Bulldozer - Bulldozer - RCA PL 37161 - 1978

Some members of Martin Circus formed a punk band. The songs on their two singles appear on their first LP, which is sometimes named  J'suis Punk due to the image of Adolf saying the phrase on the cover. It would probably be more suitably named J'suis Hard-Pop-Rock, but they name drop Sex Pistols in a song, therefore, punk!










Their second album is mostly blues rock but contains what might be their best song, Flip Integral.

Marie Marie - Do You Do You Brush Your Teeth - Vogue - 101 380 RKM - 1980

In 1979, Jay Alanski, together with the minds behind Plastic Bertrand/Elton Motello greatness Alan Ward, Mike Butcher and Lou Deprijck, worked with Teenie, a bilingual and very cool looking young lady, and recorded the same single twice, once in English and once in French. I assume these 50's ballads didn't take off, so they returned to the punk well with Do You Do You Brush Your Teeth. The song is beyond catchy, and Teenie really emphasized her British accent on this recording. Grasshopper, on the B side has interesting lyrics which I think are sung from the point of view of a grasshopper, but doesn't compare to the A side.

Marie-France - Déréglée - Romantik Records ‎- EDE 2 - 1977

Fascinating character Marie-France teamed up with Patrick Arondel and Hagen Dierks to record this punky single on the short-lived but incredible Romantik Records label. Patrick Arondel was an alias of Jay Alanski.

Billy And The Boingers - I'm A Boinger - Eva-Tone Soundsheets - 1987

I was kinda surprised at the quality of the A side of this flexi-disc, considering that I enjoyed Bloom County comic strips about as much as Cathy or Rex Morgan MD. Until today, I thought this and Doonesbury were the same comic. Prior to publication of the book the flexi was included in, a contest was held to send in songs as though they were written by the fictional band Billy and the Boingers (formerly Deathtöngue). First place went to The Harry Pitts Band for 'I'm A Boinger.' I get the feeling this band was either formed by some musically-inclined fans just for this contest, or were hired to ensure the "winning" song was actually decent.

Supposedly the Boingers were supposed to be a gag about heavy metal in the late 80's, but the first song sounds like it was made by people who don't know what heavy metal is, and it probably saves the song. The B side on the other hand, U-Stink-But-I-♥-You, was written and played by actual crossover thrash band 'Mucky Pup.' Musically and comedically, it doesn't do it for me. Apparently it was a fan favourite and they made a video for it which I can only assume is about as funny as the comic that inspired the song.

Geiger - Je Ne Suis Pas Bien Portant / Je Suis Punky - Barclay - 620 518 - 1978

On the A-side, it's yet another French oldie re-done, and vastly improved à la Plastic Bertrand. Translated to something like 'I Am Not Well,' the song mostly lists a variety of symptoms. Je Suis Punky has some pretty amusing lyrics as well. Below are some of them translated poorly. Nearly everything else the team of songwriters did outside of this record was pretty dull disco and funk, with only two points of interest I could find.





I am punky
I flip from evening to morning
I am punky
I am an evil thug
I pull the chain on all the babes
Who come for a ride on my motorbike
I am punky
I am full sexy
I'm punk

I want women
Women, always women
I want to go crazy
I want them to violate me
I broke out like a beast
My bed is a factory
I am a machine
I do two somersaults
And the girls take off

I am punky
I was born to bop
I am punky
My sex will crack
I'm on my knees
I have more spirit
I'm like a madman
I create the mob
I am punky
But I made myself clear
I am a c**t

Shrink - Valid Or Void - A&M Records - AMS7409 - 1979

David (a.k.a Chris) Banks left northern England in 1977, and headed to London to audition for 'The Secret.' The lead singer was Mickey Modern, the bassist was Benny Leopard, the drummer was Percy Cute, and two guitarists were taken on, Reggie Mental (Dave Murray of Iron Maiden), and Banks, now known as Shrink. The Secret set up a showcase for A&M records hoping for a record deal, so, unsure of Shrink's skill, they replaced him with a session guitarist. They then asked Shrink to be the support act for the showcase, possibly hoping he'd only make them look better. Instead, Shrink got a standing ovation and an A&M record deal. After the show, David recalls that a member of The Secret met him backstage saying he didn't know whether to shake his hand or smack him in the mouth. Apparently, they underestimated his performance ability, which incorporated gold face paint and silver bodysuits. One fan recalls that when he went to see Shrink in London of 1979, it was heavily attended by punks. When Shrink took the stage the punks gathered to the floor and began to bow to Shrink. In another account of a show at Phillippa Fawcett College in Streatham, attendees watched Shrink stop singing mid-song, and after what I imagine was an uncomfortable moment of silence, he burst into tears. "As the sobs got louder and his body convulsed, nobody knew whether to help him out, look the other way or laugh." This confusion is confirmed by the fact that at times in his performances he appears to be in agony. Shrink also made a cameo appearance auditioning/guitar smashing for 'Breaking Glass' in the movie of the same name.

Chris Spedding And The Vibrators - Pogo Dancing - RAK - 2C.006-98449 - 1977

Chris Spedding was a jazz guitarist turned session musician, and appeared on several interesting (and way more not-so-interesting) recordings throughout the 70s. I've only listed a handful, mostly those related to library, novelty, junkshop glam or 'punk.'

1972: Played guitar and wrote a song for Standard Music Library - Small Group Pop. The Spedding-penned song appears in the movie Serpico.

1973: Played bass on first LP by comedy trio the Goodies.

1973: Chris becomes the guitarist for Mike Batt's novelty creation, The Wombles. Apparently, when playing "live," the Wombles suits contained actual musicians. Chris Spedding as Wellington brought his trademark white Flying V guitar to the character.

1974: Teamed up with songwriter Mike Batt again to play guitar for a recording credited to Top Of The Pops dance troupe 'Pan's People' called 'You Can Really Rock And Roll Me.'

1975: Played guitar on theme song to music TV show 'Supersonic'.

1975: Played guitar on loads of Kenny songs. It makes sense that session musicians would have been used, since the band, formerly 'Chuff,' was hired to become 'Kenny' in order to milk some more from Tony Kenny's earlier success.

1976: In October Chris Spedding teamed up with the Vibrators to record 'Pogo Dancing' and 'The Pose' and while they were at it, he played guitar on their first A-side 'We Vibrate.'

Pogo Dancing on Supersonic:



Chris Spedding also has numerous production credits, but I'm only listing the few that interest me at the moment.

1976: Chris produced some demos for the Sex Pistols in which he wanted to highlight the ability of the rhythm section, especially Matlock's bass. He felt that muddy recordings were used by poor musicians to cover their flaws, and that his goal for these demos was to prove that this band could actually play their instruments. The Sex Pistols and McLaren decided it was better to sound like they couldn't play their instruments, so the demos were rejected and only released on bootlegs.

1979: Chris produced some demos for 'The Cramps' but Lux and Ivy thought they sounded too polished, so they've only been released on bootlegs.

Another TV appearance:



Live version recorded Friday, March 13, 1981 at Trax in NYC and released on 'Friday The 13th' LP:


From a 1977 interview:
""I'd appreciate it if you played down the punk rock thing," he says mildly, looking at me out of the corners of his soft brown eyes. "I don't want people to think that I'm leaping onto a bandwagon, when I can stand on my own two feet."
SURPRISING words for someone whose latest claim to fame-or notoriety is his involvement with the Vibrators, one of the new wave bands. "Pogo Dancing," their single, is threatening the charts right now. So dammit all, Spedding, explain yourself.
"Well first of all the Vibrators aren't really a punk band anyway. They're too old for one thing - one of them is thirty-two.""

Ishmael United - If You Can't Shout Saved You'll Have To Face The Penalty - Kingsway Music - 1979

Ishmael is a bible character and is also the pun version of Ian Smale's name. Ian started out in Ian & Andy, the Andy being Andy Piercy of After The Fire, who also produced this record. I guess since the theme of this record in title and appearance is soccer, the band name he went with for this record is Ishmael United. The music on the record emulates punk here and there, but also has some ska and pop-rock. Apparently he also made another LP the same year as Rev Counta and the Speedoze and a solo 7" of a strange electronic version of 'The Glories,' which is done differently on the Ishmael United LP.

The Golant Pistons - Gorilla Suite - Rock Extra / Changing Seasons Of Rock - Selected Sound 9099 / ST 134 - 1982

It appears that the Golant Pistons included Tony Cox, Al Hodge, Bunk Dogger and a drummer credited as Foxy. My guess is that Tony Cox, who did some arrangements for UK records boss/convicted sex offender Jonathan King, was Bunk Dogger's connection to releasing his first (and best?) solo record. Bunk Dogger is also credited with playing guitar on a song on the Tone Deaf and the Idiots' Catastrophe Rock LP. He wrote all the songs on the 'Changing Seasons Of Rock' LP, and 'Gorilla Suite - Rock Extra' contains most of the same songs, with a few Cox numbers thrown in. Both were released on library music label Selected Sound. One song on both LPs is described on the back as 'fast heavy rock with electric guitar solo,' and is called Hunter Killer.

Most of the other songs on the records are rock revivalism, but synth-pop tune 'People In Advertisements' stands out.

Alan Feanch/Pierre Dutour - T.V Adventure - Crea Sound 46554 / Mondiophone MON 54 - 1980

Pierre Dutour is responsible for some interesting library music under that name as well as his Ted Atking alias, but the two versions of 'Fanatical Punk' found on this library record are far more utilitarian. At least the title track is good.