Buzzcocks

[dube@nyu-csd2.arpa (Tom Dube)]

David Oskard:
>I'm sure you've probably already gone out and bought Singles Going
>Steady by the Buzzcocks already, but let me say anyway that I have that
>album and also A Different Kind of Tension, and I think ADKoT is a lot
>better.  It's more of an "album" whereas Singles.. is just that--a bunch of
>singles put on an album.  So buy that one instead, unless somebody else has
>any better ideas. What the hell, buy buy buy! Buy them both--you must be
>rich enough.  After all, aren't all of us computer wielding Americans rich?

I've been a Buzzcock fan since a friend came home with "Spiral Scratch" in
1977.  The only problems with "Singles Going Steady" is that the first EP
isn't included, and the quality of the material is so consistently
brilliant that no songs stand out on their own.
The Buzzcocks (like most early punks) were singles
oriented, and much of there best stuff was not included on LPs.
Singles Going Steady is the best history of what the Buzzcocks were
all about.

Of the regular LP releases, I think the first album "Another Music in
a Different Kitchen" is clearly the best.  It includes some songs
that could have been strong singles (e.g. "Fast Cars" and "You Tear Me Up")
and some very successful experiments ("Moving Away From the Heartbeat",
"Sixteen").

The follow-up album "Love Bites" is uneven, with some gems like "Real World",
"Ever Fallen In Love" and "Just Lust" mixed in with some real loser
tracks like "Operators Manual", "Love is Lies", and some nowhere
instrumentals.

The final album "A Different Kind of Tension" is also quite uneven.
Pete Shelley was getting more experimental, with usually good
results.  This album is really dragged down though by the "emergence" of
Steve Diggle as a song-writer.

The final 3 singles (Parts A,B,and C) were both released domestically
(U.S.), and compiled on an EP.  Highly recommended.

A recent release (whose name I don't know), repackages some of these
tunes with a few live cuts.  It seems pretty superfluous.  If you
want live recordings, there is a band-approved-bootleg called
"The Best in Good Food", which was recorded at the closing of the
"Electric Circus" in their hometown of Manchester.  Performance is
expectedly sloppy but the recording is first rate.  The version
of "Times Up" from this record appears on the legit release
"Live at the Electric Circus" along with cuts by Joy Division, The Fall,
and some other locals.

For completists, a nice tune "Everything is Beautiful" appears on the first
NME sampler tape. The tape has lots of other interesting stuff too.

I can't close without including at least one Buzzcock anecdote. Early 
Buzzcock songs were co-written by Howard Devoto (words) and Pete
Shelley (music). After Devoto had left, he asked Shelley if he could
write a new song based upon "Lipstick".  Shelley, thinking Devoto wanted
the words back agreed.  Instead, Devoto took Shelley's guitar lead
and turned it into the main riff for "Shot By Both Sides".
                           Tom Dube       dube@csd2.nyu.edu