Biography
Iron Cross introduced Oi! punk to a setting far removed from its origins among working-class listeners in England, where the style had drawn on acts such as the Sex Pistols, the Clash, and Sham 69 while reflecting local tensions involving skinheads, frustrated Cockneys, neo-Nazis, and the racist National Front party. The band carried the sound and visual approach across the Atlantic to Washington, D.C., already the hub of the rising straight-edge hardcore community, and the move amplified the style’s divisive impact. Although most members were skinheads who rejected racist positions, that stance failed to register with many observers already uneasy about skinhead aggression. The group’s name and imagery invoked German military motifs through the Iron Cross, a decoration tied to the armed forces rather than the Third Reich, yet the distinction remained open to misreading.
Teenagers Sab Grey, Mark Haggerty, and Dante Ferrando launched the band in early 1981, taking vocal, guitar, and drum duties respectively. John Falls played bass at the outset but left after a dispute, beginning a pattern of quick turnover in that role. Falls later appeared with Ian MacKaye in Skewbald/Grand Union. Chris Haskett, who would later join the Rollins Band, performed on the demo before Wendel Blow, formerly of State of Alert—Henry Rollins’ initial group—assumed the position.
Three tracks appeared on the Dischord collection Flex Your Head in 1982. The four-song 7" Skinhead Glory followed on the Dischord-affiliated label Skinflint. Repeated negative notices in fanzines prompted the title Hated and Proud for the 1983 EP. After Blow’s exit, John Dunn and then Paul Cleary of Black Market Baby handled bass. No full-length album ever materialized; Haggerty and Ferrando began performing with Gray Matter later that year, after which the breakup became permanent. Ferrando subsequently joined Ignition in the late 1980s, while Haggerty played in 3 and Severin. In 2001 GMM issued every recording, including outtakes and previously unreleased material, on the Live for Now CD.
Teenagers Sab Grey, Mark Haggerty, and Dante Ferrando launched the band in early 1981, taking vocal, guitar, and drum duties respectively. John Falls played bass at the outset but left after a dispute, beginning a pattern of quick turnover in that role. Falls later appeared with Ian MacKaye in Skewbald/Grand Union. Chris Haskett, who would later join the Rollins Band, performed on the demo before Wendel Blow, formerly of State of Alert—Henry Rollins’ initial group—assumed the position.
Three tracks appeared on the Dischord collection Flex Your Head in 1982. The four-song 7" Skinhead Glory followed on the Dischord-affiliated label Skinflint. Repeated negative notices in fanzines prompted the title Hated and Proud for the 1983 EP. After Blow’s exit, John Dunn and then Paul Cleary of Black Market Baby handled bass. No full-length album ever materialized; Haggerty and Ferrando began performing with Gray Matter later that year, after which the breakup became permanent. Ferrando subsequently joined Ignition in the late 1980s, while Haggerty played in 3 and Severin. In 2001 GMM issued every recording, including outtakes and previously unreleased material, on the Live for Now CD.
Albums
