Buzzcocks

BIOGRAPHY

Buzzcocks formed in Bolton in 1976 when Pete Shelley and Howard Devoto, having renamed themselves from Peter McNeish and Howard Trafford, took their name from a wry review of the TV series Rock Follies. They played their first show that April and by year's end had self-released the four-track Spiral Scratch EP on their own New Hormones label, one of the earliest independent releases of the punk era. Devoto soon departed to form Magazine, leaving Shelley as chief songwriter; the classic lineup of Shelley, Steve Diggle, Steve Garvey and John Maher cut three albums before splitting in 1981 over a dispute with their label. The band reunited in 1989 and released six further albums before Shelley's death in 2018; guitarist Steve Diggle has kept Buzzcocks active, taking on lead vocals. Their singles, compiled on Singles Going Steady, were praised by critic Ned Raggett as a 'punk masterpiece,' and the band's pop-inflected punk is cited as a key influence on acts from Husker Du to Nirvana.

WHY THEY'RE COOL

Buzzcocks distilled punk's velocity into irresistible pop songcraft, pairing breakneck tempos with hooks sharp enough to help launch the power pop and pop punk movements. Their self-released Spiral Scratch EP helped define independent record-making before the industry caught up, and the hits collected on Singles Going Steady still sound like a blueprint, praised by critics as a genuine punk masterpiece. Their influence runs through Manchester's music scene and resurfaces in bands as far-flung as Husker Du and Nirvana.

GEORGE'S PLAYS

George has played this artist 2 times.

PLAYED ON WOKE1

• Everybody's Happy Nowadays - 2001 Remastered Version2 PLAYS