Formed by Andy Colquhoun, John Manly and Jimmy Coull, this short-lived but legendary punk and pub rock band from Ladbroke Grove, London, was active between 1977 and 1978.
Wolf Marlander played drums at first, until Lucas Fox joined a few months later. Adding bassist Chris Underhill, they played the UK circuit with bands like The Clash and The Damned.
Warsaw Pakt recorded their debut album, Needle Time, for Island Records in record-breaking time at Trident Studios on Saturday 26 November 1977.
The group played the 14 songs straight through in just 33 minutes, direct to the cutting lathe, with no tape master, no overdubs, and no mixing. The record was pressed, packed and shipped overnight and was in the record shops the following morning, with the band’s fingers still bleeding,
The album sold an impressive 5,000 units almost immediately, but Island inexplicably refused to press more copies.
Faced with internal friction, cancelled tours, and a lack of label backing, Warsaw Pakt played a final benefit gig alongside Ian Dury and dissolved by March 1978.
