James Timothy Pursey (born 9 February 1955) is an English singer and record producer. He was the founder and frontman of the English punk rock band, Sham 69, and has played with them from 1976 to 1980; from 1986 to 2006; and from 2011 to the present day.
Pursey was born in Hersham, Surrey in 1955. His father was in the army and later worked as a plumber and his mother worked as a cinema usherette. He was educated at Hersham House & Burhill Infants, Hersham Juniors and Rydens School, leaving aged 15 to work in a curtain shop.
He was a regular attender at the local disco, the 'Walton Hop' at the Playhouse theatre, where he met Jonathan King. Pursey claimed that he began performing after taking the stage as a drunk fourteen-year-old at the disco and miming to Bay City Rollers and The Rolling Stones songs (miming contests were a regular event at the Hop). He formed Sham 69 in 1976, inspired by The Ramones and initially called Jimmy and the Ferrets, along with Albie Slider, Billy Bostik and Neil Harris, while employed at Wimbledon Stadium, and they rehearsed at Slider's parents' pig farm, where King sometimes came to watch them. Before getting a record deal the lineup had changed with Neil Harris and Billy Bostock being replaced by Dave Parsons and Mark Cain. Albie Sloder was replaced shortly after by Dave Tregunna on bass. The band released four albums and had six UK top 50 hits before splitting up in 1980 (after several splits in 1979 that proved to be temporary) with the violence that regularly marred their gigs taking its toll. Pursey briefly worked with Steve Jones and Paul Cook of The Sex Pistols as Sham Pistols before the final Sham 69 split, and embarked on a solo career. Pursey also worked as a record producer, on early releases by Cockney Rejects and Angelic Upstarts.
I spend the afternoon in cars
I sit in traffic jams for hours
Don't push me, I am not okay
The sky is blue 'most every day
The lemons grow like tumors, they
Are tiny suns infused with sour
Lonely as a cloud
In the Golden State
The coldest winter that I ever saw
Was the summer that I spent
The only substance is the fog
And it hides all that has gone wrong
Can't see a thing inside the maze
There is a bridge adored and famed
The Golden spine of engineering
Whose back is heavy with my weight
Lonely as a cloud
In the Golden State
The coldest winter that I ever saw
Was the summer that I spent
Be still this old heart, be still this old skin
Drink your last drink, sin your last sin
Sing your last song about the beginnin'
Sing it out loud so the people can hear
Let's go
Be still this sad day, be still this sad year
Hope your last hope, fear you last fear
You're not the only one, you're not the only one
You're not the only one, you're not the only one
Let's go
My falling shape will draw a line
Between the blue of sea and sky
I'm not a bird, I'm not a plane
I took the taxi to the gate
I will not go to school again
Four seconds was the longest wait
Four seconds was the longest wait
Four seconds was the longest wait
Four seconds was the longest wait