Anti-Establishment were first formed by Haggis and Gavin while watching the Saints and Chelsea at the Marquee in the beginning of '78. Joined by Nick, a local lad from Ongar on drum duties. They went through a number of changes in line-up before settling on their lasting lineup: Gavin - vocals, Nick - drums, Haggis - lead guitar, and Kevin Read - bass. The first gig was at a place called Ingatestone Youth Club on 16/11/79. The band initially only went on to play around 25 shows, with bands like Infa Riot, The Last Resort and Sedated.

The first single was a classic, '1980's/Mechanical Man', produced by The Damned drummer Rat Scabies. It was released in March '80 on the Charnel House record label, and has often been quoted as one of the classic punk singles of all time.

They released their second single called 'Future Girl/No Trust' Like the first one, it was again produced by Rat Scabies. It was promoted with an 6 date tour supporting The Exploited on the 'Troops of tomorrow' tour, taking in Birmingham, Nottingham, Preston, Grimsby, Hull and London's Zigzag club.

The third and final single was a double A side 'Anti-men' and 'Misunderstood', again produced by Rat Scabies. A line up change saw Gary Dawson on Guitar after Haggis left to spend time building up his own garage business.