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Freeborn - A brief historyFreeborn was formed in 1982 by ex Prisoners Of War guitarist, Rob Hudson, partly as an avenue for his political ideas and also as a reaction to the apathy of the youth of Freeborns hometown, Wisbech. Initially a 4 piece, with 3 members living together in a squalid flat in Norfolk Street, Rob demonstrated his commitment to his beliefs by asking the rest of the band to leave in early 1984 as they were not vegetarians or activists. Jon Ward and Andy Hancock then joined and alliances were soon forged with other local bands such as Disrupters, Deviated Instinct and Leukaemia. Gigs were arranged, friendships blossomed and information was shared. Its easy to forget how organised the local network of bands and political groups were before the days of the internet. Freeborn members attended the Stop the City marches in 1984 and 1985 as well as demostrating at USAF bases such as Molesworth, and frequenting the endless free festivals of the mid 80's. Freeborn also contributed a track the the Words Worth Shouting compilation LP of 1985 on Radical Change records, with proceeds going to Norwich Hunt Saboteurs. It was around 1986 that the band became disillusioned with a movement that initially was a hot bed of ideas and political debate and had degraded into an apathetic bunch of black uniformed crimped haired sheep. Being in a band was also about having fun and for our own sanity a change of direction was needed. We started playing the sort of music that had originally brought us together and whilst retaining some political lyrics, the music was motivated and heavily influenced by 70's punk bands like Penetration and the Buzzcocks. With a song on the Bloodsuckers EP with on Waterfall records in 1986 with Nick Toczek, Blood and Thunder and Criminal Sex, and some gigs around the UK and Europe in the pipeline, Rob moved to London and the band split. Rob returned to Wisbech and we regrouped with an additional guitarist, but the momentum was lost and the final gig was at the Music Agsinst Drugs festival in summer 1987.Releases :Rats - Demo Cassette 1982 Imprisonment - Demo Cassette 1983 Trees - Demo cassette 1984 "Silver Lining" - Words Worth Shouting compilation LP 1985 What Is Love ? - Demo cassette 1985 Dove - Demo Cassette 1986 "In the name of Sport" - Bloodsuckers EP Waterfall Records 1986 Live at MAD festival 1987ALL FREEBORN RECORDINGS BY RIKO BURROWS NO COPYWRIGHT EXISTSMembersRob Hudson - Guitars/Vocals Kev Hancock - Vocals John Foster - Bass Sam Carter - drums Andy Hancock - Bass/Vocals Jon Ward - Drums Shaun Salter - guitarcontact details : [email protected] Jon Ward 2 Murrayfield Place MERRIMAC 4226 QLD AUSTRALIA Thanks and hello to : Riko, Rotten Corpses (Jazz, Sam, Dale, Johnny, Kim) Prisoners of War ( Paddy, Mo, Digger, Rat, Chez) Bandits (Joe, Stuart,) Deviated Instinct (Leggo, Mid, Ian, Trev),Mary, Steve Disrupter,Revulsion, Tox, Tucker from Stamford, Phil Vane,Luke Jones, Dion Bunting, Ally Brown, Sonny & Mel, all the Wisbech,Peterborough, Kings Lynn, Norwich and Ipswich Punx and whoever came to see us or helped arrange gigs.