Proto Power Pop Punk

Went to the see The Buzzcocks last night, one of the great bands out of the UK during the flood of groups from the late 70's. The Buzzcocks, in particular, were representative of the Northern sound out of Manchester that led the way for Oasis, Smiths, Stone Roses and Joy Division.

While mildly pathetic to see 55 year old geezers pulling faces in over used-rock-star cliche poses, they were terrific musically. Their Singles Going Steady record was a stand-out must have of everyone I knew at the time and since. Steve Diggle and Pete Shelley were the Lennon & McCartney of 2 minute songs in 4/4 time.

If we regard the triumvirate of great bands of 60's rock as the Beatles, Stones and Who, I've always said the The Kinks were the overlooked "fourth" band. The same could be said of The Buzzcocks as they relate to Sex Pistols, The Damned and The Clash.

Anyway, I always wanted to see them and I did. They played approximately 30 songs in 90 minutes. You do the math. Here's one of my all time faves...