Blaggers ITA (formerly The Blaggers) were a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

punk rock band founded in 1988. Main vocalist Matty 'Blagg' Roberts had previously fronted Oi! band Complete Control, who released an LP on ''Oi! Records'' in 1985 Blaggers ITA were noted for their strong

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers wer ...

and

left wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in so ...

lyrics and activism. Although the band initially played in a generic Oi! style, they later added a trumpet player and incorporated influences from hip hop and electronic dance music, including sampling, and added the letters ''ITA'' to their name ("In The Area"), inspired by

Adrian Sherwood Adrian Maxwell Sherwood (born 20 January 1958, London, England) is an English record producer specialising in the genre of dub music. He has created a distinctive production style based on the application of dub effects and dub mixing techniques ...

's On-U Sound Records. The band had close links with Anti Fascist Action (AFA), donating money to the organisation and promoting its ideology. The band's support for

revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor. ...

politics and AFA meant that in the early 1990s there were part of direct action against

Neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and racial supremacy (often white supremacy), attack ...

groups such as

Blood & Honour Blood & Honour is a neo-Nazi music promotion network and right-wing extremist political group founded in the United Kingdom by Ian Stuart Donaldson and Nicky Crane in 1987. It is composed of White Nationalists and has links to Combat 18. Som ...

and C18. In 1993 they signed a

record deal A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...

with EMI and enjoyed some commercial success with three minor hit singles. ''Stresss'' and ''Oxygen'' benefitted from promotional videos, while ''Abandon Ship'' saw an appearance on The Word. The record deal resulted in some criticism due to EMI's status as a major label and large corporation, and its former links with the arms trade. In a debate strongly echoed four years later in the case of

Chumbawamba Chumbawamba () were a British rock band formed in 1982 and disbanded in 2012. They are best known for their 1997 single "Tubthumping", which was nominated for Best British Single at the 1998 Brit Awards. Other singles include "Amnesia", " Enoug ...

, the band justified the move with the argument that the financial and promotional support of EMI would enable their political message to reach a wider public; they also argued that the deal gave the band more money to spend on political causes. For example, money earmarked for promotional events was used on full page adverts in the national music press promoting direct physical anti-fascist action, while creative use of tour support funds went to aid political groups throughout the country. In mid 1993, the group embarked on a high-profile UK tour supporting

Manic Street Preachers Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Welsh Rock music, rock band formed in Blackwood, Caerphilly, Blackwood in 1986. The band consists of cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, lead guitar) and Sean Moore (musician ...

. In July 1993, frontman Matty Blagg allegedly punched ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' writer Dave Simpson, as a consequence of Simpson stating that Matty could never reform his fascist past (as a teenager Matty had been associated with the

British Movement The British Movement (BM), later called the British National Socialist Movement (BNSM), is a British neo-Nazi organisation founded by Colin Jordan in 1968. It grew out of the National Socialist Movement (NSM), which was founded in 1962. Frequen ...

but while in prison was enlightened by another prisoner and subsequently dedicated the rest of his life to educating others) resulting in a court appearance and the case being dismissed. No trial took place. The incident led to the cancellation of festival slots (inc. main stage slots at

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spell ...

and

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbur ...

), an effective boycott by the music press, and the consequent cancellation of their EMI contract. Shortly afterwards Matty Roberts left the band, which for a short time continued without him. Roberts died on 22 February 2000. A new version of the band named Blaggers AKA formed in 2002. This line up has played gigs and festivals across Europe, including benefits for the

Independent Working Class Association The Independent Working Class Association (IWCA) is a minor working-class political party in the United Kingdom that aims to promote the political and economic interests of the working class, regardless of the consequences to existing political ...

and Antifa groups, but has not released any records.

Lineup

Early-1990s lineup

* Matty Blagg - lead vocals * Christy Robson - rapper/DJ * Steve Serious - guitar * Paul The Pig - guitar * Matt Vinyl - bass * Jason 'Wrist Action Jackson' Cook - drums * Brendan 'Rimmer' Hodges - trumpet, samples and design (credited SIT Inc) * Carlos Coutinho - keyboards

Other musicians

* Bilko - second vocalist (1988–1989) * Jez the Jester - drums (1988–1989) * Cab - drums (1989) * Gary the Squatter - guitar (1989–1990) * Olaf - sax (1992) + sax and vocalist (since 2001) * Marcel - guitar (since 2001) * Brian Hayes - guitar (1993-1996)

Discography

Albums

* ''On Yer Toez'' (released as The Blaggers) (1989) * ''Blaggamuffin'' (1991) ini-LP * ''Fuck Fascism, Fuck Capitalism, Society's Fucked'' (1991) * ''God Save the Cockroach'' (1992) ini-LP, aka ''New Kids On The Blag'' * ''United Colours of Blaggers ITA'' (1993) * ''Bad Karma'' (1994)

Singles and EPs

* "It's Up To You" (1990) * ''Beirut'' EP (1990) * "Victory to ANC" (flexi disc, 1991) * "Here's Johnny" (1992) * "The Way We Operate" (1992) * "Wildside" (bootleg credited to Ramraiders ITA, 1993) * "Stresss" (1993) * "Oxygen" (1993) * "Abandon Ship" (1993) * "Mantrap" (1994) * "Thrill Her With a Gun/Dairy Thief" (1995) * "Rumblefish/Death by Cool" (1995) * "Guns Of Brixton" (1995) * "Session" (1995)

References

External links

Official site

Blaggers ITA on Myspace

Blaggers ITA on Facebook

Blaggers ITA at discogs.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blaggers ITA British punk rock groups British socialists Street punk groups Oi! groups Political music groups