Punk: The Original By Punk Magazine

The post punk explosion of the late 1970’s/early 1980’s is regarded as one of the most exciting periods of music making explorations in Bristol. The period is now being revisited, seen as being even more relevant to do so as there is the 2020’s surge of new acts reviving and mining the seam of the genre. Fast forward nearly half a century (gulp!) from that first post punk period and the ever-active chroniclers of West Country musical history, Bristol Archive Records, have focussed on this heady epoch with ‘The Bristol Post Punk Explosion (1978-82)’ compilation release, out on vinyl and digital.

As part of The Stranglers' celebration of their Ruby Anniversary, the definitive collection of the B-side recordings they made whilst signed to Epic is released for the first time, via their own label. Appropriately, as befits a band marking forty years together, Here & There: The Epic B-sides Collection 1983-1991 gathers 40 tracks across 2 CDs and is also released as a 40 track digital package. The Stranglers released no less than 13 singles in the UK during this period, which saw them produce five albums: four studio and one live. The Stranglers signed to Epic Records in 1982 having been with United Artists / Liberty since 1977. The change of label coincided with changes in marketing policy across the UK industry - often dubbed "the Frankie Goes to Hollywood effect". Previously, The Stranglers' had released only one 12" single - an extended version of Bear Cage in 1980 - but from 2nd Epic single, Midnight Summer Dream until 1990, each release had a 12" version which required extra studio or, increasingly, live tracks to "add value" to the package.

This video compilation from Asleep By Dawn, which calls itself "a music and lifestyle magazine for the nonconformist with discriminating tastes," features a variety of interesting, offbeat bands with distinctive visual styles…

Expanded double disc editions on vinyl and CD of LC, the second studio set by The Durutti Column, originally issued by Factory in 1981 and ranked among Vini Reilly's finest albums.

On 1978: The Year The UK Turned Day-Glo, we investigate the sounds of 1978 as the original punk template fractured into a dazzling day-glo riot of sub-genres: new wave, post-punk, proto-Oi, power-pop, punk poets, the mod revival, ska-punk, synth-oriented electronic/industrial music and a whole load of additional noises that, over forty years later, have still to be classified by the fifth estate, the fourth column or even the Third Reich. We document various regional scenes, paying close attention to the likes of Manchester, Scotland and, in particular, Northern Ireland, where the arrival of punk was a life-affirming relief from the horrors of everyday life.

A pop music band from California in the sunshine pop genre, The Association are known for their tight vocal harmony. In the 1960s the group had numerous hits at or near the top of the Billboard charts…