250. Buzzcocks, "Singles Going Steady"

 


When it came time to pick a punk name, guys would usually go for the abrasive (Johnny Rotten) or the arty (Lux Interior) or the gangy (Ramones), but Peter McNeish borrowed the name of his favorite Romantic poet, Percy Bysse Shelley, and christened himself Pete Shelley.  This gives you some clue about what the Buzzcocks were up to.  Solidly punk - more recognizably "punk" than the Clash, they absolutely go hard - but with a melodic edge and a rejection of the utter nihilism that dominated a lot of British punk of their era.

That melodic edge is all over this album, a collection of singles released in the US in 1979 and immediately influential on a lot of American proto-punk bands.  Just check out "I Don't Mind," which is kind of all over the place but which has a vocal melody that is just out of this world:


The second song, "What Do I Get?' became famous again after it was used in a few commercials, like for McDonald's in the UK and Toyota here in the US.  This made Morrissey very mad!  Oh piss off, Morrissey, I'm glad Pete and the boys finally made some real money.  

Because it's all singles, this album is pretty much one straight banger after another.  There's the masturbation ode "Orgasm Addict" and "Ever Fallen in Love" and "Love You More" and it's really something how many of the songs, very un-punkily, deal with love and emotion instead of breaking shit and having a rave-up and wishing the Queen was dead.  I mean, "You Say You Don't Love Me" is - gasp! - tender, even:

You say you don't love me
Well that's alright with me 'cause I'm in love with you
And I wouldn't want you doin' things, you don't want to do
Oh you know, I've always wanted you to be in love with me
And it took so long to realize, the way things have to be
I wanted to live in a dream that couldn't be real
And I'm starting to understand now the way that you feel

This album cast a long shadow.  You can hear it in just about every pop-punk band that's ever existed, from Bad Religion to Green Day to Fall Out Boy.  Although Shelley died in 2018, Buzzcocks say they're going to continue.  I hope they have continued success, but this album catches a moment in time and space like few others.

Does this album deserve to be in the Top 500? Definitely.  

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