The Pink Fairies were the oldest and hairiest band on Stiff Records – and released the second single on the indie punk label. (more…)

Buzzcocks began 1977 with the release of their landmark Spiral Scratch EP – opening the door for a wave of indie punk labels. (more…)

The night I saw the legendary bass man from the legendary MC5 – and he didn’t play their legendary song, Kick Out The Jams. (more…)

Richard Hell’s debut single is one of the first examples of New York punk. It also defines the sound of what would later become known as post-punk… even though, strictly speaking, it’s more pre-punk. (more…)

Television produced one of the foundation stones of punk with their debut single Little Johnny Jewel, released in 1976. (more…)

It’s the beginning of 1977 and punk is going overground. The Stranglers start the year with a bang, releasing their debut single Grip / London Lady. (more…)

All together now: “Rrrrright…. nowwww… Hahahaaaa!”

One night in late November 1976 I was at the Marquee Club watching a short fat Frenchman called Little Bob who played amphetamine-fuelled RnB when Malcolm McLaren walked in with a bag under his arm.

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Protest songs don’t get more powerful than this state-of-the-nation report – its finger firmly on the xenophobic pulse of post-Brexit Britain. (more…)

No one would pretend Nick Lowe was a punk – he had almost a decade in music behind him by 1976. But he plays a key role in punk pre-history.

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Here’s another of those not-quite-punk-but-nearly records that came out in the musical hinterland between pub rock and punk in 1976.

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