punkbooks

EVER FALLEN IN LOVE
The Lost Buzzcocks Tapes
by Pete Shelley (Author), Louie Shelley (Author)
Hardcover – 10 June. 2021
(295 pages)
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 178840288X
£14.71 hardback
£9.99 Paperback
Available in Print or Audio.

At Punk Rocker we love a good lyricist! Whether it's the Strummer/Jones inner city anthems or Biafra's pseudo political pantomimes, Penny Rimbaud's Anarcho blasphemy's or even John Foxx's sci fi landscapes, just to name but a few of very many. For they all had many great moments in their respective groups. However none of them had so much of a hint of passion as in emotion (although that could be contested by a few I bet). But Pete Shelley's Buzzcocks will go down in punk folklore (along with his Woolworth's sawn off guitar riffs) as a truly British working class take on life from the forlorn northern back streets.

His lyrics feature predominantly unrequited love songs, remote infatuations, sexual frustrations and brutal rejections. It was Shelley's obsession with emotional curses that will live on forever and beyond. This book does more than recount the feelings he had, it also lets us in on the kind of mood he was feeling at the time of writing or how the band were developing and what the scene was really like around them in those halyceon days of Punk. Pete Shelley's warm, camp nasal whine gave the game away he wasn't your run of the mill punk star miming on TOTP's and batting his eyelids. He was from Leigh and no-one from places like Leigh appears on Top Of The Pops, believe me I know, I've been there. But Pete did, and he sung his songs to a nation. This book throws an intense spotlight on everything Pete done in life, his inspirations for the songs the climate and the day to day culture of life that surrounded him when he wrote them. Its a fascinating read and insight. You will learn such a lot about Pete and Buzzcocks from this book that its definitely one of the best song/biographies I've read in recent years, because it covers so much ground besides the actual song and writing process.

From the snotty DIY delights of 'Spiral Scratch' which was mainly Howard Devotos lyrics on top of Pete's music to the Top 12 of British pop culture within a few years. Pete Shelleys songs exploded in punk and went on to enthrall a much wider audience. Not many punk bands have done that in their career. From the rampant extra curricular activities off 'Orgasm Addict' and its "sneaking in the backdoor with dirty magazines, now your momma wants to know what are the stains on your jeans" to the lustful 'Just lust' with its brilliant "if passion is a fashion, then emotion is a curse"
Buzzcocks were not the most exciting band to watch or peer out at us on 45, they wasn't poseurs or heartthrobs they were kids off the street. Joe Strummer once referred to them as dressed like orphans. But when your hearing a great salvo of songs from off their first album and probably their best 'Another Music In A Different Kitchen', who needs an image? You just lose yourself in the sound and those brilliant tunes. Adolescent self-pity or the adult realization of how much being in love can hurt – and how little you can really do about it. Really does sum up that vibe that Pete Shelley put across They are themes that continued to resonate from Pete Shelley's lyric page and intelligent song structures. Take for instance the emotionally charged 'You Tear Me Up' ...with its D-beat drumming later adopted by bands like Discharge and the anthemic 'Sixteen' with "You only want me because I'm so young!". They just keep on coming. 'I Don't Mind' has to be one of punks most fantastic pop songs, complete with Diggles well timed "ahhhs" and the eye opening..."Reality's a dream". The derided at the time in some quarters of the music press 'Everybody's Happy Nowadays' 45 is one of the few truly ironic anthems from this era with Shelley's Satre shattering mantra - "Life's an illusion, but love is a dream." which even Crass parodied.

The bands biggest hit reaching number 12 in the pop charts and the one number that really made impressions on the masses 'Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've?)'. was never my favourite Buzzcocks song, but you can't help humming along and you appreciate why it became their most popular live number. Coz it simply epitomises Shelley's most romantic perspective. Although he admits everytime they played top of the pops the band were pissed. The mesmerising 'E.S.P' which to this day is still one of my all time faves Buzzcocks tunes done wonders for our senses, so much so you can still hear the refrain ringing in your ears decades later. Pete wrote the riff as far back as '74 and dismisses Extra Sensory Perception simply because if some people had read his mind he'd be punched lol. There's a lot of humour in this book too, its not all sulky heartbreaks and his dry northern sense of humour really does come over.
Whatever your Buzzcocks fix involves, whether its the snottiness of the Devoto era, the campness of the UA voyage or the continued live experience they had been doing for the last 40 odd years, you now have all the facts as to why, when, and how these anthems were written and dressed in some of punks most iconic sleeves by Malcolm Garrett. It's all in here, even an account of the bands finances when they become professional from August 1977 - 1978. So we have to give Louie Shelley's obvious talented trait of piecing it all together for our reading pleasure. It's got some great never seen before images and written with pure Buzzcocks love. When you look back on the work Pete and his fellow Buzzcocks produced, it would be hard to deny their massive appeal, no matter what walk of punk life you subscribe to. Sadly Pete Shelley left us in December 6th 2018, but his songs, his ideas and his thoughts will live on forever in punks most addictive audio moments and redefined in print via this tome.
Peter Don't Care (February 2022)
*****

About the Co Author...
Louie Shelley was a close friend of Pete Shelley's, and no relation. She first met Buzzcocks while working as a journalist on the Manchester music scene in the late 1990s, going on to work with them in various capacities in the ensuing years. She remains involved in Buzzcocks projects, as well as the Pete Shelley Memorial Campaign.

BUZZCOCKS
PETE SHELLEY MEMORIAL FUND