Subculture - Loud & Clear(full 7" ep 1983)

Formed: Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK Cambridge, in the heart of East Anglia, has always had a thriving music scene but four-piece Subculture were the one and only authentic skinhead punk band to emerge. Formed in the late '70s by bassist Phil Parker and guitarist Dean Tyrrell, the band felt they could get somewhere musically and, needing a singer, Tyrrell recruited frontman Tom Hipkin after chatting in a record store one Saturday. Hipkin was the perfect, maladjusted urchin and brought with him a happy-go-lucky Nigel Kimberley on drums. Tyrrell, a talented and well-respected guitarist from the get go, rehearsed the band hard; at first in a tiny bedroom and then in a purpose built shed and they quickly got good enough to look for gigs on the London circuit. In late '81, Hipkin found a phone number for 'Skunx', a club in City Road, Islington which was home to the Oi!/Punk scene and the band eventually gigged there five times supporting Red Alert, The Business, The Adicts, Peter and the Test Tube Babies and Blitz. During this early period there was praise in the national music press for the band and despite being one of the youngest groups on the scene they aroused considerable interest. After some line-up changes which saw Hipkin eclipsed by new singer Peter Matthews, the band continued gigging, recorded an EP (Loud And Clear)  Band bio and photo by Tom Tremayne(thanks) A- Loud & Clear B1- Rogue Trooper B2- University City