January 15th
The Adverts
make their debut at the Roxy thanks to the open door policy of booking anyone
who wants to go on stage. The Roxy as a focus of the movement became a popular
haunt of A&R men who were desperate to sign 'the next big thing'. Sounds
announces that the Buzzcocks single released on their own New Hormones label
will be out at the end of the month.Eventually New Hormones takes an office
at 50 Newton St in Manchester, just round the corner from the Ranch club where
many punks hang out but to begin with gets mail forwarded by the New Manchester
Review on Oxford St.
January 17th The Damned supported by the Boys play a monday night regular at the Roxy. The Boys include another former member of the London SS called Matt Dangerfield who had played with Mick Jones of the Clash and Tony James who formed Chelsea then Generation X. Brian James and Rat Scabies of the Damned had also been involved in London SS before joining forces with Ray Burns who was by now known as Captain Sensible.
January 19th The Adverts play their second gig supporting Slaughter and the Dogs. Slaughter have toned down their Glam appearance and play their debut in London.While still not accepted as truly New Wave, they build up a regular following based on their frantic live performances and Stooges-like sound. The Adverts attract attention from Stiff records who wants to put out one single by them.January 20th Squeeze and the Zips play the Roxy.
January 21st The Stranglers and the Adverts play the Royal College of Art in London. The Stranglers have got a regular following known as the Finchley Boys .
January 22nd The Stranglers play the Roxy while the Jam play at the famous R&B venue the Marquee Club
January 25th .The Jam play a second gig at the 100 Club. The third punk record to be released is by the Stranglers on UA records.'Get a Grip' with 'London Lady' on the flip side gets a reasonable review in NME by Tony Parsons a week later.
January 27th
The Clash sign
to CBS records for an advance of £100,000. Mark Perry of Sniffin Glue later
said that he viewed this occaision as the death of punk. Many people had expected
that the Clash with their political posturing would choose to go the independent
route like the Buzzcocks.
The
Vibrators are supported by the Outsiders and the Drones at the Roxy. The
Outsiders are reviewed in NME by Julie Burchill. They don't go down well and are
revealed as band wagon jumpers with long hair. "At closer examination they are
mediocrity personified, but they are about as New Wave as the Grateful Dead."
This review sums up the problems faced by the punk movement in as much as the
scene had become littered with bands who had failed to grasp that originality
and change were what had made the first punk bands so fresh and
exciting.
January 28th Polydor
having missed the Sex Pistols and the Clash sign the Jam, amove which in hindsight
was one of the best deals done by the music industry. CBS get the Clash straight
into CBS studios in Whitfield Street London. The plan
is to record 'White Riot ' and '1977' for the first single. Mickey Foote,
the Clash sound man and Simon Humphry, CBS engineer produce the session.
January 29th . Buzzcocks release the 'Spiral Scratch' EP with distribution through Rough Trade. The 7" becomes the best selling record at the Virgin Record shop on Market St in Manchester. The first pressing of 1000 went in days and it was eventually re-pressed throughout 1977 to 16000 copies.Generation X play the Roxy.
January 31st The Damned play another Roxy gig as part of their deal with Andy Czezowski the Roxy's owner and their former manager.
February 2nd
Just
days after the runaway success of the Spiral Scratch EP, Buzzcocks vocalist
Howard Devoto leaves the band. At the time he explained his decision by saying
"I'm tired of noise and short of breath. What was once unhealthily fresh is
now clean old hat." Howard had been one of the originators of punk and had
achieved what he had hoped to. Later he said that he felt that the band were
stuck in a rut with none of the record companies coming up to Manchester to
see them, no gigs being booked and no real direction ahead for the punk movement.
Also as he was still officially at Bolton College he wanted to try and leave
with a qualification. Pete Shelley later commented on Howard leaving " When
we started the group he just wanted to find out what it was like being a rock
star. Once he found out he just left."
It will be interesting to hear what
comes out of the Shelley/Devoto partnership now they are working together again
after 25 years.
February 5th Buzzcocks get their first major coverage in an article charting their history in NME. The piece is written by Paul Morley, a fanzine writer and one of Manchester's first punk s. NME has asked him to write some articles after they had read his fanzine ' Girl Trouble'. Unfortunately the article went to press before Howard Devoto's shock decision to quit music.
