Lead singer of the Punk Pioneers THE BUZZCOCKS, Pete Shelley branched out on his own in the early 80's. Now, his solo work can never match the genius of the Buzzcocks, but taken on it's own you can see that underneath it all Pete was a fantastic songwriter.Starting in 1981, HOMOSAPIEN was an album, a video, a single and...I guess.....a bit of a coming out party. Doesn't matter....the song was fantastic, as was the 12-INCH REMIX.
Another gem from this debut album is "YESTERDAY'S NOT HERE". This album deserves another listen.
His second LP , XL1, was released in 1983 (OOOOH...there's that magical year again....I should just rename this blog 1983).
I think this was a tremendous step up in terms of both mood and songwriting. How can you deny the super catchiness of "TELEPHONE OPERATOR" or "MILLIONS OF PEOPLE (BUT NO ONE LIKE YOU)".
Both are great songs, but I much prefer "IF YOU ASK ME I WON'T SAY NO". Not just because of the long title, but probably because WLIR used to play this one more than the others and it stuck in my adolescent brain.
Pete later went on to actually have a bonafide charting hit in the US. Believe me....I was shocked at the time too.........with "ON YOUR OWN" from 1986's HEAVEN AND THE SEA.This is the New York Mix from the 12-inch.
Eventually the Buzzcocks reformed but never manage to catch the spark of what they created in the late 70's
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