The Buzzcocks

The Buzzcocks are as responsible as anyone for establishing the British punk rock movement of the late 1970s. Though the Sex Pistols typically get the lion's share of the credit for bringing the genre to international attention with 1977's classic Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols, the Buzzcocks actually beat them to the punch with the release of their influential and pioneering Spiral Scratch EP earlier that same year. Spiral Scratch was also influential on the DIY movement, achieving a level of success despite being released on a small independent record label and without the benefit of major label support, something virtually unheard of in those days.

The Buzzcocks elected to have the coarseness and impudence associated with the English punk scene take a back seat to their music (as much as was possible, I suppose), and they soon signed with United Artists and released their major label debut, Another Music in a Different Kitchen, in March of 1978. Benefiting from superb production thanks to the major label influx of funds, the album is arguably one of punk rock's crowning achievements. It's difficult to pinpoint a weak track among the bunch; "Fast Cars", "I Don't Mind", "Autonomy", and others are today regarded as classics of the genre. 

 
As a teenage insomniac back in the mid-1980s I often sought refuge in a late night FM radio program called Brave New Waves when sleep proved elusive, and I can still clearly recall my discovery of punk rock one wintery night in 1985 or 86 in the form of the Buzzcocks' "Orgasm Addict". I had never heard anything like it. Was this really the blatant ode to sex addiction it appeared to be? Songs like this actually existed? It wasn't the heavy metal I had been brought up on (did I mention this was the hair-metal heyday of the 80s?) but it was nonetheless very appealing, and had this energy that I'd never heard before. It was crude and alluring and fun. Having only seen pictures of Johnny Rotten in my grandfather's old Time magazines, now I could finally connect the image to the sound of punk rock. In months to come the same program introduced me to "Fast Cars" and "Boredom", and the Sex Pistols, Dead Kennedys, and Ramones would follow. Though my heavy metal peer group never seemed to understand, I was hooked. 

The Buzzcocks disbanded in 1981 after releasing a small but influential body of work. Though they have reformed and released new material since then, Another Music in a Different Kitchen  remains arguable their magnum opus, so to speak. Also check out Singles Going Steady, a compilation of their best early stuff.  

Forgotten Metal: Lucifer's Friend

When examining the origins of heavy metal there is generally a consensus that the genre came into being somewhere between 1968 and 1970. There will always be the debate that Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath were the first metal band, while others will argue that you have to go back a bit further in time, with Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Mountain, Blue Cheer, etc. as the other contestants, or at the very least laying the groundwork. Anthropologist and film maker Sam Dunn, perhaps the most eminent authority on the subject, gives Black Sabbath full credit as the first true metal band, with their debut recordings altering the musical landscape of early 1970. The rest of the contenders are fairly well known, with most of them being mentioned above. A recent discovery, however, challenges all that I thought I knew about the early history of heavy metal.

While watching an old episode of the German television series Beat-Club (1965-72), a 1970 performance from an English/German group called Lucifer's Friend grabbed my attention. While the performance may not appear particularly notable at first glance, here was a band doing things that would become essential elements of heavy metal in the coming decade... in 1970. It was like watching early Judas Priest fronted by Ronnie James Dio. Why had I never heard of them? It didn't make sense. It was truly a revelation to discover a band incorporating what I viewed as yet-to-be-conceived essential features of heavy metal this early in the timeline. It was a bit like finding evidence of anatomically modern homo sapien in the era of the neanderthal.





A little research revealed that Lucifer's Friend, based in Germany and fronted by English vocalist John Lawton, had released several albums between 1970 and the early 1980s, none of which seemed to have ever earned them much recognition, aside perhaps from in parts of Europe. Ride the Sky, the opening track from their 1970 self-titled debut, perhaps best exemplifies my assertion that Lucifer's Friend's early work was as groundbreaking as it was overlooked. There's even a major resemblance (listen for the french horn) to Zeppelin's classic Immigrant Song. Released at roughly the same time as Led Zeppelin III, we'll never know who ripped off who. Nonetheless, it's quite interesting to discover a band, wiped from the pages of history, who were doing things arguably as "metal" as Sabbath back in 1970.