Please give a brief history of the band, including current
line up.
"Dead On Arrival" was formed in 1982. Released a demo
and had tracks on various comp albums such as "Punk and Skin" and Darren
Russell's HITS Comp tape. We supported various band and played numerous gigs
with the last one supporting The Partisans. Had to change the name due to
another band with the same name...Foreign Legion was then formed in 1983.
Played with bands which are like an A-Z of punk (Vice Squad, 999, UK Subs,
The Adicts, Intensive Care(Beerzone), Joe Strummer, Red London, Splodge,
Angelic Upstarts, and many many more. We then played in Europe in France
and Switzerland with bands such as Berurier Noir and babylon Fighters. The
band split in 1990 du to personal problems....FL reformed in 1999 to do a
demo tape and things have been on the up since then......radio airplay, fanzines
features, International interest(Japan, US, Mexico, Peru, Russia, etc) Current
line-up: Marcus - Vocals
Jolly - Lead Guitar
Andrew - Bass Guitar
Stan - Drums
Discography.
Dead On Arrival:
'On The Streets'-comp on Sane records
Foreign Legion:
Trenchline Ep (1984)
Surf City EP (1989)
Welcome To Fort Zindernauf (1990)
Oi The Rarities Vol 2
Oi The Demos
The Years Gone By (2000)- upstart records
FL/District Split EP (2000) - Dirty Faces records
Punk Rock Jukebox (2000) - DSS Records
Long Live The Partisans (2000) - Ditchdiggin records
Describe your sound and what are the main themes in the lyrics?
Its old school punk mixed in with a bit of Oi and a bit
of American punk......You could call it Streetrock.
Why did you choose the name Foreign Legion?
Because where we live in Merthyr, its the last stop on
the train track. So we are Foreign to the rest of the UK. We just added the
Legion bit.
What is the first record each member of the band ever bought?
Marcus: Sex Pistols - God Save The Queen
Jolly: Adam and the Ants single
Andrew: Sex Pistols - Never mind the bollocks
Stan: Lou Reed Live album
What is the Punk/Oi scene like in your area?
The Newport scene has always been good with great gigs
at the legendary TJ's. The valleys scene is picking up. We have great zines
like Mass movement, Fallen heroes, really free punk. The youngsters are staring
to get into punk rather than being brainwashed by the disco stuff. There
are some good punk bands keeping the scene alive in Wales...Rectify, Four
Letter Word, Pulse, In the shit, Las Vegas Elvis, Tuma Sandwitch and many
more....
If you could take a vocalist, guitarist(s), bassist and drummer
from different bands to make your perfect band who would you choose (can
be deceased)?
Vocals: Malcolm Owen (Ruts)
Guitar: Mick Jones (Clash)
Bass: Ali Mcmondie (SLF)
Drums: Rat Scabies (Damned)
Where were you in 1977?
I was either at the local punk disco every wednesday or
I was queueing up for the new Sex Pistols album at the local record shop.
Plans, gigs and releases planned for 2000.
We will be suporting Beerzone and 999 in November 4 in
Crawley and playing at the great all-dayer at the Garage on November 5th.
We're hoping to release a split album with Major Accident and we are also
doing a split single with The Templars. We are hoping to travel to Germany
to play with The Templars in December and may also be travelling to the US
next year to play with Major Accident and The Templars and Adolf and The
Piss Artists. All this while preparing for Holidays In The Sun 2001 in Morcambe.
Any final comments?
Thanks to Rebecca for the interview. Thanks to you for
reading this interview. Thanks to everyone who has helped the band past and
present.
You can email us at foreignlegion@talk21.com
Cheers and see you at the gigs.
Marcus
Return to interview list
Please note that the opinions expressed by band
members does not necessarily reflect the views of this website. Punk & Oi
in the UK Limited are in no way liable for comments made by interviewees.
|
