race and Nation, but it never quite happened. The name behind the shadowy Viking Records was the equally shadowy Gary Hitchcock, the former manager of the 4-Skins, who seemed to have a certain amount of influence within right-wing circles. Motivated by money, he was well aware of the financial gain the music business could bring. And more money was to be made from live recordings, which cut out expensive studio costs.

Skullhead — White Warrior LP

Finally, Skullhead’s debut album, White Warrior, saw the light of day on United Records (catalogue number SKULL 1), another Rock-O-Rama Records subsidiary label. Kev Turner would later reveal: ‘We had nothing to do with the record label name. It was probably a tax fiddle for Herbert, the horrible dodgy bastard who ripped us and everyone else off. The guy was impossible. I actually went over to Germany to meet him. He seemed genuine and promised the earth but it was all take, take, take…’ The line-up was Kev Turner on vocals, Spin Brown on bass, Tim Ward on guitar and Nick Shaw behind the kit. Kev Turner was reasonably pleased with the finished article. His only disappointment was the album’s cover ‘as it was not the one we had intended.’⁴²⁴²

Interview with Kev Turner of Skullhead, fanzine Unity no. 1.

Kev Turner recalls of recording the album: ‘White Warrior was recorded in a dingy studio in Newcastle. It was cold, damp and the sound technician was a miserable bastard. He was intelligent though and he tried to warn me about the dangers of racism. I should have taken more notice, but I grew up eventually.’

White Warrior is a spirited affair, but rather tuneless, lacking the punch and memorable choruses of their contemporaries. Besides the ‘stable diet’ of fighting the red plague and protesting against police harassment, the political message of this LP revolves around the white warrior, who is proud of his past and his cultural heritage, who wants to express his love for his race and his country, and who is not afraid to ‘fight the good fight,’ best exemplified by the lyrics of the title track:

                  The black man celebrates his heritage

                  The Jah warrior has his past and his pride

                  Expressing their love for their home country

                  If that’s the case, why can’t we?

                  But what about the warriors now at hand

                  Just like red Indians return to their land

                  But like true warriors they never die

                  They’re jumping from their graves and from their hearts they cry

                  We’re white!

                  We’re the white warriors!

                  White!

                  We’re back from the dead

                  Cos we’re white!

                  We’re the white warriors!

                  The European warriors

                  The white skinheads!

                  Pakistan, Indian and China man

                  Can all be happy and can all have fun

                  Proud of their past and their history

                  If that’s the case, why can’t we?

                  Standing proud we won’t go away

                  Cos we’re white warriors and we’re here to stay

                  Proud of their past and where we come from

                  And we’ll fight for that with a knife or a gun

Kev Turner felt a strong sense of injustice about the cultural double standard which permitted certain ethnic groups to openly express pride in their heritage:⁴³⁴³

Kev Turner, fanzine White Noise no. 8.

             Lately, I have taken a keen interest in a Black rap band called Public Enemy. I have read and listened to interviews with this band regarding their political outlook, and it strikes me that they have the same aims as us: the end of multi-racism and Zionism, and the beginning of national self-determination. They stand up and advocate Black Pride and are praised for it in some quarters by White liberal ‘do-gooders.’ Why is it that when I call for White pride I am automatically dubbed a racist and a Nazi by these same people? We have no argument with Black people who wish to express their pride in their heritage and their country, be it in Africa or Asia. All that we ask is that we be allowed to do the same by the Establishment without being cast in their role of society’s evil men.

White Warrior also portrays skinheads as the descendants of a proud white warrior race and ‘as the modern-day warriors fronting the fight for our people.’⁴⁴⁴⁴ ‘Politics of the Streets’ urges and reinforces ‘show them you’re proud to be a skinhead.’ Kev Turner was prepared to fight for what he believed in:⁴⁵⁴⁵ ‘I believe in the survival of the White race, our people, our heritage and culture. I don’t want to see it forgotten and everything given away, because our forefathers fought hard and died throughout history for what we should hold sacred at all costs.’

Interview with Kev Turner of Skullhead, fanzine White Revolution no. 2, 1988.

Interview with Kev Turner of Skullhead, fanzine Hammer of Thor no. 4.

‘Murdered by Scum,’ as previously discussed, addresses the brutal murder of skinhead Peter ‘Geordie’ Mathewson who Kev Turner once described as ‘a warrior in every sense of the word.’ One track which stands out lyrically above all others is ‘No One Cares,’ complete with the sound of machine-gun fire, which remembers the neglected war heroes, who find themselves as strangers in their own hometowns.

Kev Turner had mixed feelings about the album at the time:⁴⁶⁴⁶ ‘The LP took quite a while to put together. It is compiled of basically what is our old material, although there are a few new numbers on it. The band’s style changed slightly with our new guitarist, Tim Ward; most of the stuff on the album was written with Mick (The Prick) Johnson who did the best thing he could for the band by leaving. Mick was responsible for ‘Politics of the Streets,’ ‘Argentine Oppression,’ ‘British Pride’ and ‘We Don’t Trust.’ ‘White Warrior’ and ‘What’s Going On White Man’ were down to Tim. The album shows the band’s progression since 1984 so you could say a lot of time went into it.’ Nowadays, Kev Turner is much more critical of the album and admits: ‘The album was shit. “White Warrior” and “WW2” were probably the only tracks that made any sense, the rest of the album was bollox. I don’t have any vinyl now, especially not that shit.’

Interview with Kev Turner of Skullhead, fanzine English Rose, 1987.

Skullhead also had two singles scheduled for release which were recorded while Kev Turner was on bail. The first single, featuring ‘Support White Noise’ on the A-side and ‘Last Chance’ and ‘Gill Bridge Blues’ on the B-side, was due to be released in June-July. The second single with ‘Blame the Bosses’ on the A-side and ‘Green and Pleasant Land’ on the B-side was due to be released in November, which was later rescheduled for December-January. The two singles, however, were never released. There was also talk of a Skullhead/Brutal Attack split EP and a Skullhead songbook, covering all their published material, but they went the same way as the two singles. Over-promising and under-delivering became a recurrent theme across the whole of the nationalist skinhead scene.

Prime Suspects

The rough-sounding Prime Suspects demo was ‘released’ on cassette in 1987. The demo suffered from poor distribution. ‘We did have some tapes, but someone was selling them for us and they fucked up everything,’ explained Danny.⁴⁷⁴⁷ Titled ‘White Anglo Saxon Patriots,’ the demo tape featured five original compositions, title track ‘White Anglo Saxon Patriots,’ ‘Voice of Today,’ ‘Aids,’ ‘What We Gonna Do?’ and ‘Get Out,’ as well as two cover versions, ‘Belsen Was a Gas’ by the Sex Pistols and ‘Alternative’ by the Exploited. There was no particular reason for the inclusion of ‘Alternative.’ It was one of many covers they played at band practise. The band’s most popular number was ‘White Anglo Saxon Patriots,’ due in part to its impassioned, incendiary lyrics:

Interview with Danny of Prime Suspects, fanzine Short and Sharp no. 2.

                  This country soon will be on its knees

                  To the black man, from us they feed

                  We’ve had enough, can’t take no more

                  So come on skinheads let’s hear you roar

                  ’Cuz we’re white Anglo Saxon patriots

                  We’re white Anglo Saxon patriots

                  We’re white Anglo Saxon patriots

                  And we won’t take no more

                  What we want is to strike them down

                  One by one go through our towns

                  Liverpool, Bristol, Brixton too

                  Just white power through and through

                  Soon you’ll realise there’s only one way

                  Protect our shores from the scum we say

                  Niggers, Wops, Pakis, Jews

                  You’ve gotta get them or they’ll get you

Like British Standard, Vengeance and No Remorse, Prime Suspects were promised vinyl space on the forthcoming No Surrender Volume 3, but nothing came of it. Gordon remembers the recording being discussed, but thinks he did not want to do it, although Danny and Spike did. They hoped to release a single and again nothing came of it. The band broke up before they could be immortalised on vinyl. Other songs by Prime Suspects included: ‘Shoplifter,’ ‘Freedom,’ ‘Kamikaze Soldier,’ ‘Prime Suspect’ and ‘If We Lose.’

White Aggression

In 1987, more and more nationalist bands started to form. There was White Aggression from the Coalville area of Leicestershire, formed late September by Steve Jones and Spencer Liggett. Previously they had worked together in local Oi! band Guttersnipe Army, which had recently changed their name from British Born; Spencer Liggett, otherwise known as Spen, had played bass while Steve Jones, otherwise known as Jonesy, had helped write lyrics for the band. However, times change and so did Jonesy and Spen who now wanted to be in a nationalist band. Jonesy said of his journey from skinhead to Rock Against Communism, a journey well-trodden by others:⁴⁸⁴⁸ ‘I first became a skinhead when I was still at school. I think I was about 13 years old. At the time it was the in thing to be a skinhead, as it was the 2 Tone era, but the following few years saw the fashion side of things disappear, leaving only the die-hard skinheads behind. It was at this time that I started to get into Oi! and punk music, and also started to take an interest in right-wing politics. This led me to the Rock Against Communism scene.’

Interview with Jonesy of English Rose, magazine Resistance no. 6, 1996.

Jonesy became the vocalist and Spen the guitarist of White Aggression. David Blake, otherwise known as Blakey, was recruited to play drums. Jonesy had met him quite by chance: ‘I was doing some community service one day when I got talking to Blakey about bands and stuff and he said he played drums a little, so that was another band position filled, he was in.’⁴⁹⁴⁹ Dean joined on bass.

Interview with Jonesy, Blog Rock ’n’ Roll Savage.

All members of this new band cited the same musical influences: Skullhead, Skrewdriver, Brutal Attack, the 4-Skins, the Diehards, Cock Sparrer, Combat 84 and Last Resort amongst others. Nationalist politics were important to the band, which wanted ‘to spread the word of Nationalism and to help in its struggle.’ Jonesy confirmed: ‘If it wasn’t for politics there would be no White Aggression… Once we were skinheads with no political beliefs but you can’t stand blind and watch your country get destroyed by scum. You’ve got to get up and ‘fight’ and help to restore its pride once again.’

White Aggression had a number of songs to their name about nationalism and the skinhead way of life. In the words of Jonesy:

             Here’s some examples. ‘Forgotten Hero’ is about the brave men that gave their all for our country to then come home and to be left to rot, they’re just forgotten heroes. ‘Sound of White Noise’ is about the strength of White Noise and how we think it’s gonna rise and how no media lies or police oppression is gonna stop us. ‘Racial Harmony Never’ is about how thousands of scum come into our country, do we get a say ‘No’ and how they destroy our nation and the government turn a blind eye and watch our nation rot.

Written in 1987, the lyrics to ‘Racial Harmony Never’ are:

                  Shipped into Britain in the thousands do the British people get a say?

                  Spread across our great nation now the fuckers won’t go away

                  Invading our towns and our cities they’re taking over our British land

                  Don’t them take our country, come on white man make a stand

                  The time has come we’ve got to fight

                  Got to save Britain must keep it white

                  Black and white can’t live together

                  Racial harmony never

                  This is our land and what we say we’ve got to take it from these scum

                  Stop them while there’s a chance something has to be done

                  People preach black and white unite but we know it will never be

                  This is our land and what we want is a fucking white society

                  We have to watch the scum now destroying everything we’ve got

                  The government turn a blind eye and watch this country rot

                  Can’t they see that there has to be an end to this so-called racial harmony?

                  Repatriation is what we need and a fucking white society

On reading that a Swedish nationalist skinhead band had the same name, White Aggression changed their name to English Rose, a name Jonesy did not like at first, even though the rose is the emblem of England. Then again this was probably the least of his worries as he soon found himself in prison. He explained:⁵⁰⁵⁰

Interview with Jonesy, fanzine British Oi! no. 12.

             I was nicked one night by the old bill who I think had nothing better to do. To put it simple, two of us were nicked, the other skin [was] from out of town, we were put in a cell for the night after resisting arrest. When the morning came I wasn’t expecting to be charged for much really, but this wasn’t the case. I ended up with two charges of ABH and a wounding charge, the other skin wasn’t far behind me. We went to court and the old bill went for a remand on me, not the other skin. I was put up on remand for six and half months until my trial came up. I went up for my charge to find the wounding had changed to ABH and the other charges dropped. As it happens a Paki barrister who defended me decided not to say anything on my behalf as he thought silence was better.

Jonesy was sentenced to a prison term of 18 months. It did not dent his nationalist views. English Rose continued as a nationalist band, recruiting a new member, Mick. Jonesy recalls: ‘Mick was another local skin/ex-punk and he wanted in on guitar, so we said why not.’⁵¹⁵¹ Mick came in on lead guitar and Spen and Dean swapped round. In this way, the line-up of English Rose became Jonesy on vocals, Spen on bass, Mick on lead guitar, Dean on guitar, and Blakey on drums. The band practiced with Spen on vocals doing the best he could with lyrics supplied by Jonesy, who was released in October 1988 after serving some 12 months.

Ibid.

While not exactly a new band, Squadron from South East London reformed in October 1987 when new members John on vocals and Jim on guitar (who should not be confused with singer Jim Harwood from the original 1985 line-up) teamed up with Shok on bass and Rob on drums from the original line-up. More line-up changes followed. When John lost interest in the band and left Shok took over vocal duties. Brad was recruited on bass. This line-up played two gigs in 1988.⁵²⁵²

Squadron interview, fanzine Last Chance no. 1.

The Year’s End

On Friday, November 13, No Remorse played Clapham, South West London.

On Saturday, November 21, Brutal Attack and No Remorse played the Star, West Croydon, which was attended by some three hundred people. To the great delight of the audience, after No Remorse played, Skrewdriver did a guest spot of six songs, although one was played twice: ‘White Power,’ ‘Hail the New Dawn,’ ’46 Years,’ ‘Strike Force,’ ‘Free My Land’ and ‘White Power’ again. For ‘Free My Land,’ Ian Stuart was joined on stage by Ken McLellan of Brutal Attack and Paul Burnley of No Remorse. The bands were filmed by a Belgium television production company for a documentary on nationalism, which was screened in Belgium and Holland.

Days later, Skrewdriver, comprising Ian Stuart, Merv Shields, Martin Cross and John Burnley, ventured overseas to Sweden. Ian Stuart was angry at Martin Cross who turned up with a fiver in his pocket for the trip. On Sunday, November 29, Skrewdriver played a one-off gig in the capital Stockholm, supported by Dirlewanger, Agent Bulldog and Vit Aggression. The gig did not go ahead as planned: first the PA did not turn up and then the original venue was cancelled.

However, a small PA was acquired by nine o’clock, some two hours late, and so finally the gig could begin. Despite the terrible sound, all three support bands ‘gave polished well-received performances, especially Dirlewanger.’⁵³⁵³ Skrewdriver managed to power through eight songs before the police pulled the plugs. Nevertheless, the gig and indeed the whole trip was deemed a great success and left Skrewdriver wanting to return to Sweden in the future to play a well-organised gig.

Review, Blood and Honour no. 3, early 1988.

On Friday, December 4, Skullhead, Lionheart, Fatal Blow and Vengeance were due to play a White Noise concert in Oldham, but it was cancelled.⁵⁴⁵⁴ Lionheart would later describe this as fortunate.

Confirmed in an interview with Lionheart.

To round off the year, on Saturday, December 12, Skrewdriver, Brutal Attack and No Remorse played the St. Helier Arms, Carshalton.

Skrewdriver Happy New Year card for 1988 with a rather unique and refreshing use of a pint of beer and an odal rune

1. Interview with Paul Dunbar of Sudden Impact, fanzine British Oi! no. 3.

2. Review, fanzine Offensive Weapon no. 1.

3. Review, fanzine British Oi! no. 2, 1987.

4. Review, White Noise no. 2.

5. Interview with Paul Burnley of No Remorse, fanzine White Revolution no. 1.

6. Skrewdriver News n^o. 2.

7. Fanzine British Oi! no. 3.

8. Interview with Tom of Vengeance, Glory Days of the RAC blog.

9. Fanzine Pure Impact Skins no. 5.

10. Fanzine 14-UP no. 3, 1987.

11. Interview with Vengeance, White Noise no. 4.

12. Paul London, Nazi Rock Star, page 78.

13. Interview with Ken McLellan, Offensive Weapon no. 3.

14. Interview with Ken McLellan, fanzine Truth at Last no. 11.

15. Interview with Ken McLellan, Blood and Honour no. 2.

16. Ibid.

17. Interview with Kev Turner, fanzine Welsh Leak no. 1, circa 1987.

18. Interview, fanzine White Noise no. 8, February 1989.

19. Interview with Violent Storm, fanzine British Oi no. 8.

20. Paul London, Nazi Rock Star, page 86.

21. Paul London, Nazi Rock Star, page 78.

22. Interview with Mark, fanzine Offensive Weapon no. 2, 1987.

23. Fanzine, The Truth at Last no. 10.

24. Paul London, Nazi Rock Star, page 57. However, according to Skrewdriver News no. 3, Mark Sutherland left the band to ‘concentrate on mixing and engineering records, instead of playing on them.’

25. The complete first recording session for White Rider can be heard on the unofficial Skrewdriver 1st White Rider Studio Session ’87 CD.

26. ‘Ripping Yarns,’ National Front News no. 100.

27. Editorial, Blood and Honour no. 2.

28. Interview with Ian Stuart, fanzine Last Chance.

29. Interview with Ken McLellan, fanzine The Truth at Last no. 11.

30. ‘Far-Right youth forging links with ‘white-power’ music, The Independent, 16 September 1987.

31. Various locations have appeared as the venue for this concert, among them the Star, Croydon. According to Colin H, the venue was not The Star: ‘I went to gigs at the Star and the Ship in Croydon and it wasn’t there.’ The venue was definitely the St. Helier Arms. Also, Skrewdriver played the St. Helier Arms twice in quick succession, with no more than a couple of weeks separating the gigs. However, Eddie Stampton and many others are convinced the first of the two gigs was on a Thursday and the second was on a Saturday. A number of sources confirm that Skrewdriver, Brutal Attack, No Remorse and Sudden Impact definitely played the St. Helier Arms on Saturday, 5 September. Therefore, the possibility exists that Saturday 5 September was the second of the two gigs. If this is the case, then the date of the first gig remains unknown. If Saturday 5 September was the date of the first gig then the date of the second gig is unknown. The author has not seen flyers for either of the two gigs.

32. Chad thinks he may have attended the last RAC festival in Suffolk, which would have made it the first time he saw Skrewdriver.

33 Review, fanzine The Truth at Last no. 11, 1988.

34. Fanzine Offensive Weapon no. 2, 1987. Interestingly, the review dates the gig on Thursday, 15 October.

35 French fanzine Skinhead Pour L’Éternité no. 4, Sep-Oct 1987, announces the forthcoming concert with solely No Remorse, which strongly suggests Skrewdriver cancelled first. The author has assumed that No Remorse later cancelled because there is a distinct lack of coverage of them playing the concert.

36. According to two credible sources, ‘White Rider’ was going to feature 14 songs. The extra songs which did not make it onto the album were ‘The Road Goes On’ and ‘The Solution’ (interview with Ian Stuart in Australian fanzine The Storm Troop no. 1) or ‘Battle Cries,’ ‘No Surrender’ and ‘The Future is Ours’ (Skrewdriver News no. 1). Curiously, only ‘The Future is Ours’ appears on the list of ‘Songs Written For New L.P. to be entitled White Power.’

37. Skrewdriver News no. 3.

38. Interview with Ian Stuart, Australian fanzine The Storm Troop no. 1, 1987.

39. Interview with Ian Stuart, Blood and Honour no. 1.

40. Skrewdriver News no. 3.

41. Interestingly, one issue of The Order fanzine noted in the mid-’90s that Skrewdriver had sold over 87,000 copies of their White Rider album.

42. Interview with Kev Turner of Skullhead, fanzine Unity no. 1.

43. Kev Turner, fanzine White Noise no. 8.

44. Interview with Kev Turner of Skullhead, fanzine White Revolution no. 2, 1988.

45. Interview with Kev Turner of Skullhead, fanzine Hammer of Thor no. 4.

46. Interview with Kev Turner of Skullhead, fanzine English Rose, 1987.

47. Interview with Danny of Prime Suspects, fanzine Short and Sharp no. 2.

48. Interview with Jonesy of English Rose, magazine Resistance no. 6, 1996.

49. Interview with Jonesy, Blog Rock ’n’ Roll Savage.

50. Interview with Jonesy, fanzine British Oi! no. 12.

51. Ibid.

52. Squadron interview, fanzine Last Chance no. 1.

53. Review, Blood and Honour no. 3, early 1988.

54. Confirmed in an interview with Lionheart.