Purple Hearts are an English mod revival band, formed in 1977 in Romford, eastern Greater London. They were often considered one of the best English mod revival groups, the NME calling them "one of the few mod bands to actually cut it on rock 'n' roll terms".
Career
Purple Hearts started in 1977, when teenagers Jeff Shadbolt, Simon Stebbing, Bob Manton, and Nick Lake formed the band in Romford as The Sockets, before they even knew how to play their instruments. They formed for the purpose of getting a support slot at a Buzzcocks gig at the East London Polytechnic, The band then toured the UK with Secret Affair and Back To Zero on 'the march of the mods' tour in 1979. The single taken from the album, "Jimmy", gave the band another minor hit reaching number 60 in the UK chart in March 1980. They continued playing from 2009 to 2014. The band released a new live album from the 2009 tour in April 2010 called Purple Hearts Live! with Pride and Joy Records. This included the band's first new material in 25 years with the track "Urban Soul".
Discography
Studio albums
- Beat That! (Fiction) 1980
- Pop-ish Frenzy (Razor) 1986
Live albums
- Head on Collision Time (Razor) 1985 – recorded live at the 100 Club in December 1984
- Purple Hearts – Live! (Pride and Joy) 2010 - recorded live at Camber Sands in July 2009