The Drones are an English punk rock band from

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, England. For a period of time, the band were in their early days produced and managed by

Paul Morley Paul Robert Morley is an English music journalist. He wrote for the ''New Musical Express'' from 1977 to 1983 and has since written for a wide range of publications as well as writing his own books. He was a co-founder of the record label ZTT Re ...

. One critic wrote: "Bonafide DIY three-chord wonders, the Drones were there at punk's inception." The Drones were reformed at the beginning of 2016 by original members Gus & Wispa. Gus subsequently retired due to ill health, and the current line up is Steve (Wispa) Cundall on bass and vocals, Brian ( Mad Muffet) Grantham on drums, and Al (Angus) Crosby on lead guitar.

Career

Formed in Manchester in 1975, the band started out as a pub rock outfit called Rockslide and released a single called "Roller Coaster". When this failed to make an impact, they reinvented themselves as a punk rock band. In 1976, The Drones made their debut at the Houldsworth Hall, Manchester with

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

as support. Most bands in the thriving Manchester punk scene stayed in the city, but The Drones relocated to London. They became one of the pioneering punk bands that performed in the first few months of the now-legendary Roxy Club. They supported

The Vibrators The Vibrators are a British punk rock band that formed in 1976. Early career The Vibrators were founded by Ian ' Knox' Carnochan, bassist Pat Collier, guitarist John Ellis, and drummer John 'Eddie' Edwards. They first came to public notice ...

in January 1977, headlined in February, and supported

X-Ray Spex X-Ray Spex were an English punk rock band formed in 1976 in London. During their first incarnation (1976–1979), X-Ray Spex released five singles and one album. Their 1977 single " Oh Bondage Up Yours!" and 1978 debut album '' Germfree Adol ...

and

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 March. Later that year they supported

The Stranglers The Stranglers are an English rock band who emerged via the punk rock scene. Scoring 23 UK top 40 singles and 19 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are one of the longest-surviving bands to have origina ...

on tour. The band appeared on two influential early punk compilation albums ''

Streets Streets is the plural of street, a type of road. Streets or The Streets may also refer to: Music * Streets (band), a rock band fronted by Kansas vocalist Steve Walsh * ''Streets'' (punk album), a 1977 compilation album of various early UK punk ba ...

'' and '' Short Circuit: Live at the Electric Circus''. The band's debut EP, ''Temptations Of A White Collar Worker'' (1977), was described by one reviewer as "classic dole-queue punk." In October 1977, the Drones' second single, "Bone Idol", was released. In December 1977, they recorded a session at Maida Vale 4 studio for

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

. The track listing was "Be My Baby", "The Change", "Clique", and "Movement". That same month they released their debut album, ''

Further Temptations ''Further Temptations'' is the debut album by The Drones, originally released in 1977. The album included two re-recorded tracks ("Corgi Crap" and "Lookalikes") from their debut 7", Temptations of a White Collar Worker. In 1993, Anagram Record ...

'', which has come to be regarded as a punk classic. Fans would have to wait until May 1999 for the follow-up album, '' Sorted''. The band reformed and toured to promote the record; including concert dates in the United States. In 2001 "Bone Idol" was included in ''

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 * '' ...

'' magazine's list of the best punk rock singles of all time.Mojo (October 2001) - ''100 Punk Scorchers '', Issue 95, London Lead singer and guitarist M.J. Drone (aka Michael Howells) died on 10 January 2013. Drummer Pete Purrfect (aka Peter Howells) died on 22 December 2019 In 2015, The Drones re-formed with original members Steve 'Whispa' Cundall, Gary 'Gus' Callendar and new members Martin Smith (drums) and Glenn Jones (guitar). In 2016, the new Drones line up played festival and other dates and recording a live album as well as new material. January 2017 saw the line up change again, as Gus, Glenn and Martin are replaced by Brian Grantham (ex Slaughter & the Dogs and Born Idle) on drums, and Al Crosby (ex Ed Banger & the Nosebleeds and Born Idle) on lead guitar. The new line up have released a new EP ''Will You Stand in Front of Bullets?'' on their own Idle Records label. Five brand new songs, and a reworking of "Hard On Me" from the first EP ''Temptations'' were included. The first print run was available at the Rebellion Punk Festival at the beginning of August, and promptly sold out. A second run was printed, and the EP was officially launched in Manchester on 15 September 2018.

Discography

Studio albums

*''

'' (Valer, VLRP 1, December 1977) *'' Sorted'' (Captain Oi, May 1999) *''Dirty Bastards'' (Alternative Action, A.A. 041, 1999)

Compilation albums

*''Expectations: Tapes From The Attic 1975 - 1982'' (Overground, April 1997) - A collection of unreleased studio recordings, alternative versions and live tapes. *''Further Temptations'' (Get Back) - A Double album of material *''The Attic Tapes 1975-82'' (Get Back) – LP *''Short Circuit:Live At The Electric Circus'' (Virgin, 1978)

Appearances on various artist compilations (Selective)

Listing of those various artist

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

s mentioned in the text of the main article: *"Lookalikes" featured on the ''

'' compilation (Beggars Banquet Records, 1977) *"Persecution Complex" featured on '' Short Circuit: Live at the Electric Circus'' (VCL, June 1978)

Singles and EPs

*''Temptations of a White Collar Worker EP'': "Lookalikes" / "Corgi Crap" / "Hard on Me" / "You'll Lose" (O.H.M.S., May 1977) *"Bone Idol" / "I Just Wanna Be Myself" (Valer, October 1977) *"Be My Baby" / "Lift Off the Bans" (Valer, January 1978) *"Can't See" / "Fooled Today" (Fabulous, March 1980) *"Sorted" / "Johnny Go Home" (Alternative Action, A.A. 034, 1997) *''Get Sorted Split with APA-Adolf & The Piss Artists EP'': "Sad So Sad" / "Sorted" (45 Revolutions, 45R-4, 1998) *''Will You Stand in Front of Bullets?'' 6 track EP. (Idle Records IR002. August 2018) included "Cannon Fodder", "The Human Race", "White Noise Napper", "Rats", "Friction" and "Hard On Me"

References

External links

Official website
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drones, The English punk rock groups Musical groups from Manchester Musical groups established in 1975