A to Z of N. Ireland Punk Bands

STRIKE

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Strike were a four piece Powerpop combo that hailed from Belfast. They consisted of Mark Nixon – Vocals, Noel Rafferty - Rhythm Guitar - Paul Kenny - Lead Guitar, Laurence Sprott- on Bass and Davy Johnston on Drums. Their influences extended from The Beatles to Dr Feelgood.

After forming, they immediately got down to rehearsing at Nix’s parent’s garage and composing original compositions which eventually evolved into their own distinctive melodic sound. The band then began gigging locally with their set of originals, filled out with the odd cover version, including ‘Teenager In Love’, a song which practically every Belfast punk band at the time had a go at! Noel worked in a recording studio at the time too, which helped a lot. He was able get the fledgling band into the studio quite regularly, at the end of the day, where they would work late making demos and putting their live set together.

It wasn’t long before Strike were playing on the local Art College and University circuit, and all the usual pubs and clubs around Belfast.

The band released one single “Radio Songs” b/w “Teenage Rebel” on Shock Rock Records in 1980 in a limited run of only 500 copies. The label, run by the Outlet Recording Company had been the brain child of Cel Fay (R.I.P). To promote the single release the band played a series of gigs around Ireland, which received much media attention and they also secured a high profile support slot to the Boomtown Rats at the Ulster Hall in Belfast. A&M Records also showed an interest in signing the band and sent one of their A&R men over to watch the band perform at The Pound in Belfast. They had really liked the band demos that they had been sent. Unfortunately no recording contract ever materialised.

There followed some line-up changes which resulted in Steven Drake taking over duties at the drum stool and Lesley Whitten taking over on vocal duties. This change in personnel found the band move in a different musical direction too. They began to play less original material and concentrated more on playing covers by bands such as the Tourists and Pretenders and playing residences in Dublin and Belfast.

This later incarnation of the band released two tracks “Running Past” and a reworking of “Radio Songs” on a Shock Rock compilation album entitled “Belfast” also released in 1980.

The band’s one and only single received a reissue in 2010 by New York based Sing Sing Records as a limited run 7” single, which sold out very quickly.