The Blood are an English,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

-based punk rock band, formed in 1982. Led by Cardinal Jesus Hate and JJ Bedsore (AKA Colin Smith and Jamie Cantwell), the band formed in the early 1980s under the name "Coming Blood". Their music is a blend of

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier p ...

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 ...

, heavy metal,

football chant A football chant or terrace chant is form of vocalisation performed by supporters of association football, typically during football matches. Football chanting is an expression of collective identity, most often used by fans to express their ...

s and shock rock. Many of their songs criticize

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

or discuss political or philosophical topics.

Career

Their first single, "Megalomania", ridiculed the

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

. Doctor Wild Thing played drums on 'Megalomania'. Their second single release "Stark Raving Normal" (a double A side with Mesrine) criticized one-dimensional patriotism,

apathy Apathy is a lack of feeling, emotion, interest, or concern about something. It is a state of indifference, or the suppression of emotions such as concern, excitement, motivation, or passion. An apathetic individual has an absence of intere ...

and mediocrity. The Cardinal calls himself a punk

secular humanist Secular humanism is a philosophy, belief system or life stance that embraces human reason, secular ethics, and philosophical naturalism while specifically rejecting religious dogma, supernaturalism, and superstition as the basis of morality ...

. Their first album, '' False Gestures for a Devious Public'' featuring Evo (ex Angelic Upstarts, Warfare & Major Accident) on drums (1983), hit the UK top 30 and was voted one of the year's best releases by

Sounds In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...

magazine. They used to be managed by

Garry Bushell Garry Bushell (born 13 May 1955) is an English newspaper columnist, rock music journalist, television presenter, author, musician and political activist. Bushell also sings in the Cockney Oi! bands GBX and the Gonads. He managed the New York C ...

, and their song "Such Fun" was on the Oi! compilation album ''Oi! Oi! That's Yer Lot!.'' The album also included the song ' Mesrine' which was an anthem about the French iconoclastic gangster

Jacques Mesrine Jacques Mesrine (; 28 December 1936 – 2 November 1979) was a French criminal responsible for numerous murders, bank robberies, burglaries, and kidnappings in France, the US, and Canada. Mesrine repeatedly escaped from prison and made ...

. 'Mesrine' was released in 1983 which preceded the release of the film of the same name that was made in 1984. J.J. Bedsore died in 2004 of multiple organ failure due to years of chronic alcoholism. On 10 December 2006, (International

Human Rights Day Human Rights Day is celebrated annually around the world on 10 December every year. The date was chosen to honor the United Nations General Assembly's adoption and proclamation, on 10 December 1948, of the Universal Declaration of Human Right ...

) The Blood was reformed by the Cardinal and some of his friends to release the song, "Kill The Pimps", on the Eyeline Productions

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

. The song criticizes governments that turn a blind eye to human trafficking. On 11 September 2007, The Blood released their first acoustic DVD, ''Samurai Lullaby'', on the Eyeline Productions

. The film footage on this DVD is taken from the tragedy of 9/11. On 1 June 2008, The Blood released an acoustic CD album ''punk@theopera''. The concept album reveals the voyage of two young people who struggle to free themselves from human-trafficking pimps and a tyrannical religious cult. In 2010, The Blood's latest work came out, a self-penned album, by The Cardinal, ''@thebodysnatchersball''. On 8 June 2012, The Blood is reformed by The Cardinal, Chema Zurita a.k.a. 'Sonic Offender' and Jesus Ruiz. The new Spanish members of The Blood both grew up in the same town in Alicante. Chema Zurita also being a regular bass player with the Uk Subs. In December 2012 and throughout 2013 the band toured the East and West coast of US, Canada, France, Spain, and Japan bringing the early years anthems back to life as a tribute to The Cardinal and JJ Bedsore's work. In March 2014, The Blood released "Chorus of Legends", an anthem composed for the World Cup in Brazil 2014. In August 2016, The Cardinal published ''Vagabond Vendetta'', an autobiographical fantasy which is set in the Republic of

Frestonia Frestonia was the name adopted by the residents of Freston Road, London, when they attempted to secede from the United Kingdom in 1977 to form the Free and Independent Republic of Frestonia. The residents were squatters, many of whom eventual ...

. In chapter eleven of the novel The Cardinal executes Jimmy Savile,

Rolf Harris Rolf Harris (born 30 March 1930) is an Australian entertainer whose career has encompassed work as a musician, singer-songwriter, composer, comedian, actor, painter and television personality. He often used unusual instruments in his performan ...

and Stuart Hall based on the historic evidence that Sex Pistol,

Johnny Rotten John Joseph Lydon (; born 31 January 1956), also known by his former stage name Johnny Rotten, is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer of the late-1970s punk band the Sex Pistols, which lasted from 1975 until 1978, and aga ...

gave to the BBC in 1978.

Band members

1983

*Cardinal Jesus Hate - vocals *JJ Bedsore - guitar *Muttley - bass *Frankie Flame - Keyboards *Evo - Drums

1985

*Cardinal Jesus Hate - vocals *JJ Bedsore - guitar *Micky James - Bass *Mark Mitchell - Drums *Phil Butcher Taylor - Keyboards

1995

*JJ Bedsore - Lead Vocals, Guitar *Gaz - Lead Vocals, Bass *Gareth a.k.a. Elvis Christ - Guitar, Backing Vocals *Shane Atlas - Drums *Cardinal Smith - vocals on studio track "You Kill My Head Out"

1996

*JJ Bedsore - Lead Vocals, Guitar *Gaz - Lead Vocals, Bass *Gareth a.k.a. Elvis Christ - Guitar, Backing Vocals *Mark Hannan/Blitz/Shane Atlas - Drums

1999

*JJ Bedsore - Lead Vocals, Guitar *Gaz - Lead Vocals, Bass *Gareth a.k.a. Elvis Christ - Guitar, Backing Vocals *Brad Sims - Drums

2006

*The Cardinal - Lead Vocals, Guitar *Richard "Orible" Hogben - Drums *Monty-Mutent The Merciful - Vocals, Keyboards *Dave Shit - Bass

2007

*The Cardinal - Lead Vocals, Guitar *The Hammond Summers - Hammond Organ, Piano, Accordion *Nick Pilton - Backing Vocals

2012

*The Cardinal - Lead Vocals *JeSus the Atheist - Guitar / Vocals *Eve of Destruction - Vocals / Keyboard *Sonic Offender - Bass *Pablo Veliz - Drums

Discography

Chart placings shown are from 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 rel ...

Albums

*'' False Gestures for a Devious Public'' (1983), Noise - No. 5 (reissued 2005, Captain Oi!) *''Se Parare Nex'' (1985) *''Smell Yourself''(1995) (CD, LP and single, Blind Beggar) *''Spillage'' (1998) (CD, SolidInc) *''Split Live (w/ Dizzy Dizzy)'' (recorded 1999, released 2004) (CD, DSI Records) *''punk@theopera'' (2008) - self-penned CD by the Cardinal *''@thebodysnatchersball'' (2010)

Singles and EPs

*''Megalomania'' EP (1983) - No. 6 *"Stark Raving Normal" (1983) - No. 20 *''Fabulous as Usual'' EP (1996) *"Boots" (1997) *"Kill the Pimps"

Compilation appearances

*"Such Fun" (on ''Oi! Oi! That's Yer Lot'') *"Stark Raving Normal" (on ''Oi Fuckin' Oi'') *"Incubus" (on ''Metal Inferno'')

References

External links

The BloodThe Blood tribute websiteArticle about The BloodHistory of Oi! that mentions The BloodThe Blood Interview
Punk & Oi in the UK {{DEFAULTSORT:Blood, The English punk rock groups English indie rock groups Musical groups from London Oi! groups Media and communications in the Royal Borough of Greenwich