Sham 69 Dave Parsons Interview April 2025 – John Wisniewski
Sham 69 are gigging with pretty much the original band back together. They’ve always been a dynamite live act and have produced some classic punk records and it’s great to see them still belting it out with conviction and entertaining audiences around the world. John Wisniewski caught up with guitarist Dave Parsons to shoot the breeze.
When did you join Sham 69, Dave? Tell us the story.
Me and Jimmy both had our first bands, his was Jimmy and the Ferrets and mine was Bobalouis which played mainly 60s stuff like The Who, Kinks, the Beatles and The Stones and a couple of my first attempts at songwriting. This was when I first met Jimmy as we were both playing the local circuit of pubs and working mens clubs. Jimmy’s band was doing anything from the Shadows to Teenager In Love plus some of their own songs.
Around the time we met he’d just changed the name of his band to Sham 69. After we’d played a gig on the same bill together, I became really good friends with Jimmy and Albie and from that moment, the three of us got on better than we did with our own band members. So we decided to form a new band, picking up Mark Cain on drums, who approached us outside the Walton hop. We toyed with different band names but in the end decided to keep the name Sham 69.
Were you influenced by the Sex Pistols?
Of course we were influenced by the Pistols. There were a few bands that kind of burst through the cracks into peoples faces shattering the generally safe, bland scene at that time. Eddie and the Hotrods first on Top of the Pops then The Damned on Supersonic. I think the Sex Pistols on Tony Wilson’s late night show, was a gift and a green light and everything changed from that moment on, thank god. It was great that Steve and Paul played with us on a few gigs.
Any favorite punk bands?
All of the above, obviously, The Clash, Vibrators, Stranglers, Ramones and Thunders etc. I can still remember dropping the needle for the first time on their first albums and seeing them live for the first time. It was just a great time in history with so much energy and positivity, I still feel privileged to have been a part of it.
Also I have to include Dr Feelgood. What a great band, both on record and live. We always went out to see them when we could.
What was it like recording with John Cale?
John was actually a really nice guy and probably the last person I’d have imagined working with I’d only recently smoked my first joint and whilst lying around stoned at a friend’s place he put on this weird music from a band I’d heard of but never listened to before, the Velvet Underground featuring this strange Welsh guy John Cale. As it would transpire in only a few months, Cale bizarrely played a part in us getting our first record deal with Step Forward Records. After Jimmy interrupted a meeting of Miles Copeland’s at Drysden Chambers, saying we were the best Punk band in the country and demanding a gig. He surprisingly obliged, putting us on the bottom of the bill with Chelsea, the Lurkers and the Cortinas at the Acklam Hall under the Westway.
Anyway, Copeland came down to see us with Mark P and new signing John Cale. I don’t think Copeland liked us that much, but Mark loved the band, and Cale told him he’d love to produce us. So out of the blue, they came backstage after the gig and offered us our first record deal. We couldn’t believe it; one of those moments you never forget.
During recording at Pathway studios which was a tiny little eight-track place John would keep disappearing and we’d have to go and trawl the local pubs to find and return him to the desk. There was very little from a production point of view that he could do really, I wanted the tracks to be as raw as they were live, the one thing he did do was point out that our bass player was unable to keep time and we’d need someone else to put the bass down, we had very limited time so I ended up playing it.
Were you surprised that the band had hits with “Hurry Up Harry” and “If The Kids Are United”?
When Jimmy and I were writing songs we never specifically sat down and thought, “Right, let’s write a hit today!” It was always just another song. Also, we were lucky that a lot of people could relate to the content of what we were writing. Musically, I had enough hooks in my subconscious to make them contenders and we were in a band at the right time in the right place. Ironically, some of our hits, ie, Hersham Boys and Harry were both afterthoughts. on both albums Hersham Boys and That’s Life.
As far as we were concerned, we’d finished recording only to be told by producer Pete Wilson that the album wasn’t long enough. We needed an extra track. You often hear writers say it, and it’s quite often the case that if you’re having a hard time with a song, it’s probably never gonna cut it. It’s when it’s easy and literally just flows out with little effort that you know you’re onto something good. Because we were so close to all the tracks we were recording, I don’t think we ever thought this is gonna be a hit. It’s usually when outsiders start levitating to one particular track that you think “oh maybe this is gonna be the one”.
What were Sham 69 live shows like?
Playing live gigs was where we felt most at home, we were lucky that we had such a passionate audience and it was therefore easy to make that connection that you’re always looking for when playing live, just that bit of magic that happens when you’re all on the same wavelength, some of the early London gigs were just like a giant party with the audience all singing songs before we’d even hit the stage.
Sadly as time went on things began to turn ugly with the advent of the far right starting to infiltrate punk and ska gigs, people began to feel unsafe coming out to gigs where in some cases you were literally taking your life in your own hands, more often than not in the later years we’d very rarely get to the end of a gig without having to stop it or waste everyone’s time giving lectures to marauding thugs who didn’t give a shit about the band anyway, in the end this was the main reason we called it a day, it had just become a drag.
How did Sham 69 get back together for a reunion after Jimmy Pursey had left the group?
We both went off and did different things for a while. Initially JP was doing his solo thing whilst I put the Wanderers together with US singer Stiv Bators (picture above). I also had a band called Framed with Girlschool Bass and vocalist Enid Williams.
Although we didn’t see that much of each other for quite a while, we had a mutual friend (Jimmy Edwards) back in Walton/Hersham and just by coincidence, we kept bumping into each other there, slowly putting our differences to rest and becoming friends once again
What are you doing now Dave?
I’m still playing gigs with Sham and still love every minute of it. There’s nothing else that can take the place of that and fingers crossed we’re all still in good enough health to carry on doing it. I’m slowly recording some new songs which may result in a third solo album one of these days. Away from music I still travel when I can and the rest of the time I spend in my garden. I’ve got nearly 4 acres including some woodland, so it’s more sort of landscaping than gardening, I just love the way you can create a space and then slowly watch it evolve, there’s always something new happening, plus of course it keeps mind and body fit.
TalkPunk
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