Reputedly the first punk band from Bangor, The Standards, with original compositions such as ‘Don’t Just Watch’ effectively set the bench mark for others to follow in the seaside town. Their “can do” attitude proved inspirational to others that were also caught up in the new emerging punk scene. Put simply, they showed that forming a band was possible. The Standards were Mark Armstrong (drums), Brian Shaw (guitar), John ‘Rat’ Clarke (bass) and David Shannon (vocals). The band fizzled out towards the end of 1978 with bass player John Clarke briefly joining the newly formed Doubt. David Shannon recalls the band thus “We were just a bunch of teens who rifled Mr Shaw’s drink cabinet, 'borrowed' Mrs Shaw's thawpit and jammed badly on a couple of afternoons. Propelled by the very competent drumming of Mark Armstrong, we blasted through a few 'originals' in a barrage of noise. Like The Clash, Feelgoods etc. Rory Gallagher was also evident, although he had a safety pin thru his check shirt”.

A basement tape of the band rehearsing was recorded but is believed to be lost. Sadly this means that their “big song” Don't Just Watch with lyrics such as “one country, two people that's our happy land, more insanity, less humanity, that's our happy land and a memorable chorus which went “You can't say no when they search you in the Co (op) and Belfast is a no-go...”. is consigned to memory only! Hopefully someone out there can locate a copy!

If anyone has any further information or photographs of this band, then please DO get in contact via spit77to82@aol.com