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{{Short description|Scottish punk rock band}}{{about|the Scottish punk band|the Greek expression|hoi polloi}}{{more citations needed|date=May 2012}}{{EngvarB|date=October 2013}}{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2013}}

factoids

| label = Campary Records, Ruptured Ambitions, Words of Warning, Oi! Records, Green VomitAberfeldy (band)>Aberfeldy The Apostles (band) Disorder (band)>Disorder The ExploitedPolitical Asylum (band) KansalaistottelemattomuusKling Klang (band)>Kling Klang Bus Station Loonies Gin Goblins Newtown Grunts Divide & Conquer Moniack In Decades Decline Rocka Ragnarok| current_members = Deek AllenCameron TongsOigridhOlsen| past_members = Ade (drummer)Matt Finch (guitar) Dirty Dave Campbell (guitar)Yaga (guitar) Derek Reid (bass) Riley Briggs (guitar) Murray Briggs (drums)Grant Thorburn (drums)Chris Low (drums) Kev McInally (drums) }}Oi Polloi are a punk rock band from Scotland that formed around 1981. Starting as an Oi! band, they are now generally more associated with the anarcho-punk genre. The band has become notable for their contributions to the Scottish Gaelic punk subgenre."An dà chòmhlan punc a tha a' seinn sa Ghàidhlig". The Scotsman (18 March 2005) The name comes from the Greek expression "οἱ πολλοί", Anglicized hoi polloi, meaning "the masses" or "the common people".The band has gone through about 50 members since their formation, and their only permanent member has been vocalist Deek Allen, who has also been involved in Gaelic-language television.WEB,weblink Oi Polloi - Artist Profile, eventseeker.com, en, 2020-02-27, The band has included punks and skinheads. The members have been supporters of Anti-Fascist Action and Earth First!, and they use the motto "No Compromise in Defence of Our Earth," which is an adaptation of Earth First!'s motto. They support direct action in defence of the environment, hunt sabotage, as well as resistance against racism, sexism, homophobia, fascism and imperialism.

Career

After gigs in the Edinburgh area and the recording of the band's self-recorded first cassette demo, Last of the Mohicans, drummer Stu "Doccy" Dunn left to become a karate instructor. A second studio demo, Green Anarchoi and their first vinyl EP, Resist the Atomic Menace, followed.Oi Polloi started singing in Scottish Gaelic in 1996, recording the Carson? EP, (2003), then recording and releasing the full-length LP Ar Ceòl Ar Cànan Ar-A-Mach in 2006."Ar-a-mach cànain: a' chiad chlàr fada roc gu tur sa Ghàidhlig". The Scotsman (5 May 2006) The band members also use Scottish Gaelic in day-to-day communications."Gaels must look to the radical fringe". The Scotsman (30 July 2005)In 2013, they collaborated with CLÀR, a Scottish Gaelic publisher, to launch Air Cuan Dubh Drilseach, a Gaelic science fiction novel by Tim Armstrong, the singer of Mill a h-Uile Rud, at events at Elvis Shakespeare on Leith Walk and on The Cruz Boat at the shore in Leith.WEB,weblink Bogadh Punc ann an Dun Eideann, Armstrong, Tim, April 2013, DRILSEACH, 29 April 2013,

Legacy and influence

In an interview with The Guardian in 2016, the band was citied along with a number of other British Anarcho-punk bands of the early 80s as being an influence to the American avant-garde metal group Neurosis.WEB, Deller, Alex, Neurosis: 'Crass were the mother of all bands',weblink The Guardian, 27 June 2023,weblink 29 November 2022, Kings Place, London, British English, 3 November 2016,

Discography

12" LPs

• Skins 'N' Punks Volume Two (Split w Betrayed) 1986
• Unlimited Genocide (Split w A.O.A.) 1986
• Mad As... (Split w Toxik Ephex) 1987
• Unite And Win (Oi! Records) 1987
• In Defence of Our Earth (Words of Warning Records) 1990
• You've Heard It All Before (Track on The Crass Covers Compilation album) (Ruptured Ambitions Records) 1993
• Fight Back! (Re-Release of Old Split Material) 1994
• Total Anarchoi (Live/Studio Collection – CD/LP) 1996
• Fuaim Catha (Skuld Records) 1999
• Outraged by the System (Step-1 Music) 2002
• Heavenly Peace (split 12-inch EP w/ Nikmat Olalim, Campari Records) 2006
• Ar Ceòl Ar Cànan Ar-A-Mach (self release/Campari records/Nikt Nic Nie Wie) 2006
• Gaidhlig na Lasair (compilation of underground Gaelic punk and techno) (Problem? Records) 2006
• Total Resistance to the Fucking System (Plastic Bomb) 2008
• SS Politician (Chaosrurale Records/Active Rebellion) 2010
• Duisg! (Plastic Bomb/Active Rebellion) 2012
• Saorsa (Ruin Nation Records) 2016

7" EPs

• Resist the Atomic Menace 1986 (re-released 1994)
• Outrage 1988
• Omnicide 1991 (Words of Warning Records)
• Guilty (Ruptured Ambitions Records) 1993
• Oi Polloi / Blownapart Bastards (Split) 1994
• Oi Polloi - s/t (Nikt Nic Nie Wie)
• Bare Faced Hypocrisy Sells Records The Anti-Chumbawamba EP w/Riot/Clone, The Bus Station Loonies, Anxiety Society, The Chineapple Punks, Love Chips and Peas, and Wat Tyler 1998 (Ruptured Ambitions Records)
• THC (Campary Rec.) 1998
• Let the Boots Do the Talking (Ruptured Ambitions Records) 1999
• Carson? (Nikt Nic Nie Wie) 2003
• Ceòl Gàidhlig mar Sgian nad Amhaich (compilation with Mill a h-Uile Rud, Atomgevitter and Nad Aislingean) (Problem Records) 2005
• Mind the Bollocks (Kämäset Levyt Records) 2007
• Cyklopen split EP with Kansalaistottelemattomuus 2010
• Split EP with Appalachian Terror Unit Profane Existence (US)/NNNW (Europe) 2011
• Split EP with Na Gathan (Limited May Tour Edition) Problem Records 2012

DVD

Oi Polloi: The MovieWEB,weblink Oi Polloi - The Movie DVD, Oi Polloi-The Movie, DVD, Oipolloithemovie.bigcartel.com, 2020-06-10,

See also

• Mill a h-Uile Rud
• Dominic Waxing Lyrical

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

• {{Facebook|pages/Oi-Polloi-Official/204143832251|Official page}}
• Live review by John Robb, Manchester July 2011
• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20071024194942weblink">Article on Gaelic punk in The Scotsman newspaper {{in lang|gd}}
• Article in The Scotsman{{'s}} Gaelic page on Oi Polloi and their Ar Cànan, Ar Ceòl, Ar-a-mach LP
• BBC Radio nan Gaidheal Rapal session February 2008 with 3 Gaelic tracks
• Air Cuan Dubh Drilseach website – Tim Armstrong/CLAR literary collaboration

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