Eddie and The Hot Rods

Formed in 1975 on Canvey Island in Essex, Eddie and The Hot Rods began in the British pub rock scene before early on absorbing the energy of the emerging punk movement. Their music is tight and fast, drawing on rhythm and blues, hard rock and power pop. Originally led by singer Barrie Masters, the band made a name for themselves on London stages—especially the Nashville and the Marquee—sharing the scene with acts like the 101ers, the Sex Pistols and AC/DC, and later touring the US in 1977 alongside the Ramones and Talking Heads. The group’s first era is defined by the albums Teenage Depression (1976), Life on the Line (1977) and Thriller (1979), and by the single “Do Anything You Wanna Do,” issued in 1977 under the shortened name The Rods. After Fish ’n’ Chips in 1981 the band split, but reunited several times from the mid-1980s and, more notably, from 1996 onward, releasing Gasoline Days that year, Better Late than Never (2005), Been There, Done That... (2006) and Guardians of the Legacy (2022). Since Barrie Masters’s death in 2019, Eddie and The Hot Rods have continued with Ian “Dipster” Dean on vocals, maintaining a direct, nervy sound rooted in 1970s British rock.