Purple Hearts were often considered one of the best British mod revival groups. The Story of mod revivalists the Purple Hearts begins in 1977 when teenagers Jeff Shadbolt, Simon Stebbing, Bob Manton, and Nicky Lake formed in Romford Essex as The Sockets in 1977 before they even knew how to play their instruments (taking a cue from the then-prevailing DIY aesthetics of the punk rock movement) for the sole purpose of getting a support slot at a Buzzcocks gig at the East London Ploytechic, to debut their tounge-in-cheek Rock Opera 'Reg'.