Blitzkrieg are an English punk rock band, based in Southport and formed in 1979. They made a distinct contribution to the UK hardcore punk scene and have strong underground following. Despite the Nazi connotations of the name Blitzkrieg, German for "Lightning-War", they took a fiercely anti-Nazi stance. History The original line-up was formed by Mike 'Riffone' on vocals together with his brother Phil 'Din' on drums in 1979, initially with Will Mawdsley on guitar and Gary 'Gaz' Sumner on bass. Tony "Toe" Fowler joined on bass, while Gaz Sumner switched over to guitar. Later when Toe Fowler left, he was replaced with Chris Hind on bass, previously of the local Southport band Mayhem. This formed the definitive line-up of Mike Riffone (vocals), Phil Din (drums), Gaz Sumner (guitar) and Chris Hind (bass). This line-up was signed to the independent record label No Future Records and released the track "The Future Must Be Ours", which appeared on the A Country Fit For Heroes compilation album, released in January 1982, Catalogue number Oi3, reaching No. 4 in the UK Indie Charts. Shortly after the release of this track, Phil Din left the band and was for a brief period replaced by 'Jackanory' John McCallum on drums. Blitzkrieg played a vast number of gigs, primarily in the North of England, both as headliners and as a support act to bands including UK Decay, Chron Gen, The Not Sensibles and Anti-Pasti. Their second vinyl release, a four-track EP on No Future Records, entitled Lest We Forget, Catalogue number Oi8, reached No. 11 in the Indie Charts in 1982. Later in the same year, the band parted company with drummer McCallum and their record label, signing to Sexual Phonograph Records, who released their Animals in Lipstick EP. New drummer Dave "Bambi" Ellesmere, previously of the seminal punk/speed-metal group Discharge, joined the group in mid-1982. The Animals in Lipstick EP featured an aggressively anti-vivisection theme, and their most popular recorded song to date, "Conscience Prayer", an anti-society polemic, it reached No. 30 in the Indie Chart in 1983. Since the break-up of the group soon after the "Conscience Prayer" release in 1983, there have since been a number of re-formations of the group, initially in late 1987 with new vocalist Spike, Gaz, Bambi & ex-Insane bassist Trev. Dave left to join Flux of Pink Indians, and has latterly enjoyed success as a Techno House DJ. Riffone