For Jamaicans, and an older generation of fans, Horace Andy is one of the legendary reggae singers from Jamaica. For a younger one, he’s synonymous with Bristol as the guest vocalist on some of Massive Attack’s best tunes. (more…)

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Vocal trio The Abyssinians followed their seminal debut Satta Massa Gana with their second single, Declaration of Rights in 1972. (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…)

The first time I saw The Fall was at the opening night of The Vortex, a punk club at the top of Wardour Street just off Oxford Street on 4 July 1977. This was their first recording a year later. (more…)

I’m not sure exactly when the term New Wave came into common use, or why. It has a sense of “not quite punk but nearly” about it. Advertising were one of the first. (more…)