Buzzcocks: BBC Sessions

Buzzcocks: BBC Sessions
Label: BBC Music/EMI
Recording Date:
Release Date:1998
Review Date: 2000

“Oh no! Not another Buzzcocks compilation!” you cry. “What the fuck!” As a Buzzcocks fanatic, I admit I might not be the best one to write this review, especially as I own all of the other Buzzcocks compilations too! However, this one is a great one, and worth adding to your collection. All 21 of the songs here were recorded live for different BBC TV and radio sessions, and span the gamut from their 1st appearance on The Old Grey Whistle Test in November 1978 (14 days before I saw them for the 1st time!), to a session recorded for London Radio in December 97. The songs even have the original DJ introductions, theme music etc, which really place them in their time frame, and highlight how horrible British radio is and was. Because they are studio recordings the quality is great, but because they are recorded live, the speed and energy are startling. Two previously unreleased songs are included: a Diggle composition called Turn of the Screw, and a Shelley original called Thunder of Hearts. Five songs have the “classic” lineup, while 16 have the “new” lineup. However, bear in mind that the new lineup has now been together about twice as long as the classic one was! There are no John Peel show tracks on here, so it’s a safe bet that you probably have never heard most of these versions before. It’s great. Buy it.

Track list: Sixteen Again, Nothing Left, Promises, Lipstick, Do It, Isolation, Palm of Your Hand, Ever Fallen in Love, Energy, Libertine Angel, Last to Know, Playing for Time, Totally from the Heart, I Don’t Mind, Turn of the Screw, Thunder of Hearts, Fiction Romance, Love Battery, Harmony in my Head, Time’s Up, What do I Get?