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Some TV programmes never recovered from their choosing the wrong horse when punk happened. The Old Grey Whistle Test being the prime example. Whisperin' Bob Harris's show never appeared older or greyer in 1977 when there was a distinct lack of short hair and narrow trousers among the bands appearing. But it did give me the first sighting of the Stranglers. The song was "Hanging Around". They weren'tÌýlive in the studio (well would you let them near Bob ?) but filmed at , presumably, a London pub like the Hope And Anchor. On the other hand, I saw a repeat of a ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ "In Concert" from 1977 the other night, where Ian Dury and the Blockheads wereÌýthe support act for Dr Feelgood.Ìý

Buzzcocks - I Don't Mind
Radio Birdman - New RaceÌý
Feelies - Fa Ce La
Talking Heads - Stay Hungry
Little Bob Story - I'm Crying
Adam & The Ants - Kings of the Wild Frontier
Orange Juice - Blue Boy
The Reflections - 4 Countries
Iggy Pop - Success
Left Banke - Pretty Ballerina
Jonathan Richman - Dodge Vegamatic (extended)
Stranglers - Hanging Around
Ian Dury - Partial To Your Abracadabra

Ìý

It's been several decades since I was a regular reader of the NME but I did see the headline of a recent Courtney Love interview. Apparently she's not called 'Love' anymore. It's not her real name. She is not, in case you were wondering, a relation of Walter's. Her real name is Courtney Michelle Harrison. No more Courtney Love, she told the NME, as it is a form of repression. Her representatives on Earth have since denied she is to change her name.Ìý
As punk rock names go, 'Courtney Love' is not even in the top fifty.
"What would your top ten punk names be then, old Mickey ?" I hear you ask.
"Oh well, if you're sitting comfortably....."

1. Johnny Rotten. Allegedly called that because of the state of his teeth. It also has an appealing Victorian London sound to it.
2. Captain Sensible. Named by an unhappy (and sarcastic) member of pub rock band, at the Mont de Marsan festival in France in the summer of 1976, who disapproved of Ray Burns' hilarious punk rock antics.
3. Joe Strummer. He plays rhythm guitar. That means he strums it. So he called himself Joe Strummer
4. Dee Generate. Drummer with Eater, he was fifteen years old. Provided inspiration for anyone who was called Dee for short. Like Dee O'Neill, who went by the name of Dee Mented for about three weeks in 1977.
5. Poly Styrene. Singer with X Ray Spex, her real name wasn't even Polly. Great name for someone who wrote songs about things being plastic and modern.
6. Richard Hell. Called himself that in 1973 before punk names were profitable and popular. Also invented the safety pin.
7. Sid Vicious. Real name either John Ritchie or John Beverley, so to avoid confusion his good friend John Lydon (see Rotten) came up with something more memorable. Immortalised the name by dying young. Not to be recommended.
8. Iggy Pop. Actually, he could have stuck with Jimmy Osterberg and would still have been king.
9. Johnny Thunders. Low down on the list as he may have borrowed it from a Kinks song.
10. Johnny, Joey, Dee Dee and Tommy Ramone. They weren't real brothers. Did you know that ?

As one punk hero is buried, it's appropriate to remember the anniversary of the death of Johnny Thunders, who was (for a short time) managed by Malcolm McLaren as the New York Dolls entered their later phase. Born To Lose, indeed. Also, a very trebly Close Lobsters single, The Chocolate Watch Band improve on the Kinks and Bill Drummond and Dave Balfe and the mysterious Lori lurk in the background of The Lonely Spy.

Alternative TV - Action Time Vision
Heartbreakers - Born To Lose
Close Lobsters - Going To Heaven To See If It Rains
The Re Runs - She Hates Me Now
Dickies - Stuck In A Pagoda with Tricia Toyota
The Headstones - When You're Down
The Doll - Don't Tango On My Heart
TheÌýDamned - Feel The Pain
Chocolate Watch Band - I'm Not Like Everybody Else
Lori & The Chameleons - The Lonely Spy
Decorators - Twilight View
Band Of Susans - You Were An Optimist
John Cooper Clarke - Marjorca
Sting Rays - June Rhyme
Magazine - Song From Under The Floorboards

I am of the generation that hung out in record shops, in my case Ken's of Castle Street in Derry. It didn't have the cultural significance of Good Vibrations, of course. It didn't provide a focus for a musical movement. Ken (still don't know his surname) just sold records, but in 1977 Derry that was good enough. The fact that musicians didn't hang around the shop, exchanging opinions about the latest releases, was of no great loss to me. My small circle of friends (five people) provided me with all the opinion that I needed about music. The New Musical Express filled in the gaps. Ken's was great because it was all up to you. You could spend hours flipping the LPs towards you and occasionally lifting one out to read the back of it. Sometimes the hours I spent there were supposed to be spent in the classrooms of the Strand Tech in Derry but by 1977 I had realised the regime in third level education was less strict when it came to time keeping than secondary school had been. Record Store Day has had a lot of coverage this weekend, but my own memories say more about the logistics of music selling in the 1970s than it does about music itself. One abiding memory is walking into Ken's and getting 'White Riot' , the first Clash single, in a plain non-picture sleeve.
I think it may have been the only one in the shop. Another is ordering a reissue of the New York Dolls two LPs, which were out of print by 1977 (only three years after the band broke up.) Downloads were still thirty years away, likewise online shopping and next day delivery. Unless you ordered from a mail order company advertised in the back pages of the NME, you relied on Ken's. Which we did. For a good couple of weeks. Every second day, one of my musical circle would go into Ken's to see if the New York Dolls double LP was in yet. 'Not yet' said Ken, in his American accent. It was OK, he was actually American. After a week, the message was "It'll be in on Tuesday". Eventually, one Tuesday it did arrive and we were introduced to the joys of actually hearing 'Personality Crisis' , 'Jet Boy' and 'Trash' instead of just reading about them.
Since that day, the phrase 'It'll be Tooosday' still brings back to me the waiting and hoping that record buying sometimes brought to you in 1977. Would I have the patience today ?

Richard Jobson turned 50 last week, although I think he was always more mature than the average punk rocker when the Skids were at their height. Even though he was about seventeen when their first single came out, the 'Charles EP' in 1977, as their career went on he gave the impression of someone who knew how to tie his tie properly. He also got away with a side parting without looking like Hen Broon. Richard is a film maker these days but isn't above a reprise of his days as front man of the Skids, where he was once known as 'Joey Jolson'.ÌýStuart Adamson used the name 'Stevie Cologne' at the time, so he was in good company. Tonight it's their biggest hit, the lyricallyÌýincomprehensible (to me, anyway) Into The Valley. Ahoy! Ahoy!.

Skids - Into the ValleyÌý
Ramones - I Don't Wanna Go Down To The Basement
The Fun Things - Savage
Barracudas - Campus Tramp
Dr Feelgood - Going Back ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ
Breakaways - House On The Hill
Elvis Costello & Attractions - Beyond Belief
Lurkers - Out in The Dark
Sex Clark Five - I Want You Mine
Victim - Strange Thing By Night
The Beat - Best Friend
Captain Beefheart - Plastic Factory
Teardrop Explodes - Ha Ha I'm Drowning
Eddie & The Hot Rods - Do Anything You Wanna Do

"Writing about music is like dancing about architecture" is a phrase that I love to quote, even though I realise that it undermines anything and everything that has appeared in this blog. But I will revive it for the coverage of the death of Malcolm McLaren. He died in Switzerland, not New York as I said on Thursday night's After Midnight. Sorry about that. The information was still coming in as the show went out. I love the Sex Pistols, I thought Malcolm was great (never met him, nor any Sex Pistol) but got very tired very quickly of reading about him. I know that much of the newspaper and TV coverage was aimed at people who didn't really care about Malcolm McLaren, so what I was really looking for was what John Lydon would say.
I didn't think he would be too caustic about the man, despite his bile from their dealings in the past.
In the end , Johnny said "For me, Malc was always entertaining and I hope you remember that. Above all else he was an entertainer and I will miss him, and so should you." Not exactly a deathbed reconciliation (too late for that, obviously) but neither did he inject any fake showbiz sincerity. As I said, I didn't know Malcolm but I knew a bit of his work. He brought together the Sex Pistols but he was responsible for the swindle, not the songs.
He made the manager as entertaining as the singer. Johnny Rotten, the name Lydon used for the statement about McLaren's death was right. Malcolm was an entertainer. And we should miss him.Ìý

Can you spare £45 to help the make a new record ? Please, mister ?Ìý
If you do, you could end up owning a vial of their blood. Diluted, we're told. Diluted with what , I'm not sure. They're still negotiating the finer points of the health and safety agreement on their plans to offer the pot of of blood, and a scratch and sniff book, for £45 to fund the making of a new record. Sorry, I seem to have just coughed up an 'in my day' but have managed to swallow it again. They need to raise fifty thousand pounds to fund their recording and, presumably, the marketing ofÌý the finished product. It's such a great idea that I'm really annoyed at not having thought of it before. I could have collected the toenail clippings of Feargal Sharkey, the dandruff of John O'Neill (when he had it) and the much used hankies of Damian O'Neill. Why didn't I have the foresight to ask Joe Strummer "Spit into this jam jar, Joe, would you ? I hope to make a record in thirty years and might need to sell it in box set someday. Genuine Strummer Saliva, circa 1979"
I thought one of the benefits of new technology was that recording studios were now a thing of the past ? To make a record these days, all you need to do is move the sofa back against that wall, put a sheet over the budgie to keep it quiet and record your band on your laptop.Ìý
That's what the young people tell me as they help me across the road. Maybe the Gang Of Four should try that and keep their blood where it belongs

No jokes, honest, but I wonder if Flipper were completely serious with their single Brainwash. Its a thirty second attempt at a song, which is fine on its own. To make a single out of it, they just copied it a dozen or so times, with a five second gap between each one. Its worth three minutes, not the full six as on the original single. Also tonight, another great song from the Flamin Groovies, who were in the right place (London) and the right time (1976) but had the wrong hair (slightly receding). The songs were great but sounded old compared to the Ramones.

Generation X - Day By Day
Replacements - I'm In Trouble
Flipper - Brainwash
Stiff Little Fingers - Bloody Sunday
Shop Assistants - All Day Long
Selecter - On My Radio
Young Marble Giants - Final Day
Frenzy - I See Red
Shadows Of Knight - Someone Like Me
Flamin Groovies - Don't Put Me On
The Cure - A Forest
Ruts - In A Rut
Nick Lowe - Heart Of The City
Mick Farren & The Deviants - Lets Loot The Supermarket Again Like We Did Last Summer
Sonics - Strychnine