Late-seventies Liverpool again… and one of my favourite singles of all time. Pete Wylie might not have had the public acclaim of his erstwhile bandmates Ian McCulloch and Julian Cope but he was arguably the most talented of a supremely talented trio. He certainly thought so. (more…)

Liverpool had never loomed large in my musical education. I was never sold on Cilla or Gerry & The Pacemakers or even the big names like, er, The Swinging Blue Jeans. Merseybeat left me cold. Until I heard the Teardops. (more…)

Punk before punk was invented, The New York Dolls made a sensational debut on British television’s Old Grey Whistle Test in 1973 – much to the disgust of host Bob Harris. (more…)

Novelty records. They’re nearly always awful, aren’t they – Grandad, Ernie, Shadap Your Face. Agadoo, Gimme Dat Ding. Jilted John was different. (more…)

The Pet Shop Boys and Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine don’t immediately seem like the most obvious bedfellows. And yet… this works perfectly. (more…)

This startling oddity is about as ‘punk’ as it’s possible to get, despite consisting of nothing but a drum and a voice. It’s one of the angriest tirades you’ll ever hear. It still sounds shocking today. (more…)

It’s taken nearly 45 years for me to find out that Blondie’s 1978 hit single was a cover version. This is the original from two years earlier – the only record ever released by The Nerves. (more…)

Kitsch, camp, catchy and controversial, this was the first song to come out by Adam & The Ants. Deutscher Girls first appeared on the soundtrack of Derek Jarman’s film Jubilee. It didn’t make Stuart Goddard’s name. That would come later. (more…)

The Flys might not have been able to spell their own name but their debut single is another of my forgotten favourites from the punk era. Listening now, it wouldn’t sound out of place on a Power Pop compilation. (more…)

This isn’t the first recording by The Fall, but it’s the first to have been heard on the radio, when John Peel played their debut session in June 1978. (more…)