BBM: Were you a fan of Sham 69 before you replaced Jimmy Pursey?
TV: Oh err yeah as a matter of fact I- I lost a tooth the first time I saw them!
BBM: When was that?
TV: Oh God- that was at the Crawley Leisure Centre in 1977 or ‘78. The press for Punk was in its infancy still so most of the tales of woe were spread via the gossip tree… It was only ‘til you actually went to the gig you realised what was going on…
BBM: Do you mean the reputation of violence the band’s following had?
TV: Well it varied really. If you went it wasn’t sort of like a travelling bunch like the Finchley boys with The Stranglers. It was more like the local mob would go down there. It was almost like they imposed themselves on the gig- like you’d get that area’s branch of the “Sham Army” sort of thing…
BBM: So it was almost like factions of a Sham 69 football firm?
TV: Yeah it was a weird thing- there were a few travelling fans who went to Sham gigs but they didn’t do many gigs! They went from being a Street Punk band with a bit of a reputation to doing fancy venues…
BBM: How did it feel stepping into Jimmy Pursey’s shoes? Did you receive any negative criticism from these fans or anybody else?
TV: Oh God absolutely! The thing is when I took over I knew Jimmy anyway but it was very negative. The fortunate thing in a weird way was that because at that stage the band was on its knees- they had no shows, promoters wouldn’t touch them - so we literally had to start from scratch. We did get a lot of bad press and the irony is we got more crap with Dave in the band than we did without him! A lot of people say I haven’t got the voice Jimmy Pursey had and I say “that’s because I’m not Jimmy Pursey!” If I did try and be more Oi! I’d be buggered for the next day and wouldn’t be able to sing! Oi! from my perspective was never about standing up and screaming your lungs out- it was more a case of being a pissed off working class person. A lot of fans say stuff about my style of singing and again its swings and roundabouts- it’s the way it goes.
BBM: How did you deal with that kind of reception?
TV: We took it on the chin- I don’t like being intimidated and we found that the only way to shut the doubters up was to put on a good show! I think one of the main guys I took a lot of advice from was Paul Roberts who took over from Hugh in The Stranglers. He said to me you can’t win! Social networks the way they are you’re always gonna get a- get a bunch of people slagging you off whoever you are.
BBM: How do you feel about the fact that there are currently two groups operating under the name Sham 69?
TV: It’s err… (chuckles) well basically this is an exclusive really! I think from a personal perspective with me Ian and Al are just really disappointed in Dave. We tend to have faith in humanity and think there must be a bunch of people out there who see through it … He’s been running Jimmy down for years now and he goes and does this? Surely he doesn’t believe that people out there are so thick as to just accept it! From our point of view when the band split in 2006 when Jimmy got sacked we naturally progressed and in 2010 we got recognition to say we’d done more shows in last 5 years than the band had done in its entire history! Then suddenly we have this thrust upon us and Jimmy for the umpteenth time comes back out of the blue! Unfortunately we had to go the courts and they said we had the legal rights to carry on with the name and they hadn’t. It’s because of natural progression. It’s like Ian’s been the drummer for 26 years and if Dave wants to leave it behind then that his problem. Dave’s driven by money and ego and so is Jimmy.
BBM: Is there any competition between the two line ups?
TV: No- the thing is with us we’re 50 odd now so the window of opportunity to become the next JLS is well beyond us! I can’t speak for Jimmy! We all jacked our jobs in 5 years ago and we’ve sacrificed a lot and for them to go “thanks for all your hard work. Now fuck off!” it just doesn’t wash with us… Romantic as it may seem we’re doing gigs for more moral reasons- we’re not getting paid the thousands that they are. We appreciate the fans that have supported us over the past five years- and we’ll keep doing it as long as they want. I think if the other line up can carry on in the light of (I’m not speaking specifically of Dave) everything they did to bring the band to its knees then the music industry isn’t as nice as I thought it could be… I’ve sat and thought “is it worth carrying on?” but then again we did a gig in a pub in Birmingham and it was sold out. We did a festival in Woodstock for thousands of people but give me a pub any day of the week coz it’s real and that’s what Sham’s all about. Well it is for me!
BBM: Your line up seems to be a lot more self- consciously Oi! in its approach to writing music than the original Sham 69 who seemed to accidently fall into that sub- genre. Was this progression intentional or organic?
TV: It was purely organic because the when Sham basically started to fold and Jimmy had left to be the new Johnny Rotten and then came back with his tail between his legs. If you listen to stuff like The Volunteer they really did drift off the radar… And obviously when the band reformed they did some bloody awful stuff! They did a song called “Outside The Warehouse” which a lot of people don’t know about it but it was when Jimmy was trying to get everyone to wear pegs and get “wedge” haircuts. That was basically Jimmy being Jimmy and trying to force everyone into a genre that was Thatcher, Spandau Ballet and credit cards. It just didn’t work! Many times he’s spoken about the trials and tribulations of the working class which he’d never experienced anyway… And it’s like you can’t go from being a Dickensian bovver boy to a tree hugger over night!
BBM: Can we expect a new album any time soon?
TV: Yes. There’s gonna be an album coming out at the end of the year. Obviously it’ll be a bit different with Dave not being on it but we got Neil Harris who was a founding member of Sham 69 and was also in the band from ‘75 to ‘77. We found out a couple of months ago that “Borstal Breakout” was written before Dave was in the band! If I hadn’t heard the original recording of a gig they did in ‘76 with the song on it I wouldn’t have believed it! I nearly fell off my chair! There’s a lot of stuff coming out that’s gonna show the real story of Sham 69 which is very different to what a lot people thought it was! It’s gonna be a meat and potatoes album: Back to basics! The songs are reflecting what’s going on in everyone’s lives today- dole queues, teenage pregnancy as opposed to just selling a product. I hate that and I hate plastic people. We’re not gonna pull any punches on that front!
BBM: Sham 69 are of course playing in Bolton, Lancashire at “Kico Klub” on 9th March 2012. How are you feeling about that?
TV: I just hope the Millwall V Bolton game ends amicably!
BBM: Tim V, thanks for talking to Ball Breakers Media!
More info on the upcoming Bolton gig here: http://www.facebook.com/events/359236050769516/
More info on the upcoming Bolton gig here: http://www.facebook.com/events/359236050769516/
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