In 1977, following exposure to The Sex Pistols, Penetration sprang out of Durham pit village Ferryhill only to find themselves allergic to the music industry.
Guitarist Gary Chaplin left in March 1978 and was replaced by Neal Floyd. Fred Purser joined as lead guitarist in July, drawing ludicrous criticism from some quarters that the band was flirting with heavy metal.
The subtle uproar of their debut album, Moving Targets (October 1978), made good use of Pauline Murray’s iron-hard singing, the raw thrash/twiddly-harmonics guitar team of Floyd and Purser, and the Keith Moon madness cum progressive cleverclogsing of drummer Gary Smallman.
A slow decline in morale and direction began as innumerable tours were undertaken, including a five-week jaunt around the USA, which culminated in them coming to blows in San Francisco.
Their second – and last – studio album, Coming Up For Air (1979), records their dream’s decay and proved to be their undoing.
Shout Above The Noise, Come Into The Open and What’s Going On? all rage against the machine which would decide their future.
The album received lukewarm reviews and the band decided to split after completing a last, poorly attended British tour.
Pauline Murray
Vocals
Gary Chaplin
Guitar
Robert Blamire
Bass
Gary Smallman
Drums
Neale Floyd
Guitar
Fred Purser
Guitar
