On July 9, 1978 The Buzzcocks's new single "Love You More" b/w "Noise Annoys" entered the U.K. charts at #41. One of five Buzzcocks tunes to chart in 1978, the 103-second long single would peak at #34 and give the Manchester band another shot at appearing on Top of the Pops. NME's review was positive and blunt:
A short review for a short record ( 1 minute 43 seconds) : "Love You More" has a dance beat, a neat guitar hook, an air of breathless romance and a quality of sardonic innocence. It's make a great hit.
The B side "Noise Annoys" inspired the title of zines and college radio shows all around the world. Both can be found on the essential compilation Singles Going Steady.
1977's most momentous day must have been September 16, 1977. Marc Bolan dies in a car accident. Talking Heads releases their debut album '77 and Pete Townshend and his pal Ronnie Lane release Rough Mix. It was on that day, as well, that Pete Shelley added his vocals to four brand new Buzzcocks tunes: "What Do I Get", "Oh Shit", "What Ever Happened To" and "Orgasm Addict".
We'll give Pete Shelley the last word about the single which he says "is embarrassing. It's the only one I listen to and... shudder".
On June 24, 1977 Harvest Records released The Roxy London WC2, a collection of live recordings from the famed London nightclub. Among the acts on the record : Slaughter and the Dogs, The Adverts, X-Ray Spex, The Buzzcocks and Wire.
Early reviewers may have called it "a punk rock album of 10 unknown acts who can barely play" but it is now more commonly considered "an essential historical reminder of the power and the glory of punk rock". There are better engineered live albums out there, but there is nothing quite like the stage banter between songs to put you right in the thick of the London punk scene.
On June 1, 1977 The Alan Parsons Project released I Robot, a Top 10 album based on the Issac Asimov trilogy. I found a cut out cassette copy at Woolworth's a year or two later and I've always a fan. Parsons had worked as an engineer with Pink Floyd on Dark Side of the Moon and The Beatles on Abbey Road so you know you're in for some sonic greatness here.
It occurred to me that the concept of the "breakdown" was popular in 1977. There's the song on I Robot, sung by The Hollies' Allan Clarke.
Earlier in the year The Buzzcocks' released the jittery Devoto/Shelley track "Breakdown", one of four songs on their Spiral Scratch EP.
In January of 1977, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers released "Breakdown" as a single from their '76 debut. It wouldn't make a dent in the US Top 40 until the following year, after they hit it big in the U.K.
On January 29, 1977 The Buzzcocks released Spiral Scratch, a four song EP of catchy punk songs, on their own label, New Hormones Records. All four songs were recorded and mixed at the same December 28, 1976 session. A few weeks later vocalist and lyricist Howard Devoto announced he was departing the band, which would go on to have six Top 40 UK hits.
"He said 'I've done what I wanted to do, which is to make a record. Now I want to leave'", guitarist Steve Diggle tells John Robb in Punk Rock: An Oral History.
"I didn't regret it for a moment," Devoto tells Robb in the same publication. "People still think I temporarily lost my senses. I still sense this 30 years on, that people can't quite accept why I left."
Later in the year, Devoto would form Magazine, one of the first and best post punk bands.
July of 1976 witnessed the rise of the punk wave with many legendary bands making their onstage debuts.
JULY 4 : The Clash -then with Keith Levene as second guitarist--make their first appearance supporting The Sex Pistols at the Black Swan in Sheffield. Terry Chimes played drums. This was the same night The Ramones played with Flamin' Groovies and the Stranglers at the London Roundhouse.
JULY 6 : The Damned make their debut at the 100 Club in support of the Sex Pistols. Formerly The Masters of Backside, when they included future Pretenders leader Chrissie Hynde, Dave Vanian, Captain Sensible and Rat Scabies were joined by guitarist Brian James to form the Damned.
JULY 13 The Stranglers have a five night stand at The Hope and Anchor in Islington.
JULY 18 : Sex Pistols soundman Dave Goodman records the band's demos at their Denmark Street practice area/ Steve Jones's apartment. Songs include "Anarchy in the UK", "Pretty Vacant", "Submission", "Seventeen" and "Problems".
JULY 20 : The Buzzcocks debut on stage in Manchester where they open before a sold out crowd for The Sex Pistols. Band members Pete Shelley and Howard Devoto had booked the Sex Pistols. Inspired by the show, the Buzzcocks record the Spiral Scratch EP for 500 pounds.
JULY 21 : The Vibrators play at the Windsor Castle in London. They made their debut earlier at the 100 Club, opening for Chris Spedding.
JULY 21 Morrissey pens a letter calling The Ramones "rubbish".
He would quickly change his mind:
When I bought the Ramones first album on import, I was enraged with jealousy because I felt they had booted the New York Dolls off the map. I was 100% wrong. Three days after writing that Ramones piece, I realized that my love for the Ramones would out-live time itself. And it shall. Well, it virtually has already. If the Ramones were alive today, they'd be the biggest band in the world. It takes the world 30 years to catch on, doesn't it? I mean, look at poor Nico. Every modern teenager now seems to love Nico, yet while she was alive she couldn't afford a decent mattress.
Rich girl Siouxsie Sioux often seen at punk clubs sporting expensive S and M outfits and little else.
