BIOGRAPHY

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Punk band The Dirty Scums was formed by Dirty Pik around Christmas 1981 and first took to the stage in March 1982. It wasn’t until 1983 that a stable line-up was formed, consisting of Dirty Pik, Dirty Zjantie, Dirty Jenz and singer Clo. In 1984, Clo left the band, after which they decided to carry on as a trio.

The band quickly gained popularity, played all over Flanders and became one of the leading bands of the second wave of Belgian punk, alongside bands such as Zyklome A, Capital Scum, Sponky Business, ... In 1985, “Dirty Songs”, their first LP, was released. It was only the second LP to emerge from the Belgian punk scene at the time (Zyklome A had beaten them to it), and the first in a long line of releases, all invariably issued on their own independent label, Dirty Records.

By the end of the eighties, most punk bands of that era had split up. The Dirty Scums, however, proved impossible to kill off and continued making punk music as actively as ever. In 1994, a fourth member joined the band, but by early 1998 the Scums were back to being a trio. Ever since, Dirty Pik, Dirty Zjantie and Dirty Keez have remained as eager as young foals, ready to keep going full throttle - with heart and liver - well beyond retirement age.

Besides playing their own gigs, they enthusiastically organise all kinds of small-scale events such as Rock@Schuiferskapelle, TieltRockt!, Local PunkHeroes, Anniversary Gigs, ... and in summer they even run their own little pop-up café. Meanwhile, their discography has grown ridiculously long, as every now and then a fresh helping of punk is unleashed on anyone who does - or doesn’t - want to hear it.

Despite all those years on the clock, The Dirty Scums are still synonymous with a highly active punk band that continues to make both young punx and those who experienced the glory days of ’77 first-hand go wild. After more than four decades of uninterrupted punk rock, the Scums are without a doubt the uncrowned kings of the Belgian DIY punk scene.

The meaning of Scum

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English language
A person or an element of society that is regarded as despicable or worthless

Collins Essential English Dictionary
A person or people regarded as worthless or criminal

WordNet
Worthless people, trash, disparaging term for the common people (also ragtag, ragtag and bobtail, riffraff, rabble)

Collins Essential Thesaurus
Rabble, trash, riffraff, rubbish, dross, lowest of the low, dregs of society, canaille, ragtag and bobtail

Kernerman English Learner’s Dictionary
Bad, worthless people, “people of that sort are the scum of the earth”