As with all new music back in 1979, the first place you would get to hear it would be across the airwaves of BBC Radio One, 247 on the Medium Wave.
I’ve no idea what DJ was spinning the discs when this came but he did introduce it as the new single by Buzzcocks. I thought he had made a huge error. Yes, it did musically sound like them, but unless Pete Shelley had been replaced as vocalist by one of The Stranglers, then this was most certainly another group.
A couple of weeks later and I saw them perform the new single on Top of the Pops and the mystery solved itself when the camera panned over to the mimed performance and it was Steve Diggle who was doing the singing as Pete moped around in the background trying unsuccessfully to be a team player.
Maybe it was the criticism of the vocal delivery on ‘Happy’ that had hit home or maybe it was just that the lead guitarist had come up with the best available song for the next 45. Harmony In My Head was as post-punk/new wave as it came but the record buying public didn’t fall for it as it spent just three weeks in the Top 40 and got no higher than #32 – it was a far cry from the heady days of Ever Fallen In Love less than a year previously.
mp3 : Buzzcocks – Harmony In My Head
mp3 : Buzzcocks – Something’s Gone Wrong Again
Three singles in 1979 had suffered declining sales. The third LP was going to be critical…..as indeed was the UK tour that had just been announced.
Not my favourite Buzzcocks single, but another fantastic b-side.
Much love for Post Punk Buzzcocks…they were making the transition at the same time I was. As I was always known to be that played devils advocate or seemed to enjoy anything the masses discarded, a Steve Diggle lead Buzzcocks song was right up my alley – hell Buzzcocks moving away from their popular sound was exciting to me. This final stage in the band’s career (for the time being) was my favorite. As they became more and more out of favor, they became more and more important to me.
I loved this one too. Nowt unusual in Diggle doing the vocals, like Foxton sang News of the World for the Jam, or Burnel on some Stranglers singles. In the charts in 78-79, Buzzcocks singles fared just as well as many of their contemporaries eg Clash, Banshees, Xray Spex (no breakthrough for the Damned). And their albums charted better than Magazine’s. Thanks for the series, another fine one. Cheers.