Singles Going (Vinyl) [Import]

The US version of "Singles Going Steady" is my all-time favorite album, and all the tracks on the US version are included here (the 16 non-bonus tracks). The eight original A-sides are pure punk pop perfection, proving our lovelorn hero Pete Shelley was the most talented songwriter of the punk generation. The Buzzcocks had three winning aspects to all of their singles: (1) bright, bristling energy, delivered at a 100 mph pace courtesy of virtuoso drummer John Maher; (2) killer hooks from the twin guitar attack of Shelley and Steve Diggle; (3) sensitivity and sincerity to their lyrics. No other punk band can really claim to beat the Buzzcocks at any one of these three keys to success. I mean, just try and picture Johnny Rotten singing, "So why would I cry if you ever left me?/Maybe 'cause you're all I'm living for", with Sid Vicious providing beautiful harmonies in the background. Well, that's precisely what Pete Shelley and Steve Diggle did, without ever sounding remotely whimpy. It's hard to pick highlights, but the well-recognized classics "What Do I Get?" ("I only get sleepless niiiights!") and "Ever Fallen in Love?" ("...with someone you shouldn't've fallen in love with") will serve nicely, as will the more obscure gems "I Don't Mind" and the ferocious "Harmony in My Head", the only song Steve Diggle gets to sing on (aside from bonus tracks).

And, surprise surprise, the original eight B-sides are every bit as good. They show the Buzzcocks branching out a bit into new directions, but they always manage to drive home great songs, like the harshly melodic punk epic "Autonomy", the bitter rockabilly of "Just Lust" ("There's bed in your eyes, but there's nothing to trust...just lust."), and the Cole Porter-esque "Lipstick" ("Does the lipstick on your lip stick on my face?"), along with any other you'd care to pick.

So if it has all that, why only four stars? Well, it's the bonus tracks. If you're going to add material to a masterwork, the supplementals need to be as brilliant as the original material, otherwise the work will suffer as a whole. And that's just what happened here. Parts 1-3 suffer from absolutely deplorable production (thank heavy drug use for that...just say "no", kids), with the vocals buried at the bottom of the mix. And beyond that, the songs are weaker, too. The band was breaking apart at this point and as a result the creative focus was wandering quite a bit.

You DO get two bona fide classics: Shelley's wistful "You Say You Don't Love Me", and Diggle's fiery character sketch "Why She's a Girl from the Chainstore", the only track from Parts 1-3 where the production isn't bad enough to ruin the song. Each of these sound just fine next to other classics like "Love You More" and "Everybody's Happy Nowadays". But the other six tracks range from pretty good (Diggle's "Running Free", which could have been a classic if not for vocals-at-the-bottom junkie production and, believe it or not, the excessive use of cheesy keyboards...in a Buzzcocks song!) to absolutely unlistenable (Shelley's terrible "Are Everything", easily beating out "Hollow Inside" as the worst Buzzcocks song of all time...to give you an idea of how bad it is, Heaven 17 covered it.)

This CD is not a bad purchase at all. It's got the complete Buzzcocks UK 7" singles discography. And as the Buzzcocks rank with the Beatles when it comes to singles bands, this is a great album. But the more enjoyable listen is unquestionably the more compact US version, which is why I must give the UK version 4 stars.

Now I can quibble with the song order but given you get 8 more songs on this version than the original album back in 1979, I'm not complaining.

Basically, "Singles Going Steady" was all the A sides on Side A and the B sides on Side B on the vinyl. There's barely a duff track really and I'd argue none at all although "Why Can't I Touch This?" and "Something's Gone Wrong Again" go on and on too long. Even so for modern day punks these would be maybe some punk bands best tracks. The Buzzcocks are so consistently good both on the A and B sides of singles, it's weird that back in their day they sold squat even in the UK. Sure they were famous in the punk scene but their themes (love) wrapped in superfast punk music sadly did not make them uber rich and famous (seriously, they were better than, say, Generation X at the time).

Anyway, besides the original first 8 singles (A an B sides) you get "you Say You Don't Love Me b/w Raison D'Etre" plus the Parts 1-3 singles (A and B sides). They should have thrown on "I Look Alone" as the cherry on the Buzzcock pie, but no biggie.

If you want to know how truly varied punk is, listen to this album, followed by Black Flag's Damaged, bearing in mind that both albums are part of the same genre. The effect is something that no ammount of halucinogenic drugs can reproduce.
But nevermind all that. Singles Going Steady truly is a rare album, a collection of melodic, radio-friendly pop tunes that can still be considered punk classics, and rightfully so. The sixteen songs all have intense appeal, in a sort of singing-along, get-stuck-in-your-head-all-day kind of way (One of my worst work experiences was when I went into the office with "Orgasm Addict" lodged in the ol' cranium.) The tracks can all be considered rock standards, with rapid-fire guitar chords and a powerhouse drum beat, all of which sweeps you up into a flurry and brings a smile to your face. The songs are all delivered with a punky sort of tounge-in-cheeck humor, mixed with ironic cynisism ("Everybody's happy nowadays."). The energy of "Ever Fallen In Love" is irrisistable (though I can't imagine why anyone would want to resist it), and I challange you to listin to the chanting, anthemic chorus of "I Don't Mind" and not jump to your feet and start singing along. Well... maybe that's just me.
"Orgasm Addict" is a real pleasure (sorry), a rapid-fire two-minute lightning bolt of a rocker, backed by high speed guitars and a rockin' bass line, not to mention some of the all around greatest song lyrics ever, especially when you consider that it was realesed in 1979 ("You get in a heat/ You get in a sulk/ But you still keep on beating your meet to pulp/ Yeah you're an OR-GASM addict!")

Which brings me to my next point (how convenient). Pete Shelly sure knows how to write. Sophomoric lyrics of the afformentioned song aside, Shelly's words are powerful, introspective, and love-lorn ("Ever falln in love with somebody you shouldn't have fallen in love with?"). They perfectly capture the feelings of teenage angst without being whiny. This makes the songs surprisingly honest, and allows listiners to identify with the permenently blue lead singer. I guess this means that the Buzzcocks sacrifice a ton of punk credentials for that, but does it really matter? If the music is enjoyable, then what's the harm in a bit of genre-bending?

Hard-core punkers dismiss the Buzzcocks as being insufficiently punk, comparing them to the shi*ty "pop-punk" bands of today. What they fail to realize is that Shelly and Co can write good, entertaining songs, while Good (bad) Charolette and Simple Plan cannot (The 90's pop-punk scene has got to be one of the bigest musical disasters since Bette Midler. If I hear another whiny pre-pubescent "punker" whine about some girl just because Blink one-eighty-what-the-hell-ever did it, I'm gonna explode. But I digress). In fact, if you really want, you don't have to call the Buzzcocks punk. Call them rock, call them pop, call them whatever the hell you want, just ENJOY the MUSIC.