Review:

on 2011-05-10 CharlesMartel Said:

This album is a compilation sampler from the Chiswick label comprising a number of tracks from some little known artists who had signed to the label in the early days of punk. Albums like these were pretty common during the mid- to late-seventies and generally were pretty much throwaway. They were sold at prices well below that of a regular album and were simply intended to introduce you to a wide variety of acts and get you to go out and buy full-length albums by them. However, just occasionally one came along which proved to be a real gem. I don't recall the circumstances of how I came to have this  I certainly didn't buy it and I wouldn't have nicked it  but this was one example of such a gem.

Motorhead were the only band who really went on to achieve anything and it is perhaps noticeable that they are the only artists on here who could not be classed as being either punk or new wave which comprises most of the tracks on the album. Of the rest, only Radio Stars ever had a hit single, a year or so later and that was not the track here. "No Russians in Russia" is a glorious footstomper and is (for punk anyway) a rare example of the use of a harmonica. The lyrics are equally glorious, if only for their sheer inanity.

"I Wanna Be Free" by Rings is pure punk with sharp staccato guitars and driving hook line. This band were one of the great unsung acts of punk which is pretty spectacular as punk was all about nobody outfits recording their own material. "Enemies" and "Television Screen" from the Radiators From Space are also catchy little punk numbers which are much more pop oriented than one would have expected.

The Amazorblades', "Common Truth" and Jeff Hill's incredibly infectious "I Want You to Dance with Me" continue in a vein of lightweight but well played and slightly off beat new wave tracks. Others in the same vein, although not quite in the same style, would include The Stukas' "Klean Living Kids" and, the Count Bishops' "Baby Youre Wrong". The only other band I had heard of at the time, apart from Motorhead and the Radio Stars, was Johnny Moped and his track "No One" is also worth listening to.

It is perhaps best then if we ignore the two tracks from Skrewdriver, who later went on to play BNP gigs and turned decidedly nasty when they took their skinhead identity and played up to it with some overtly racist songs later in their career. Whether that is the same band who feature on this album I don't know, but their contribution is not among the highlights of the album anyway.

All in all, this is a unique album of surprising little gems, and all the more collectable for it. Long since deleted, occasionally some of the tracks appear on file sharing sites but otherwise anyone is going to have difficulty locating a lot of these tracks. I can remember when this first came into my possession, I played it a few times and then put it away, not rating it very highly. Then, for some reason, it took off, and for months I could not get this off my turntable. Even today, I enjoy a number of the songs almost as much as I did back then over 30 years ago. Now that is not bad for a throwaway album I never paid a penny for.
Rating: 7/10