About Buzzcocks
Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band that singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto formed in Manchester in 1976. During their career, the band combined elements of punk rock, power pop, and pop punk. They achieved commercial success with singles that fuse pop craftsmanship with rapid-fire punk energy; these singles were later collected on Singles Going Steady, an acclaimed compilation album music journalist and critic Ned Raggett described as a "punk masterpiece".
Devoto left the band in 1977 and formed Magazine, after which Pete Shelley became the principal singer-songwriter. The classic lineup of Shelley, Steve Diggle , Steve Garvey and John Maher recorded Buzzcocks' first three albums, after which the band broke up in 1981 following a dispute with their record label. The band reunited in 1989 and released six more albums before Shelley's death in 2018. Prolific members during that time included Tony Barber and Phil Barker . The band has remained active, being anchored by long-time guitarist Diggle, who has since also assumed lead vocal duties. As of 2019, the band consists of Diggle, Danny Farrant , Chris Remington and touring member Mani Perazzoli . This line-up released the band's tenth album, Sonics in the Soul in 2022.
Howard Trafford, a student at Bolton Institute of Technology who had been involved in electronic music, placed a notice in the college looking for musicians to play The Velvet Underground's song "Sister Ray". Fellow student Peter McNeish, who had played in a rock band called Jets of Air, responded to the notice.
By late 1975, Trafford and McNeish had recruited a drummer and formed an early version of what would become Buzzcocks. The band formed in February 1976; McNeish assumed the stage name Pete Shelley and Trafford named himself Howard Devoto.
Devoto and Shelley chose the name "Buzzcocks" after reading the headline "It's the Buzz, Cock!" in a review of the television series Rock Follies in Time Out magazine. The "buzz" is the excitement of playing on stage and "cock" is northern English slang meaning "friend". They thought the name captured the excitement of the nascent punk scene and had humorous sexual connotations following Pete Shelley's time working in a Bolton adult shop.
Buzzcocks performed live for the first time on 1 April 1976 at their college. Garth Davies played bass guitar and Mick Singleton, who also played in local band Black Cat Bone, played drums.
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