Uk Subs

2024 marks the U.K. Subs’ 47th anniversary of the band & will see Charlie Harper reach his

80 th birthday on 25 th May ! This legendary punk band continues to represent the true spirit of

punk rock. Inspired by the Damned at the birth of British Punk, the now equally legendary

Charlie Harper formed the Subs out of his then R&B outfit The Marauders, circa summer

1977.

Starting out as The Subversives, the name was shortened to The Subs and then changed to

U.K. Subs, whilst early line-ups merged their high-speed R&B sound into punk.

October 1977 saw Charlie joined by Nicky Garratt on guitar, and it was the Harper/Garratt

song writing partnership that would go on to collaborate on the band’s most successful record

releases. Through 1977 and 1978 the band played shows all over London including the

infamous Roxy punk club, building up a fiercely loyal and sizeable following. Their first

‘recorded’ output was on the ‘Farewell To The Roxy’ LP.

This bought them to the attention of John Peel who was obviously impressed enough to offer

to finance their first single. However, City Records ended up releasing their first brilliant

single, C.I.D, in September 1978. It became a huge indie number 1 hit. In 1979, they signed

to Gem Records and surprised everyone by becoming one of the most consistently and

visibly successful punk bands, with seven consecutive UK Top 30 hits between 1979-81 –

Stranglehold, Tomorrows Girls, She’s Not There, Warhead, Teenage, Party In Paris and Keep

On Running. They also scored two UK top ten albums – Brand New Age and Crash Course –

establishing themselves throughout the world with a heavy touring schedule that still

continues to this day.

Led by the indefatigable 72 years young Charlie Harper – now venerated as the godfather of

UK punk – the band has continued to improve through various line-ups and record companies.

Still touring worldwide, they maintain that true spirit of punk rock continuing to inspire each

subsequent generation of fans. There has never been any division of fan and band with the

Subs, and Charlie’s unrelenting love of his audience and music shines through. This is

something that galvanized listeners of Steve Lamacq’s BBC 6music show to vote them as the

most respected of Punk ‘icons’, to win the 2010 Punk World Cup.

2016 saw the eagerly anticipated final album ‘Ziezo’ released as they completed their quest to

be the first band to release their official albums alphabetically A to Z!. In 2023 the band

announced it would be their final year of touring,but not the end of playing live shows &

Festivals

With a fabulous line up in place of Charlie, Steve Straughan on guitar, Alvin Gibbs on bass

and Stefan Haublein on drums, the U.K. Subs continue to entertain, enlighten and enthuse

with blistering recordings as well as their ever-popular enthralling live shows.

Like a vintage wine – the U.K. Subs just get better and better.