Oi Polloi

Formed in Edinburgh during the early 1980s, this Scottish punk outfit quickly attracted attention inside both anarchist circles and skinhead communities, largely because their moniker connected them to England’s emerging Oi! movement despite limited overlap in sound or outlook. Drawing from the terrace-chant style popularized by Sham 69 and the Cockney Rejects, Oi Polloi nevertheless distinguished themselves through sharper songwriting and a more developed ideological position. Their work consistently reflected acute social consciousness, foregrounding anti-racist, anti-homophobic, and pro-environmental convictions. Across five albums of intense protest material, vocalist Deek Allan remained the sole unchanging member. The 1990 release In Defence Of Our Earth, issued on the WOW Records label shared with Blaggers ITA, stands as their strongest statement; it garnered genuine admiration within anarchist and hardcore communities while prompting reluctant notice from mainstream outlets that had previously overlooked the group.