Buzzcocks - The Complete History. Tony McGartland
gay origins. Shy Talk, the original Manchester fanzine, was sold from the hot-pie counter, and the club itself became a strong punk venue. Tonight, after just a few numbers, one of the club’s heavies slowly circles around the bemused band. After a few circuits, they stop and the heavy says to Howard, ‘Are you the boss? Well, Foo Foo says you’ve got to stop, it’s too loud!’
Using a Kodak Box Brownie camera, original Manchester punk Denise Lloyd is in the audience taking photographs of Buzzcocks’ appearance. She takes photos at several gigs, tonight at the Ranch and later the Band on the Wall and the Electric Circus. They capture the mood of the early Buzzcocks with Howard Devoto on vocals.
Aug 13th
Buzzcocks travel in a van to London’s Notre Dame Hall at the invitation of Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren. He offers them a photo session with Bravo magazine, who are in London to cover punk rock. Although the Sex Pistols mime for their session, Buzzcocks actually set up their equipment and play several numbers live. One of the photographs will later appear in an NME feature on 5 February 1977.
John Maher recalls, ‘After the shoot, we set off back to Manchester around 9 p.m. Not long after, we were stopped by the police on Kilburn High Road for faulty rear lights. We pulled into a side street. After some investigation it was decided we’d wait until daylight before setting off again.
‘Most of us headed for one of Kilburn High Road’s takeaways. Pete went in search of cigarettes. A few minutes later he was back, asking me to accompany him to a pub down the road. The cigarette machine was mounted so high on the wall, he couldn’t reach to put his money in.’
Aug 19th
Buzzcocks’ gig at the Ranch Club is cancelled as a result of their debut performance the previous week, despite the fact that flyers have already been printed advertising the gig. John Maher recalls, ‘Mainly because the club owner hated the racket we made on the twelfth.’
Aug 28th
Buzzcocks play the Commercial Hotel, Stalybridge, a gig organised by themselves through Devoto’s acquaintance with the owner, Mrs Mately, whom he met while compiling the pub-rock listings for the New Manchester Review. This connection does not earn them an easy gig, however: Devoto is booed off the stage by the local crowd for wearing green fluorescent socks and red slippers.
Aug 29th
Buzzcocks play support to the Sex Pistols at the Screen on the Green, Islington, north London, partly as a return gesture by McLaren. Paul Clegg drives the van south. The Clash also play their debut gig tonight on the same bill. They actually debuted on 13 August, but that was a closed performance at their manager’s rehearsal studio in Chalk Farm for the press only. This Islington gig is their first public appearance. However, the London bands fail to enter into the spirit of punk solidarity and exclude the Northerners from most of the proceedings. Buzzcocks play ‘Breakdown’, ‘Friends of Mine’, ‘Time’s Up’, ‘Orgasm Addict’, ‘Peking Hooligan’, ‘Lester Sands’, ‘Oh Shit!’, ‘You Tear Me Up’, ‘Love Battery’ and ‘I Can’t Control Myself’. The set contains Shelley-Devoto compositions, which remain firm live favourites throughout Buzzcocks’ career.
John Maher remembers the atmosphere in London: ‘We set off for Islington and parked up outside the front door of the Screen on the Green to load in our equipment. There were already hordes of people milling around on the pavement. I’d never seen anything like it. It was a strange sight for a sixteen-year-old kid enjoying the last few days of the summer holidays. Three days later I’d be back at school for the first term of the new school year, studying maths, physics and chemistry.’
An audience recording of this Buzzcocks performance includes a very early Devoto composition called ‘Peking Hooligan’. Devoto wrote the song after reading an article in the Guardian about the rise of juvenile delinquency in China. On the same tape, a strong Mancunian voice can be heard saying, ‘Has yours got sugar in it?’
Cindy Stern photographs the band on stage.
Sounds columnist Giovanni Dadamo reviews the Buzzcocks’ performance as ‘rougher than a bear’s ass!’
Sep 14th
A fifteen-year-old Andy Blade earmarks Manchester as the city where he is going to debut his band, Eater. He decides against a gig with Slaughter & the Dogs and, on the advice of producer Martin Hannett, goes looking for Buzzcocks. He calls Devoto and they arrange to meet in a Wimpy Bar in Manchester. When asked how he will be recognised, Devoto replies, ‘I’ll be wearing a pink carnation.’ They meet and make plans for the gig at Holdsworth Hall, Deansgate, Manchester, the following week.
Sep 20th
Buzzcocks play Holdsworth Hall. As planned, Eater make their debut, and, despite Buzzcocks’ prior experience, the two bands toss a coin to see who will headline – Eater win. (Shelley later said, ‘Should have made it the best of three.’) Devoto has his hair bleached for the gig and wears nail varnish, as well as Vivienne Westwood leather trousers. With Buzzcocks finished, the Manchester crowd heckle the London headliners so much that, after only their third number, the bass player walks off, leaving the band to continue without him.
Tonight is Boon’s first official night as Buzzcocks’ manager, most of which he spends taking money on the door. Also, Franny Taylor, a flatmate of Shelley’s, sees the band for the first time, and during the following year joins the Buzzcocks’ road crew.
This Buzzcocks gig coincides with the first night of the 100 Club Punk Festival in London, featuring the Sex Pistols and the Clash as well as Subway Sect and Siouxsie and the Banshees, who both make their debut.
Sep 21st
The second day of the 100 Club Punk Festival sees Buzzcocks play last on the billing, but, unfortunately, by then most of the audience have gone home. The festival ends with Buzzcocks disappearing into the audience and Pete Shelley’s guitar still feeding back.
Sep 25th
A few weeks before their first recordings are due to be made at Revolution Studios in Stockport, Devoto uses a reel-to-reel machine to record a rehearsal in the basement at 364 Lower Broughton Road.
Sep 28th
Buzzcocks get their first mention in the seminal fanzine Sniffin’ Glue.
Oct 2nd
Melody Maker columnist Caroline Coon reports on the 100 Club shows, Britain’s first punk-rock festival. The three-page article titled ‘Parade of the Punks’ mentions lead singer Devoto’s orange hair, justifying his special hairstyle.
Oct 18th
Buzzcocks record most of their set at Revolution, a small loft studio on Bramhall Lane in Stockport, for a total cost of £45. The resident engineer, Andy MacPherson, offers Shelley a brand-new guitar from the studio, but he insists on using his broken Starway. As Buzzcocks record everything live, the whole session takes only four hours, recorded through an AMEK 12:2:4 X Series mixing desk onto a Sony two-track, which was borrowed for the day. Later, MacPherson engineers the recordings in the attic of his flat.
Eleven out of twelve of these Revolution recordings are later unofficially released on the Time’s Up bootleg album, which first appears in 1978.
John Maher still has his original copy of the session the band were each given on a Memorex cassette. ‘This was our first-ever visit to a recording studio. I met Howard, Pete and Steve at Piccadilly bus station in the centre of Manchester. We got the 192 bus to Stockport. I was sixteen, still at school in my first