Legendary punk/oi titans THE GONADS are back with another
red-hot testimony to the gutsy spirit of South London hooligan rock and roll. ‘Glorious Bastards’ is 18 tracks of filth and fury, released by Contra Records in Germany. It mixes protest (‘Oily Rag’, ‘Ian Tomlinson’, ‘Fat Cat Splat’) with pure punk anthems (‘Noise Bastards’, ‘Spring-Heel’d Jack’), respect (‘Billy McFadzean'), sauce (‘Badly Done’, ‘Reinfected’) and street culture (‘Charlton Boys’).

Punk, oi, oi-tone, oi-core... call us what you will, THE GONADS have been kicking against the pricks since 1977, with a back catalogue of classic songs including ‘Jobs Not Jails’, ‘Tucker’s Ruckers’, ‘TNT’, 'The Joys Of Oi', ‘I Lost My Love (To A UK Sub’), ‘Alconaut’, ‘Oi, Mate’ and ‘Punk Rock Will Never Die.’

We were street-punk before the term was invented, helping to launch the ‘real punk’ movement that was oi – a howl of rage from the terraces, back streets and council estates of the UK that found an echo around the world. Oi! ain’t about posing and preening. It’s about who we are: the English working class, having a laugh and having a say. The GONADS hate snobbery, ignorance, apathy, bigotry and PC bores. We support unity across our scenes. As our friend Garry Johnson said, back in 1981: “United is the thing to be, think how strong we can be, united against society.”

The Gonads began in the backstreets of Charlton, London SE7 in 1977. The five-piece band grew out of the remnants of Garry Bushell's earlier schoolboy band Pink Tent, who were influenced by the Small Faces and Monty Python with a pinch of Slade, Mott and the Sensational Alex Harvey Band.

Inspired by the Clash and the Pistols, Pink Tent were re-born as punk band the Gonads souping-up many of their earlier songs such as 'Rob A Bank' and 'Pink Tent'. The early set also included cover versions of AC DC's 'Big Balls' and the Small Faces' 'Filthy Rich' as well as forgotten numbers like 'Red Army', 'Antigalligan Last Bell', 'Darling Harold', 'The Legend of Sam Bartram' and 'Ripper's Delight'. The original line-up were together for less than a year, playing at local pubs such as the Lads Of The Village in Charlton and at parties. The band released just one single 'Stroke My BeachComber Baby' b/w 'Big Balls' on their own Scrotum label, and were completely ignored by the rock press.

Years later the music journalist Christine Cousins described them as having been "as tight as a gnat's fore-skin and louder than a Bernard Manning belch." But others remember them as being rather more chaotic than that sounds. The Gonads attracted a loyal local following including Tucker and his Ruckers, the Indus Skins and the Charlton Boys. Highlights of this first incarnation included the legendary acoustic tour of South London curry houses. They also unsuccessfully approached Charlton striker Derek 'Gypo' Hales for management. When he turned them down, for a laugh they accepted a management offer from a local character called Dodgy Dave Long who immediately decided the band should stop gigging and "hold back until the time is right". They would never have been heard of again if Garry - Gal Gonad - hadn't reformed the band in 1981 to show solidarity with the Oi Movement. Gal was in the forefront of Oi, he managed the Cockney Rejects and compiled the first four Oi albums. The second and most famous Gonads line-up included Steve Kent on guitar (later replaced by Steve Whale, Clyde Ward and then JJ Bedsore) and Mark Brennan on bass, with a succession of drummers including at one stage Mark Brabbs from Tank.

Long was replaced as manager by the poet Garry Johnson who famously lived "in an 'ouse in 'Ackney with an outside loo" and the band's golden era beganin earnest. The Gonads were famously "street-socialist" with a commitment to older working class traditions, including Music Hall and stag comics. The 'Pure Punk For Row People' ep ran the Anti-Nazi League phone number on the back (along with ones for Alcoholics Anonymous and Beki Bondage) and the band supported the Prisoners' Rights organization and the League Of Labour Skins.

Classic Gonads recordings such as 'Jobs Not Jails', 'Dying For A Pint', 'Punk Rock Will Never Die' 'I Lost My Love To A UK Sub' (based on a true story), 'Tucker's Ruckers Ain't No Suckers', 'Hitler Was A Homo', and 'The Joys Of Oi' established them as one of the greatest Oi! bands of all time. The Gonads found time to kick-start Punk Pathetique, and successfully pioneered the punk/metal cross-over with the song 'TNT' on the Total Noise ep as well.

Like most of their contemporaries, the band drifted apart over the next couple of years but the Gal Gonad/Steve Kent alliance went on to create both Prole and the Orgasm Guerrillas as studio projects. Gal also managed Charlton's other anarchic sons The Blood (1984-5).

The Gonads weren't to exist in a concrete form again until 1990 when Gal teamed up with old buddies Clyde Ward and Colin Blood (Cardinal Jesushate) to record the original versions of 'Lager Louts' and 'British Steel'. They jammed a bit, but nothing serious happened until 1996 when Gal and Clyde recorded 'The Lottery Song' and the as yet unreleased 'Mystic Meg' and 'Give Her A Dog For Xmas'. A year later, they recruited Casanova Kev on bass and the core of the new Gonads was born to record the comeback single 'Oi! Nutter' b/w '(What's The Story?) England's Glory'.

In 1998, the Gonads toured the USA with Rockin' Dave on guitar and the Romulan on drums. Albums 'Back & Barking', 'Schitz-oi-phrenia' and 'Old Boots, No Panties' followed, along with a Rebellion appearance in Blackpool. The Ska song 'Oi Mate' proved to be the band's most popular live song to date. But Clyde's production commitments kept them off the road for long periods of time. Frustrated, Gal was about to break up the Gonads once and for all until New York fan André Schlesinger (formerly of The Press, now with Maninblack) persuaded him to keep going. Gal recruited Tony Feedback (ex-Angelic Upstarts) and Scoops (of Superyob) on bass and with a changing procession of drummers (including the legendary Paul MacGonad of Waysted) began gigging regularly again. 2008 saw the 'Live Free, Die Free' album; followed at the end of 2009 by 'Glorious Bastards'. In 2009 the band also played Germany (the Punk & Disorderly Festival) and Sweden for the first time. The current line-up features Gal, Tone, Andy, Gentleman John (rhythm guitar), and Slim Jim (drums) with Wattsie Watts on backing vocals. Projects for 2010 include Gal's first solo album and the eagerly awaited spin-off group the Hardcore Metal Gonads.

By Colin 'Fat Col' Gannon, tour manager, Addick and lifelong fan