Those We Missed

Magazine : Permafrost

[Purchase]

On March 30, 1979 Magazine released Secondhand Daylight, the band's second album. Less immediate and darker than the debut, this is an album that grows on you. Among the tracks I've learned to enjoy is the absolutely nasty closer, "Permafrost", with the lines "As the day stops dead /At the place where we're lost/ I will drug you and fuck you /On the permafrost". Sounds like somebody's got a bad case of the Monday's. (Selected as a Mojo Buried Treasure)

The Only Ones : From Here to Eternity

[Purchase]

The opening track to The Only Ones's second album, Even Serpents Shine, paints an ugly picture of drug abuse. "From Here to Eternity" begins with the line "I see a woman with death in her eyes/ But I don't have the time to pray /For her salvation or for her soul /She walks her chosen way", and it doesn't get much chipper. 

Scars : Adultery

[Purchase]

In March of 1979 the Edinburgh post-punkers Scars released their first single Adult/ery on the Fast Product label which also launched the careers of The Mekons, Gang of Four and The Human League. Volanic!

Bad Company : Early in the Morning

[Purchase]

Back from a year of rest after endless touring, Bad Company delivered Desolation Angels in March of 1979. Those of us who were distinguished members of the Columbia Record Club were sent this album and far too many of us kept it. I rolled my eyes as I listened to the album for the first time in years, especially when Paul Rodgers sang "I'm a rhythm machine/ You know what I mean". But his "Early in the Morning" has a low key feel that hasn't aged a bit. Nice to find a nugget when you're not even looking.

Indecision, Lack of Conviction

The Only Ones : You've Got to Pay

[Purchase]

On February 6, 1979, The Only Ones released "You've Got to Pay", a new single from the forthcoming Even Serpents Shine that would fail to sell much. With his trademark laconic delivery Peter Perrett sings about a romance gone wrong, with lyrics far more poetic than anything you'd hear on pop radio today. Can you imagine Ed Sheeran singing "Our flightpath's a gradual descent from the firmament /I can tell by the tone of the letters you sent/ What was once sacred is now filled with hatred/ How come such love can be dissipated?"

The Only Ones would break up in 1981. Perrett would retreat out of public view inside a crumbling gothic house fortified against police raids where he and his wife would spend decades addicted to heroin and then crack. Meanwhile the records inspired new bands like The Replacements, Blur , even Keith Richards was a fan. In 2007, The Only Ones would reform and tour again.