Special Duties are a British punk rock band from Colchester, Essex.

History of the band

Special Duties was created in October 1977 by schoolfellows Steve Green (Aka Arrogant), Steve Norris (Aka Duty) and Nigel Baker. They were punks at school, but the idea of forming their own band came when they saw The Adverts in Colchester. However, the three schoolboys couldn't play and didn't own any instruments. In spite on that, it didn't discourage them. They decided to put Arrogant on vocals, Duty on guitar and Baker on Bass. With regard to their drummer, they had none, until that they asked to Stuart Bray, an 18 year old well respected punk of their region. Soon after that, they met Bart Povah who joined their group at the guitar.

In 1982 Arrogant decided to declare war to the anarcho-punk band Crass. They released an LP 77 in 82 which was followed by their biggest selling single "Bullshit Crass". However, after that, their music's leading distributors refused to stock their material. This censorship made life a burden for the band. In 1983 they released the single "Punk Rocker" who was not well distributed. In the same year, the group broke off.

Twelve years later, the band was back on scene for the 1995's Fuck Reading at the Brixton Academy. After that the group didn't split again and now, they are still giggling and recording.

In 1997 the band released "Wembley Wembley! (Wembley here we come)" to commemorate Colchester United reaching the final of that years AutoWindscreens Shield at Wembley. Also on the CD was a version of "Up the U's!" a song written about the football club and still sung there today. The third track contained brief interviews with players, such as Garrett Caldwell, Joe Dunne and current club captain Karl Duguid.

In 2007 the band re-recorded the "Up the U's!" with local band KOOPA with a song entitled "Stand Up For Col U" by KOOPA and with the vocals of Colchester United players Jamie Cureton, Chris Iwelumo, Wayne Brown, Karl Duguid, Kevin Watson, Pat Baldwin, Kevin McLeod and Dean Gerken. The single was released to raise funds for the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Discography

Albums

• '77 in '82, 1982
• '77 in '97, 1997
• Live at CBGBs, 1999
• The Punk Singles Collection, 1999

Singles/EPs

• "Violent Society" b/w "Colchester Council", 1980
• "Violent Society" b/w "It Ain't Our Fault"/"Colchester Council", 1981
• "Police State EP"', 1982
• "Bullshit Crass" b/w "You're Doing Yourself No Good", 1982
• "Punk Rocker" b/w "Too Much Talking", 1983
• "Mutt" b/w "London Town", 1996
• "Judge and Jury"/"Shadow", 1997 (split with Red Flag 77)
• "Wembley! Wembley! b/w "Up The U's"/"Interview", 1997
• "MRR Rules"/"Lost Cause or Not", 1998 (split with The Creed)
• "I Wish It Could Be '77 EP", 1999
• "Up The U's" / "Stand Up For Col U", 2007 (Collaboration with KOOPA)

External links

• Special Duties Official Website
• Interview with the group