Section 5

Section 5 is a punk and oi group from Stoke-on-Trent, England, active from 1982 onwards. The band forms in 1981 and is built around Tosh and Sid, with Sid as the original bassist for many years.

Early line-up and first recordings

The first line-up is Tosh on guitar, Sid on bass, Rat on drums and Tony Boult on vocals. This version of the band plays around five shows before Tony Boult is replaced by Dave Maskery, also known as Mask, around 1983. That line-up performs around 20 gigs and records 13 demo tracks.

In 1985, after hearing those tracks, Roddy Moreno signs the band to Oi! Records. By then Tosh has moved to vocals and the group becomes a trio for the release of its debut album, We Won’t Change.

Albums and personnel changes

By the time the second album appears on Link Records in 1987, Rat has been replaced on drums by Nik Drjuricic. In 1988, for Street Rock n Roll on Link, the band is joined by Tezz Roberts, formerly of Discharge, Broken Bones and UK Subs. This line-up is described as the one that shapes the band’s later sound.

Tezz Roberts later settles in the United States and becomes Terry Bones, eventually playing with Ministry. He returns to guest on “Bring The Wall Down”, “Too Many People” and “Final Fight” on one album, and later records “They Think Its All Over”, “Hammer in the Nails” and material on the Hard Life CD, while also contributing to the band’s comeback in 2003.

Later years

In 1990, Tezz is replaced by Tony Sids’s mate on lead, and Nik is replaced by Steve Walker. That year the band releases its final album on Link, The Way We Were. The situation around the scene then becomes difficult for the group, and it calls it a day for a period, with Tosh unwilling to be involved in the right-wing and left-wing conflicts around it.

Section 5 later goes through further line-up changes, splits and reunions, and releases additional records including They Think It’s All Over, Fat Out Of Hell, Live n Loud, The Best Of, Rejected, Hard Life and We Stand Alone. The band remains active.