"basically the band was originally known as Genetic Breakdown and consisted me, Johnny, Xerxes, Fred, Captain (Sensible) and Phil (Captain’s brother)." - Dave Berk, 1995
Formed in Croydon in May 1974, the band were initially a proto-punk band.
The original line up was Johnny Moped (Paul Halford), Dave Berk (Dave Batchelor), Fred Berk (Colin Mills), Captain Sensible (Raymond Ian Burns), Phil Burns, and Xerxes (John Skinner). Their second guitarist, Chrissie Hynde, was dismissed.
Initially calling themselves Johnny Moped and the 5 Arrogant Superstars, by August they changed their moniker to Assault and Buggery, then The Commercial Band, then The Black Witch Climax Blues Band, and Genetic Breakdown, before reverting to just Johnny Moped by January 1975.
Johnny Moped became one of the pioneering punk bands that played live in the first few months of London's Roxy Club. They played two gigs in February 1977, one supporting Eater and one backing the Damned. The following month they played two more, one supporting Slaughter & the Dogs and the other backing the Damned. In April, they were on a bill that included Wire, X-Ray Spex and the Buzzcocks and the band also supported Motörhead at The Hammersmith Odeon.
Johnny Moped's "Hard Lovin' Man" appeared on the hit various artists album Live at the Roxy WC2 (Harvest Records, 1977). The band signed with Chiswick Records and released three singles, including "Little Queenie" (a cover of the Chuck Berry song), and one album – Cycledelic – before splitting up. First single "No-One" later featured on the Chiswick various artists sampler album Long Shots, Dead Certs and Odds on Favourites in 1978, while b-side "Incendiary Device" made number 15 in BBC Radio 1DJJohn Peel's 'Festive Fifty', the so-called 'lost list' of 1977.
Sixteen years after its release, the publishers of The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music, named Cycledelic as one of the best fifty punk albums of all time. Most of the band reformed to record a second album The Search For Xerxes in 1991.
A documentary about the band, produced by Fred Burns, the son of Captain Sensible and Rachel Bor of Dolly Mixture, Basically, Johnny Moped, premiered in September 2013.
In 2015, the band, that now featured Rob Brook on second guitar, and long time bassist Jacko Pistorious alongside Johnny, Slimey and Dave, entered the Panther Studios in Surrey, with producer Dick Crippen (original bassist of Tenpole Tudor), to record a new album.[citation needed] The first single to be taken from it was "Ain't No Rock 'n' Roll Rookie" backed with "Super Woofa", which came out on Damaged Goods Records on 31 July 2015 as a limited 7" and download. 2018 saw the band back at Panther Studios with producer Dick Crippen to record their fourth studio album.[citation needed]
Reviews
Johnny Moped's style has been variously described as:
'Moronic punk 'n' roll fusing future Chiswick label-mates Motörhead with the manic humour of John Otway’.
'They were one of Chiswick’s top bands because they bridged the gap between mid-seventies pub rock and the beery end of punk'.
Cycledelic was "absolute madness. The greatest songs, the sloppiest playing, a voice to make Billy Bragg feel grateful and the sheer immortality of the since-oft-covered "Darling, Let’s Have Another Baby". Rating: nine out of ten".
'Johnny Moped had been about for a few years practising their sonic terrorism in & around Croydon by the time Punk Rock broke. That didn't stop them signing to Chiswick Records & releasing the utterly superb 45 No One (NS 15) & the equally frenetic LP, Cycledelic (Wik 8). Perennially written off by the snobbier elements of the Punk elite, mates of Captain Sensible & part time roadies for the Damned – Johnny Moped had it all'.
Legends... 'In any discussion of punk's greatest legends the name of Johnny Moped forever looms large – not necessarily for the vitality of their vinyl, although few would deny that the Moped had few peers in that arena. Nor through the brilliant chaos of their live shows, although a good Moped gig could keep you grinning for a week. No, Johnny Moped was a legend because with a reputation and a presentation like theirs, what else could they be?’
The band's single, 'Darling Let's Have Another Baby', features among 'The 12 Greatest Punk Rock Records Ever Made' – a listicle published by Danny Baker on his Patreon blog.
12Berk, Dave (July 1995). "Johnny Moped". PUNKNET 77. hiljaiset.sci.fi (Jukka Junttila). Archived from the original on 29 January 1997. Retrieved 4 August 2026. The text is taken from the booklet of The Best of Johnny Moped CD and is written by Dave Berk, original member of Johnny Moped.
