Buzzcocks: Classic or Dud

"Boredom" is one of the greatest songs ever recorded. I'm happy to stop there, personally.

Virtually everything they did was great. They moved me then, and they move me today. And of course they released the single greatest record in the history of rock n' roll - The Spiral Scratch E.P. But then you knew that already, didn't you?

Jonesy and I had the privilege to be present at the Buzzkunst show last year (Devoto and Shelley together again after all these years) which was so good we didn't bother hanging around for Goldfrapp.

I love the Buzzcocks and, although they aren't in the very top rank of my very favourite bands, I still think of them as pretty much the definition of a great pop band.

I saw them four times, I think it was, way back when: the White Riot tour with the Clash, Subway Sect and Slits; another with Penetration; another where I can't remember the support, and when Joy Division supported them - pretty memorable, that.

"love is lies"

Classic.

Just as long as Clem Burke has equal footing.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/r2music/documentaries/buzzcocks.shtml

(beware: contains Paul Morley)

what Buzzcocks are you listening to?

But yeah, Buzzcocks = ultra fucking classic. I just got the reissue of Singles Going Steady with Parts 1,2,3 tacked onto it, yum.

I can't believe Maher had only been playing drums for a few months when he joined. I was listening to What Do I Get recently to program it into a drum machine and expecting it to be quite easy and simplistic. Damn near made my brain bleed.

Jaz Coleman would have had none of it.

It was Sky Yen IIRC.

The doc also asserted that the reason why "Homosapien" wasn't the massive hit it should have been in '82 was because the BBC sniffed at the line "homo superior in my interior," interpreted it as meaning buggery and thereupon banned it. But IIRC it was pretty well played to death all over the radio at the time. Certainly should have been a hit.

i spent a weird evening with Diggle and pete shelley's irish nephew, who was now in the band, a few years back. a bunch of us went back to a friend's house after a lift to experience show, taking the band with us (steve and i had photographed/interviewed the band for Careless Talk that afternoon). we went via the marathon bar, a great all-night kebab place in chalk farm that sells beer and spirits after hours, and somehow Diggle and the kid tagged along, though they were drunk, and the kid was mouthy. we got back to the flat, and it was a weird scene. the kid kept saying that the Lift boys were queers, and being pretty nasty. ray, the guy who's house it was, was getting agitated, wanted to clock the guy with a baseball hat. i left about 3am, it was going far beyond weird. then, about 5am, steve confronted the guy, said that all this talk about being queer had got him horny and that he was going to fuck ray then and there, and if the kid didn't want to see it he should leave now. Diggle was nice, but sad and drunk and a bit tragic.

"Millions Of People (No-One Like You)" and "Telephone Operator" should have been massive hits too IMHO - and they didn't contain any such questionable lyrics - so did they offer any explanation for that?!?

"Pete Shelley's Irish nephew? They didn't say anything about that in the documentary, just about these two guys who were fans of theirs and knew their back catalogue backwards and ended up as their new rhythm section. I presume Shelley's nephew didn't last long in the band?"

Since reforming with the original line-up, the only bassist they've had is Tony Barber (who also plays for Chelsea) and apart from one tour with Mike Joyce (ex Smiths, of course) I'm pretty sure the only drummer they've had is Phil Barker (who's also one of the Stratford Mercenaries and was previously in a band called Lack Of Knowledge with Tony). Neither of these are related to PS as far as I know, but I do know a guy called Joey who's been their roadie since '77 so I'll try to dig his e-mail address out and ask him!

Fwiw they've actually had the current line up for more than 10 years.

Easy tiger.

One of my more bemusing claims to relative small time fame is that I think I wrote most of the Buzzcocks reviews on the AMG.

Interesting piece on them in this Mojo Punk Special. I envy those of you who got to see those TOTP performances, etc.

buzzcocks fans with descendents hate are like
run-dmc fans who hate public enemy. don't hate the playa, hate the game, etc...

Blame it on X-Ray Spex.

By the way, Buzzcock's are as classic as it gets. A little maudlin sometimes, but aren't we all.

Anyway, I liked my lyrics better. Call Pansy Division. If they haven't already gone to it.

Another Music in a Different Kitchen / Singles Going Steady: Pretty awesome.

Afterwards, progressively losing the plot.

By the time you get to "Airwaves Dream," you're a million miles from "Orgasm" (one of the few songs I knew) - it's positively Joy Divisionish.

"Ever Fallen In Love" might be the my favorite single by a first-wave UK punk band.

OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!!!!

Over-familiarisation with their music ruined the Buzzcocks for me big time.

Try the Fastbacks. "The Question Is NO" is their "Singles Going Steady" (and is just as good says me).

Get the fuck in, Peter Shelley. What a band.

Devoto

Right, they've done Jonathan Ross and Simon thingy as guest presenters.

Let's be having Pete Shelley up next you bbc you.

We need a new recd from Howard about now I think.

Anyone see the Devoto/Shelley piece in Q's Machester Special? Good Slaughter and The Dogs article too.

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000CQJZ30.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

And rather fine it is too.

It's good - but if you want to buy one post '89 Buzzcocks album I'd recommend 2003's Buzzcocks (for starters).

Quite apart from being probably the best album they've recorded since they reformed, it includes a version of the original Howie-era song "Lester Sands" (previously only available on the Time's Up bootleg) and a more aggressive take on "'Til The Stars In His Eyes Are Dead" (retitled simply "Stars") from the previous year's ShelleyDevoto album Buzzkunst.

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00008IUW4.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

I prefer TTT myself, but 'Buzzcocks' is pretty damned good too. Haven't heard the new one yet - my copy's in the post. Just don't break your neck to find copies of 'All Set' and 'Modern' cos they're decidedly patchy to these ears.

If you want to head the post '89 band in rip-roaring live form, then the two CDs issued by Dojo in 1995 are what you want: 'French', and the mail-order only 'Encore Du Pain'. IIRC they have been reissued as one double CD called 'The complete French sessions' or some such.

There's 'Totally from the heart' and 'Give it to me' too. The rest of it's a bit shonky, though.

Is 'All set' the only out-of-print Buzzcocks album?

Anyway I picked up the rerelease of TTT (there's lots of copies for £3.95 in SellandBuy in Harrow) and I'm pleased to say that it sounds a lot better than the orig. It's still not a great production - the guitars are a bit diffuse at times and the drums are not well recorded - but it's a lot more listenable than before. I guess we're somewhat spoiled by the classic Rushent productions - urgent and poweful, yet lots of space. I don't know Ralph Ruppert, producer of TTT, anyone know what else he's produced? He's German apparently.

Don't ever recall seeing it myself, but Jeff Hall's discography says:

"CD released (UK) as EMI CZ93"

so maybe it was and it's also OOP?

> I wonder if XL1 will do have the computer graphics that were on the original tape release.

Anyone got a working Speccy to play them on? I'll YSI 'em if anyone wants.

Finally, after all these years, got to see the 'cocks last night at Beverley Leisure Centre - an incongruous venue and even more worryingly it was billed as part of the Beverley Folk Festival.

I wasn't expecting much.

Images of Shelley and Diggle morris dancing onto the stage in aran sweaters were exploded

THEY WERE FUCKING AMAZING!!! Wave after wave of the best pop punk songs on the planet.
Steve Diggle particularly was worth the price alone. A fucking nutter,grinning like a loon, pulling all the poses. Shelley just stood there with that cocked head belting out all the hits for the kids (actually old bastards like me withtheir kids).

The two 'new' guys were unnoticeable apart from laying down the impressive rhythm, which is how it should have been.

I was chuffed to bits for Shelley and Diggle. They seemed to be having a wail of a time. Ditto the audience. Saw a lot of old muckers too which made the night even sweeter for me. Nostalgia indeed.

Why's no-one talking about the 2CD reissues of the first 3 albums, eh?

I did mention them on some other thread, but yeah.

Oh, and they're doing a "Don't look back" gig, consisting of the first two albums in full.

What's so wrong with "tension" then?

Oh, and what they should do, is to miss out "I need" and do it after...

Tension's always been my favourite.

the way that mad mad judy segues into raison d'etre just slays me every time

http://freespace.virgin.net/pete.shelley/tu.jpg
I bought this on vinyl 15 years ago,.....this is my favourite Buzzcocks record.

Me too!

The 2CD deluxe reissues were finally made available in the U.S. in February, and at the price of a single CD most places! Appropriately, at their Double Door show on Sunday they will be featuring Another Music in A Different Kitchen and Love Bites. Woo hoo!

I saw Pete walking south on University Place earlier this week. I said "Pete" and saluted him, and he looked at me sideways (somewhat understandably).

A CLASS(IC) ACT

Great, but sure went downhill after Devoto left.

me roommate really hit it off with Steve Diggle after one of their shows the other week. they've been texting each other since. she's pretty =D about it.

me? my.

They played every single song from first two albums in order. I thought I'd take a bar break for "Late For the Train" but even that was much more entertaining live than on record (the drummer had a blast with it). Diggle has aged well (I saw them in 06 but it was my birthday and had too many shots to remember it well) and Shelley looked like Archie Bunker, which made it even more awesome. It was a 110 degree sauna in there, but they were troopers, coming back out to play most of the remaining singles of the era. The set was well over 90 minutes!

I want to discuss A Different Kind of Tension. Even the by-numbers stuff is tinged with dread, beside which even "What Do I Get" sounds facile – I'm thinking "You Say You Don't Love Me."

cheap shot, but It's hard to evoke dread in a brand new jeep.

Ever driven a new jeep?

with someone I shouldn't have driven a new jeep?

Fwiw, an absolute nailed on classic. And if you haven't seen them live- even in their recent incarnation - treat yourself and see the 'cocks

Saw'em in 2003 and they were more than alright.

Hey what would be on you guyses list of songs to include on Singles Going Steady, if you weren't allowed to use any of the songs that are already on it?

does it have to be a actual single of their's that wasn't on SGS?

re: Different Kind Of Tension

"Hollow Inside" was always one of my fave Buzzcocks songs, even though it is ridiculously simple. It is also tinged with dread as Alfred mentioned above. I love the no-gap transition from the song before, and the way the guitars slam in the chords of the "chorus".

Everything's Singles Nowadays
(what with itunes, etc...)

I'd put Breakdown, for one. Is there a shorter version of Hollow Inside?

Saw'em in 2003 and they were more than alright.

Saw 'em in 2003 and they had the worst sound mix I have ever heard at any show.

Great Buzzcocks tracks that aren't singles but could be: From the Kitchen I'd pick Get on Our Own, FictionRomance. From Love Bites: Nostalgia, Sixteen Again. From Tension: Raison d'etre, I Believe. There's loads of others.

I only have Singles Going Steady. My favorite song on is Why Can't I Touch It? What else by them sounds like that?

Anybody?

i keep thinking homosapien has the same tempo as why can't i touch it, but it's got to be faster. maybe autonomy?

finally got Singles Going Steady.

fuck Mr Snrub's brayings above...this is so goddamn catchy it's ridiculous.

no idea what the vid is on about, but a clean copy of this song on headphones turned to 11 sounds as good as singles going steady imo. something about whatever pedal that they use there- it's a blast.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUvpGU9TpFg

Heh, I've been playing the "Product" box set the last few days and reminding myself how freakin' great this band was all the way up to their last 3 singles. Shelly and Diggle were visionary in the way they melded punk energy with pop sensibilities. And in the end I liked Diggle's solo stuff more!

I hate this band. They sound just like Blink 182 and Simple Plan.

― Mr. Snrub, Monday, August 9, 2004 12:41 PM (6 years ago) Bookmark

LOL! I'm such a tool.

They just released some re-recordings of old songs and I'm not sure why.. I haven't listened to it but just wondering if it's worth my time.

No-one's mentioned this before now? Original line-up with Devoto playing gigs in Manchester and London later this month.

It's a 'rewindie'!

They are playing the gig starting with the current line-up, then going to the old classic 4-piece w/ Maher and Garvey, then doing the encore w/ Devoto.

oh, it seems Garth is actually still alive, but he's not involved in this.

Can't decide what I think about this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDWR3VyzLPs

Know exactly what I think about this though:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6TywsL48Ww

This Spiral Scratch reunion from 2012 makes for uncomfortable viewing, Devoto pretty much phones in his performance and can't wait to get offstage. They mess up the start of "Friends of Mine" and there seems to be tension onstage throughout. I was really excited when I heard about this – see above – but it looks like it was a big letdown.

d'oh, forgot to post the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AekZpRkT0HM

I saw them in Brixton, and it was much better than that. No heaviness apparent, felt fun. Fewer guitar problems in evidence, which may be no small part of what went wrong here.

current version touring US now

These promises

Woah oh

How could you ever

Down!

(sorry, too early)

Gonna see them tonight. Never saw 'em before and I'm passing up a chance to see Bob Mould again to do so.

So glad I finally saw them. Excellent concert!

ex+

I missed them the first time around but saw their first reunion gig, all four present and correct. Senseless Things were support, both excellent.

A perfect reunion gig, exactly as they were before they split, basically.

(actually, thinking about it, their first was in Manchester but the audience response was a bit 'cool' according to Pete Shelley, so, 2nd reunion gig. Still have it on cassette)

Is anyone seeing Buzzcocks at any of these shows:

13 Chicago RIOT FEST
14 Detroit St. Andrews Hall
17 Los Angeles The Fonda Theatre
18 Solana Beach, CA Belly Up
19 Denver RIOT FEST
20 Santa Ana, CA The Observatory - Bang Fest

I wanted to pick up their new CD in Philly but they sold out before the show was over and the places to get it on import are charging $25+ with shipping.

If someone going to one of those shows doesn't mind picking up a CD for me, I'll PayPal the cost + shipping to send it to me. Please email me if you can assist!

I saw them last night in Minneapolis, didn't even check out the merch table. Fun, fun show - a little disconcerting to see bearded, polo-shirted Pete, but they were killin' it. Diggle is my new rock hero.

Buzzcocks ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at50BIRxd5A

Wait is this lineup the original four?

Sorry, the original, post-DeVoto four

Oh, I see, Mark G was referring to an earlier reunion.

Diggle is my new rock hero.

Yup, it was Diggle that amazed me with his Townsendesque posturing when I saw them a few years back. Juxtaposed with a not quite sombre, (but getting there) static Shelley, blasting out gem after gem.

Great fun.

Happy birthday, Pete, 61 today!

http://www.mdmarchive.co.uk/gfx/HiRes-12335.jpg

Happy Birthday, Pete!

This band is so good.

Yes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfKdzpta-Ss

Anyone rep for the post-reunion stuff? I could go for a nice cherry picking of the best bits.

Why did they break up after A Different Kind of Tension? Never heard much of a story about this.

They did three (double A-side?) singles after that. Substance problems was one contributing factor.

Discussion of the end of the first run here: Buzzcocks Are Everything