A lot of bands jumped on the punk bandwagon in 1977, rebranding themselves with spiky hair and safety pins, jagged guitar riffs and estuarine vocals. None were worse, or less convincing, than The Banned.

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The Exile’s entire recording career – three EPs – was over by the end of 1977, making them trailblazers in the punkosphere – and earning them a reputation as the ‘Godfathers of Scottish Punk.’ (more…)

I’m ashamed to admit I found This Heat too experimental, too avant-garde, too noodly and (dare I say it) too proggy to appreciate them at the time. And for that I feel foolish.

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While some bands tried to pose as punks and failed miserably, others carried it off with aplomb – like Cardiff’s one-hit wonders The Table with their minor classic Do The Standing Still.

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The Slits’ debut Cut has come to be regarded as one of the classic post-punk albums. But they sounded nothing like that whenever I saw them live: for the first couple of years they were widely mocked as a joke band. (more…)

This is the greatest disco song of all time; no argument about that. And one of the greatest songs of all time. I usually tend towards the view that these things are a matter of opinion but in this case I hope we can all agree. (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…)

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…)