Chelsea are an English punk rock band which formed in 1976. Three of the four original band members went on to found

Generation X Generation X (or Gen X for short) is the Western demographic cohort following the baby boomers and preceding the millennials. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1960s as starting birth years and the late 1970s to early 1980s ...

. More than two decades after its release, the band's debut single, "Right to Work", was included in the ''

Mojo Mojo may refer to: *Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * MOJO HD, an American television network * ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film * '' ...

'' list of the best punk rock singles of all time.

History

Formation (1976)

The original line-up of the band was assembled in late 1976 by John Krivine and Steph Raynor, the owners of Acme Attractions, a fashion boutique shop in

King's Road King's Road or Kings Road (or sometimes the King's Road, especially when it was the king's private road until 1830, or as a colloquialism by middle/upper class London residents), is a major street stretching through Chelsea and Fulham, both ...

Chelsea, London Chelsea is an affluent area in west London, England, due south-west of Charing Cross by approximately 2.5 miles. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the south-western postal area. Chelsea histori ...

, comprising vocalist

Gene October Gene October is a British singer and songwriter who was a formative figure in London's punk rock movement in the late 1970s. Music career In 1976, October was involved in the creation of The Roxy when he suggested to the management of Chag ...

, guitarist William Broad (later and better known as

Billy Idol William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is a British-American singer, songwriter, and musician. He first achieved fame in the 1970s emerging from the London punk rock scene as the lead singer o ...

), bassist Tony James and drummer John Towe; James and Towe had previously been in

London SS The London SS is a British rock group founded in March 1975 by drummer Geir Wade, bassist John Brown, guitarist Mick Jones, and guitarist Eunan Brady (formerly of the Hollywood Brats). They later became associated with the then new punk rock s ...

. Raynor went on to establish the 'Boy' fashion label that became an icon of post punk British youth culture. After three support gigs playing cover versions of other bands' songs, Idol and James departed in November 1976, taking Towe with them, to form Generation X.

Early singles and ''Chelsea'' (1977-1979)

October then recruited Carey Fortune (drums), Martin Stacy (guitar) and Bob Jessie (bass), with the last two soon replaced by Henry Daze (

Henry Badowski Henry Badowski (born October 1958) is a British multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and composer, who was a member of several punk rock bands in the 1970s before embarking on a solo career. Career Badowski's apprenticeship started in several U ...

) and James Stevenson. ''Chelsea's'' first single, "Right to Work", was released in June 1977 by Step-Forward Records. Recorded by the October/Fortune/Daze/Stevenson line-up of the band, it was their most popular song, and also appeared on the soundtrack album (issued in 1978 by

Polydor Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United State ...

) to the 1977

Derek Jarman Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman (31 January 1942 – 19 February 1994) was an English artist, film maker, costume designer, stage designer, writer, gardener and gay rights activist. Biography Jarman was born at the Royal Victoria Nursing Home ...

film ''

Jubilee A jubilee is a particular anniversary of an event, usually denoting the 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, and the 70th anniversary. The term is often now used to denote the celebrations associated with the reign of a monarch after a milestone number of y ...

'' (which October had appeared in). Simon Cade Williams, aka Simon Vitesse, joined the band as bassist in 1977 for a UK tour and the band's second single, "High Rise Living". This rapid turnover of band members was characteristic throughout Chelsea's existence, with October the only constant presence. Nic Austin of Chelsea onstage 2015

On 25 August 1978 the band released another single, "Urban Kids", which was co-written by October and

Alternative TV Alternative TV (sometimes known as ATV) are an English band formed in London in 1977. Author Steve Taylor writes: "Alternative TV pioneered reggae rhythms in punk and then moved on to redefine the musical rules". History Alternative TV were fo ...

and produced by ex- Who manager Kit Lambert. After spending 1977–78 touring in the UK and overseas, they released their first album, ''

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 ...

'', in 1979. A singles compilation, ''

Alternative Hits ''Alternative Hits'' is an album by British punk rock band Chelsea. Since all the album's tracks had been previously released as singles except "Come On". ''Alternative Hits'' is regarded as a compilation album. Songs include a version of the ...

'', was released in 1980; it was also issued in the U.S. by

I.R.S. Records I.R.S. Records was an American record label founded by Miles Copeland III, Jay Boberg, and Carl Grasso in 1979. I.R.S. produced some of the most popular bands of the 1980s, and was particularly known for issuing records by college rock, new wave ...

, retitled ''No Escape''.

New line-ups, ''Evacuate'' and later albums (1982-present)

After a split, October put together a new line-up, including guitarist Nic Austin, which recorded the critically acclaimed second album ''Evacuate'' (1982). October sporadically released albums with various Chelsea line-ups throughout the 1980s, including ''Original Sinners'', ''Rocks Off'' and ''Underwraps' ''in which the band were joined by Clash drummer Nicky 'Topper' Headon on a cover of The Clash's song "Somebody Got Murdered"'' '. In the early 1990s, a line-up featuring the returning Austin and new bassist Mat Sargent released ''The Alternative'' (1993) and ''Traitors Gate'' (1994) albums. In 1999, the line-up from the first album, including Stevenson, reformed for the Social Chaos Tour across North America. A live album, ''Metallic F.O.: Live at CBGB's'' (released 2002), was recorded at

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for '' Country'', '' BlueGrass'', and '' Blues'', Kri ...

in New York City during this tour. Augmented by

Buzzcocks Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band formed in Bolton, England in 1976 by singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto. They are regarded as a seminal influence on the Manchester music scene, the indepen ...

bassist Tony Barber, the band released ''Faster, Cheaper and Better Looking'' in 2005. Austin and Sargent returned in 2011, and this line-up released the album ''Saturday Night Sunday Morning'' in 2015. The ''Mission Impossible'' album followed in 2017. Both albums were recorded at Panther Studios in Surrey and produced by Dick Crippen of Tenpole Tudor,

King Kurt King Kurt are a rock-n-roll band from the UK. They formed in 1981 and split up in 1988, although they have reformed sporadically and played a reunion concert in 2010. They are best known for their hit single, "Destination Zululand" (1983). Fo ...

and The Weird Things. May 2021 saw the release of Chelsea’s 12th studio album ''Meanwhile Gardens'' on Westworld Records. The long-standing line up of October, Austin and Sargent was joined by drummer Steve Grainger and featured guest performances from past band members Martin Stacey, James Stevenson, Bob Jesse and Rob Miller. The album was recorded at Panther Studios in between the 2020 COVID lockdowns with Dick Crippen producing.

Discography

Studio albums

*''

'' (1979, Step-Forward) *''Alternative Hits'' (1979, Step-Forward) *'' Evacuate'' (1982, Step-Forward) *''Original Sinners'' (1985, Communiqué) *''Rocks Off'' (1986,

Jungle A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''ja� ...

) *''Underwraps'' (1989, I.R.S.) *''The Alternative'' (1993, Alter Ego) *''Traitors Gate'' (1994, Weser) *''Faster, Cheaper and Better'' ''Looking'' (2005,

Captain Oi! Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

) *''Saturday Night Sunday Morning'' (2015, Westworld) *''Mission Impossible'' (2017, Westworld) *''Meanwhile Gardens'' (2021, Westworld) *''Radio Active Tapes'' (2022, Gutterwail)

Live albums

*''Live and Well'' (1984, Picasso) *''Metallic F.O.: Live at CBGB's'' (2002, Red Steel) *''Live at the Music Machine 1978'' (2005, Released Emotions) *''Live and Loud'' (2005, Harry May)

Compilation albums

*''

'' (1980, Step-Forward) released as ''No Escape'' in USA (1980, I.R.S.) *''Just for the Record'' (1983, Step-Forward) *''Back Trax'' (1988, Illegal) *''Unreleased Stuff'' (1989,

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay pa ...

) *''Fools and Soldiers'' (1997, Receiver) *''The Punk Singles Collection 1977-82'' (1998, Captain Oi!) *''Punk Rock Rarities'' (1999, Captain Oi!) *''The BBC Punk Sessions'' (2001, Captain Oi!) *''Urban Kids - A Punk Rock Anthology'' (2004,

Castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

) *''Right to Work - The Singles'' (2015, Let Them Eat Vinyl) *''Anthologies 1,2 and 3'' (2016, Westworld)

Singles

*"Right to Work" (1977, Step-Forward) *"High Rise Living" (1977, Step-Forward) *"Urban Kids" (1978, Step-Forward) *"Decide" (1979, Step-Forward/I.R.S.) *"No-One's Coming Outside" (1980, Step-Forward) *"Look at the Outside" (1980, Step-Forward) *"No Escape" (1980, Step-Forward) *"Rockin' Horse" (1981, Step-Forward) *"Freemans" (1981, Step-Forward) *"Evacuate" (1981, Step-Forward) *"War Across the Nation" (1982, Step-Forward) *"Stand Out" (1982, Step-Forward) *"Valium Mother" (1985, Communiqué) *"Shine the Light" (1986, Communiqué) *"Give Me More" (1986, self-released) *"We Dare" (1994, Weser) *"Sod the War" (2007, TKO) *”Ca$h” (2021, Westworld)

Compilation appearances

*"Right to Work" on ''

'' (1978,

)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chelsea Musical groups from London English punk rock groups Musical groups established in 1976 1976 establishments in England