One of the great singles from the punk period, Spanish Stroll has nothing much in common with the rest of the CBGBs crowd. But that’s where it came from. And it’s just a classic, with that lazily strummed guitar intro and the spoken word Spanish bit in the middle.

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Here’s an oddity from the depths of my punk-era singles collection. It was only decades later that a friend picked this obscurity out and recognised two of the names on the sleeve – not as musicians, but as music journalists.

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Here are The Slits, half of them anyway, with ex-members of The Pop Group and Rip Rig + Panic, in session for John Peel from 1981.

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I’m not sure I even like this song, but I feckin’ LOVE that monstrous guitar riff. And sometimes that’s enough. I’m also drawn to the title of the song, which is Unpopular Parts Of A Pig. And its lyrics, which are indistinct but seem interesting and funny.

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Unlike some other old punks of my acquaintance, I am no longer a fan of being hectored by angry men thrashing guitars and pummelling drums into oblivion.

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The Angelic Upstarts, led by shaven-headed Mensi, flew the flag for back-to-basics punk from the North East – and for socialism and kicked off the much misunderstood Oi! movement.

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The Zeros are another of the long-forgotten punk bands from the Class of ’77. This was on the fairly terrible Streets compilation on Beggars Banquet that year.

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Forget The Fall… The U.K. Subs have had at least 82 members and are still going strong – with the same singer. Charlie Harper formed the band, initially as The Subversives, after seeing The Damned at the Roxy in 1976 and never looked back after shortening their name.

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As far as I know this lower-league punk single was the only release by The Rowdies, released on Birds Nest Records in 1978. You may be able to hear the sound of barrels being scraped. (more…)

The Carpettes never reached the giddy heights of the Pistols or Clash but they made their mark on punk as one of a handful of bands from the North East.

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