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Sore Throat were an English new wave/punk band from Highgate in London, England, formed in 1975. They released seven singles between 1978 and 1981, and one album in 1979, Sooner Than You Think, on the Hurricane label. The band consisted of Justin Ward (vocals & harmonica), Matthew Flowers (keyboards), Daniel Flowers (bass), Reid Savage (guitars), Greg Mason (sax) and Mark Burton then Robin Knapp then Clive Kirby (drums). Justin Ward left the band in January 1980 with Matt & Dan Flowers taking up joint responsibility for vocals. In September 1980 Clive Kirby left the band and Conrad Warre (guitar, vocals) & Nick Pepper (drums), both formerly of One Hand Clapping, joined until the band's final gig in October 1981. The band made over 475 live appearances.

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Sore Throat
Origin	London, England
Genres	New wave, punk, power pop[1]
Years active	1975–1981
Labels	Hurricane Records, Dureco
Past members	Justin Ward Matthew Flowers Danny Flowers Reid Savage Greg Mason Robin Knapp Clive Kirby

History

In the early 1970s Matt & Dan Flowers formed a band with Ollie Marland called The Moggers. The band developed over the next few years under different names ranging from The Blades, The New Moggers, The New Blades adding Greg Mason, saxophone & Reid Savage guitar (for a short period) along the way before settling on Jam and bringing in Aidan Heed on guitar & vocals and Mark “Dick” Burton on drums. The first full line-up of “Jam” Flowers, Flowers, Heed, Burton & Mason played their first and only gig at St Anthony's School in Hampstead, North London on 15 October 1974. Heed left and singer, harmonica player and songwriter Justin Ward joined.

When punk band The Jam entered the music scene in 1975 the band changed their name briefly to Juice (playing at the Nag's Head in High Wycombe – July 1975) before settling on Sore Throat. Now sometimes referred to as the Original Sore Throat due to another band (playing crust punk/grindcore) taking the name up in the late 1980s.

In the summer of 1975 Reid Savage re-joined the band. The band played regular concerts from early 1976 and in August 1976 started a 15-month weekly residency at the Pindar of Wakefield (now known as The Water Rats) in Kings Cross, North London. The residency acted as a springboard to gigs throughout the United Kingdom. A major breakthrough was an 18 venue tour supporting Deaf School from early 1978. As a headline act many bands who went on to great success did their early gigs supporting Sore Throat including Madness, Adam & The Ants, Bad Manners, The Members and many others. The band allowed The Slits on stage to do their first performance at the Pindar of Wakefield in May 1977. Tours followed in Ireland, Holland, Austria and Switzerland. In the spirit of the times all earnings were shared equally and the band were mostly self-managed by Matthew Flowers. This led to Justin Ward leaving the band following an appearance on The Old Grey Whistle Test in January 1980. The band continued with Matt & Dan sharing singing duties for the next eight months with one of their best singles Diggin’ a Dream released in April 1980. In August 1980 drummer Clive Kirby left the band and shortly afterwards new singer/songwriter and guitarist Conrad Warre together with his drummer Nick Pepper (both ex One-Hand Clapping) joined the band. The music evolved into a sophisticated reggae/rock/jazz sound, but sadly didn't put out a new album – just one further single Bank Raid was released in June 1981 following the departure of Reid Savage. The last ever gig was a sold out night at the Greyhound in October 1981. Conrad Warre wanted to change the name of the band and change the royalty distribution and a compromise couldn't be reached.

Discography

Albums

• Sooner Than You Think (1979), Hurricane Records / Dureco (1980)

Singles

• "I Dunno"/"Complex" (1978)
• "Zombie Rock" (1978)
• "Kamikaze Kid" (1979)
• "7th Heaven" (1979)
• "Flak Jacket" (1980)
• "Diggin a Dream" (1980)
• "Bank Raid" (1981)

Compilation Album

• Moonlight “Live” Club Bands – “Complex” (1980)

References

External links

• Sore Throat discography at Discogs

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