Classic intro and a great song by a London surf band, no less! Dodgy quality Top of the Pops appearance here.
2. THE AVENGERS - 'The American In Me' - White Noise 12" - USA - 1979
Released just after they'd split. Produced by Steve Jones. 'Ask not what you can do for your country, (but) what your country's been doing to you.'
3. PELLE MILJOONA & 1980 - ' Mulla Menee Lujaa' - Love 7" - Finland - 1979
I can't understand Finnish but I love singing along to it. I hope you do too! Great live video here.
4. POP DETECTIVES - 'Twist' - Breakwater 7" - UK - 1980
Great song, but due to the recording drop-out (that you'll hear) it was only the B-side, therefore the single was largely overlooked.
5. THE FIRST STEPS - 'Airplay' - English Rose 7" - UK - 1980
Second three-tracker from the band who brought you 'The Beat Is Back'. Another B-side classic.
6. THE FRUIT EATING BEARS - 'Door In My Face' - DJM 7" - UK - 1978
Entered as a hopeful in the 'Song For Europe - Eurovision Song Contest British heat' in 1978. You don't believe me? See here.
7. NEW HEARTS - 'Just Another Teenage Anthem' - CBS - UK - 1977
Yes, I suppose it is. After this they went on to become mod revival group Secret Affair with misguided illusions of grandeur. Still, it's the tunes that count.
8. NO TAG - 'Oi Oi Oi' - Propeller 12" - New Zealand - 1982
Is this the first New Zealand track in the series? Anyway, no British Oi! dross here, though the sleeve does suggest they may have looked like Judas Priest. They did some backing vocals on the Dead Kennedys 'Bedtime For Democracy' album too, bizarrely.
9. THE FALL - 'Psycho Mafia' - Step Forward 7" - UK - 1978
Ah, The Fall, you either love 'em or hate 'em. Or both, like me. Some great off-kilter tunes were usually coupled with one or more slow droning compositions that were hard to get into. This gem was on the classic 3-tracker 'Bingo Masters Breakout' (their very first single).
10. THE GAS - 'Ignore Me' - Polydor 7" - UK - 1981
This lot released a few singles and a couple of LPs but still largely went under the radar. Worth checking out more of their stuff.
11. BORED GAMES - 'Joe 90' - Flying Nun 12" - New Zealand - 1982
And here's another one from New Zealand, from the 'Who Killed Colonel Mustard' 12" E.P. For those of you not old enough to remember, Joe 90 was a Gerry Anderson puppet-spy in the 1960s who was frequently seen stumbling around the floor trying to find his glasses. Why not watch a whole exciting episode here.
12. THE HEAD - 'My Girlfriend Loves Billy Idol' - Quarry Hanger tapes - UK - 1980
Great band who of course didn't get far. Get the LP/CD on Detour - here's what they have to say about it, and here's a 2008 live version.
13. B.T.P. FOLDERS - 'All Of A Sudden' - Future Earth 7" - UK - 1980
Blue Transparent Polyurethane, apparently. Again, another great B-side.
14. TSUNEMATSU MASATOSHI - 'Iikagen' - Gozira 7" - Japan - 1979
And yet another superior B-side, this time from a one-time member of Japanese art-punk band Friction.
15. HOLLY & THE ITALIANS - 'Tell That Girl To Shut Up' - Oval 7" - UK - 1979
An American band who tried to find fame and fortune in England supporting Blondie, but never quite found it.
16. THE WEIRDOS - 'It Means Nothing' - Punk Vault 7" - USA - 1988/(Recorded 1977)
From the first demo session, classic punk 'n' roll from a first wave L.A. band that released one of the greatest singles ever.
17. THE SECRET - 'I Wanna A Car Like That' - Arista 7" - UK - 1978
You know the score, 2nd single, superior B-side, released plenty but never really sold enough to 'make it' . . .
18. GYPPO - 'High Rise Love' - UA 7" - UK - 1979
In case you were unaware this was actually the Gerry Rafferty Band incognito (yes, he of Baker Street and Stealers Wheel fame). Gerry himself wasn't actually present at the recording, apparently they knocked this off while waiting for him to turn up at the studio one day.
19. THE TEENBEATS - 'I Can't Control Myself' - Safari 7" - UK - 1979
The first of 2 singles by this mod revival band from Hastings. A Troggs cover, of course.
20. THE NERVES - 'TV Adverts' - Lightning 7" - UK - 1978
They would have been a one-hit wonder . . . if this had been a hit. 'They must think we're dumb!'
21. JILTED JOHN - 'Jilted John' - Rabid 7" - UK - 1978
A local Manchester novelty hit that was quickly snapped up and re-released on EMI. First TOTP apperarance here. There were follow-ups to the tale but the public just weren't interested. Graham Fellows (singer) went on to become a comedy actor and created such legendary characters as John Shuttleworth.
22. MAGIC MICHAEL (with Rat Scabies and Captain Sensible) - 'Millionaire' - Atomic 7" - UK - 1980
Also had Algy Ward on Bass but he wasn't 'famous enough' to get a mention on the front sleeve. Michael and the Damned had the same management at the time.
23. TEMPO - 'Waitin' For The '80s' - Tempo 10" - Germany - 1979
From the 5-song 'Beat Beat Beat' E.P. They continued and released an album on Polydor in 1980 but it didn't sell much so they were dropped and finally disbanded in 1981, when they wrote the theme song for the movie Kalt wie Eis by Carl Schenkel.
24. FRæBBBLARNIR - 'False Death' - Limited Edition 7" - Iceland - 1980
My first Icelandic entry. See some punkier video footage of them here.
25. ADVERTISING - 'Lipstick' - EMI 7" - UK - 1977
Don't know squat about this band but they did release another single and an LP called 'Advertising Jingles' in 1978. Has anyone got 'em?
***BONUS TRACKS***
26. THE FALL - 'Bingo
Masters Breakout'
27. NO TAG -
'Legalised Dogs'
28. THE AVENGERS -
'Corpus Christie'
Get it here
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