The Enemy are a punk rock band from

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

, England, who formed in 1980, releasing two albums.

History

The Enemy formed in early 1980 in their local

youth club A youth center or youth centre, often called youth club, is a place where young people can meet and participate in a variety of activities, for example table football, association football (US soccer, UK football), basketball, table tennis, vid ...

, with several changes of personnel before they stabilized the following year as Mark Woodhouse (vocals), Steve "Mez" Mellors (guitar), Steve O'Donnell (bass), and Mark Herrington (drums). They played their first gig at Woodlands Youth Centre, and landed a support slot on

Anti Pasti Anti-Pasti are a British punk rock band, founded by vocalist Martin Roper and guitarist Dugi Bell in 1978, featuring Kev Nixon on drums and Will Hoon on bass guitar. Later they were joined by a second guitarist, Ollie Hoon. Their first album ...

's gig in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

. They recorded their first single, "50,000 Dead" at Old Cottage Studios in Derby, releasing it on their own ''Tin Tin'' label. The single was quite successful and led to the band being signed to ''Fall Out'' Records, debuting on the label with "Fallen Hero" in May 1982, which reached number 44 in the

UK Indie Chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the rele ...

. "Fallen Hero", an anti-war song, was also included on the ''Punk and Disorderly volume 2'' compilation which reached the indie top 10. The band's third single was less successful, and Mellor was replaced by Kevin Lamb of local punk band Total Loss, who livened up the band's live performances. Debut album ''Gateway to Hell'' was issued in 1983 to much critical acclaim and respectable sales. Herrington left the band before the album was released, to be replaced by Dave Hill. The band toured around Britain in support of the album, but were dropped by Fall Out, and moved to the local ''Rot'' label (run by

Riot Squad Riot control measures are used by law enforcement, military, paramilitary or security forces to control, disperse, and arrest people who are involved in a riot, unlawful demonstration or unlawful protest. If a riot is spontaneous and irrati ...

's Dunk) for their next single, "Last But Not Least", which was followed by an album of the same name (now featuring a fifth member, lead guitarist Russell Maw), with tracks split between a live recording from The Bierkeller in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

and studio tracks recorded at Cargo Studios in

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

. The album turned out to be The Enemy's final release, with disappointing sales following the lack of support and funding from Rot together with musical differences prompted the band to call it a day in 1984. Drummer Dave Hill is still involved in music, having worked with

Apes, Pigs & Spacemen Apes, Pigs & Spacemen (a.k.a. AP&S) are a British rock band formed in Derby in 1993. History The band initially comprised Paul Miro (vocals), Kettle (guitar) aka Martin Chaisson, real name Martin Smith formerly of Waysted, UFO, If Only and no ...

Neil Finn Neil Mullane Finn (born 27 May 1958) is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and musician who is known for being a member of Crowded House, Split Enz (which he co-fronted with brother Tim), and Fleetwood Mac. Finn rose to prominence in the late ...

, and

Johnny Marr Johnny Marr (born John Martin Maher, 31 October 1963) is an English musician, songwriter and singer. He first achieved fame as the guitarist and co-songwriter of the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. He has since performed with numerous ...

, and as a member of Arnold. The band reformed in 2011, including original drummer Mark Herrington, playing a home town show in

on 30 June 2012 and at the 2012 Rebellion Punk Festival.

Discography

Singles

*"50,000 Dead" (1981) Tin Tin *"Fallen Hero" (1982) Fall Out (UK Indie No. 44) *"Punk's Alive" (1982) Fall Out *"Last Rites" (1982) Fall Out (UK Indie No. 31) *"Last But Not Least" (1983) Rot

Albums

*''Gateway to Hell'' (1983) Fall Out, reissued in expanded CD form on Captain Oi! in 1995 *''Last But Not Least'' (1984) Rot

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Enemy English punk rock groups Musical groups from Derby