Recording Darkness on the Edge of Town

Recorded in 1977-78, Springsteen's Darkness on the Edge of Town is one of my all-time fave Boss albums. The Guardian today has an article about it, which includes an excerpt from the forthcoming "Making of..." film, The Promise. Looking forward to it!

This'll Be The Day

I can't let 3 February 2009 go by without a nod to Buddy Holly, who died 50 years ago today, aged 22. 8uddy's band, The Crickets, were the archetype: two guitars, bass, drums. All you need to make great music.

In 1977 I was an enthusiastic guitar apprentice, and thanks to the tutelage of Brian The Singing Postman had a few Buddy songs under my belt. Heartbeat was the first single I ever bought, albeit in the cover version released by Showaddywaddy. The record collection contained Chuck Berry and Little Richard. On tape I had the Beatles' Rock 'n' Roll Music. Primitive, homemade rock 'n' roll that you could make in your garage.

Elvis may have swung an acoustic round his neck, but Buddy had the Fender Strat and could play it. About this time I bought my first electric guitar, a Japanese strat copy (Grantson) and a strange amplifier christened RAW NRG - I think someone made it from a kit. Its metal casing used to vibrate after you'd used it for a while, and had to be suppressed with a weight when used in public. I used it to make primitive rock 'n' roll in my garage, writing songs without lyrics that were named after things near at hand: Tennis Racquet in D Minor, Anti-Freeze, etc.

In 1978 Buddy Holly Lives (20 Golden Greats) came out and was quickly snapped up and played to death. To this day, when I hear a track from that album, I am waiting for the next track in the playing order. One thing's for sure - Buddy Holly will Not Fade Away.

Intro Quiz

Listen to the intro, and name the song and artist.All songs from the UK Singles Chart during 1977. Post a comment with your answers, and I'll let you know how many you got right. I'm hoping you will find some quite challenging.

1. Number 1
2. Number 2
3. Number 3
4. Number 4
5. Number 5
6. Number 6
7. Number 7
8. Number 8
9. Number 9
10. Number 10
11. Number 11
12. Number 12
13. Number 13
14. Number 14
15. Number 15
16. Number 16
17. Number 17
18. Number 18
19. Number 19
20. Number 20

Spanish Stroll on video

Mink Deville singing Spanish Stroll, perhaps even as long ago as 1977.

Courtesy of Mr Dante Fontana's Visual Guidance Ltd. Nice miming. Boy, but those butch backing singers can sing high.

Can you feel it out in Needham now?

Roadrunner by Jonathan Richman is one of my all-time faves. On 2 Feb 2007 I put a two-line entry into Wikipedia about it, and it quickly grew to this. It's a song that has plenty of admirers. Now the Guardian's Laura Barton, who I knew to be a woman of taste and discretion from her remarks on Tupelo Honey, has visited Boston, MA, and driven up and down Route 128 in the dark "with the radio on". She even walked past the Stop 'n' Shop, then she drove past the Stop 'n' Shop - she doesn't say which she preferred, but I suspect the latter. Full story.

I now need to go home to my meagre singles collection and check which side of the 1977 single is Roadrunner (Once) and which is Roadrunner (Twice). In my mind, Once was the one that got all the radio play, and is the later version credited to Richman only, while Twice is the older one with the Modern Lovers.

Forgotten Stories of Punk

The Guardian film & music section is full of 1977 stuff today.

Cake with Johnny Rotten - Jez Scott saw the Sex Pistols on Christmas Day 1977, and Sid Vicious gave him some cake. Let's hope Johnny hadn't given it the same garnish as Glen Matlock's sandwich.

A right royal knees-up - Stuart Jeffries tells the story of Derek Jarman's punk film Jubilee

Roots manoeuvre - Dave Simpson on the strange symbiosis of reggae and punk

A typical day on Radio 1, May 1977

• 6.00am Ray Moore (as Radio 2)
• 7.01 Noel Edmonds
• 9.00 Simon Bates featuring the Golden Hour
• 11.31 Paul Burnett incl 12.30pm Newsbeat
• 2.00pm Tony Blackburn
• 4.31 Dave Lee Travis incl 5.30 Newsbeat
• 7.02 Country Club (as Radio 2)
• 9.02 Folkweave (as Radio 2)