Stiff Little Fingers "Get A Life" 7" Taaang! (US)

Record is EX, Jacket is VG+!!

Original Press

Pressed on Dark Green Marbled Wax!

Track Listing:

AGet A LifeB1Harp (Live)B2Tin Solders (Live)
Stiff Little Fingers are a  band from , . They formed in 1977, at the height of. They started out as a schoolboy band called Highway Star (named after the  ), doing rock covers, until they discovered punk. They split up after six years and four albums, although they reformed five years later, in 1987. Despite major personnel changes, they are still touring and recording. In 2014 the band released their tenth studio album and a world tour followed its release. , their lead singer, is the only member to have been with the band during all its incarnations, but in March 2006, original bass guitarist rejoined them following the departure of  bass player  after fifteen years.
Early years

Prior to becoming Stiff Little Fingers, , vocals and guitar, , guitar, , bass, and , drums, were playing in a cover band, Highway Star, in . Upon the departure of Gordon Blair (who went on to play with another Belfast group, ),  took over on bass. Cluney had by this time discovered punk, and introduced the rest of the band to it. They decided that Highway Star wasn't a punk enough name, and after a brief flirtation with the name "The Fast", decided to call themselves Stiff Little Fingers, after the  song of the .

It was while doing a gig at the Glenmachan Hotel that they first met , who had been invited along for the evening by , a journalist who Burns had been corresponding with.

Ogilvie suggested they play material based upon their experience of . McClelland arranged to get the band some recording time at a local radio station, and in the studio normally used to record jingles, they recorded "Suspect Device". The single was packaged in the form of a cassette, with a cover depicting a, apparently causing great hilarity in the group, when one record company phoned them and asked for another copy, as they'd thrown the first one in a bucket of water for fear that it was a real bomb.

A copy of the single was sent to . He played it repeatedly leading to a distribution deal through . The single was released on the band's own Rigid Digits label and sold over 30,000 copies. Peel later did the same with the first single by another famous Northern Irish band from Derry, . There were a number of well-publicised arguments between the two bands; the Undertones accused Stiff Little Fingers of sensationalising the Northern Ireland conflict, while they retorted that The Undertones ignored it.

Their second single, "Alternative Ulster", was originally intended to be given away free with the  of the same name.

Inflammable Material

In the second half of 1978, they toured with the , and in 1979, they released their first album on the Rough Trade Label, . The band agreed a contract with , but it fell through, leaving the band to release the album on their existing label. Despite the album's independent release, it reached number 14 in the  and reached Silver status, selling over 100,000 copies. Inflammable Material was the first album distributed by  records, and the first independent album to chart in the UK.

This inspired their move to London, which led to the departure of Brian Faloon and Colin McClelland (who along with Gordon Ogilvie had been joint manager of the band up until that point).

 became their drummer in time for the "Gotta Gettaway" single, and played in the  tour.

Sometime after, Stiff Little Fingers were banned from playing Newcastle upon Tyne, after a local councillor heard "Inflammable Material" being played by his daughter. The track was "White Noise". The song’s lyrics include racially offensive terms, but it is an anti-racist song, with the last verse about Irish people hitting home with the message.

Nobody's Heroes and Go for It

In mid-1979, Stiff Little Fingers signed their Rigid Digits label to , and in 1980 released their second album, .

The Nobody's Heroes era brought some success in media terms, with the single "Straw Dogs" narrowly missing the cut for Top of the Pops; they eventually got on the show twice, with "At the Edge" and "Nobody's Hero." However after their appearance with "At The Edge" the band were told they would never be invited on again as they did not take it seriously as they weren't playing live. it was to be one of the most infamous TOTP's appearances. They subsequently appeared on Top of the Pops for "Nobody's Hero"

In 1981 the band released their third studio album Go For It which was to be Jim Reilly's last involvement with the band. Go For It signified the change in Burns' writing style, with much darker and taboo subjects, such as domestic abuse in the song "Hits and Misses" and football hooliganism in the song "Back to Front" (not on the original LP but a bonus track on CD reissue) but the band also still told the story of being a teenager growing up with the song "Kicking Up a Racket".

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