Combat 84 were an English punk rock band active during the early 1980s. Formed in 1981 in

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, London by

skinhead A skinhead is a member of a subculture which originated among working class youths in London, England, in the 1960s and soon spread to other parts of the United Kingdom, with a second working class skinhead movement emerging worldwide in th ...

s 'Chubby' Chris Henderson and 'Deptford' John Armitage, Combat 84 rose to national prominence after being featured in a controversial 1982 BBC ''

Arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

'' documentary about the skinhead movement.

Career

The band was originally composed of Chris Henderson (vocals), 'Deptford' John Armitage (bass guitar), Jim (guitar) and Brownie (drums) and played their first gig supporting The Last Resort at the Walmer Castle,

Peckham Peckham () is a district in southeast London, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is south-east of Charing Cross. At the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 Census the Peckham ward had a population of 14,720. History "Peckham" is a Saxon p ...

. The Last Resort's lead singer, Roi Pearce (later of

The 4-Skins The 4-Skins are an English working-class Oi! band from the East End of London, England. Originally composed of Gary Hodges (vocals), 'Hoxton' Tom McCourt (guitar), Steve 'H' Hamer ( bass) and John Jacobs ( drums), the group was formed in 19 ...

) liked the band and agreed to produce a two-song demo tape with them. These sessions resulted in the songs "Soldier" and "Combat 84", which were favourably received in the music press, leading to the band being described as 'the new

Sham 69 Sham 69 are an English punk rock band that formed in Hersham in Surrey in 1975. They were one of the most successful punk bands in the United Kingdom, achieving five top 20 singles, including "If the Kids Are United" and "Hurry Up Harry". The ...

'. In 1982, the manager of

, Gary Hitchcock attempted to get the band signed to Secret Records, then home to The 4-Skins, The Business, Infa Riot and

The Exploited The Exploited are a Scottish punk rock band from Edinburgh, formed in 1979 by Stevie Ross and Terry Buchan, with Buchan soon replaced by his brother Wattie Buchan. They signed to Secret Records in March 1981,EP. Former Business drummer John Fisher replaced Brownie for the recording of the second (1983) EP, ''Rapist''. More

right Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of Liberty, freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convent ...

-leaning, lyrically than many of their punk rock and

Oi! Oi! is a subgenre of punk rock that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The music and its associated subculture had the goal of bringing together punks, skinheads, and other disaffected working-class youth. The movement was ...

peers, Combat 84 received much criticism for recording a song that advocated capital punishment for rapists ("Rapist"), and a song that supported nuclear weapons and criticised the

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is an organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nucle ...

(CND) and ''

reds Reds may refer to: General * Red (political adjective), supporters of Communism or socialism * Reds (January Uprising), a faction of the Polish insurrectionists during the January Uprising in 1863 * USSR (or, to a lesser extent, China) during th ...

'' ("Right to Choose"). Guitarist Jim stated in a 2000 interview that the latter song was intended in a

tongue-in-cheek The idiom tongue-in-cheek refers to a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner. History The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning. Early users of the phrase include Sir Walter Scott ...

manner, and as a homage to

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

movies. The song ''Politically Incorrect'' attacked several targets, including beggars, foreign aid, the Guardian, lesbians and women's liberation. Other lyrical themes included unemployment, inner-city violence, war, and slavish followers of fashion. Controversy erupted around the band after they were featured in a 1982 BBC ''Arena'' documentary, during which Henderson alleged that the police were tougher on White skinheads than they were on Black rioters, said that "there will never be racial harmony" and blamed the Asians for the 1981 Southall riot, during which the band were attacked inside a gig venue. Deptford John briefly made some comments in agreement with Henderson over the riots but, in a later part of the documentary, he said that skinheads should be able to empathise with Blacks when they are denied jobs or entrance to venues, and should remember that, whereas skinheads can change how they look, Blacks cannot change their skin colour. Footage of crowd violence at a gig in Harlow was broadcast at the end of the documentary. This led to the break-up of the band, as their newly earned bad reputation discouraged venues from booking the band. Gigs were then often played under the pseudonym The 7th Cavalry to avoid the stigma of the Combat 84 name. Victory Records, wanting little to do with the band at this point, compiled an album of studio recordings (intended for the band's debut album) and bootleg-quality live tracks and licensed it to German label Rock-O-Rama Records for release as ''Send in the Marines'' in 1984. The record was disowned by the band, which split up soon after. In the intervening years, Combat 84 were frequently labelled as a

neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...

white power White pride and white power are expressions primarily used by white separatist, white nationalist, fascist, neo-Nazi and white supremacist organizations in order to signal racist or racialist viewpoints. It is also a slogan used by the prominen ...

Rock Against Communism Rock Against Communism (RAC) was the name of white power rock concerts in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and has since become the catch-all term for music with racist lyrics as well as a specific genre of rock music derived ...

(RAC) band, a charge which has been denied by 'Deptford' John and Jim, noting that the band's songs contained no racist lyrics, nor were they ever aligned with any far-right political party. The band's reputation was made worse by the similarity in name to a neo-Nazi group called

Combat 18 Combat 18 (C18 or 318) is a neo-Nazi terrorist organisation that was founded in 1992. It originated in the United Kingdom, with ties to movements in Canada and the United States. Since then it has spread to other countries, including Germany. ...

. 'Deptford' John was able to retain a career by joining

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

'' and that the band adhered to the philosophy of

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...

Aftermath and reunion

'Deptford' John and Jim went on to

roadie The road crew (or roadies) are the technicians or support personnel who travel with a band on tour, usually in sleeper buses, and handle every part of the concert productions except actually performing the music with the musicians. This catc ...

for and play with the

UK Subs U.K. Subs are an English punk rock band, among the earliest in the first wave of British punk. Formed in 1976, the mainstay of the band has been vocalist Charlie Harper, originally a singer in Britain's R&B scene. They were also one of the f ...

and

The Exploited The Exploited are a Scottish punk rock band from Edinburgh, formed in 1979 by Stevie Ross and Terry Buchan, with Buchan soon replaced by his brother Wattie Buchan. They signed to Secret Records in March 1981,football hooliganism Football hooliganism, also known as soccer hooliganism, football rioting or soccer rioting, constitutes violence and other destructive behaviours perpetrated by spectators at association football events. Football hooliganism normally involves ...

, and eventually led the

Chelsea Headhunters The Chelsea Headhunters are a notorious English football hooligan firm linked to the London football club Chelsea. Background There is widespread racism amongst the gang and links to various white supremacist organisations, such as Combat 18 ...

(a group which itself, ironically, has links to organizations such as Combat 18) in the mid-to-late 1980s, writing the book ''Who Wants it?'' (with Colin Ward) about his experiences. He owned a bar in Pattay,

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

and died on 31 October 2013. In 2000, the band reformed without Henderson for the release of the ''Tooled Up'' EP, released on their own 7th Cavalry record label. 'Deptford' John took over vocal duties, with Jim on guitar, and F.T. and Suds on bass and drums respectively.

Discography

Albums

*''Send in the Marines'' (1984) * ''Death Or Glory'' (1987, with The Last Resort) *''Charge of the 7th Cavalry'' (1989) (posthumous live album, released on Step-1 Records) *''Orders of the Day'' (2000) (posthumous collection containing all studio recordings, released on Step-1 Records)

EPs

*''Orders of the Day'' (1982) *''Rapist'' (1983) *''Tooled Up'' (2000)

References

{{Authority control English punk rock groups Musical groups from London Oi! groups Musical groups established in 1981 Musical groups disestablished in 1984 Musical groups reestablished in 2000 Musical quartets