Artist · chart history
Sham 69
Band Surrey United Kingdom Formed 1975
Sham 69 formed in 1975 in Surrey, United Kingdom. Sham 69 has 2 chart appearances on 2 radio countdowns from 2 stations on RockLists, spanning 1977–2002. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “I Don't Wanna”, which appears on 1 list with a best position of #22. The station that charted Sham 69 most often is John Peel (BBC Radio 1), with 1 appearance. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1977.
Sham 69 formed in Hersham, Surrey, in 1975, and they changed course completely after seeing the Sex Pistols play in early 1976. What came out the other side was punk built for the crowd to shout back: Jimmy Pursey bellowing up front, Dave Parsons on guitar, choruses made for chanting. "I Don't Wanna" is the sound of 1977 in a nutshell, crude, loud and gloriously bloody-minded.
They were one of the big success stories of British punk, scoring five singles in the top 20, among them the rallying cry "If the Kids Are United" and the rowdy "Hurry Up Harry". They played Top of the Pops and turned up in the punk documentary D.O.A., and their records came out on Parlophone.
The original band fell apart and Pursey went solo, but in 1987 he and Parsons brought the name back with new faces. The lineup has shuffled plenty since, and they were still on stage as of 2024.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Sham 69 on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | I Don't Wanna | 1 | #22 | – | 1977 | |
| 2 | If the Kids are United | 1 | #1437 | – | – |
Every countdown appearance
| Year | # | Song | Countdown |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 1437 | If the Kids are United | Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) |
| 1977 | 22 | I Don't Wanna | John Peel's Forgotten Fifty of 1977 |
Comments
Log in or create a free account to join the conversation about Sham 69.
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.