Blitz (band)
Encyclopedia
Blitz was a street punk
band from New Mills
, Derbyshire
, England
. They had success in the United Kingdom
indie charts in the early 1980s. With both punk
and skinhead
members, they were enthusiastically championed by Sounds magazine
writer Garry Bushell
, though guitarist Nidge would later go on to denounce Bushell. Although considered an influential Oi!
band, the band members simply described themselves as a punk band. They signed to the record label No Future in 1981, and their first release was the 7" EP All Out Attack.
Several years after the original Blitz lineup split, guitar
ist Alan "Nidge" Miller recruited new members and performed concerts under the Blitz moniker. On February 10, 2007, Miller was struck by a car and died on impact after walking on to a freeway after a show in Austin, Texas
.
Street punk
Street punk is a working class-based genre of punk rock which took shape in the early 1980s, partly as a rebellion against the perceived artistic pretensions of the first wave of British punk. Street punk emerged from the Oi! style, performed by bands such as Sham 69, Angelic Upstarts, Cockney...
band from New Mills
New Mills
New Mills is a town in Derbyshire, England approximately south-east of Stockport and from Manchester. It is sited at the confluence of the rivers Goyt and Sett, on the border of Cheshire. The town stands above the Torrs, a deep gorge, cut through Woodhead Hill Sandstone of the Carboniferous period...
, Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. They had success in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
indie charts in the early 1980s. With both punk
Punk subculture
The punk subculture includes a diverse array of ideologies, and forms of expression, including fashion, visual art, dance, literature, and film, which grew out of punk rock.-History:...
and skinhead
Skinhead
A skinhead is a member of a subculture that originated among working class youths in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, and then spread to other parts of the world. Named for their close-cropped or shaven heads, the first skinheads were greatly influenced by West Indian rude boys and British mods,...
members, they were enthusiastically championed by Sounds magazine
Sounds (magazine)
Sounds was a long-term British music paper, published weekly from 10 October 1970 – 6 April 1991. It was produced by Spotlight Publications , which was set up by Jack Hutton and Peter Wilkinson, who left "Melody Maker" to start their own company...
writer Garry Bushell
Garry Bushell
Garry Bushell is an English newspaper columnist, rock music journalist, television presenter, author and political activist. Bushell also sings in the Oi! band The Gonads and manages the New York City Oi! band Maninblack. Bushell's recurring themes are comedy, country and class...
, though guitarist Nidge would later go on to denounce Bushell. Although considered an influential Oi!
Oi!
Oi! is a working class 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 working-class youths ....
band, the band members simply described themselves as a punk band. They signed to the record label No Future in 1981, and their first release was the 7" EP All Out Attack.
Several years after the original Blitz lineup split, guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ist Alan "Nidge" Miller recruited new members and performed concerts under the Blitz moniker. On February 10, 2007, Miller was struck by a car and died on impact after walking on to a freeway after a show in Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
.
Albums
- Voice of a Generation (1982) #2
- Second Empire Justice (1983) #5
- Blitzed - An All Out Attack (1988)
- The Killing Dream (1989)
- Best of Blitz (1993)
- Blitz Hits (1994)
- The Complete Blitz Singles Collection (1999)
- Voice of a Generation: The No Future Years (2000)
- Punk Singles & Rarities 1980-83 (2001)
- Never Surrender (Best Of) (2005)
Singles
- Never Surrender / Razors in the Night (1982) #2
- Warriors (1982) #2
- New Age / Fatigue (1983) #4
- Solar / Husk (1983)
- Telecommunications / Teletron (1983) #3
Appearances on compilations
- Carry on Oi (1981)
- Punk And Disorderly-Someone's Gonna Die (1982)
- Seeds IV Punk (1987)
- The Crazy World of Punk (1996)
- Oi! Chartbusters Vol 1-2-3-4
External links
- Art of the State - Blitz: The Voice of a Second Generation? (interview)
- Garry Bushell - Oi! – The Truth (history of Oi! that mentions Blitz)
- Punk & Oi in the UK - Blitz (interview)