Stiff Little Fingers is a Northern Irish punk rock band from Belfast. They formed in 1977 at the height of the Troubles, which informed much of their songwriting. They started out as a schoolboy band called Highway Star (named after the Deep Purple song), doing rock covers, until they discovered punk. They were the first punk band in Belfast to release a record – the "Suspect Device" single came out on their own independent label, Rigid Digits. Their album Inflammable Material, released in partnership with Rough Trade, became the first independent LP to enter the UK top 20.
In 1983 they split up, but re-formed a few years later in 1987. Despite multiple personnel changes, they are still touring and recording. In 2014, the band released their tenth studio album and a world tour followed its release. Jake Burns, the lead singer, is the only member to have been with the band during all its incarnations, but in March 2006, original bass guitarist Ali McMordie rejoined them following the departure of bass player Bruce Foxton after fifteen years.
History Early years Prior to becoming Stiff Little Fingers, Jake Burns, vocals and guitar, Henry Cluney, guitar, Gordon Blair, bass, and Brian Faloon, drums, were playing in a rock music cover band, Highway Star, in Belfast.Cranna, Ian (1979) "Rough Charm", Smash Hits, EMAP National Publications Ltd, 4–17 October 1979, pp. 6–7 Upon the departure of Blair (who went on to play with another Belfast group, Rudi), Ali McMordie took over on bass. Cluney had by this time discovered punk, and introduced the rest of the band to it. They decided that Highway Star was not a punk enough name, and after a brief flirtation with the name "The Fast", decided to call themselves Stiff Little Fingers, after The Vibrators' song, which appears on the album Pure Mania.
Stiff Little Fingers, especially the frontman and main songwriter Jake Burns, were heavily influenced by The Clash and Elvis Costello. According to Burns, "what [The Clash] did more than anything else was give me the confidence, through its lyrical subject matter, to realise it was OK to write about my own life and experiences."Roland Link (2009) Kicking Up A Racket, The Story of Stiff Little Fingers 1977-83, Appletree Press, , p. 41 The group started to write songs about growing up in the Troubles in late 1970s Northern Ireland. Among the first Stiff Little Fingers songs were "State of Emergency" and "Breakout".
It was while doing a gig at the Glenmachan Hotel, Belfast, that they first met Gordon Ogilvie, who had been invited along for the evening by Colin McClelland, a journalist whom Burns had been corresponding with.
"Suspect Device" Ogilvie further encouraged SLF to play material based upon their experience of the Troubles. He asked the group to look at some lyrics he had drafted. They liked the lyrics and "Suspect Device" became a fixture in their live set. Around the same time as putting a tune to the "Suspect Device" lyrics, Burns wrote "Wasted Life".
McClelland arranged to get the band some recording time at a local radio station, and in the studio normally used for recording jingles, they recorded "Suspect Device". The single was packaged in the form of a cassette, with a cover depicting a cassette incendiary bomb, apparently causing great hilarity in the group, when one record company phoned them and asked for another copy, as they had thrown the first one in a bucket of water for fear that it was a real bomb.
"Suspect Device" was released in February 1978. A copy of the single was sent to John Peel. He played it repeatedly leading to a distribution deal through Rough Trade Records. The single was released on the band's own Rigid Digits label, re-released a month later with the support of Rough Trade and sold over 30,000 copies.
Live footage of SLF performing "Suspect Device" at Belfast's Pound Club on 17 January 1978 – the first time the group played the song live – appeared as part of an Ulster TV Revue programme 'It Makes You Want to Spit''' about punk in Belfast. The programme was broadcast on 6 March 1978.The Ulster TV 'It Makes You Want to Spit' Revue programme can still be found online.
SLF's decision to write songs about the experiences of young people growing up in The Troubles proved controversial. Some Northern Ireland punk bands felt songs about the Troubles were exploiting the sectarian conflict. There was also criticism and suspicion over the involvement and influence the management team, especially Gordon Ogilivie, was having on the band. The political differences were reinforced by musical differences as SLF's rockier punk sound contrasted with the more melodic pop punk of The Undertones and Rudi. Some of the criticism was simply down to band rivalries and jealousy.
There were a number of well-publicised arguments; The Undertones accused Stiff Little Fingers of sensationalising the Northern Ireland conflict, while they retorted that The Undertones ignored it. Michael Bradley, The Undertones bassist, tells of a confrontation in 1979 between The Undertones’ John O’Neill and SLF's Jake Burns: "He launched into Jake, not physically but verbally. Slagging his records, slagging the journalist writing the songs and slagging the band." Michael Bradley now describes ‘Suspect Device’ as "a great record, although at the time we weren't impressed, probably because they'd made a record before us".
Terri Hooley, of Northern Ireland's Good Vibrations records, also says that "SLF were really starting to make waves beyond Northern Ireland, and I always see them as the ones that got away. I know I have always said I never rated them, but that was probably jealousy on my part. I actually think they are a great band and deserve their success".
SLF built up a big following among young people in Belfast: "As a 14 or 15-year-old schoolboy back in the late Seventies, I wasn't at all concerned with who had written (or contributed to) the lyrics of their songs. To me, it was crystal clear that the band meant what they were singing and even better, they were singing about my life and offering me alternative points of view. Their initial burst of raw energy on the Ulster Punk scene was captivating and as soon as they transferred that energy to vinyl they were truly off and running." (Sean O’Neill, co-author of It Makes You Want To Spit - The Definitive Guide to Punk in N.Ireland)
Alternative Ulster John Peel arranged for the group to record a session for his Radio One show. The songs broadcast on 13 April 1978 were "Wasted Life", "Johnny Was", "Alternative Ulster" and "State of Emergency". Another John Peel session was recorded in September – "Law And Order", "Barbed Wire Love", "Suspect Device" and a new longer version of "Johnny Was" were broadcast on 18 September 1978.Stiff Little Fingers – The Complete John Peel Sessions (Strange Fruit 2002)Sean O'Neill & Guy Trelford (2003) It Makes You Want To Spit – The Definitive Guide to Punk in Northern Ireland 1977–1982, Reekus Records, , p. 215
In the second half of 1978, SLF toured as the support band to the Tom Robinson Band.
Their second single, "Alternative Ulster", was released on Rough Trade in October 1978. It was originally intended to be given away free with the fanzine of the same name. SLF performing "Alternative Ulster" at a gig in Belfast at the end of October 1978 can be seen in Shellshock Rock, an independent documentary on punk in Northern Ireland, released in 1979.
By the end of 1978, SLF's growing popularity was reflected in "Suspect Device" reaching No. 4 and "Alternative Ulster" being voted No. 11 in the annual Festive Fifty broadcast on the John Peel show.
Inflammable Material In February 1979, SLF released their first album on the Rough Trade label, Inflammable Material. The band had signed a contract with Island Records, but it fell through, leaving the group to release the album on Rough Trade, their existing label. Despite the album's independent release, it reached number 14 in the UK Albums Chart and reached Silver status, selling over 100,000 copies. Inflammable Material was the first album distributed by Rough Trade, and the first independent album to chart in the UK.
The Inflammable Material album was heavily influenced by the band's experience of growing up in Belfast during the Troubles. However, of the 13 tracks, only 6 were directly about Northern Ireland and the political situation - "Suspect Device", "State of Emergency", "Wasted Life", "No More Of That", "Barbed Wire Love", and "Alternative Ulster". Even "Alternative Ulster", which has references to "You got the Army on the street, and the RUC dog of repression is barking at your feet", is mainly about being a bored teenager in the late 1970s. Another track on the album, "Johnny Was" is a cover of a Bob Marley and the Wailers song with the words adapted to place the song in Belfast.
"Everybody refers to it as "the Irish record" but I always say to go and look at the tracks and there's probably 4 out of 13 that refer specifically to Northern Ireland. The rest of it is ... just disaffected teenagers kicking against the world". (Jake Burns, SLF)Stiff Little Fingers - Jake Burns interview with Louder Than War website (2017)
The album received critical acclaim in the music press. Paul Morley, in a contemporary review for NME, stated that "Inflammable Material is the classic punk rock record. A crushing contemporary commentary, brutally inspired by blatant bitter rebellion and frustration". Morley would go on to state that "Stiff Little Fingers are the best rock'n'roll band in my world... By the end of 1978 [they] were the most popular new group in Britain."
Gotta Gettaway The new interest in the band inspired their move to London, which led to the departure of Brian Faloon and Colin McClelland (who along with Gordon Ogilvie had been joint manager of the band up until that point). Jim Reilly became their drummer in time for the "Gotta Gettaway" single, and played in the Rock Against Racism tour.
To coincide with the release of "Gotta Gettaway", SLF headlined their first tour with 21 dates across Britain and Ireland. The highlight of the tour was the gig at Belfast's Ulster Hall on 21 May 1979. For anyone doubting SLF's popularity in Northern Ireland, this was the first time a local punk band had headlined what was at the time the biggest music venue in Belfast. The group were welcomed home with a sell-out crowd.
"Of all the shows, one of the best, without doubt, was the first time we headlined Belfast's Ulster Hall, on the ‘Gotta Gettaway’ tour. At the height of the Troubles we packed the place and then some, and staring out at that seething mass of young people just enjoying themselves and having a great time to the music, was something that has remained a treasured memory for me all these years. That night I realised we were doing something that none of the politicians were able to do. In that hall, in the midst of a city gripped by sectarian violence, killing and hatred, we brought together the people of our hometown, regardless of religion". (Jim Reilly, Stiff Little Fingers drummer)
Nobody's Heroes and Go for It In mid-1979, Stiff Little Fingers signed their Rigid Digits label to Chrysalis Records, and in 1980 released their second album, Nobody's Heroes.
The Nobody's Heroes era brought some success in media terms, with the single "Straw Dogs" narrowly missing the cut for Top of the Pops; they eventually got on the show twice, with "At the Edge" and "Nobody's Hero". However, after their appearance with "At The Edge" the band were told they would never be invited on again as they did not take it seriously as they were not playing live; it was to be one of the most infamous Top of the Pops's performances. They subsequently appeared on Top of the Pops for "Nobody's Hero", "Just Fade Away" and "Listen".