Looking back 1977 was very much my year. This was the year that Punk stormed trough the door of my comfortable, cozy music zone. The previous year I was zoning out to the likes of Neil Diamond, Bad Company, Queen, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, Santana and their ilk, and then suddenenly the likes of Lena Lovich, The Sex Pistols, The Damned, Ian Dury & The Blockheads, The Clash, The Dead Kennedys, The Jam, Radiators From Space etc were my muse! It was truly a revelation for the UK music scene (although Punk rarerly bothered the singles charts), and more specifically for me!
One of the bands that grabbed my attention in 1977 was a pub rock band, formed in 1975, who hailed from Canvey Island in Essex. They were in good company as the likes of Elvis Costello, Graham Parker, Nick Lowe, The Kursaal Flyers, and of course, Dr Feelgood all either came from there or ‘passed through’! This five member band caught my attention because, dispite being of the Punk era, they had both a lead and a rhythm guitarist which I came to understand is my favourite set up. Most of my favourite bands have a bass, a lead and a rhythm guitarist! Their name comes from a dummy called Eddie who also joined the band on stage in the early years, however, he was later dispensed with!
Who knows how I encountered Eddie and the Hot Rods, but if I had to guess I would put John Peel forward as a likely candidate! Anyway in 1977 I bought their second album Life on the Line which included their hit Do Anything You Wanna Do, and this weeks Iona’s choice is a glorious 8.17 long song called Beginning of the End. It was this song that made me realise the benefit of that extra guitar!
And so here it is, a blast from the past, indeed from 48 years ago, enjoy….
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