The band was formed by brothers Jonathan Getty (JJ) and Michael ‘Drummer’ Getty in Coalisland around 1979/80. The original lineup was JJ (guitar/vocals), Michael (drums), Jim Lewis (bass) and Stephen Bloomer (guitar). From the outset they performed original material with a mild sprinkling of covers: The Kinks’ “All Day And All of The Night”, The Clash’s “Garageland” and The Jam’s “A Bomb in Wardour Street”. Whereas punk definitely was the catalyst for the feeling of ‘we can do this as well’, you’d be hard pressed to really call OFA a punk band. JJ was much more enamoured with The Beatles than he ever was with the Sex Pistols and as he was the primary songwriter, which really informed OFA’s aesthetic. The ‘punkiness’ of approach, in the beginning was more to do with the musical limitations of the band than anything else.

Jim Lewis left and, Paul Kerr began subbing with the band at rehearsals when he was still playing with The Nimnules. Stephen Bloomer eventually took over bass duties and Paul Kerr played guitar.

The band moved base to Belfast in 1981. They also recorded a demo tape of four original songs and started looking around for gigs. There was much movement within the lineup but it eventually stabilised when Paul ‘Dill’ Delany (ex The Basics)  joined on bass. The band having been introduced to him via Mickey Cassidy and Big Tommy McAuley, who lived in the same street as Drummer and they all shared a mutual love of getting off their face!

At this point the band were JJ (vocals), Drummer (drums), Stephen Bloomer (guitar), Dill (bass), Paul Kerr (guitar/vocals). This line-up managed about half a dozen gigs in Belfast. They played The Orpheus, Queens Speakeasy and had two appearances at Jules Nightclub, one of which, they shared the bill with Doomed Youth.

Paul Delany (Dill) then split, to be replaced by Paul Tohill, who had been playing with Baby Vultures. Gone were the Kinks, Jam and Clash covers. although, The Door’s “Break on Through” which they’d reduced to a two chord fuzz/thrash and The Cramps’ “New Kind of Kick” were adopted as staples of their set, along with originals like ‘Magic Garden’.

Stephen, however, was also unceremoniously axed from the band and the new streamlined line up continued to gig until the summer of 1985, when the band finally ran out of steam.

Paul Kerr still has fond memories of OFA. “I really think that JJ had some songwriting talent and that Paul Tohill added a great deal to the band. Everybody’s still alive and in touch, albeit via Facebook.

Stephen Bloomer “One of my earliest memories, and this is an insight to the mental capacities of the band.  In the earliest stages of the band, we wrote a song about Woodley Green, which was a very nice smelling shampoo. It is probably right therefore, in suggesting that we were not quite authentic punks. Our best ever gig, for me, was in Portadown Town Hall. The roadie was my dad, and we got chased off the stage (more or less) by a crowd, which in hindsight, was not untypical of what you would expect when in Portadown!

Paul Tohill “It was noisy and we always had an audience at gigs. We were punky but with a 60s edge. We were influenced by The Velvets and The Doors. We were all Bowie fans too. It was a good time, we were tight, well rehearsed and usually out of it!”