"Hersham Boys" is a single released by English
punk rock band
Sham 69 in 1979 from their third studio album ''
The Adventures of the Hersham Boys
''The Adventures of the Hersham Boys'' is an album by punk band Sham 69, released in 1979. It's their most successful album to date, charting at #8 in the UK.
Reception
It was not universally well received, with David Hepworth describing i ...
''. It was the band's biggest and most well-known hit, peaking at number six on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
and at nine on the
Irish Singles Chart. This success was despite the song's poor review in pop magazine
Smash Hits; music journalist
David Hepworth described the song as "A tired, hollow effort struggling between weary attempts at rabble-rousing and blush-making pseudo-Springsteen 'street' songs that reek of desperation and contract fulfilling. As empty self-satisfied a record as anything they supposedly set out to replace".
[ Hepworth, David (1979) "SHAM 69: Hersham Boys", '' Smash Hits'', EMAP National Publications Ltd, 4–17 October 1979, p.29] The song is included on live and compilation albums. Two live tracks, "I Don't Wanna (live)" and "Tell Us The Truth (live)" appear as b-sides on this single, recorded in 1978. In the music video the sign that Pursey, the rest of Sham 69 and a young boy are sitting next to is the sign for
Hersham
Hersham is a village in Surrey, within the M25. Its housing is relatively low-rise and diverse and it has four technology/trading estates. The only contiguous settlement is Walton-on-Thames, its post town.
Hersham is served by Hersham and Wal ...
Road.
Track listing (7 inch)
;Side one
# "Hersham Boys" - 3:25
;Side two
# "I Don't Wanna (live)" - 2:06
# "Tell Us The Truth (live)" - 2:06
Track listing (12 inch)
;Side one
# "Hersham Boys (long version)" - 4:46
;Side two
# "I Don't Wanna (live)" - 2:06
# "Rip Off (Live)" - 2:43
# "I'm A Man, I'm A Boy (Live)" - 2:10
# "Tell Us The Truth (live)" - 2:06
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hersham Boys
1979 singles
1979 songs
Sham 69 songs
Polydor Records singles
Songs written by Dave Guy Parsons
Songs written by Jimmy Pursey