One of the first Oi! bands, Cock Sparrer was playing loud, raw, Cockney working-class anthems as early as the first wave of British punk, although record company difficulties prevented them from issuing much material until the early '80s, when the Oi!movement was well underway. The group formed in London's East End in 1975, originally as a hard-edged pub rock combo in the vein of Dr. Feelgood. Four of the members -- vocalist Colin McFaull, guitarist Mick Beaufoy, bassist Steve Burgess, and drummer Steve Bruce -- had been schoolmates since age 11, and had been playing together in cover bands three years prior. They were joined by rhythm guitarist Garrie Lammin (Burgess' cousin), and soon began playing the Bridgehouse Pub in Canning Town on a regular basis.
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Bats Out Lyrics
Cock Sparrer
Just another tour, just another gig, just another sound and lighting rig
A rock n' roll show and a couple of beers but some of those boys had other ideas
A sign on the wall made it perfectly clear: no guns, no bombs, no knives in here
Potsdam rocks but we should have been told of freedoms new and rivals old
We played the set and we encored fast, then the dressing room door was locked at last
In retrospect, the mistake was the fact that the sign didn't say: no baseball bats
[Chorus]
Bats out, get your bats out
There's always dark before the dawn, there's always still before the storm
From calm to chaos in a flash, the bottles flew, the place got trashed
Then, through the noise, we heard the shout: get your bats out, get your bats out
[Chorus]
And the ballroom now was a battlefield and we thought that someone might get killed
We saw it all but we never knew what reasons lay behind that feud
And we wondered if it was fate or not to destroy only thing you've got
[Chorus]