Play: The Outcasts: Self-Conscious Over You
The Outcasts : Martin Cowan and Colin Getgood (better known as Getty) on guitar, Colin Cowan on drums and Greg Cowan on bass and vocals formed in Belfast in January of 1977 and played their debut gig in August of the same year. Due to a severe lack of venues in Belfast for punk bands, The Outcasts were forced to hire nightclubs to use for private parties, and then playing before the management knew what was happening. Dubbed ‘The band you love to hate’ by the local press due to their bad boy image and loutish behaviour, the band began to attract their own local following and even managed to make the front page of local news paper the News Letter in January 1978 when their gig at the Pound was attended by a journalist keen to report on the new youth movement emerging in Belfast.
The Outcasts cut their first demo at Wizzard Studios in early 1978 and the resulting demo attracted attention from the recently formed Portadown based label IT Records. March 1978 saw their debut three track 7″ single released on the label. After continuous gigging at the Harp Bar the band built up a loyal fanatical following and they soon joined forces with Terri Hooley of Good Vibrations Records and Justa Nother Teenage Rebel was released as the third Good Vibes single in the summer of 1978 with Terri becoming the band’s manager around this time too. The Outcasts continued to cause mayhem on the local gig circuit before going into the studio to record a track The Cops Are Coming, which was to appear on the double 7″ compilation The Battle Of The Bands EP, again on the Good Vibes label.
A debut album Self Conscious Over You was released in 1979 again on the Good Vibrations label in the UK and it was also released in France on Blitz – Krieg Records to much critical acclaim.
