FM
История
The mod revivalists, the Purple Hearts started in 1977, when teenagers Jeff Shadbolt, Nick Stebbings, Bob Manton, and Nick Lake formed the band in Romford, Essex as The Sockets, before they even knew how to play their instruments (taking a cue from the then prevailing DIY aesthetics of the punk rock movement). They formed for the sole purpose of getting a support slot at a Buzzcocks gig at the East London Polytechnic, to debut their tongue-in-cheek rock opera, Reg. The amused audience took the amateurish teenage punks to their hearts and the group decided to soldier on, even after they had accomplished their original goal.[citation needed] Several gigs followed, including an appearance on a float in the Romford Carnival.
In 1978, their drummer Nick Lake broke his leg and was replaced by Gary Sparks, the band switched their name to Purple Hearts, after an amphetamine-barbiturate mixture popular with the mods of 1960s. Accordingly, they changed their sound from the rough-edged punk rock which was already beginning to fall out of favour to a more mod-influenced sound, which, thanks largely to The Jam, was beginning to capture public attention.