Charlie Harper – An Anarchy Of Demons review Punk77 23.07.2025

So where do you start with a review of Charlie Harper’s autobiography, An Anarchy Of Demons?

Let’s start with the cover because it’s a brilliant painting by Steve Dann and perfectly sums up the legend that is Charlie.

Then, there are some indicators in the first few pages as to what will follow. Firstly, the volume is some 500 pages thick with a staggering 130 chapters, so it’s not going to be your standard linear chapter format, and that proves the case as many chapters often contain a page or para of Charlie’s recollections. Secondly, Charlie casually mentions some 80 people (!) have passed through the UK Subs, with it likely to be even more by the time of publication. This in itself is unusual and the closest parallel would be Iggy Pop but Charlie & the UK Subs name have become synonymous. More on this later.

In the foreword, Lars Frederikson recounts a tale backstage at a Motörhead gig with him, Charlie Harper and Lemmy who quips if it wasn’t for Charlie he’d be the oldest c**t there. And age is certainly a factor here as Charlie can recall the immediate post-war period. If you’re a 16 year old punk rocker getting into the Subs be prepared for a shock about how early Charlie’s early life is – we are talking about the Second World War which you might need to Google! In fact, if you took off the first 80 or so pages which recounts in great detail Charlie’s life away from London on farms and the adventures he had growing up and what he got up to, it could easily be a separate novella entitled Cider with Charlie.

Now, some people, when reading autobiographies like this, tend to skip straight to their point of interest. I know Mark Perry likes to miss out the whole preamble. Nikki Sudden of Swell Maps would also miss this out and then go back to read it afterwards.

The next section is for some then the interesting bit where Charlie joins various bands as a bassist, eventually arrives at the Marauders and then turns punk into the UK Subversives. After the detail in the first section, it’s a little confused as the chapters sometimes switch back and forth in time but don’t seem to quite match up like when CID was written or the band morphed into punk or when Steve Davies jumped from Dick Envy to The Subs and there’s repetition of certain facts several times. What’s clear though is Charlie at the ripe old age (in music terms) of his early 30s really loves punk rock and he pulls together round him a band that play it effectively and play the Roxy club on several occasions. It is this band that will do the recording on the live at the Roxy album and whose patronage by John Peel will help propel them forward.

There are interesting things at play here though. As Charlie says the most loved incarnation of the band would be Paul Slack, Pete Davies, Nicki Garrett and Charlie Harper version. Yet they were the second or third version by early 1978. I was surprised to learn that Rob Harper who had previously drummed for the Clash and didn’t particularly enjoy it, was the drummer in the UK Subs for a while. Also interesting snippets like Charlie wanted to have Gem from the Killjoys as bassist.

It would have been nice to have more detail around this period but that’s my opinion. The Subs got lucky with their management and signing to Gem where so many others dropped by the wayside like Menace but at the same time they had fantastic songs, a killer live act and a relentless work ethic. By their second single they were on Top Of The Pops.

What’s also interesting here is Charlie is a rock ‘n’ roll survivor. He is one of those rare breed that lives and breathes rock’n’roll or in this case punk rock. What comes across in the book is that he has a lot in common with Lemmy and even JJ Burnel. They are professional musicians who love(d) playing gigs, travelling, recording albums and the side benefits that go with the job (sex & drugs) and managed to keep the rock’n’roll excesses that went with it in check to be able to survive 24/7 through their career without stopping. It’s a job and one they love. While others burn out, change or just leave they continue unfazed. And with Charlie, if he’s not playing gigs, he’s going to other people’s ones and always is happy to chat. I can’t imagine Charlie has many nights in!

Charlie has played thousands of gigs across the world in countless countries and venues and as he points out near enough every year for since 1980 or whatever has toured America in some form or another. Somehow he’s also managed to never be touched by that “Oh he’s the only original member in the band” shit that gets people all riled up because as long as Charlie is there at the front of the UK Subs no matter who is with him and they play well then that’s cool.  

As I said throughout the book there are challenges with repetition of some facts and passages that could have been tidied up. Some of the chapters are literally one page and a recollection about a place. I always find the best autobiographies or rock books make you wanna go back or go and listen to the songs or albums that they’re talking about. Part of the challenge with this book was that I very rarely did that because the songs/albums were very rarely talked about or dissected. For example, how did they come up with Down On The Farm and what did it mean for them that G&R’s covered it?  That said, Charlie talks about going more towards a dance-oriented 12” inch mix that the Subs fan base absolutely hated and it tanked. The song was Another Typical City and he’s right, it’s bloody good and it sits perfectly between Pil, The Cure et al but remains a classic Subs song!

So look, An Anarchy Of Demons is not The Dirt by Motley Crue and a tale of excess, drugs and redemption. In fact I’m not sure what the title actually refers to unless it’s the music business and the people in it.  It’s the tale of one man who ended up in punk and has kept that flame burning since that very first moment without stopping through a bit of fame, through the harder UK82 period, through the lean years and back up to the level the band is now. In the book, Charlie doesn’t seem to have an ego, doesn’t seem overly concerned about money and is an affable and genial fellow who doesn’t try to impose on bandmates and likes using the word ‘alas’ a lot 😊

No matter who he’s surrounded with, Charlie will continue to keep that flame burning.  Charlie Harper is pure punk rock and a legend. This is his story. Andy Blade of Eater quipped that starting a book title with “A” suggests Charlie is going through the alphabet again, but in this case, I don’t think so 😊

The book published by Earth Island here and available in hard or softback. Buy it direct and support the publisher. This review is from a PDF which I can’t recall whether was corrected or uncorrected.

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