Skrewdriver
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For the tool, see Screwdriver.
Skrewdriver were a punk rock band formed in Blackpool in 1977. Ian Stuart Donaldson, formerly of Rolling Stones cover band Tumbling Dice, got the band together after seeing the Sex Pistols in Manchester. Catering largely to a skinhead audience, they released a number of records on the Chiswick label including the singles "You're So Dumb" and "Antisocial" and the album All Skrewed Up. This incarnation of the band split up in 1979, however, Donaldson, using new musicians, resurrected the name Skrewdriver in 1982.
Although the earlier band had a reputation for attracting violence at their gigs (Bob Geldof was reportedly knocked unconscious at a Skrewdriver gig on one occasion), they had an apolitical stance. The 'new' Skrewdriver however were openly sympathetic and supportive of extreme right wing political groups such as the National Front and Combat 18, and raised funds for these and other Neo-Nazi organizations through their White Noise record label. They also released records on Rock-O-Rama Records, a label that is known for its far right sympathies, and were instrumental in setting up a network for bands promoting fascist ideas called Blood and Honour.
Members of the original Skrewdriver were not impressed by the direction in which Donaldson took the band, as this interview with Roger Armstrong of Chiswick Records illustrates:
- "It is a shame that the name was dragged through the gutter like that. The other three guys in the band were really pissed off too. Grinny the drummer came from solid Northern Socialist stock. When they made records for us Ian Stewart showed no signs of Fascism. The skinhead image was a - maybe in hindsight misconceived - fashion thing. It was cooked up by a bunch of us, including the band's then management and the Photographer Peter Kodik. The teeth on the back of the sleeve are Patti Paladin's of Snatch fame - NY art punk!" [1] (http://www.punk77.co.uk/groups/skrewdriver2.htm)
Donaldson died in a car accident in September 1993.
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Discography
- 7" - You're So Dumb/Better Off Crazy (1977)
- 7" - Antisocial/Breakdown (1977)
- LP - All Skrewed Up (1977) (later re-issued as The Early Years w. extra tracks)
- 7" - Built Up, Knocked Down/Case of Pride/Breakout (1979)
- 12" - Back With A Bang/I Don't Like You/Boots & Braces (1982)
- 7" - White Power/Smash The I.R.A./Shove The Dove (1983)
- 7" - Voice Of Britain/Sick Society (1984)
- 7" - Invasion/On The Streets (1984)
- LP - Hail The New Dawn (1984)
- LP - Blood & Honour (1985)
- LP - We've Got The Power (1987) (live) (reissued on CD w. bonus live & demo tracks)
- LP - White Rider (1987)
- 12" - Boots & Braces (1987) (previously released tracks)
- 12" - Voice Of Britain (1987) (previously released tracks)
- LP - After The Fire (1988)
- 7" - After The Fire/Sweet Home Alabama (1988)
- 7" - Land Of Ice/Retaliate (1988)
- LP - Warlord (1989)
- 7" - Their Kingdom Will Fall/Simple Man (1989)
- 7" - The Evil Crept In/Glory (1989)
- 7" - The Showdown/Deep Inside (1990)
- LP - The Strong Survive (1990) (CD released 1991)
- 7" - You're So Dumb/The Only One (1990)
- 7" - Streetfight/Where's It Gonna End (1990)
- 7" - Stand Proud/Backstabber (1991)
- 7" - Warzone/Shining Down (1991)
- LP/CD - Live & Kicking (1991) (double album)
- LP/CD - Freedom What Freedom (1992)
- CD - Hail Victory (1994)
- CD - Live At Waterloo (1995) (recorded 12 Sept. 1992)
- CD - This One's For The Skinheads (live, recorded 23 April 1987)
See also
A Skrewdriver parody band, Jewdriver, was formed in San Francisco in 2003.
External links
- SKREWDRIVER (http://www.skrewdriver88.com/) (site dedicated to Skrewdriver)
- A TRIBUTE TO IAN STUART (http://www.skrewdriver.org.uk/stuart.html) (from the Combat 18 Website)
- Neo-Nazi Skinheads and Racist Rock: Youth Subculture of Hate (http://www.adl.org/poisoning_web/racist_rock.asp)
- Fascism in the United Kingdom and Europe 1997 (http://www.searchlightmagazine.com/stories/fascism.htm)
Further reading
- White Noise, inside the international nazi skinhead scene- edited by Nick Lowles and Steve Silver, London 1998de:Skrewdriver