On Saturday 22nd Sept 2007, our good friend John passed away. Our thoughts are with his family. Rest in peace mate.Mansfield based RIOT SQUAD were originally formed in September 1981 in the small Nottinghamshire mining village of Shirebrook. The original lineup consisted of Dunk Mason (vocals), Paul Pommi Palmer (drums), Nigel Nello Nelson (guitar) and Wayne Butler (bass). They first started out by playing small local gigs in and around Mansfield before hitting the road and travelling up and down the UK on small tours. During this time the band found a keen interest from Mansfield based record label Rondolet Records and were soon signed up, firstly releasing 'Fuck the Tories' EP, which was produced by Mike Stone and then a second EP 'Riots in the City' was released.Shortly after this time, Nello left the band to be quickly replaced by local guitarist Staz, who only lasted a short tour. Three men were almost immediately reduced to two when Dunk announced that he was leaving to set up his own record label, which later became Rot Records.From early on, 1983 saw big changes to the lineup... Wayne moved onto the guitar, while recruiting local bassist Ched to handle bass duties and lead vocals being taken over by ex-roadie (and Wayne's brother) Lee. A few short weeks after the new lineup was established, Dunk approached RIOT SQUAD as his first signing. With this new lineup also came a different sound and approach to their earlier material and the band were soon gigging all over the UK.RIOT SQUAD entered Cargo Recording Studios in Rochdale in early 1983, firstly recording the 'Don't Be Denied' EP, then recording 'I'm OK, Fuck You' EP, which reached No.2 in the Independent Charts only to be kept off the top slot by Johnny Rotten's 'Death Disco and Public Image Ltd' and as a result RIOT SQUAD appeared on the front cover of the now legendary Punk Lives Magazine. The thirdly came the 'There's No Solution' EP.By 1984 things took a bad turn as Lee was sent down for GBH and the band were falling out with the label due to financial disagreements regarding royalties. The band left Rot Records, however not before Dunk released all of the singles and some unreleased demos on the LP 'No Potential Threat'. After this the band disbanded with each member going their own separate ways and later on, Annagram Records released all of RIOT SQUAD's songs on a 'Punk Singles Collection' compilation.20 years on, Ched started a band with the intention of playing classic punk covers just for the laugh. Pommi came back to the drum kit and as luck would have it, the local advert for a guitarist was answered by Staz. Vocals were taken care of by Mark Ainger, ex-leader of Ched's previous band Rev. Ainger and The Arse Holes'. The band quickly got a set together and were ready for gigging when a friend of Pommi's asked them to play a gig in Newcastle as RIOT SQUAD when he realised they comprised of ex-members of said band. The lads agreed and started to learn some old 'SQUAD songs and also some new material that Ched and Pommi had written.The first gig with the new RIOT SQUAD lineup took place at The Jesmond in Newcastle, part of a two-day festival on August 16th 2003 along side Crashed Out, Drongos For Europe and UK Subs. After this came more gigs and the band entered The Foundary Studios to record a 7-track titled 'No Escape', which received good reviews. Just after the release of the CD, problems were again evident, which resulted in Pommi quitting in December 2004.In July 2005 Pommi returned and the same lineup decided to give things another shot with the addition of a second guitarist 'Sam'. They received interest from US label SOS Records, however after only a handful of gigs they split in January 2006 after internal disagreements and Mark announcing he was leaving.During this time Pommi was contacted by young punk guitarist, Luke. The pair had talked of working on a project a while back however nothing had come of it. Until now. Ched had also been wanting to do something different and after a few phone calls the three of them began rehearsing together. It wasn't long before new songs were written, however they were struggling to find a frontman until Pommi's mate Paul 'Chiz' Shakespeare - ex-frontman of Chesterfield punk bands SEPTIC PSYCHOS and NO DEAD MEAT - joined the lineup. SEPTIC PSYCHOs had been around at the same time RIOT SQUAD were first about and they played a few gigs together in the early 80's.Originally the band started off with new songs and were looking for a new name, however promoters and friends of the band wouldn't let the RIOT SQUAD name lie. On April 7th 2006, the latest incarnation of RIOT SQUAD played their first gig at The Green Room in Chesterfield and since then they've been gigging regularly all over the country as well as playing the Wasted Fesivals in Blackpool and Morecambe in 2006. 2007 has already been a busy one for RIOT SQUAD with a visit to Germany to Punk & Disorderly in Berlin in March as well as releasing their first full length LP 'Persecute The Weak, Control The Strong' on Suicide Circle Records. The album was recorded and mixed at ******** Studios by Danny Worm and mastered by ****** at Mustard Studios in Nottingham. Although it's early days, the album has already received great reviews and so has the new lineup, being dubbed the fastest, heaviest and tightest RIOT SQUAD to date.I edited my profile with Thomas' Myspace Editor V4.4Peterborough Punk Club September 2006Posted By:rotten agenda
Get this video and more at MySpace.comA few pics of us lotWasted Farewell party at Morcambe October 2006 courtesy of our good pal, Jason
