Oi!
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Oi! is a sub-genre of punk rock that sought to align punk with a working-class "street level" following, originating in the United Kingdom. It began in the latter part of the 1970s, fusing the styles of early punk bands such as The Clash and the Ramones; early British rock like the Rolling Stones and The Who; football chants; pub rock like the 101ers and Eddie and the Hot Rods; and glam rock bands like Slade and Sweet.
The music was seen as promoting unity between punks, skinheads and other working class youths. Originally, the style was called "streetpunk" or "reality-punk." It wasn't until the early 1980s that music journalist Garry Bushell labeled the movement Oi!, supposedly derived from the Cockney Rejects song Oi! Oi! Oi!.
The first Oi! bands included Cock Sparrer, the Cockney Rejects, Angelic Upstarts, and Sham 69, although some of them were around for years before the word Oi! was used to describe their style of music. They were followed by bands like The Business, Abrasive Wheels, The Last Resort, The 4-Skins, Combat 84, Condemned 84, Infa-Riot, The Blood, The Oppressed and Anti-Heros.
Because some skinheads were recruited by racist organizations such as the National Front, some histories of rock music dismiss Oi! as racist. However, none of the original streetpunk bands promoted racism, and some, such as the Angelic Upstarts, were associated with the left wing and anti-racist campaigns. One exception is Skrewdriver. The band's early material is often considered Oi!, but by the mid-1980s Skrewdriver was leading a neo-Nazi rock scene, distancing itself from Oi! and preferring the term Rock Against Communism. Apart from Ian Stuart Donaldson, the band had a different lineup than in the late 1970s, and members of the first incarnation of Skrewdriver have stated they do not wish to be associated with Donaldson's racist views.
The mainstream media associated Oi! with far right politics following a concert by The Business, The Last Resort and The 4-Skins on July 4, 1981 at the Hamborough Tavern in Southall. Asian youths firebombed the tavern, believing the concert was a neo-Nazi gathering.
In the aftermath, many Oi! bands condemned racism and fascism, but these denials were met with cynicism from some quarters following the release of the Strength Thru Oi compilation album. Not only was its title a play on a Nazi slogan (Strength Through Joy) but the cover featured Nicky Crane, a British Movement activist who was serving a four year prison sentence for racist violence. Garry Bushell, who was responsible for compiling the album, claimed its title was a pun on The Skids album Strength Through Joy. He also denied knowing the identity of the skinhead on the album's cover until it was exposed by the Daily Mail two months later. Bushell, who was a socialist at the time, noted the irony of being branded a far-right activist by a paper who "had once supported Oswald Mosley's Blackshirts, Mussolini's invasion of Abyssinia, and appeasement with Hitler right up to the outbreak of World War Two."
The Oi! movement soon began to lose momentum in the UK, but Oi! scenes were forming in continental Europe, Japan, and North America. In the United States, the Oi! phenomenon was mirrored by the Hardcore explosion of the early 1980s, especially by bands such as Agnostic Front, Iron Cross,and S.S. Decontrol. Although similar in spirit and influence to Oi! (particularly in the earlier stages), Hardcore expounded itself in an American middle class (rather than working class) fashion as its influences spread. In the mid-1990s, a revival of interest in Oi! music began, with new bands emerging and older bands receiving more recognition. With this revival came a further concerted effort to distance Oi! from racism.
More recent Oi! bands include The Templars, Oxblood, Wretched Ones, Those Unknown, Nuts and Bolts, The Bruisers, Discipline, Retaliator, The Lager Lads, Oxymoron and Hard Skin.
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