O' Level were a British

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

and

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

band, founded in 1976 by Ed Ball with friends John and Gerard Bennett. The group's name refers to the 'O'-Level of the British

General Certificate of Education The General Certificate of Education (GCE) is a subject-specific family of academic qualifications used in awarding bodies in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Crown dependencies and a few Commonwealth countries. For some time, the Scottish ed ...

History

Along with the early

Television Personalities The Television Personalities are an English post-punk band formed in 1977 by London singer-songwriter Dan Treacy.Earp, Joseph.The Missing Man Of Music: A Search For The Elusive Dan Treacy Of Television Personalities. ''The Brag'', 26 July 2016 ...

, 'O' Level's singles are synonymous with a late 1970s

DIY "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and semi ...

-indie sound that emanated from

West London West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary. The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: North London ...

, mostly because the personnel of both bands were almost identical. Fuelled by

and the early

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...

, 'O' Level was formed in 1976 by Ed Ball with friends from the

London Oratory School The London Oratory School, also known as "The Oratory" or "The London Oratory" to distinguish it from other schools, is a Catholic Church, Catholic Secondary school#United Kingdom, secondary school for boys aged 7–18 and girls aged 16–18 in W ...

, John and Gerard Bennett, on drums and bass guitar respectively. Together they played the usual round of school discos and youth centres, until fellow school chum and sixties enthusiast Daniel Treacy invited Edward to join him in the studio to record a single. Just to be on the safe side, Edward brought John and Gerard as well, resulting in the TV Personalities single, "14th Floor". The following week, Ball, the Bennetts and friend Richard Scully recorded "Pseudo Punk", "O Levels" and "East Sheen" as ‘O' Level, released in November 1977. It took Treacy longer to raise the pre-requisite funds to press "14th floor", which was finally released in 1978. In March of that year, John and Gerard Bennett started their own band Reacta, leaving Ball with the name ‘O' Level. Exactly one year after their debut recording sessions, Daniel and Edward returned to the studio, this time to create the breakthrough ''Where's Bill Grundy Now'' EP as the TV Personalities, featuring the song "Part Time Punks" (in which 'O' Level are mentioned). The following week, Ball went back to record – this time by himself – a second and final ‘O' Level single, ''The Malcolm McLaren Lifestory'' EP, featuring "We Love Malcolm". Both EPs appeared in late 1978. From here, it was just a name change to the Teenage Filmstars and invitations to Daniel Treacy and Joseph Foster.

Discography

Singles and EPs

* ''

East Sheen East Sheen, also known as Sheen, is a suburb in south-west London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its long high street has shops, offices, restaurants, cafés, pubs and suburban supermarkets and is also the economic hub for Mort ...

''
("East Sheen" / "Pseudo Punk" 7" Psycho Records (PSYCHO 1) 1978) * ''The Malcolm McLaren Life Story EP''
("We Love Malcolm" / "Leave Me" / "Everybody's On Revolver Tonight" / "Stairway To Boredom" – 7" Kings Road Records (KR 002) 1978)

Compilations

* ''1977 – 1980 A Day in the Life of Gilbert and George'' CD Rev-Ola (CREV 005CD) 1992 "(There's A) Cloud Over Liverpool" / "I Helped Patrick McGoohan Escape" / "The Odd Man Out" / "I Apologise" / "We're Not Sorry" / "Sometimes Good Guys Don't Follow Trends" / "Storybook Beginnings" / "The Sun Never Sets" / "Dressing Up For The Cameras" / "He's A Professional" / "The John Peel March" / "East Sheen Revisited" / "Pseudo Punk" / "O Levels" / "We Love Malcolm" / "Leave Me" / "Everybody's On Revolver Tonight" / "Stairway To Boredom" / "Many Unhappy Returns" / "I Love To Clean My Polaris Missile" / "Don't Play God With My Life" / "East Sheen"

References

External links