Somewhere around South Yorkshire, UK there was a band that started life as SOB during 1976 with founder members Graham Oliver and Steve Dawson. This band joined forces with another local band, Coast, featuring Biff Byford on vocals and Paul Quinn on guitar. The two bands then finalized with a line-up comprising of the then 26 year old Graham 'Oly' Oliver, Steve 'Dobby' Dawson (27), Paul 'Blute' Quinn (26), Pete 'Frank' Gill (27) and Peter 'Biff' Byford (27). The name of the band was Son Of A Bitch. That name was dropped a few years later and the band re-christened themselves SAXON. They were at this time playing the usual rock clubs and concert gigs supporting The Ian Gillan Band and Heavy Metal Kids, amongst others, playing all their own material. Demo tapes were recorded at Tapestry Studios, with producer John Verity (Ex. Argent singer/guitarist). They hawked these round the usual record companies only to be ignored as the New-wave was at its height at this time. After a few months the band finally gained a favorable reaction from EMI man Peter Hinton. He had come up to Barnsley to see the band play at the town's Civic Hall. He was very impressed and recommended SAXON to Claude Carrere as candidates for his new label on the British scene, Carrere Records. Claude decided to offer them a contract, after hearing the band's demo tapes.
Line-up history
Founding members of Saxon listed in bold
Son of a Bitch (1976-1978)
- Biff Byford - vocals
- Graham Oliver - guitar
- Paul Quinn - guitar
- Steve Dawson - bass
- David Ward - drums
Saxon (1978-present)
Original lineup (1978-1981)
- Biff Byford - vocals
- Graham Oliver - guitar
- Paul Quinn - guitar
- Steve Dawson - bass
- Pete Gill - drums
Second lineup (1981-1986)
- Biff Byford - vocals
- Graham Oliver - guitar
- Paul Quinn - guitar
- Steve Dawson - bass
- Nigel Glockler - drums
Third lineup (1986-1987)
- Biff Byford - vocals
- Graham Oliver - guitar
- Paul Quinn - guitar
- Paul Johnson - bass
- Nigel Glockler - drums
Fourth lineup (1987-1988)
- Biff Byford - vocals
- Graham Oliver - guitar
- Paul Quinn - guitar
- Paul Johnson - bass
- Nigel Durham - drums
Fifth lineup (1988-1994)
- Biff Byford - vocals
- Graham Oliver - guitar
- Paul Quinn - guitar
- Nibbs Carter - bass
- Nigel Glockler - drums
Sixth lineup (1995-1999)
- Biff Byford - vocals
- Doug Scarratt - guitar
- Paul Quinn - guitar
- Nibbs Carter - bass
- Nigel Glockler - drums
Seventh lineup (1999-2004)
- Biff Byford - vocals
- Doug Scarratt - guitar
- Paul Quinn - guitar
- Nibbs Carter - bass
- Fritz Randow - drums
Eighth lineup (2004-2005)
- Biff Byford - vocals
- Doug Scarratt - guitar
- Paul Quinn - guitar
- Nibbs Carter - bass, keyboards
- Jörg Michael - drums
Present lineup (2005-present)
- Biff Byford - vocals
- Doug Scarratt - guitar
- Paul Quinn - guitar
- Nibbs Carter - bass, keyboards
- Nigel Glockler - drums
Discography
- Saxon (1979)
- Wheels of Steel (1980)
- Strong Arm of the Law (1980)
- Denim and Leather (1981)
- Power & the Glory (1983)
- Crusader (1984)
- Innocence Is No Excuse (1985)
- Rock the Nations (1986)
- Destiny (1988)
- Solid Ball of Rock (1990)
- Forever Free (1992)
- Dogs of War (1995)
- Unleash the Beast (1997)
- Metalhead (1999)
- Killing Ground (2001)
- Lionheart (2004)
- The Inner Sanctum (2007)
- Into the Labyrinth (2009)