The Exploited was established in Edinburgh in 1979. Formed initially by Stevie Ross and Terry Buchan, the latter was quickly replaced by his ex-squaddie and a London punk rocker, Wattie Buchan. Wattie is the only original band member, known for his unmistakable style, irreverent attitude and rebellious manner which makes him an icon of punk rock of the 70s and 80s. Despite numerous line-up changes the band have been around for over 30 years and are still living legends of 80's punk rock. The original line-up also included – guitarist Big John Duncan, drummer Andrew "Dru Stix" Campbell and bassist Gary McCormack.

They began by playing Oi!, which had been around in the UK in the late 70's, and evolved into a band playing fast street punk and hardcore. A year later they formed their own independent label, Exploited Record Company, where they released their first EPs, Army Life and Exploited Barmy Army. The following year they signed with Secret Records. 1981 saw the release of their debut longplay, Punk's Not Dead (#1 on the independent albums chart that year) and their first live CD, On Stage, a recording of a show in their hometown. 1982 saw the release of the band's second LP, Troops of Tomorrow, which provided inspiration for Slayer, among others. A year later, the record Let's Start a War (Said Maggie One Day) and the EP Rival Leaders hit the shops. In 1985, the musicians presented fans with new studio material under the title Horror Epics. Two years later, fans received the band's next longplay, Death Before Dishonour. From that year they also started to evolve musically towards crossover thrash, to which they remain faithful to this day. For the next studio material fans had to wait three years – in 1990 The Massacre was released. It wasn't until six years later that the new album Beat the Bastards was released. Their discography is closed by Fuck the System, which premiered in 2003, but the band didn't say their last word on the matter.

The Exploited

Performing artists