Stiff Little Fingers is a
punk band from Belfast
, Northern
Ireland
, formed in 1977. They started out as a
schoolboy band called
Highway Star (named after
the
Deep Purple song), doing rock
covers, until they discovered punk. They split up after six years
and four albums, although they reformed five years later, in 1987.
Despite major personnel changes, they are still touring and
recording as of 2009.
Jake Burns, their
lead singer, is the only member to have been with the band during
all its incarnations, although in March 2006, original bass
guitarist
Ali McMordie rejoined them
following the departure of
The Jam bass
player
Bruce Foxton after fifteen
years.
History
Early years
Prior to
becoming Stiff Little Fingers, Jake
Burns, vocals and guitar, Henry
Cluney, guitar, Gordon Blair, bass,
and Brian Faloon, drums, were playing
in a rock music cover band, Highway Star,
in Belfast
. Upon
the departure of Gordon Blair (who went on to play with another
Belfast group,
Rudi),
Ali McMordie took over on bass.Cluney had by
this time discovered punk, and introduced the rest of the band to
it. They decided that Highway Star wasn't a punk enough name, and
after a brief flirtation with the name "The Fast", decided to call
themselves Stiff Little Fingers, after the
Vibrators song of the
same name.
It was while they were doing a gig at the Glenmachan Hotel that
they met up with
Gordon Ogilvie, who
was a Marxist journalist with the
Daily Express newspaper, invited along
for the evening by
Colin
McClelland, another journalist, with whom Jake had been
corresponding.
Ogilvie suggested they play material based upon their experience of
the Troubles. McClelland arranged to
get the band some recording time at a local radio station, and in
the studio normally used to record jingles, they recorded "Suspect
Device". The single was packaged in the form of a cassette, with a
cover depicting a cassette bomb, apparently causing great hilarity
in the group, when one record company phoned them and asked for
another copy, as they'd thrown the first one in a bucket of water
for fear that it was a real bomb.
A copy of the single was sent to
John
Peel. He played it repeatedly leading to a distribution deal
through
Rough Trade. The single
was released on the band's own Rigid Digits label and sold over
30,000 copies. Peel would later do the same with the first single
by another famous Northern Irish band,
The Undertones. There were a number of
well-publicised arguments between the two bands; the Undertones
accused Stiff Little Fingers of sensationalising the Northern
Ireland conflict, while they retorted that The Undertones ignored
it.
The lyrics of many Stiff Little Fingers' songs concerning the
troubles are extremely critical of the paramilitary organisations
and governments involved, showing them to be exploititative of
ordinary people (particularly the young) and all as bad as each
other. Their second single, "Alternative Ulster", was originally
intended to be given away free with the
fanzine of the same name.
Inflammable Material
In the second half of 1978, they toured with the
Tom Robinson Band, and in 1979, they
released their first album,
Inflammable Material. The band
agreed a contract with
Island
Records, but it fell through, leaving the band to release the
album on their own label. Despite the album's independent release,
it reached number 14 in the
UK Albums
Chart and reached Silver status, selling over 50,000 copies.
Inflammable Material
was the first album distributed
Rough Trade records, and the first
independent album to chart in the UK.This inspired their move to
London, which led to the departure of Brian Faloon and Colin
McClelland (who along with Gordon Ogilvie had been joint manager of
the band up until that point).
Jim Reilly became their drummer in time
for the "Gotta Gettaway" single, and played in the
Rock Against Racism tour.
Nobody's Heroes and Go for It
In mid-1979, Stiff Little Fingers signed their Rigid Digits label
to
Chrysalis Records, and in 1980
released their second album,
Nobody's Heroes. 1981's
Go for It followed. Soon
after the Go for It tour, Jim Reilly left the band. His place was
taken by
Brian 'Dolphin' Taylor, who
Jake remembered from Taylor's days with the Tom Robinson
Band.
Breakup
Now Then...
In 1982 came a 4 song EP called
£1.10 or Less and then
their fourth studio album,
Now
Then... (although their fifth album, as they had released
a live LP,
Hanx, between
Nobody's
Heroes and
Go for It). By this time they had
diversified musically, and
Now Then had an almost pop feel
about it in places. This led some of their more hardcore fans to
feel alienated, and in the face of low sales and concert
attendances, they broke up in 1983, when Burns said: "Our last LP
Now Then was to my mind the best album we have made. But
it is also unfortunately the best I think we will ever make. So I
have decided to call it a day." The band later revealed the
original split had been somewhat acrimonious, with bandmembers
apparently having fistfights rather than talking through their
differences.
Reformation
They reformed in 1987; according to Burns, because they were "skint
and wanted to make a bit of cash to get back to Ireland for
Christmas". They released some live albums and did short tours
towards the end of the 1980s, and by 1990 were thinking of
reforming permanently.
Flags and Emblems
Ali McMordie decided he could not commit the time to tour full-time
or record, and so left, being replaced by
Bruce Foxton (previously bass guitarist in
The Jam) in time to record 1991's
Flags and Emblems.
In
Britain, the single from this album, "Beirut Moon", was withdrawn
from sale on the first day of release, allegedly because it
criticised the government for not acting to free hostage John McCarthy, who had been held
in the Lebanon
.
In 1993 Burns made what he described as one of the hardest
decisions of his life and had his manager tell Henry Cluney that
his services were no longer needed and to leave the band, and the
trio of Jake Burns, Bruce Foxton and Dolphin Taylor continued for
the next four years, joined on live shows by either
Dave Sharp or
Ian
McCallum.
Get a Life
In 1994 they released
Get a
Life in the UK, releasing it in the U.S. in 1996. By the
end of 1996 Taylor left due to family commitments. Burns called in
Steve Grantley who had played drums
for
Jake Burns and the Big
Wheel in the late 1980s.
Tinderbox - Guitar and Drum
The trio of Burns, Foxton and Grantley recorded 1997's
Tinderbox album,
with help from Ian McCallum who joined as a full time member for
1999's
and best of all...Hope
Street . This same line-up recorded 2003's
Guitar and Drum.
Lineup change
On 18 January 2006, the following announcement appeared on the SLF
Website.
Bruce Foxton has announced that he is to leave Stiff
Little Fingers with immediate effect. After 15 years of
writing, recording and touring with SLF Bruce says it is time to
move on and concentrate on other projects. "The situation
is amicable" says Foxton. "I have enjoyed my time with
Jake, Ian and Steve and will miss them. Naturally I wish
them all continued success and hope to catch up with the boys
during their spring tour."
Obviously, we as well wish Bruce every success in everything he
goes on to do in the future. He has been a fantastic asset
to the band and we'll miss him as well.
Jake, Steve, Ian.
On 23 January 2006, it was announced that original bass guitarist
Ali McMordie was to rejoin the band for the duration of their
upcoming March tour. The tour was a success, with many fans writing
into SLF's message board saying how much they enjoyed it, and how
fired up the band seemed to be. After much discussion regarding the
status of McMordie within the band after the tour, on 21 April
2006, Burns posted the following on the message board.
"For the time being Mr. McMordie is happy to continue as long
as his busy schedule allows. It may be that occasionally
we have to bring on a "substitute", if he is up to his eyes and we
need to do something, but hopefully we can avoid that.
Cheers,
Jake."
New album
On 9 March 2007, Jake Burns announced that Stiff Little Fingers
would be recording a new album which would hopefully be completed
by the end of 2007. They have previewed a track from the new album,
"Liars Club", at live concerts. The track is named after a bar Jake
drove past on his way home whilst listening to a press report about
Tony Blair,
George W. Bush
and the Iraq War. As of October 2009, the new album is still
unreleased. This is mainly due to the fact that Burns had more or
less completed writing, when he decided on a change of direction,
and scrapped most of the songs.
Personnel
Stiff Little Fingers
personnel
Highway Star
(1977) |
|
(1977-1979) |
|
(1979-1981) |
|
(1981-1982) |
|
(1982-1987) |
Band split. |
(1987-1991) |
|
(1991-1993) |
|
(1993-1996) |
|
(1996-1998) |
|
(1998-2006) |
|
(2006-present) |
|
|
Discography
Singles and EPs
- "Suspect Device", 1978
- "Alternative Ulster", 1978
- "Gotta Gettaway", 1979
- "Straw Dogs", 1979
- "At the Edge", 1980
- "Nobody's Hero", 1980
- "Back to Front", 1980
- "Just Fade Away", 1981
- "Silver Lining", 1981
- £1.10 Or Less EP ("Listen"/"That's When Your Blood
Bumps"/"Sad-Eyed People"/"Two Guitars Clash"), 1982
- "Talkback", 1982
- "Bits of Kids", 1982
- "Price of Admission", 1982
- "Beirut Moon", 1991
- "Get a Life", 1994
- "Guitar and Drum", 2004
Studio albums
Compilation and live albums
- The
Christmas Album, 1979
- Broken
Fingers/Live In Aberdeen, 1979
- Hanx!, 1980
- All
the Best, 1983
- Live and
Loud, 1988
- No Sleep 'Til
Belfast, 1988
- Greatest Hits
Live, 1988
- See You Up There,
1989
- The Peel Sessions Album, 1989
- Alternative
Chartbusters, 1991
- Fly The Flags, 1994 (or
1991 depending on source)
- Pure Fingers, 1995
(recorded live at Glasgow Barrowlands on 17 March 1993)
- Handheld and
Rigidly Digital, 1999°
- Tin Soldiers, 2000
- The Radio
One Sessions, 2003
- Fifteen
and Counting... Live
at the Barrowland 17th March 2006, 2006°
- Live In Aberdeen 1979, 2007
- Wasted Life, 2007
They also made the music for the game
Pro Pinball: Timeshock! (1997)
°These albums were made available exclusively at live performances
and through SLF.com
References
- Cranna, Ian (1979) "Rough Charm", Smash Hits, EMAP National Publications
Ltd, October 4-17 1979, p.6-7
- Burns, Jake, Parker, Alan "Stiff Little Fingers Song By Song",
Sanctuary Publishing, 2003. ISBN 1-86074-513-X
- Burns, Jake, Parker, Alan "Stiff Little Fingers Song by Song",
Sanctuary Publishing, 2003. ISBN 1-86074-513-X
External links