Stands for: 'A Northern Town Over Kill'. It was a made-up name for sink council estates being bullied by new SUS laws introduced by Thatcher's government in 1980. Apparently. It's the lead track from the 'Quiet In The Sixpennys' 12" E.P. I bought it for the punk rock cut-and-paste style sleeve. I thought I'd made a big mistake when I put it on . . . it sounded like some dire industrial rubbish . . . thankfully it was only the intro!
2. MENACE - 'Screwed Up' - Illegal 7" - UK - 1977
First single by this first wave London punk band. I'll probably add a few others later.
3. SUBURBAN STUDS - 'I Hate School' - Pogo 7" - UK - 1978
Their second single. Gigged prolifically but never sold enough records. They had Steve Heart on saxophone before he went off to form the Neon Hearts.
4. THE SOFTIES - 'Suicide Pilot' - Charly 7" - Holland - 1978
Catchy. When the Damned split up in 1978 Captain Sensible played lead guitar with them for a while.
5. SKREWDRIVER - 'You're So Dumb' - Chiswick 7" - UK - 1977
Their first single. Different sleeves for different pressings. Snarly punk rock with a prophetic title. Dumb is what they became.
6. ALTERNATIVE T.V. - 'Life' - Deptford Fun City 7" - UK - 1978
Probably my favourite ATV track. None of that experimental gubbins. 'Life's about as wonderful as a cold, life's about as wonderful as growing old'. Cheer up Mark!
7. JOY DIVISION - 'Warsaw' - Enigma 7" - UK - 1978
The lead track from the 'Ideal For Living' E.P. They'd just changed their name from Warsaw. After this Ian Curtis started singing in a lower voice and I lost a bit of interest.
8. THE RUTS - 'H-Eyes' - People Unite 7" - UK - 1978
The B-side of the first single. Another great, sadly prophetic, song.
9. THE PREFECTS - 'Barbarellas' - Peel Session - UK - 1978
'There's no carpets, there's no ash-trays, Barbarellas'. They did one 7" and 2 Peel Sessions. Get them all on the 'Prefects Are Amateur Wankers' CD.
10. O-LEVEL - 'Pseudo Punk' - Psycho 7" - UK - 1978
The B-side of 'East Sheen'. Much more punk than the 'Malcolm' E.P.
11. MENACE - 'G.L.C.' - Small Wonder 7" - UK - 1978
The third single and probably the best. Down with local councils.
12. SLAUGHTER & THE DOGS - 'Cranked Up Really High' - Rabid 7" - 1977
First single by one of Manchester's finest, though not quite as good as The Hoax to these ears.
13. COCKNEY REJECTS - 'Flares And Slippers' - Small Wonder 7" - UK - 1979
How Stinky ever got away with being a singer I'll never know. It also has Garry Bushell's ugly mug on the sleeve too. Nevertheless, it's a belter.
14. MOLESTERS - 'Disco Love' - Small Wonder 7" - UK - 1979
Two singles, two Peel Sessions, too few sales, and that was it. A familiar story.
15. THE WALL - 'Uniforms' - Small Wonder 7" - UK - 1979
From their debut 3-tracker. Saw them supporting Stiff Little Fingers around 1980 and they were really good, but their recorded output was too patchy in the end.
16. THE HOAX - 'One In A Crowd' - Hologramme 12" - UK - 1980
Another from the excellent 'Quiet In The Sixpennys' E.P.
17. SKREWDRIVER - 'Anti-Social' - Chiswick 7" - UK - 1977
The second 7". 'I don't wanna listen to another word, I'm so bleedin' booooored'.
18. MENACE - 'I Need Nothing' - Illegal 7" - UK - 1978
The second single. 'I don't care what the ordinaries say, I wanna live my life my way, too many people lost in their little dreams, hey man, I need nothing!'
19. THE YOBS - 'The Worm Song' - Nems 7" - UK - 1977
So the Boys went incognito and released a 7" each Christmas. This was the B-side of the first.
20. FATAL MICROBES - 'Beautiful Pictures' - Small Wonder 7" - UK - 1979
This appeared on a 3-track 7" and a split 12" with the Poison Girls. Honey Bane was around 15 at this point. She later appeared in the depressing 1983 Brit-flick 'Scrubbers'.
21. CHARGE - 'Destroy The Youth' - Kamera 7" - UK - 1982
From a solid 4-track E.P. but, sadly, they went on the decline soon after.
22. JOHNNY MOPED - 'Darling, Let's Have Another Baby' - Chiswick 7" - UK - 1978
The second single. Not sure which market they were shooting at, if any. Meanwhile you gotta see this video, here.
23. ENGLISH SUBTITLES - 'Time Tunnel' - Small Wonder 7" - UK - 1979
Yet another Small Wonder 7" from 1979. An interesting little ditty.
24. MENACE - 'Live For Today' - Fresh 7" - UK - 1980
I've decided to skip the 4th single and go directly to the 5th. This is miles better than the A-side 'The Young Ones'.
25. JOHN OTWAY & WILD WILLY BARRETT - 'Headbutts' - Stiff Indie 7" - UK - 1981
And a curveball comedy act to finish with. Shambolic live version here.
***BONUS TRACKS***
26. MENACE -
'Electrocutioner'
27. THE YOBS - 'Run
Rudolf Run'
28. THE COCKNEY
REJECTS - 'Police Car'
29. MENACE - 'Last
Year's Youth'
30. SKREWDRIVER -
'Better Off Crazy'
Get it here
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