For each year I will provide a playlist on Spotify restricted to twenty tracks from 20 different acts. Most years will necessitate hard decisions to select the tracks. For other years I was struggling to reach 20 so have gone exploring the internet for hidden gems which has also been rewarding unearthing new (old) music.
The Indie Years 1977
1) God Save The Queen - Sex Pistols (Virgin)
Released during the month of the Queen Elizabeth's Silver Jubilee this became the biggest hit of the punk scene. The single was immediately banned by the BBC and many other British radio stations which resulted in it shooting to the top of the charts. The official charts were rumoued to have been tampered to ensure it did not reach the top spot. The band were arrested as they attempted to play this song from a barge on the River Thames during the royal celebrations. Despite being published by Richard Branson's Virgin Records, this didn't stop the Queen from knighting Branson years later.
2) Love Comes In Spurts - Richard Hell & The Voidoids (Sire)
A snotty US punk rocker from whom Malcolm McLaren copied the look for the Sex Pistols. Richard Hell had stints in both The Heartbreakers and Television before releasing the Blank Generation album from which this spunky song was the lead track.
3) Teenage Lobotomy - Ramones
One of the original US punk bands formed in Queens, New York in 1974 and the new punk rock sounds were in such contrast to the predominant prog rock that they changed the game and inspired the first UK punk bands. This track is one of their most famous and was taken from their second album Rocket to Russia.
4) Psycho Killer - Talking Heads (Sire)
New York's Talkin' Heads first hit was a live recording of this unhinged murder ballad.
5) Boredom - Buzzcocks (New Hormones)
English punk band from Bolton who issued their early singles on their own record label and was produced by Manchester legend Martin Hannett. Original member Howard DeVito soon became bored with the limitations of the punk movement and quit shortly after this release - later to form Magazine.
6) Motorhead - Motorhead
Lemmy was a member of the space prog rock band Hawkwind during the early 1970s. When he was arrested for drug charges on a US tour, he was kicked out of the band. He formed Motorhead and mixed hard rock with the trash and speed of punk inventing the Trash Metal genre. This song was later covered by Primal Scream on their Vanishing Point album.
7) Chinese Rocks - Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers
Richard Hell announced to Dee Dee Ramone that he was going to write a drug song better than Lou Reed's "Heroin". Inspired Dee Dee wrote Chinese Rocks but the rest of the Ramones said it was too obviously about drugs to include in their set. They obviously were feeling a bit paranoid for some reason! Richard Hell helped finish the song and it was eventually recorded by the Heartbreakers after Richard Hell had left the band. The Ramones later recorded their own version. Presumably after they had hidden their stash.
8) Uptown Top Ranking - Althea and Donna
A Jamaican reggae song with a couple of teenage girls freestyling over an old 1960s song called Three Piece Suit by Trinity. Uptown Top Ranking was played accidentally by legendary indie champion DJ John Peel on his radio show and ended up topping the UK singles charts.
9) Marquee Moon - Television
Richard Hell had been kicked out of Television following arguments with Tom Verlain due to musical differences - but this was the lead single from their second album. At over ten minutes long and full of intricate guitar licks it stands out from the short sharp shock of the traditional punk song.
10) The Passenger - Iggy Pop
The Stooges front man went solo after hanging out in Berlin with David Bowie and created most of his best songs on the two albums he released in 1977 (The Idiot and Lust For Life).
11) Oxygene Pt.2 - Jean-Michel Jarre
Spaced out electronic melodies from the French composer. My Dad used to play this album whilst I would stargaze out from the car window.
12) Natural Mystic - Bob Marley & The Wailers (Island)
Bob Marley relocated to London after he survived an assassination attempt in Kingston, Jamaica where he stayed in self exile for a couple of years. Bob Marley & The Wailers became International stars after the success of the Exodus album.
13) Police and Thieves - The Clash
The Clash infused their punk rock with reggae influences including covers. This album track from their debut album was originally recorded the previous year by Jamaican singer Marvin Junior and the lyrics fit with their outlaw image. "Police and Thieves in the street, fighting the nation with their guns and ammunition".
Live footage of The Clash's debut single is below as a bonus.
14) No More Heroes - The Stranglers
Pub Rockers who jumped on the punk nihilist bandwagon but still incorporated an organ solo to rival The Door's Light My Fire and penned the immortal lyrics, "Whatever happened to Leon Trotsky? He got an ice pick that made his ear's burn." Classic!
15) Three Girl Rhumba - Wire
English band Wire released their first album Pink Flag in 1977. This was influential on many groups that followed including Elastica who ripped off the opening of Three Girl Rhumba on their 1994 single Connection.
16) World Wide World - Wreckless Eric (Stiff Records)
A punk unrequited love song.
17) In The City - The Jam
The debut single from Paul Weller's first band. The mod/punk trio was the vehicle for Weller's songwriting. They didn't dress like punks and donned suits and ties. The Jam's sincerity and style were later questioned in the mocking lyrics of The Clash's (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais. "The New Groups Are Not Concerned With What There Is To Be Learned, They've got Burton Suits, They Think It's Funny, Turning Rebellion Into Money".
18) My Mistake - Split Enz (Mushroom Records)
Before Crowded House, Tim and Neil Finn were members of the theatrical cabaret pop Split Enz who released many albums over ten years but struggled to find success outside of New Zealand and Australia. My Mistake was their first single to bother the charts.
19) I Feel Love - Donna Summer
A worldwide disco hit produced by Giorgio Moroder. The high tempo, mechanical beats and icy synths resulted in a highly influential record in dance music, 80's synth pop and later techno.
20) Two Sevens Clash - Culture
Playing out with some classic Rastafarian roots reggae.
Further Reading...
The Indie Years 1978 The Indie Years 1979
The Indie Years 1980
The Indie Years 1981
The Indie Years 1982
The Indie Years 1983
The Indie Years 1984
The Indie Years 1985
The Indie Years 1986
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