Formed: Isle of Wight, UK
Legendary band from the Isle of Wight (of all places) whose sole single was released posthumously because, despite having been recorded as part of a four song demo in 1975 (September according to the insert that came with the record, August according to other sources) it was considered inept and noisy enough by the ex-band members to fit in with punk come 1977. Except it was essentially badly-played hard rock with sort of punky lyrics.
Three o'clock on Friday night
a copper comes along
and after kicking me around
I started to run
But the law was all around me
So I just hit out
now they've thrown me in the nick
where I can scream and loon about
The group consisted of two Brits (Nigel Hutchings on vocals, John Pilka on guitar), one American (Mike Lee, drums) and one Irish-American (Jeff Piccinini, bass). Their one and only gig was at the Bath Pavilion in October 1975, where they were supposed to be supporting be Bop Deluxe, except the headliners didn't show up. Stormtrooper split in December '75 after being rejected by one record company too many. They reformed in 1978 for a few shows and recorded two songs for a potential single. Unfortunately 'I'm On Fire'/'Coming My Way' never made it to vinyl because they disbanded again. Jeff Piccinini later joined Chelsea (as Geoff Myles) and took 'I'm In Fire' with him. Hutchings later became manager of the Marquee.
The group remain little more than an interesting footnote in punk history.
DISCOGRAPHY
Singles / Albums
| I'm A Mess (7", 1977) |
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Extraneous Releases |
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| I'm A Mess (LP, 2010) |
I'm A Mess (7"+CD, 2014) |
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Various Artists
Killed By Death #100 LP 1997 (Redrum): I'm A Mess [bootleg]
Bloodstains Across The U.K. UK LP/CD 1996 (Bloodstains): I'm A Mess [bootleg]
Live To Ride Norway LP 2009 (Heavy Metal): I'm A Mess [bootleg]
Links
