Cockney Rejects

There are more stories purporting to reveal the source of the Oi! genre's name than there are Oi! bands, and the most famous holds that Sounds writer Gary Bushell dubbed this not entirely new, jack-the-lad version of Punk after the now classic Cockney Rejects song "Oi! Oi! Oi!" Whether the story is true or not will probably never be known, but it does point to the profound impact a bunch of East London kids had on Punk. Focusing quite often on terrace hooliganism and punked-up versions of football anthems -- leave the politics to Sham and their Army -- the Rejects didn't just sing about dead end yobs, they were dead end yobs. Unfortunately, all the West Ham flag flying eventually led to crowds of Arsenal and Man United supporters arriving regularly to CR shows just to start trouble. Tired and weary, CR eventually headed off in a Metal direction, leaving the throngs of thugs to trudge off and wreak havoc in other places. A disappointing end to things, but what's more important is that at their peak, the Rejects were the cream of the Oi! crop -- and every Oi! band since owes them a heavy debt.