Combat '84

Genre:Punk Rock,Oi!


Combat 84 were an English Oi! band active during the early 1980s. Formed in 1981 in Chelsea, London by skinheads Chris 'Chubby' Henderson and John Deptford, Combat 84 rose to national prominence after being featured in a controversial 1982 BBC Arena documentary about the skinhead movement.The band was originally composed of Henderson (vocals), Deptford (bass guitar), Jim (guitar) and Brownie (drums) and played their first gig supporting The Last Resort at the Walmer Castle, Peckham. The Last Resort's lead singer, Roi Pearce (later of The 4-Skins) liked the band and agreed to produce a two-song demo tape with them.National controversy erupted around the band in the tabloid and music press after they were featured in a 1982 BBC Arena documentary, during which Henderson made a racist statement about black people. It was a view not shared by the other band members; in the same documentary, Deptford commented on the similarity in living situation between black and white working-class youths in early 1980s Britain. Footage of crowd violence at a gig was also broadcast in the documentary.

led to the breakup of the band, as their newly-earned bad reputation discouraged venues from booking the band. Gigs were then often played under the pseudonym The 7th Cavalry to avoid the stigma of the Combat 84 name. These sessions resulted in the songs "Soldier" and "Combat 84", which were favourably received in the music press, leading to the band being described as 'the new Sham 69'.
In 1982, the manager of The 4-Skins, Gary Hitchcock attempted to get the band signed to Secret Records, then home to The 4-Skins, The Business, Infa Riot and The Exploited, although the deal fell through at the last minute, prompting Combat 84 to sign to Victory Records for the release of their Orders of the Day EP. Former Business drummer John Fisher replaced Brownie for the recording of the second (1983) EP, Rapist.
More right-leaning, lyrically than many of their punk rock and Oi! peers, Combat 84 received much criticism for recording a song that advocated capital punishment for rapists ("Rapist"), and a song that supported the British nuclear deterrent and criticized the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and reds in general ("Right to Choose"). Guitarist Jim stated in a 2000 interview that the latter song was intended in a tongue-in-cheek manner, as a homage to Vietnam War movies. Other lyrical themes included criticism of unemployment, inner-city violence, war, the New Romantic movement and Visage singer Steve Strange.