The band, which originally formed in Hersham in 1975, by founding members Dave Parsons and Jimmy Pursey have become one of Punks legends and some say the Godfathers of Oi/Street Punk.  Sham 69 have been a huge musical influence on the Oi! and street punk genres. The band's name was allegedly derived from a piece of graffiti that was seen on a wall. It originally said 'Walton and Hersham '69' but had partly faded away, and made reference to when Walton and Hersham FC won the Athenian League Championship in 1969.

Snubbing the art school approach of many English punk bands of the time, Sham 69 brought in football chant backup vocals and political populism.  I Don't Wanna, the band's first single, was released in 1977 on Step Forward Records and produced by John Cale of The Velvet Underground. As a result of its success, Polydor Records opted to sign the band. The singles Angels With Dirty Faces and If The Kids Are United charted at number 19 and number nine respectively in 1978.

The group's debut album Tell Us the Truth, a mixture of live and studio recordings, was critically acclaimed, as was second LP That's Life, a full studio album. They then began to move away from punk rock to embrace a sound influenced by classic British rock heavyweights of the time including The Who, The Rolling Stones and The Faces. The third album, The Adventures of the Hersham Boys, reflected their change in attitude and style and seeing an opportunity for more fame Jimmy Pursey left the band to join the Sex Pistols following the departure of Johnny Rotten… and then came back.

After their fourth effort Sham 69 split, but was then was resurrected by Dave Parsons with a different line up in 1986.  Their next top 40 UK hit came in 2006 with the World Cup inspired track Hurry Up England. Although Jimmy Pursey left band again, this time permanently in 2006 after a touring hiatus of 15 years, a new line up was brought together by Dave Parsons and Ian Whitewood. The new front man Tim V has brought the power and energy back, that the inactivity had generated. Tim V who hails from the Eastend of London has given the band back its street cred. Now along with Al Campbell ex UK Subs and Marky Ramone Band on Bass, the band has recently performed tours of the USA, Japan and Russia with tours of Australia as well. They have also played at major festivals across Europe playing alongside The Sex Pistols and Primal Scream, and released a new album, Hollywood Hero, in 2007 and re-released their Greatest Hits in 2008 which charted.

Shame Academy formed in 2003 to play at the launch of the book 'It Makes You Wanna Spit' a book on Northern Ireland Punk Rock from 1977-1982. Demand has kept the band going since then. The band play a mixture of classic Rudi and Outcasts tracks with a few punk classics thrown in for good measure. The band consists of members of the classic Belfast Punk outfits Rudi, The Outcasts, and Stalag 17.