The BUSINESS were formed towards the end of the seventies in UK with a line-up consisting of Micky Fitz-Steve Kent-Martin Smith and Nick Cunningham. Their first apperance on vinyl came in 1981 on the VU Records compilation 'Sudden Surge Of Sound' with the track 'Out in the cold'. The album also featured the UK SUBS and Laura Logic, formerly X-RAY SPEX. The Business track did not fare too well with the music press and one critic described it as "an angry bastard version of Status Quo". The group next turned up on the 'Carry On Oi!' LP which featured two songs by them.
A month later they released their debut single 'Harry may' which reached the top ten in Sounds independant chart, and is now quite hard to find. The original line-up split soon after it's telease and the last track they recorded was 'Step Into christmas' for the 'Bollocks to Christmas' EP(Dec.'81). Also released in December was the '1980-81 Official Bootleg' on Syndicate Records. This mixed live and demo recordings from the first incarnation of the band.
Micky Fitz wasted no time in re-forming the band with the help of Steve Whale, Mark Brennan, Graham Ball(ex-Conflict) and John Fisher(later to join Combat 84). The band only survived long enough to play one gig and Ball and Fisher left. Kev Boyce was drafted in to fill the vacant drum-stool and recorded an EP 'Smash The discos' with the band in March '82. The single spent six weeks in the indie chart peaking at number one spot by Pigbag's quarter of a million selling 'Papa's got a brand new Pigbag'. Before the release of the band's delayed first album, they appeared on two compilations in 1982. 'Total Noise' EP featured a studio version of 'Loud proud and punk' and the secret Records 'Oi Oi that's yer lot' LP inclued 'Real Enemy'. The business debut album 'Suburban Rebels' was finally released in May 1983 and reached number 37 in the national charts.
The LP was produced by Micky Geggus of the COCKNEY REJECTS, but was not technically their true first album. The original first album was produced by Ron Rouman(the band's manager) but The Business were not happy with the mix, so they decided to remix themselves. However, when they went to do this they found the tapes had mysteriously disappeared. So they borrowed £2,000 from Secret and re-recorded the album. The tapes finally came to light when Secret licensed the song 'Blind Justice' to Cherry Red for use in the 'UK/DK' video and sound-track LP(released 1983).
Apparently Secret had sent, by mistake the Geggus mixes instead of the Rouman LP. The original Rouman produced album finally surfaced on the 'Back to Back Vol.2' double LP on wonderful World records in 1985. The album was titled 'Smash The discos'(later re-issued on Link) and iclued covers of Crass's 'Do they owe us a living' and Sham 69 'Tell us the truth''. The band was unable to record during most of 1984 due to legal hassles with Secret and trouble with their management. However, in september they returned again with a new LP 'Loud Proud and punk- Live' and a new drummer Micky Fairbairn. The album went down well with the music press and gained a five star review in Sounds.
1985 proved to be a productive year with the new line-up releasing their first 12" 'Get Out Of My House' ; two double LP's 'Back To Back-Vol.1' and the already mentioned volume 2; and the controversial 'Drinking and driving' . The latter was released on 7" and 12", the 12" containing a cover of SHAM 69's 'Harry up Harry'. The single did not impress the public, especially Professor Brian Pritchard of Action on Drinking and driving. He was quoted in the national press as saying: "The record is absolutely criminal, the group should be prosecuted for aiding and abetting manslaughter"(!!)
An album followed in December '85 entitled 'Saturday's heroes' which inclued 'Drinking and Driving' and another 'offensive' song - the title track 'Saturday's heroes'. The song was a tongue-in-cheek tribute to football hooliganism, but again was treated seriously and with contempt. Record wise, apart from songs on various compilations, The business were not heard of again until the release of 'Do a runner' in February '88(a brilliant song reminiscent of COCK SPARRER). Dojo Records kept the band's name alive prior to this by releasing a compilation LP in june '86. 'Singalongabusiness' contained singles A and B-sides, plus various odds and sods. The 12" 'Do a runner' was issued on Link records(which was formed by Business bass player Mark Brennan in '87).
An LP 'Welcome to the real world' followed quickly in May '88. As well as containing original Business songs it also contained versions of songs originally written for Prole and The Blackout(bands which Business members had been previously involved in). In October '88 a four-track EP was given away with the first issue of 'Beat Of The Street' magazine. The inclued song was a live version of 'Do a runner' recorded at the Lisieux Festival in Normandy-France and which was to be the band's last ever gig.
On Saturday April 2nd 1988, The Business played their final English gig at the Astoria in london. A crowd of 1500 attented and the event was recorded by Link and issued as the 'Live and Loud' LP. The band split up shortly after the aforementioned French Festival...
