The Best Seat in the House: A Cock Sparrer Story

by Steve Bruce, Lars Frederiksen (Foreword), Garry Bushell (Foreword)

The personal story of one of the most influential Oi! bands in music history as told by its drummer, from the beginnings of British punk to a surprising resurgence decades later Cock Sparrer are widely considered to be one of the most influential street-punk bands in history, and helped pave the way for the late-1970s punk scene and the significant Oi! subgenre. Here is the band’s story from the perspective of drummer and driving force, Steve Bruce—from their beginnings in London’s East End through the mid-1970s punk boom and Malcolm McLaren’s attempts to mold them, until the current period that sees them as surprised as anybody to find themselves touring the world, releasing new material, and enjoying the respect and love of the punk and Oi! community. After battling through the 1970s and 1980s, the 1990s' punk revival saw this band of childhood friends rediscovered by fans old and new, and they now enjoy huge success headlining festival bills and performing shows to large ecstatic crowds all over the western world. Packed with photographs, memorabilia, tales and anecdotes, this book is a must for any fan.

Genres: Music, Punk

300 pages, Paperback

First published March 29, 2010

About the author

Steve Bruce (born 1951), Professor of Sociology at the University of Aberdeen since 1991, elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 2003 and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2005, he has written extensively on the nature of religion in the modern world and on the links between religion and politics.

Reviews

[Pegg Irwin]

Steve Bruce, the long time drummer of Cock Sparrer is good writer. He has good humor and is a decent storyteller. 'Best Seat In The House' includes forwards by Garry Bushell and Lars Frederickson, and some perspective on a band so many people didn't know about in the late 1970s and 80s. Makes you respect them. I believe this was written in 2010, so it's their beginnings up until 'Here We Stand'. A bit dated. There interviews, forwards, a collosal amount of images, and it's funny. Also a brilliant band.

[Jack]

Cock Sparrer are one of my favourite bands. This is something of a scrapbook and is sometimes all over the place chronologically but has some great stories.

[Mike]

Saw their first shows in US. Familiar names and friends in it. Best seat in the house is the perspective you get when you're the drummer,(I still caught a bottle to the head once.) I think the funniest thing is when people promote bad reviews of themselves.

[Joshua Finnell]

Library Journal Review:

Decca Records passed on the Beatles and dropped Cock Sparrer after one album, but both bands have made a lasting musical impact. Though not commercially successful, Cock Sparrer’s music influenced such legendary punk bands as the Dropkick Murphys and Rancid. In this sometimes blurry retelling, Bruce, the drummer, recounts the group’s transformation from a nominal punk band in the 1970s to one of the most revered punk bands today. A hodgepodge of tour diaries, album reviews, and band history, the story of Cock Sparrer is inseparable from a parallel tale of enduring friendship. The most enjoyable and remarkable aspect of this band is their genuine enthusiasm for one another. As with all rock memoirs, Cock Sparrer’s history comes complete with its requisite list of name-dropping and self-indulgent tangents. However, Bruce writes candidly and glosses over the lurid anecdotes of sex and drugs. VERDICT More appropriately marketed as a scrapbook, this volume will find its way to only the most ardent fans of punk.—Joshua Finnell, Denison Univ. Lib., Granville, OH