Stiff Little Fingers

Stiff Little Fingers were formed in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1977 and took their name from a song on the Vibrators' Pure Mania LP. Originally known as Highway Star, they performed Deep Purple covers, but changed their style to acidic, gritty, fast-paced punk with highly political lyrics. Their career initially lasted only six years: signing to a major label (Chrysalis) diluted their sound and by the time Now Then... came out in 1983, their pop-like leanings had alienated their hardcore fans, and they split, only to reform in 1987. In 1991, they were joined by Bruce Foxton, previously bassist with the Jam. They still record and perform to this date. Guitarist and vocalist Jake Burns is the only member to have remained with the band throughout their entire career.

Their first single, Suspect Device, was packaged in the form of a cassette bomb (causing one record company to accidentally throw it in a bucket of water, thinking it was real). It was locally released on the Rigid Digits label (this being a wordplay on their name) and Peel was sent a copy, playing it repeatedly (he included it in his list of records he wanted played at his 40th birthday party, 29 August 1979, and in later years, he would state that it had the best song ending of all). It was analogous to his heavy rotation of Teenage Kicks, although SLF and the Undertones were frequently at loggerheads. This led to a first session, privately recorded at a small studio at Downtown Radio in Belfast and broadcast on 13 April 1978: the band would record five in all. This exposure gained them a distribution deal with Rough Trade (eventually: JP publicly stated his disappointment at the record industry's lackadaisical approach in signing SLF) and their first LP, Inflammable Material, came out in 1979. It contained a heavy bias toward lyrics based on the Troubles, such as Alternative Ulster (the second single), Barbed Wire Love, a re-recorded version of Device , and Johnny Was (a Bob Marley cover which John did not warm to but was a Festive Fifty favourite).

Peel's consistent championship of the group, which would continue right up to their last recordings in their initial incarnation, no doubt helped them to have a small measure of chart success: two frequently played singles hit the charts in the UK in 1980 (At The Edge got to number 15, and Nobody's Hero / Tin Soldier scraped the top 40, earning the band appearances on Top Of The Pops, and a ban from playing again when they refused to mime properly to their biggest hit). They racked up a sizeable number of Festive Fifty entries, albeit with the same four songs, and John would occasionally return to his favourite, Suspect Device, in later years.

Festive Fifty Entries

 * 1978 Festive Fifty: Suspect Device #4
 * 1978 Festive Fifty: Alternative Ulster #11


 * 1979 Festive Fifty: Alternative Ulster #6
 * 1979 Festive Fifty: Suspect Device #8
 * 1979 Festive Fifty: Johnny Was #15
 * 1979 Festive Fifty: Wasted Life #18


 * 1980 Festive Fifty: Alternative Ulster #9
 * 1980 Festive Fifty: Johnny Was #16
 * 1980 Festive Fifty: Suspect Device #24
 * 1980 Festive Fifty: Wasted Life #27
 * 1980 Festive Fifty: Tin Soldier #57


 * 1981 Festive Fifty: Alternative Ulster #16
 * 1981 Festive Fifty: Johnny Was #24
 * 1981 Festive Fifty: Suspect Device #32


 * 1982 Festive Fifty: Alternative Ulster ATFF#18
 * 1982 Festive Fifty: Johnny Was ATFF#29
 * 1982 Festive Fifty: Suspect Device ATFF#31

Sessions

 * Five sessions, the first four available on The Complete John Peel Sessions (Strange Fruit).

1. Recorded: unknown. First broadcast: 13 April 1978. Repeated: 16 May 1978. 2. Recorded: 1978-09-12. First broadcast: 18 September 1978. Repeated: 27 October 1978. 3. Recorded: 1979-09-03. First broadcast: 17 September 1979. Repeated: 10 October 1979, 26 December 1979. 4. Recorded: 1980-02-12. First broadcast: 25 February 1980. Repeated: 19 March 1980, 29 May 1980. 5. Recorded: 1981-03-11. First broadcast: 18 March 1981. Repeated: 06 April 1981.
 * Alternative Ulster / Wasted Life / Johnny Was / State Of Emergency
 * Johnny Was / Law And Order / Barbed Wire Love / Suspect Device
 * Wait And See / At The Edge / Nobody's Hero / Straw Dogs
 * No Change / I Don't Like You / Fly The Flag / Doesn't Make It Alright
 * Piccadilly Circus / Just Fade Away / The Only One / Roots Radics

Other Shows Played
(This list was compiled only from the database of this site and Lorcan's Tracklistings Archive and is almost certainly incomplete. Please add more details if known.)


 * 1978
 * 21 March 1978: 'Suspect Device (7")' (Rigid Digits) (first play)
 * 23 March 1978: 'Suspect Device (7")' (Rigid Digits)
 * 28 March 1978: 'Suspect Device (7")' (Rigid Digits)
 * 31 March 1978: 'Suspect Device (7")' (Rigid Digits)
 * 12 April 1978: 'Suspect Device (7")' (Rigid Digits)
 * 05 May 1978: Suspect Device (7") Rigid Digits (back announced only)
 * 02 August 1978: Suspect Device (Single) Rigid Digits (JP still thinks this the best single of the year and is baffled that they haven't been signed by a major label)
 * 03 August 1978: Alternative Ulster (single) Rough Trade
 * 08 August 1978: 78 Revolutions A Minute (single) Rough Trade
 * 15 August 1978: Alternative Ulster (7 inch) Rough Trade (JP: “I must confess, I'm still amazed that none of the major record companies have signed the band. I don't know if it's stupidity, cowardice, or possibly because Belfast isn't much of a place to go on an expense account. That may seem like a facile thing to say, but believe me, it's by no means impossible.”)
 * 17 August 1978: Suspect Device (single) Rigid Digits (#11 in Ripped & Torn Top 13)
 * 18 August 1978: 78 Revolutions A Minute (b/w 7" Alternative Ulster) Rough Trade
 * 21 August 1978: 78 Revolutions A Minute (b/w 7" Alternative Ulster) Rough Trade RT 004
 * 22 August 1978: Alternative Ulster
 * 07 September 1978: Alternative Ulster (7”) Rough Trade / Rigid Digits
 * 11 September 1978: Alternative Ulster (7”) Rough Trade / Rigid Digits
 * 11 October 1978: Alternative Ulster (single) Rough Trade (JP: “number one in Sounds alternative chart”)
 * 20 October 1978: 'Alternative Ulster (7")' (Rough Trade)
 * 24 October 1978: 'Alternative Ulster (7")' (Rough Trade)
 * 02 November 1978: Alternative Ulster (7”) Rough Trade / Rigid Digits
 * 28 December 1978: Alternative Ulster (LP-Inflammable Material) Rough Trade (1978 Festive Fifty #11)


 * 1979
 * 01 January 1979: Suspect Device (7" single) Rough Trade / Rigid Digits 1978 Festive Fifty #4)
 * 09 January 1979: Law and Order (LP–Inflammable Material) Rough Trade
 * 11 January 1979: Suspect Device / State Of Emergency / Here We Are Nowhere / Wasted Life / No More Of That / Barbed Wire Love (LP–Inflammable Material) Rough Trade
 * 15 January 1979: Rough Trade (LP – Inflammable Material) Rough Trade
 * 15 January 1979: Johnny Was (LP – Inflammable Material) Rough Trade
 * 15 January 1979: Alternative Ulster (LP – Inflammable Material) Rough Trade
 * 16 January 1979: Closed Groove (LP – Inflammable Material) Rough Trade
 * 17 January 1979: White Noise (LP – Inflammable Material) Rough Trade
 * 06 February 1979: Barbed Wire Love (LP–Inflammable Material) Rough Trade
 * 13 February 1979: 'Tin Soldiers (7"-Nobody's Heroes)' (Chrysalis)
 * 15 March 1979: Wasted Life (LP - Inflammable Material) Rough Trade
 * 15 March 1979: Here We Are Nowhere (LP - Inflammable Material) Rough Trade
 * 19 March 1979: Alternative Ulster (7”) Rough Trade / Rigid Digits
 * 30 April 1979: 'No More Of That (LP-Inflammable Material)' (Rough Trade)
 * 07 May 1979: Suspect Device
 * 08 May 1979: Gotta Gettaway (7”) Rough Trade / Rigid Digits
 * 09 May 1979: Alternative Ulster (single) Rough Trade
 * 28 May 1979: Gotta Gettaway (7")' (Rough Trade / Rigid Digits)
 * 29 May 1979: Gotta Gettaway (7" Single)
 * 05 June 1979: 'Gotta Gettaway (7")' (Rough Trade)
 * 21 June 1979: 'Gotta Gettaway (7")' (Rough Trade)
 * 26 July 1979: unknown
 * 30 July 1979: Law and Order (LP - Inflammable Material) Rough Trade
 * 06 August 1979: Law & Order (LP - Inflammable Material) Rough Trade
 * 29 August 1979: Suspect Device (7 inch) Rigid Digits (40th birthday 40)
 * 30 August 1979: Alternative Ulster (7 inch) Rough Trade (40th birthday 40)
 * 10 September 1979: 'Straw Dogs (7")' (Chrysalis)
 * 25 September 1979: Straw Dogs (single) Chrysalis
 * 01 October 1979: Straw Dogs (7") Chrysalis
 * 09 October 1979: 'Straw Dogs (7")' (Chrysalis)
 * 16 October 1979: 'Straw Dogs (7")' (Chrysalis)
 * 19 November 1979: '78 Revolutions A Minute (7"-Alternative Ulster)' (Rough Trade)
 * 11 December 1979: Here We Are Nowhere (LP - Inflammable Material) Rough Trade
 * 13 December 1979: State Of Emergency (LP – Inflammable Material) Rough Trade
 * 27 December 1979: 'Wasted Life (7"-Suspect Device)' (Rigid Digits) (1979 Festive Fifty #18) (JP: "Wasn't sure which version of it you were voting for but I chose that one myself, the Rigid Digits one [...] and incidentally, I shall have a Finnish version of that for you sometime next week, which I think you might find quite intriguing." This was played 03 January 1980.)
 * 27 December 1979: 'Johnny Was (LP-Inflammable Material)' (Rough Trade) (1979 Festive Fifty #15)

1980
 * 01 January 1980: Suspect Device (7") Rough Trade / Rigid Digits (1979 Festive Fifty FF#8)
 * 01 January 1980: Alternative Ulster (LP-Inflammable Material) Rough Trade (1979 Festive Fifty FF#6)
 * 07 February 1980: At the Edge (7") Chrysalis
 * 21 February 1980: 'At The Edge (7")' (Chrysalis)
 * 26 February 1980: 'Wait And See / Tin Soldier / I Don't Like You / Fly The Flag / Nobody's Hero (all from LP-Nobody's Heroes)' (Chrysalis)
 * 27 February 1980: 'No Change / Doesn't Make It Alright / Bloody Dub (all from LP-Nobody's Heroes)' (Chrysalis)
 * 28 February 1980: I Don't Like You (album - Nobody's Heroes) Chrysalis CHR 1270
 * 03 March 1980: Wait and See (LP - Nobody's Heroes) Chrysalis
 * 04 March 1980: 'At The Edge (7")' (Chrysalis)
 * 06 March 1980: 'No Change (LP-Nobody's Heroes)' (Chrysalis)
 * 11 March 1980: Fly The Flag (LP – Nobody’s Heroes) Chrysalis
 * 20 March 1980: Wait And See (LP - Nobody's Heroes) Chrysalis
 * 03 April 1980: Fly The Flag (LP - Nobody's Heroes)
 * 07 May 1980: Nobody's Hero (7") Chrysalis CHS 2424
 * 15 May 1980: Nobody’s Hero (LP – Nobody's Heroes) Chrysalis
 * 16 June 1980: Gotta Gettaway (7") Rough Trade
 * 09 July 1980: 'Back To Front / Mr. Fire Coal-Man (both sides of 7")' (Chrysalis)
 * 15 July 1980: Back To Front (7”) Chrysalis
 * 14 August 1980: Back To Front (7") Chrysalis
 * 18 August 1980: Mr Fire Coal-Man (7" b-side - Back To Front) Chrysalis
 * 01 September 1980: 'Nobody's Hero (LP-Hanx!)' (Chrysalis)
 * 02 September 1980: 'Gotta Gettaway / Wait And See (both from LP-Hanx!)' (Chrysalis)
 * 03 September 1980: Barbed Wire Love (album - Hanx!) Chrysalis CHR 1300
 * 03 September 1980: Fly The Flag (album - Hanx!) Chrysalis CHR 1300
 * 03 September 1980: Alternative Ulster (album - Hanx!) Chrysalis CHR 1300
 * 04 September 1980: Johnny Was (LP – Hanx!) Chrysalis
 * 24 December 1980: 'Wasted Life (7"-Suspect Device)' (Rigid Digits) (1980 Festive Fifty #27)
 * 24 December 1980: 'Suspect Device (7")' (Rigid Digits) (1980 Festive Fifty #24)
 * 29 December 1980: Johnny Was (LP - Inflammable Material) Rough Trade (1980 Festive Fifty #16)
 * 30 December 1980: Alternative Ulster (LP-Inflammable Material) Rough Trade (1980 Festive Fifty #9)


 * 1981
 * 21 April 1981: Picadilly Circus (album - Go For It) Chrysalis CHR 1339
 * 29 April 1981: Silver Lining (album - Go For It) Chrysalis CHR 1339
 * 30 April 1981: 'Hits And Misses (LP-Go For It!)' (Chrysalis)
 * 12 May 1981: The Only One (LP-Go For It) Chrysalis
 * 24 December 1981: 'Suspect Device (7")' (Rigid Digits) (1981 Festive Fifty #32)
 * 28 December 1981: 'Johnny Was (LP-Inflammable Material)' (Rough Trade) (1981 Festive Fifty #24) (JP: 'Always actually surprised about this, I must say, never one of me favourite tracks by the band.')
 * 29 December 1981: Alternative Ulster (presumably from LP-Inflammable Material) Rough Trade (1981 Festive Fifty #16)


 * 1982
 * 25 August 1982: Bits Of Kids (7") Chrysalis CHS 2637
 * 20 September 1982: 'Welcome To The Whole Week (LP-Now Then...)' (Chrysalis)
 * 23 September 1982: 'Is That What You Fought The War For? (LP-Now Then...)' (Chrysalis)
 * 21 December 1982: Suspect Device (7 inch) Rigid Digits (1982 Festive Fifty (All-Time) #31
 * 22 December 1982: 'Johnny Was (LP-Inflammable Material)' (Rough Trade) (1982 Festive Fifty (All-Time) #29) (JP: 'As I say, I never really cared for that. I like Stiff Little Fingers, never cared for that track at all, but you did and it's your chart.')
 * 27 December 1982: Alternative Ulster (LP-Inflammable Material) Rough Trade (1982 Festive Fifty (All-Time) #18)


 * Other
 * 28 November 1983: 'Wasted Life'
 * Peel 031 (BFBS): 'White Christmas (live) (2xLP-All The Best)' (Chrysalis) (20 March 1986)
 * 14 November 1989: Law And Order (album - The Peel Sessions Album) Strange Fruit SFRLP 106
 * 18 January 1990: At The Edge (album - The Peel Sessions Album) Strange Fruit SFRLP 106
 * 06 June 1992: (JP: “During the week, I was having a chat with Sheila, me wife, and we were talking about, we don't often talk about records, curiously enough, but we were on this occasion, and were discussing which record had the best ending to it, and I nominated this.”) Suspect Device (7 inch) Rigid Digits
 * 19 March 1996: 'Suspect Device (CD-All The Best)' (EMI)
 * 02 December 1997: Suspect Device (7”) Rigid Digits
 * 13 March 2001: Suspect Device