THE 12″ LUCKY DIP (29): Pete Shelley – Homosapien

I’ve written about Homosapien before, but it was away back in October 2018, so I’m happy enough to revisit it, especially as this time round it’s the 12″ release rather than the two songs on the 7″.

As I said back in 2018, the former frontman of Buzzcocks stunned many, fans and critics alike, when he released Homosapien a his debut solo single in September 1981.

I’m certain that I would have first heard this played at a night in the Strathclyde University Student Union on the basis that it had been banned by the BBC. I do recall, vaguely it has to be admitted, one of the weekly music papers having a real go at the record and its singer, accusing him of betraying his punk roots by sliding over onto the dance floor and jumping on the bandwagon of what the writer thought would be a short-lived craze for electronic music. Long live rock’n’roll and all that….

Did I take an instant liking to the track? Truth be told, not really as I wanted Pete Shelley to somehow create MkII of his former band. But, as I grew increasingly familiar with the song, I came to the realisation that it was an absolute belter of a new-era dance track, with as catchy a hook via the synths as had been managed previously with the guitars. Indeed, it is a close cousin to the new pop-savvy sounds that were being released by The Human League, which is no coincidence when you consider that Martin Rushent was could be found in the producer’s chair in both instances.

Few people knew that Pete Shelley was in fact revisiting his first love, having dabbled unsuccessfully in electronic music before meeting Howard Devoto at college and forming one of the most important punk/new wave bands to emerge out of the UK. It was something he had kept quiet about all the time his band becoming a success; in much the same way, he’d previously stayed schtum about his bisexuality, but the release of Homosapien, with its far from subtle references (e.g. ‘Homo Superior, in my interior’) provided him with a perfect opportunity to be open about things.

It was a far less tolerant world back then, and there was a sense of a substantial number of fans moving towards disowning Pete Shelley. The excuse given was the shift in music, but there were other unsaid things at play…..

There were a lot of really nice things said in the comments section back in 2018, along with a few snippets of info that added to things.

Jonny the Friendly Lawyer and Echorich recalled it being massive in NYC clubs.  Postpunkmonk described it as ‘a major event when it dropped in ’81’ adding that while he was not a huge Buzzcocks fan, with his tastes much more in the synthetic direction at the time, this single this pushed all of  his 1981 buttons” , adding “the juxtaposition of Rushent’s Roland Microcomposer and the chugging acoustic rhythm guitars was singular to me at the time. No one else was making a sound like this.”

It was described by ratherarthur and Mopyfop as a great dance record, while Swiss Adam called it ‘ A great song. Lyrically, sonically, philosophically.’

Brian over in Seattle added, “Nothing wrong with this version, but I also like the 12″ even more.”, which is why I’m delighted that at some point over the past eight years, I’ve picked up a second hand copy of a 12″ version.  But it’s not from 1981 and instead is a reissue from 1982,

mp3 : Pete Shelley – Homosapien (Dance Version)
mp3 : Pete Shelley – Homosapien (Elongated Dancepartydubmix)
mp3 : Pete Shelley – Love In Vain

Worth mentioning that the Elongated Dancepartydubmix extends to over 9 mins in length during which Martin Rushent brings out his entire box of tricks.

Once again, it failed to chart, having been disgracefully ignored by the radio stations too concerned that listeners would complain.  I’ve a feeling the video was aired on The Tube which went out on Channel 4, but don’t quote me on that as being fact….my memory may well be playing tricks on me!

JC