I first heard the name Leroy Smart when Joe Strummer name-checked him in the lyric of The Clash’s best single, White Man In Hammersmith Palais, in 1977.

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This was apparently the first punk single to reach the Top 20 anywhere in the world, when it reached No.17 in the Irish charts in May 1977.

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This early punk effort is the solitary single by The Rings, a band created by Twink, former drummer with The Pretty Things and Pink Fairies.

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Randy Crawford joined The Crusaders to sing what became their biggest hit, Street Life in 1979. Or, as my old colleague used to call it, Street Light.

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All I really remember about Téléphone is that they were French and that I have a single made of red vinyl in the shape of (you guessed) a telephone.

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Here’s some more French punk: Stinky Toys may have been the first, Métal Urbain were the crème de la crème.

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French punk… who knew?! Well, anyone who went to that seminal Punk Festival at the 100 Club back in 1976, where Stinky Toys played alongside the Pistols, Clash, Damned and Buzzcocks – and were attacked onstage by Sid Vicious.

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This came out in 1977 when I was pogoing in a seedy cellar somewhere to a snotty young band that sounded nothing like this. But if you love soppy soul ballads, with a sweet singer emoting at the top of his range and backing vocalists echoing his heartfelt words back at him, then this is for you.

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Considering rule one of punk was to adopt a convincingly anti-social working-class persona, Rikki And The Last Days Of Earth made a rookie error. They had the look – all leather and spiky hair – and they were certainly early adopters, releasing their first single in May 1977.

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I went to see Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers for the first time at Hammersmith Odeon in the summer of ’77 and he sang Ice Cream Man – six times in a row.

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