Stiff Little Fingers

Stiff Little Fingers
v. l. to r .: Ian McCallum, Steve Grantley, Jake Burns, Ali McMordie (2006)
General information
Genre (s)	punk
founding	1977, 1987
resolution	1983
Founding members
Vocals , guitar	Jake Burns
guitar	Henry Cluney (until 1993)
bass	Gordon Blair (until 1977)
Drums	Brian Faloon (until 1978)
Current occupation
Vocals, guitar	Jake Burns
guitar	Ian McCallum (since 1998)
bass	Ali McMordie (1977–1983, 2006-present)
Drums	Steve Grantley (since 1997)
former members
bass	Bruce Foxton (1990-2006)
Drums	Jim Reilly (1979-1981)
Drums	Dolphin Taylor (1982-1996)
Live and session members
guitar	Ian McCallum (1993-1998)
guitar	Dave Sharp (1993-1998)

Guitarist Ian McCallum

Former guitarist Henry Cluney

Former drummer Jim Reilly

Stiff Little Fingers is a Northern Irish political punk band from Belfast formed in 1977.

history

Originally singer and guitarist Jake Burns, the second guitarist Henry Cluney, bassist Gordon Blair and drummer Brian Faloon played in the cover band Highway Star , named after a song by the hard rock band Deep Purple . After Blair left the band, he was replaced by Ali McMordie. During this time, Cluney had just discovered the punk he was introducing to the rest of the band. The group decided to play punk rock from now on, but the name Highway Star did not seem suitable for a punk band. That's why they first renamed themselves The Fast and then Stiff Little Fingers (after a song by the Vibrators ).

While performing at the Glenmachan Hotel , the band met journalist Gordon Ogilvie, who suggested that the group write songs about the Northern Ireland conflict. Another journalist, Colin McClelland, arranged recording sessions for the band on local radio stations. In 1978, the single Suspect Device was recorded in a studio specializing in advertising jingles . Suspect Device first appeared as a cassette, with a photo of a cassette bomb on the cover. Copies of the recording were sent to various record labels, one of which asked for a second copy of the song as they threw the first broadcast into a bucket of water for fear of having a real bomb in front of them.

A copy of Suspect Device was sent to John Peel , who then arranged a distribution agreement with the Rough Trade label . The single was initially released on the band's Rigid Digits label and sold over 30,000 copies. The second single, Alternative Ulster , released in October 1978 , was used in the 2009 video game Skate 2 , among others .

In 1978 Stiff Little Fingers began touring with the Tom Robinson Band , in 1979 they recorded their debut album Inflammable Material . The album reached number 14 on the UK charts, later reaching gold status with over 100,000 copies sold . Half of the album was written by Jake Burns and Gordon Ogilvie, and it also includes the Bob Marley song Johnny Was .

Due to their success in England, the group decided to move to London, which meant the departure of drummer Brian Faloon and the loss of manager Colin McClelland. Faloon was replaced by Jim Reilly, who also accompanied the band on their appearance on Rock Against Racism . The single Gotta Gettaway was recorded with Reilly as a drummer.

In 1979 Stiff Little Fingers signed a recording deal with the Chrysalis Records label , where they released their second album Nobody's Heroes in 1980 . Half of the album came from the pen of Jake Burns and Gordon Ogilvie, who continued to support the band. The reggae influences of the band were heard for the first time on Nobody's Heroes , which was a parallel to The Clash . With the The Specials cover Doesn't Make It All Right , a song by a Ska band is also included on the album.

The band was invited to Top of the Pops twice to play Nobody's Hero and At the Edge . Since she did not take the second performance seriously, although playback was played, the group was not invited a third time.

In 1981, the third studio album, Go For It , was released, which worked on rather darker topics compared to the previous albums . Eight of the ten songs were written by Gordon Ogilvie in collaboration with the band. Go For It was the last release of the band on which Jim Reilly played drums, he was replaced by Dolphin Taylor after he left. Between Nobody's Heroes and Go For It , the live album Hanx! released.

In 1982 the EP £ 1.10 or Less was released and then the fourth studio album Now Then ... , which annoyed some fans because of the more mainstream songs. Although the album reached number 24 in the UK charts, the band could not continue the success of earlier times. In 1983, Stiff Little Fingers broke up.

In 1987 the band reformed for a few concerts at first, but then the call for new material was loud. The albums Flags and Emblems (first with Bruce Foxton from The Jam on bass), Get a Life , Tinderbox , Hope Street and Guitar and Drum were released between 1991 and 2004. The albums Get A Life and Tinderbox were recorded as a trio (consisting of Jake Burns on guitar, Bruce Foxton on bass and Dolphin Taylor and Steve Grantley on drums), since Henry Cluney had left the band. On tours, the group was alternately accompanied by Dave Sharp and Ian McCallum until McCallum became a permanent member of the band in 1998. In 2006 Foxton left the band, he was replaced by Ali McMordie, who had previously played with the band. In the same year the first solo album by singer and mastermind Jake Burns was released, after he had already released two singles under his own name in 1983/84.

Although they did not make the big commercial breakthrough themselves, they had a lasting impact on music history by later influencing very successful bands like Green Day .

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)	Remarks
		UK
1979	Inflammable material	UK14th gold (19 weeks)UK	First published: 1979
1980	Nobody's Heroes	UK8th silver (11 weeks)UK	First published: 1980
	Hanx!	UK9 silver (5 weeks)UK	First release: 1980 live album
1981	Go For It	UK14 (8 weeks) UK	First publication: 1981
1982	Now Then ...	UK24 (5 weeks) UK	First published: 1982
1983	All the best	UK19th silver (8 weeks)UK	First published: 1983 compilation
1994	Get A Life	UK89 (1 week) UK	First published: 1994
2014	No going back	UK28 (1 week) UK	First published: 2014

More studio albums

• 1991: Flags and Emblems
• 1997: Tinderbox
• 1999: Hope Street
• 2003: Guitar and Drum
• 2015: Still kicking
• 2016: Rockers

More compilations

• 1989: The Peel Sessions Album
• 1991: Alternative chartbusters
• 1999: Handheld and Rigidly Digital
• 2000: Tin Soldiers
• 2002: Anthology
• 2003: The Radio One Sessions
• 2007: Wasted Life

More live albums

• 1979: The Christmas Album
• 1979: Broken Fingers / Live in Aberdeen
• 1988: Live and Loud
• 1988: No Sleep 'Til Belfast
• 1988: Greatest Hits Live
• 1989: See You up There
• 1994: Fly the Flags
• 1995: Pure Fingers
• 1995: B'S, Live, Unplugged & Demos
• 2006: Fifteen and Counting ... Live at the Barrowland 17th March 2006
• 2007: Live in Aberdeen 1979
• 2016: Best Served Loud

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)	Remarks
		UK
1979	Straw Dogs Nobody’s Heroes	UK44 (4 weeks) UK	First published: 1979
1980	At The Edge Nobody's Heroes	UK15 (9 weeks) UK	First published: 1980
	Nobody's Hero / Tin Soldiers Nobody’s Heroes	UK36 (5 weeks) UK	First published: 1980
	Back To Front Go for It	UK49 (4 weeks) UK	First published: 1980
1981	Just Fade Away Go for It	UK47 (6 weeks) UK	First publication: 1981
	Silver Lining Go for It	UK48 (3 weeks) UK	First publication: 1981
1982	Listen Now Then ...	UK33 (6 weeks) UK	First published: 1982
	Bits Of Kids Now Then ...	UK73 (2 weeks) UK	First published: 1982
1983	The Price Of Admission Now Then ...	UK95 (2 weeks) UK	First published: 1983
1989	The Wild Rover EP	UK83 (2 weeks) UK	First published: 1989 EP
1994	Can't Believe In You Get a Life	UK97 (1 week) UK	First published: 1994

More singles

• 1978: Suspect Device
• 1978: Alternative Ulster
• 1979: Gotta Gettaway
• 1982: Talkback
• 1983: On Fortune Street (Jake Burns, solo)
• 1984: She Grew Up (Jake Burns, solo)
• 1991: Beirut Moon
• 1994: Get a Life

swell

1. ↑ ^{a b} Chart sources: UK
2. ↑ Music Sales Awards: UK

Web links

• Stiff Little Fingers at Allmusic (English)