Blitzkrieg

Blitzkrieg are an English punk rock band, based in Southport and formed in 1979. They made a distinct contribution to the UK hardcore punk scene and have strong underground following. Despite the Nazi connotations of the name Blitzkrieg, German for "Lightning-War", they took a fiercely anti-Nazi stance. History The original line-up was formed by Mike 'Riffone' on vocals together with his brother Phil 'Din' on drums in 1979, initially with Will Mawdsley on guitar and Gary 'Gaz' Sumner on bass. Tony "Toe" Fowler joined on bass, while Gaz Sumner switched over to guitar. Later when Toe Fowler left, he was replaced with Chris Hind on bass, previously of the local Southport band Mayhem. This formed the definitive line-up of Mike Riffone (vocals), Phil Din (drums), Gaz Sumner (guitar) and Chris Hind (bass). This line-up was signed to the independent record label No Future Records and released the track "The Future Must Be Ours", which appeared on the A Country Fit For Heroes compilation album, released in January 1982, Catalogue number Oi3, reaching No. 4 in the UK Indie Charts. Shortly after the release of this track, Phil Din left the band and was for a brief period replaced by 'Jackanory' John McCallum on drums. Blitzkrieg played a vast number of gigs, primarily in the North of England, both as headliners and as a support act to bands including UK Decay, Chron Gen, The Not Sensibles and Anti-Pasti.