Originally published in Noise for Heroes #21 by Steve Gardner

Adverts - Costello, Elvis  |  Damned - Hollywood Brats  |  Jam - Only Ones
Radiators from Space - Ruts  |  Saints - Thunders, Johnny  |  UK Subs - Yachts

THE ADVERTS
Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts (Bright)
TV Smith at his finest, no doubt. He's got those great urgent vocals, and when it came out the prominent British accent was a breath of fresh air after years of Brits trying to sound like Americans. There's several pressings of this, and I'd recommend trying to find one that has "Gary Gilmore's Eyes" on it, since that's one of their best ever and not all pressings have it. But even if you miss it, "One Chord Wonders", "Bored Teenagers", "Bombsite Boy", "No Time To Be 21" and "Great British Mistake" are all killer. WARNING - the second Adverts LP, Cast Of Thousands , was a victim of a horrible attempt to convert the band into a safer new wave style and while anything with TV Smith on it is bound to be good, is nowhere near the classic that the first one is.

THE AVENGERS
The Avengers(CD)
Although this LP wasn't released until 1983, it was recorded in 1977 and 1978 when the Avengers were conceivably the best and most powerful band on the west coast of the US. If there had been the opportunities to get press and make records that UK bands had, there's little doubt in my mind that the Avengers would have been as important as the Clash. Tough, gut wrenching songs that said something, and a female vocal performance that's been matched rarely in the days since. The band plays hard with loud fat guitars...classic punk.
See Also: Died For Your Sins(Lookout)
Too Wild to Tame: Anthology (Castle)

THE BEAT
The Beat (CBS)
No, I'm not talking about the English ska band...this is the powerpop outfit fronted by Paul Collins. They were ahead of the Knack, and they were honest, too...this is what they wanted to do, not some scam to cash in on a coming fad. The LA Times Calendar section picked this the best LP of 1979, and it's probably the last time they were remotely close to right. The songs on this are just super pieces of rock and roll...great harmonies with rough edged playing. Songs like "Rock'n'Roll Girl", "Walking Out On Love" or "Don't Wait Up For Me" are great pieces of Buddy Holly flavored rock and roll.

BLONDIE
Blondie (Private Stock)
Underground music fans remind me a lot of the Communist Party in China. Bands come along and are in favor, then all of a sudden they lose it all and everybody dumps them. Sometimes they get rehabilitated and become acceptable to like again. Has Blondie ever recovered from having the gall to do "Heart Of Glass" and worse atrocities later? I dunno, but I still love that first LP with those great girl group songs like "Little Girl Lies", "Rifle Range", "Kung Fu Girls", and of course, the brilliant "X Offender". How anybody ever thought this was punk rock (and they did back then) I'll never know...it must have been their CBGBs roots, but it's a great record (their next one, Plastic Letters, is pretty good, too).

THE BOYS
The Boys (Nems)
The Boys were a London punk band that evolved over time into a kind of strange power pop outfit, but for their first LP they were great pop/punk fiends. Somehow they never got much notice for their efforts, which is hard to understand now, because this LP has a lot more kick, spunk, and tunefulness than a hell of a lot of more highly regarded competitors. It's got a pretty classic chugging 4/4 drum sound and some tasty, fat guitars. Maybe the problem was that the lyrics were kind of goofy good time things, while the press was more interested in political bands. That might explain why this record has aged a lot more gracefully; I can imagine this being released today.
See Also: Complete Boys Punk Singles Collection (Anagram)

BUZZCOCKS
Another Music In A Different Kitchen (UA)
Love Bites (UA)
Singles Going Steady (IRS)
A Different Kind Of Tension (IRS)
There's no way I'm gonna leave out any Buzzcocks record from this list, although I'm not counting posthumous stuff or any reunion things that may come along. Best way to get up to date on these guys is to buy the Product CD set, which has all the LPs and every missing B side, plus the Parts 1-3 single series and some live stuff. The Buzzcocks were one of the two or three best ever... killer snappy punk songs with pop hooks and deliriously catchy tunes with weird perspectives on love. Every one of these LPs has a handful of songs so good that the average band would be lucky to come up with one comparable track in their career. I'd rate the first three as dead equals for quality and the fourth less by a gnat's eyelash.

CHELSEA
Alternative Hits (Step Forward)
Chelsea were a London based band who led off their existence with a fairly dull political song called "Right To Work", but then broadened their horizons and got a lot stronger musically. This record, which is different by only one track from a US disc called No Escape, compiles a batch of their singles to produce a really solid album. Chelsea often sound pretty awkward, and their singer was more of a shouter, but there's some great songs like "No Escape", "Urban Kids", "Look At The Outside" or "No One's Coming Outside". Chelsea surprisingly hung around for quite a while and had some good LPs into the early 80s, too.

THE CHORDS
So Far Away (Polydor)
This might be cheating a bit since it came out in 1980, but it was recorded in 1979 and the band had most of their success that year in the UK mod movement that brought the Jam to the peak of their popularity. It's been widely ignored but I thought it was the best LP of the year it came out...great anthemic songs with huge ringing guitars and wild man drumming. I'd describe them as a slightly more straight on and more energetic version of the Jam circa their first two LPs. "Maybe Tomorrow" and "Somethings Missing" are two of my all time faves.

THE CLASH
The Clash (CBS)
Give 'Em Enough Rope (CBS)
How do you convince anyone that the Clash were a really meaningful band when all they know by them is "Rock The Casbah", "Should I Stay Or Should I Go" and "Brand New Cadillac"? It's damn hard, I'll tell you. But pretend it's a totally different band and go try on these two LPs (get the US copy of the first one; it's piles better). Songs like "Jail Guitar Doors", "I'm So Bored With The USA", "Janie Jones", "Career Opportunities", "Remote Control", or "Safe European Home", now those are some great songs. As usual, the first LP is the better, but although there are fewer standout tracks on the second, it's consistently good throughout. The press went to their head, but you can still hear the magic from before it happened.

ELVIS COSTELLO
This Year's Model (CBS)
It's been a long time since I've paid any attention to a new Elvis Costello release, but they used to be a very significant event. The My Aim Is True record was an impressive debut, but even so it was pretty overrated by the rock press; This Year's Model proved how much better Costello could be if he got a band that really gave a damn behind him instead of the feeble San Francisco band Clover, who were the main backing on that first record. The Attractions were a tough and gutty band; I remember seeing them on their first US tour just before this record came out and I couldn't believe how much better they were live than the first LP was on a stereo, but what really blew me away was the songs they previewed from this record...although I'd never heard them before I can still remember the attack and bite of songs like "Radio Radio", "Lipstick Vogue", "No Action", "Hand In Hand" and "Lip Service". The US version of this is definitely the one to get since the UK record drops "Radio Radio" for a couple of much weaker tracks.