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.

With its catchy riff and earworm chorus, it’s at the poppier end of punk, along with bands like Buzzcocks, The Boys and The Adverts.

Love And A Molotov Cocktail came out at the end of 1977 on a self-released EP called Bunch Of Five which earned them a deal with EMI, who put it out again, this time as a single.

It wasn’t a hit and they never made a song as good as this but they did make two albums for EMI of which the first, Waikiki Beach Refugees, was not bad.

The Flys formed in 1976 in Coventry, evolving from a band called Midnight Circus, led by Hazel O’Connor’s brother Neil (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Dave Freeman (guitar, vocals), Joe Hughes (bass) and Pete King (drums).

They started out supporting Buzzcocks on a regular basis but I first caught supporting my local Hackney reggae band Black Slate, and later with The Psychedelic Furs.

The Flys changed labels in 1980 after those two flop albums… and promptly disbanded, Freeman and Hughes going on to form an equally short-lived new band in the mid-1980s.

The Lover Speaks were no more successful but struck gold in 1995 when Annie Lennox reached no.2 with a cover of their song No More “I Love You”s – which is as grammatically hard to punctuate as their previous band’s name is easy to spell.