The band was founded in 1981 in Cardiff (Wales) with brothers Russell and Ronnie Payne in the first line up, joined by his friends Gary Tier and Martin Brennan and they initially took the name of Forced Oppression.

In the meantime, there was another band called Insanity Squad, heir to Section 20, also formed by brothers Dom and Roddy Moreno, Vince King and Ed Fleming. When they later dissolved the band in December 1981, Moreno went to replace Ronnie Payne in The Oppressed.

With the addition of Dom Dominic Moreno on bass and the Kid Lee Jenkins on drums, along with Ducky Russell Payne on guitar, the band recorded their single Victims (Oppressed Records, 1983) and Never Say Die EP (Firm records, 1983). A year later they released their first LP entitled Oi! Oi! Music (Oppressed Records, 1984) and the album Fatal Blow (Oppressed Records, 1984).

In 1984 the group split up to return ten years later live recording the EP Anti Fascist Oi! (Bronco Bullfrog Records, 1994), 5-4-3-2-1 EP (Bronco Bullfrog Records), the re-release of the EP Victims (Bronco Bullfrog Records) as well as Fuck Fascism EP (Anti-Fascist records, 1995) to benefit the Anti-Fascist Action [AFA], and albums such as We Can Do Anything (Step 1, 1994), Music For Hooligans (Step 1, 1996) or More Noize for the Boys (Knockout Records, 2001) among others.

After a season without playing live The Oppressed returned to the stage with a revamped line-up led by Moreno. Roddy Moreno was also the precursor of SHARP (SkinHeads Against Racial Prejudice) in Europe and was the owner of Oi! Records and Ska Records in the eighties.

The just-released The Oppressed! Oi! Studio Recordings 1981-2018 4CD clam shell box-set contains the 113 studio tracks recorded by Welsh Oi! legends The Oppressed within those 37 years.

It features the albums: ‘Oi! Oi! Music’, ‘Fatal Blow’, ‘We Can Do Anything’ and ‘Music For Hooligans’ plus the singles ‘Never Say Die’, ‘Victims’, ‘Anti Fascist Oi!’, ‘Fuck Fascism’, ‘Strength In Unity’, ‘The Noise’, ‘The Insurgence’, ‘Football Violence’ and ‘2 Generations 1 Message’. This box-set also includes tracks culled from rare split compilation albums, many of the songs getting a UK release for the first time. The booklet features detailed liner notes, pictures of every release and an overview by vocalist Roddy Moreno.

CD 1: MUSIC FOR HOOLIGANS
1. CF3 2. That’s Alright 3. Living With Unemployment 4. Same Old Story 5. Skinhead Times 6. Garageland 7. When I Was Young 8. All Together Now 9. 5 4 3 2 1 10. No Justice 11. Pressure Drop 12. We’re The Hooligans 13. Substitute 14. Nazi Nightmare 15. Sleeping With The Enemy 16. Fuck Fascism.

To my mind, Oppressed front man Roddy Moreno is one of the most important figures in the anti-racist Oi! scene to continue to make music, and his ideologies are front and foremost on Music for Hooligans.

Put together out of a previously released EP and a handful of covers, Moreno and crew blast through the 16 Oi! anthems like it was 1982 all over again. Claiming that this was the last album of Oi! the band would ever make, it does come off as a final statement in a lot of ways.

Beginning the album with the visceral chant-fest CF3 and ending with the outrageous Fuck Fascism, every song is a politically motivated track designed for singing along and bouncing around the room.

It may not be the final statement on the band (they have a best-of that works better), and it’s not the definitive moment in the genre that they would like it to be (that probably belongs to Oi! The Album), but it is a nice last gasp from a band who always had good intentions all along.

STRENGTH IN UNITY! EP 17. Madness 18. Boots Are Made For Stompin’ 19. Skinhead Girl (New Version) 20. CF3 THE NOISE EP 21. Cum On Feel The Noize 22. Mama Weer All Crazee Now 23. Gudbuy T’Jane FAT SKINS EP 24. The AFA Song 25 Do Anything You Wanna Do ANGELIC UPSTARTS TRIBUTE 26. Solidarity.

CD 2: SKINHEAD UNITY 1. United We Stand 2. Nobody’s Fool 3. Paedophile THE INSURGENCE EP 4. I Don’t Wanna 5. Blue Army 6. I Don’t Wanna (Spanish Version) 7. Blue Army (Instrumental) FOOTBALL VIOLENCE EP 8. Football Violence 9. Remember 10. Low Life 11. Tonight Tonight S.H.A.R.P. AS A RAZOR 12. Antifa Hooligans 13. Monkey Man 14. Brother Louie 2 GENERATIONS EP 15. I Wanna Be Sedated 16. Blitzkrieg Bop SKINS ’N’ PUNKS VOLUME 6 17. Head Kicked In 18. Drunken Skinhead 19. White Flag (New Version) 20. The Greatest Cardiff Rip Off 21. Cardiff Born 22. Bluebirds Unite 23. SHARP Anthem FCK FSCSM (THIS IS ANTI FASCIST OI!) 24. Crucify The Police 25. Enoch Power 26. This Machine 27. Fuck Em All.

The second disc contains six EPs and the album SKINS ’N’ PUNKS VOLUME 6, which was the resurrection of the ‘Skins’n’Punks’ compilation series that got released between 1986 and 1989 by Roddy Moreno’s own Oi! Records.

Back then it also featured six tracks from The Prowlers, but here we get the seven original cuts in all their wondrous punk glory. Interestingly enough, The Oppressed songs here include (at the time) five new ones, a Prowlers cover (Drunken Skinhead) and a new recorded version of White Flag (for the song was originally not recorded with Roddy on vocals, but with Martin Brennan back in 1982).

CD 3: 1981 DEMO 1. Fatal Blow 2. Way Of Life 3. Last Orders 4. Local Constabulary 5. White Flag Oi! THE TAPE 6. Riot 7. Leave Me Alone 8. Joe Hawkins 9. Government 10. It Ain’t Right 11. We’re The Oppressed Oi! Oi! THAT’S YER LOT 12. White Flag (Version 2) NEVER SAY DIE EP 13. Urban Soldiers 14. Ultra-Violence 15. Run From You Oi! Oi! MUSIC LP 16. We’re The Oppressed 17. Leave Me Alone 18. Violent Society 19. Urban Soldiers 20. Chaos 21. Gun Law 22. Riot 23. Joe Hawkins 24. Fight For Your Life 25. Ultra Violence 26. Government Out 27. Run From You 28. Skinhead Girl 29. Don’t Look Back 30. Magistrate.

The third disc is comprised of three EPs, one single (albeit a powerhaus second version of White Flag) and their infamous Oi! Oi! MUSIC LP (itself a prime example of working classical rock which openly expressed opposition to racism and fascism throughout each and every lyric), but for me, the most essential component of the disc is the 6-track Oi! THE TAPE.

Originally a Dead and Buried compilation for fans of the band from 1983, with Roddy now at the helm of the band, we’re in much more familiar territory than the 1981 demo. Here we have anthems like Joe Hawkins and Riot in a rough and ready form, and it’s hard not to be blown away by the fundamental raw power of these songs.

I’m sure anyone who heard this back in ’83 knew there was something special about these guys, but surprisingly the band would never re-record It Ain’t Right, though it was later covered by The Templars.

CD 4: SINGLE 1. Victims 2. Work Together 1984 DEMO 3. Bad Man 4. Angels With Dirty Faces 5. ACAB ANTI FASCIST OI! EP 6. Substitute 7. Nazi Nightmare 8. B.N.P. (Your Full Of Shit) 9. Nazi Skinhead WE CAN DO ANYTHING LP 10. That’s Life 11. Borstal Breakout 12. Hurry Up Harry 13. Sunday Morning Nightmare 14. Evil 15. Sorry 16. Wonderful World 17. 1984 18. We Can Do Anything 19. Police Car 20. Oi! Oi! Oi! 21. I’m Not A Fool 22. King Of The Jungle 23. Skinheads In Stapress 24. Rebels With A Cause 25. Violence In Our Minds 26. Llanrumney Chorus FUCK FASCISM EP 27. Fuck Fascism 28. Sleeping With The Enemy 29. Work Together 1995 5 4 3 2 1 EP 30. Evil In Magaluf.

The fourth and final disc features the quadruple lottery pick of one of each musical output: a single, a demo, a couple of EPs and the full-length balls out, cover punk rock brilliance of WE CAN DO ANYTHING.

Aside from the scattered tracks amongst the single and the EPs, the LP is a standout collection of covers of classic Oi! songs from the likes of Cockney Rejects, Sham, Last Resort and The 4-Skins. And as we all know by now, both the Rejects and Sham have a similar sound of raw ’70s punk that captured the energy of the time before it became just another fashion edge to sell to the masses.

Last Resort have a lot more of a harder, heavier sound as do 4-Skins, whilst Resort play a slow heavy punk sound and 4-Skins are a little faster, but here all the covers are well put together and have the added unique sound of being uniquely The Oppressed.

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