THE BUZZCOCKS

One of the true leaders of the punk scene, the Buzzcocks famously formed after watching the Sex Pistols play a gig they'd organised in their hometown of Manchester (the film '24 Hour Party People' offers a nice representation of such a seminal event), but went on to pioneer as many punk trademarks as the Pistols, and arguably more important ones, musically speaking. They self-financed their first EP, thereby often being credited with inventing indie as we know it, and then went on to produce such a dazzling array of pop singles that they drew the highest critical praise possible - being referred to as the Beatles of the punk movement. Although the band originally came about as a partnership between Pete Shelley and Howard Devoto, Devoto left after the release of the Spiral Scratch EP to form Magazine and Shelley became the principle songwriter and driving force behind the band. Even without a songwriting counterpart, though, Shelley soon established himself as, arguably, the strongest songwriter of the entire punk movement, certainly in terms of melodic pop songs. The first twelve songs of this CD make up every a-side released by the Buzzcocks during their four-year existence and every one is an absolute gem. (This compilation originally came out in 1979 but the 2001 CD remaster added the final four singles released after 1979.) Anyone interested in classic punk will, of course, already be familiar with many of these songs. From the puerile sleaze of first single "Orgasm Addict", to the teen-angst masterpieces "What Do I Get?" and "I Don't Mind" (the latter arguably one of the greatest pop songs ever), to the over-played majesty of "Ever Fallen in Love?", classic after classic fly by, all amazingly written in a matter of months by Shelley. In truth, the quality of the singles dip a little after the cute "You Say You Don't Love Me" as the Buzzcocks enter the eighties and head towards implosion but, overall, no other band of the era produced as many great singles in such a limited amount of time. Shelley's awkward, introspective lyrics also became as influential as their music, with most indie bands from then on apeing his persona to some degree (including the master himself - Morrissey). Most songs all-too-accurately pick up on post-pubescent insecurities, with uncaring girls featuring heavily on the agenda, although Shelley does touch on his own homosexuality with the classic anthem "Ever Fallen in Love?". Due to the strength of the first ten songs or so this album is often labelled as one of the greatest Best Of's around but, in my view, the second dozen songs, the b-sides, put paid to such an accolade. Although they are mostly decent enough punk songs, they fail to come close to matching the majesty of the first side. "Lipstick" (later ripped off by Devoto for Magazine's "Shot by Both Sides") represents a lone highlight of the second side, although the late-era "Airwaves Dream" does somewhat successfully capture the band's brief and belated flirtation with industrial synth-rock. In truth, though, the b-sides are mostly pretty mediocre. Of course, you'd be optimistic to expect anything else from b-sides but it still serves to rub some of the gloss of this release. To be honest, I usually turn it off half-way through and just reflect on some of the finest singles, not just from the punk era, but from the twentieth century as a whole.

From: Guy Peters

FUCK YOU!
RATE THE ORIGINAL VERSION,
NOT THE EXPANDED EDITION!
10!
Nah, just kidding. Even though it's one of the most consistent compilations I have ever heard. Anyway, good to see you review them, and good stuff as usual.

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Email me at: jackfeeny@yahoo.co.uk