!Action Pact!

"Action Pact" redirects here. For the album by Sloan, see Action Pact (album).

!Action Pact!
Also known as	The Bad Samaritans
Origin	Stanwell, London, England
Genres	Punk rock
Years active	1981–1986
Labels	Subversive, Fall Out, Captain Oi!
Past members	George Cheex Wild Planet (Des Stanley) Dr. Phibes (Kim Igoe) Joe Fungus Grimly Fiendish Elvin Pelvin (Phil Langham) Thistles

!Action Pact! was a London-based punk rock band, formed in 1981 by guitarist Wild Planet, bassist Kim Igoe, singer George Cheex, and drummer Joe Fungus.

History

!Action Pact! was from Stanwell in Middlesex, and was also originally named Bad Samaritans. In 1981 they changed their name to !Action Pact!. The John from Dead Mans Shadow (D.M.S.) was Bad Samaritan's original lead singer, and he left to concentrate on D.M.S., before the name change. He was replaced by George Cheex, who got the job because of "her courage to scream along with the band's songs." They contributed two songs to the EP Heathrow Touchdown which was released in October, 1981, while George and Joe were still only 15 years old. "London Bouncers" and "All Purpose Action Footwear", got the attention of BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel. He played their songs often and he convinced the band to record their first full session, which they did on 22 February 1982. They recorded "People", "Suicide Bag", "Mindless Aggression", "Losers", and "Cowslick Blues". The resulting demo tape caught the attention of the fledgling label Fall Out Records, which signed the band as the first act on its roster. !Action Pact!'s label debut, the Suicide Bag EP, was released in July 1982 and rocketed to the top of the British punk chart.

The band would later be joined by drummer Grimly Fiendish and bassist Thistles, and producer Phil Langham would also moonlight on bass under the name Elvin Pelvin; whereas Kim Igoe, the bassist, continued on as a lyricist. The band split in 1986.

In early 2016, Wild Planet (Des Stanley) died from cancer.

Other projects

Wild Planet managed the heavy rock band Purge, in which his son, Mark Stanley, plays bass guitar; Purge has sometimes played a live cover version of !Action Pact!'s "London Bouncers". Joe Fungus also played with the punk band called Savage Upsurge.

Discography

Chart positions shown are from the UK Indie Chart.

Albums

List of albums with chart positions

Title	Album details	UK Indie album chart
Mercury Theatre - On the Air!	Released 1983 Fall Out	5
Survival of the Fattest	Released 1984 Fall Out Records	-

Singles/EPs

List of singles/EP's with chart positions

Title	UK Indie singles chart
Heathrow Touchdown EP	-
Suicide Bag EP	6
"People"	13
London Bouncers EP	23
"Question of Choice"	36
Yet Another Dole Queue Song EP	7
"Cocktail Credibility"	33

References

• Anon (2015). "Action Pact Biography". facebook. Retrieved 29 August 2017. {{cite web}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Anon (6 February 1982). 06/02/1982 Action Pact. BBC. Archived from the original on 27 August 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2017. {{cite AV media}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Babey, Ged (8 February 2016). "RIP Action Pact's Des Stanley aka Wild Planet". Louder than War. Archived from the original on 29 August 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2017. {{cite web}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Bush, John (1999). "!Action Pact! Biography". Allmusic. Archived from the original on 27 August 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2017. {{cite web}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Lazell, Barry (2002). Indie Hits 1980-1999. Cherry Red Books. ISBN 0-9517206-9-4. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

External links

• TrouserPress.com :: ¡Action Pact!