The band formed in 1979 in Edinburgh. One of the first lineups consisted of Big John Duncan on guitar, (Reeba) Alan Martin on drums, Gary McCormack on bass and Terry Buchan on vocals. After a very short time, however, Terry was removed from the band and his oldest brother, Walter 'Wattie' Buchan whom then took over. Inspired by the first wave of punk rock (Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Damned), the quartet created a simple, no-frills sound characterized by speed and aggression. In 1980, the group founded its own independent record label, Exploited Record Company, and immediately released their debut EP Army Life, which was #6 in the independent charts for eight weeks, then was in the top 20 for 18 months. They then released another single, "Barmy Army", which immediately jumped into the independent charts and remained there for 53 weeks, peaking at #4.
In 1981 the band signed to Secret Records and released the single "Dogs of War", which peaked at #2 in the independent charts and #63 in the national charts. The band then released their first live album, On Stage, recorded during a concert in Edinburgh. Thereafter, the band performed, along with Discharge, Anti-Nowhere League, Anti-Pasti and Chron Gen on a tour called Apocalypse Now
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