Years active 1976–present Website chelseapunkband.com | ||
Past members Billy IdolTony JamesHenry BadowskiJohn ToweCarey FortuneChris BashfordGeoff MylesDavid MartinTony BarberStuart SulsbyAndy Reid Members | ||
Chelsea are an English punk rock band, formed in London in 1976. Three of the four original band members went on to found Generation X.
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More than two decades after its release, "Right to Work", Chelsea's debut single, was included in Mojo magazine's list of the best punk rock singles of all time.
Biography
The original lineup featured frontman Gene October, William Broad (later and better known as Billy Idol) (guitar), Tony James (bass) and John Towe (drums, who had come from London SS along with James). After a few gigs, the other three left October to form Generation X. October then recruited Carey Fortune (drums), Martin Stacy (guitar) and Bob Jessie (bass), with the last two soon replaced by Henry Daze (Henry Badowski) and James Stevenson (who also later joined Generation X). This rapid turnover of band members (Simon Cade Williams, aka Simon Vitesse, joined the band as bassist in 1977 for UK tour and the single "High Rise Living") was characteristic throughout Chelsea's existence, with October the only constant presence.
Their first single, "Right to Work" (issued in 1977 by Step-Forward Records), dealing with unemployment, was their most popular song. It appeared on the soundtrack album (issued in 1978 by Polydor) to the 1977 Derek Jarman film Jubilee, which October had appeared in. On August 25, 1978 the band released another single, "Urban Kids", produced by ex-Who manager Kit Lambert.
After spending 1977–78 touring in the UK and overseas, they released their first album, Chelsea, in 1979. Their second album, Alternative Hits, was released in 1980; it was also issued in the U.S. by I.R.S. Records, retitled No Escape. After a split, October put together a new lineup, including guitarist Nic Austin, which recorded the critically acclaimed album Evacuate (1982).
October sporadically released albums with various Chelsea lineups throughout the 1980s, including Rocks Off, Original Sinners and Underwraps.
In the early 1990s, a lineup featuring the returning Austin and new bassist Mat Sargent released The Alternative (1993) and Traitors Gate (1994) albums. In 1999, the lineup from the first album, including Stevenson, reformed for the Social Chaos Tour across North America. A live album, Metallic F.O.: Live at CBGB's (released 2002), was recorded at CBGB in New York City during this tour.
Augmented by Buzzcocks bassist Tony Barber, the band released Faster, Cheaper and Better Looking in 2005. Austin and Sargent returned in 2011, and this lineup released the album Saturday Night Sunday Morning in 2015.
Studio albums
Singles
Live albums
Compilation albums
Compilation appearances
Songs
Right to WorkJubilee · 1978
High Rise LivingLive At The Music Machine 1978 · 2006
All the DownsChelsea · 1979