The Oi! genre became a recognized genre in the latter part of the 1970s, emerging after the perceived commercialization of punk rock, but still before the soon-to-dominate hardcore punk sound. It fused the sounds of early punk bands such as The Clash, the Ramones and The Jam with influences from early British rock bands such as the Rolling Stones and The Who; football chants; pub rock bands such as the 101ers and Eddie and the Hot Rods; and glam rock bands such as Slade and Sweet. Direct precursors to the first Oi! bands included Sham 69, Cock Sparrer and Menace, who were around for years before the word Oi! was used retroactively to describe their style of music.
Originally the music style was called street punk, streetpunk, new punk or real punk. Other terms that have been used at certain points are streetrock, street rock 'n' roll, Oi!/street punk and streetpunk/Oi!. In 1980, writing in Sounds, rock journalist Garry Bushell labeled the movement Oi!, taking the name from the garbled "Oi!" that Stinky Turner of Cockney Rejects used to introduce the band's songs. The word "Oi" is an old Cockney expression, simply meaning "hey" or "hello".
See also:
Oi!
Streetpunk
Streetrock
.
