Buzzcocks - Sessions and Otherwise

Steve Diggle some time in 1977, I believe.

I am very excited to be attending this special show next month, so here is a somewhat different Buzzcocks retrospective for your potential enjoyment. It contains a Small Faces cover from a tribute compilation, three bonus tracks from the Japanese edition of the "All Set" album, some TV and radio appearances, two radio-transmitted shows from 1979/'80 and one from 1990, a quite wonderful Steve Diggle solo EP ("Heated and Rising"), and a short acoustic session of his own. Actually, the whole first disc of this collection gravitates much more heavily towards Diggle than the Buzzcocks' official discography, and I am very pleased with that, because although he was always relegated to the status of second frontman, I always thought his songwriting and voice were absolutely up to par with Shelley's. His post-Buzzcocks career, both solo and in various band guises (Flag of Convenience, Buzzcocks F.O.C.), is criminally underappreciated and obscure, which is a pity, because those albums are brimming with excellent power-pop/rock songs that more than deserve to be heard. I hope this look at his work will make someone curious enough to check that stuff out - I don't think you'll be disappointed. Of the rest of the material, I am quite partial to the Toronto show, which is no "Entertaining Friends" in terms of sound quality, but is still good-sounding enough to warrant repeated listenings, especially since there hardly was a better live band than the Buzzcocks in 1979; and there is a poignant moment during the Manchester show when Pete dedicates "Strange Thing" to Ian Curtis, who had died a day earlier

A poster for the Toronto show featured here.

Track listing:

Disc One:

1. Here Come the Nice (The Small Faces Cover) (2:55)
2. Holding Me Down (3:52)
3. Television World (3:49)
4. Everyday Sky (3:39)
5. Harmony in My Head (In Bed with Me Dinner 1994) (2:59)
6. Libertine Angel (In Bed with Me Dinner 1994) (2:34)
7. Promises (In Bed with Me Dinner 1994) (2:12)
8. Autonomy (Fuel TV Session 2008) (3:43)
9. Peel Talks (Peel Session 2003) (0:22)
10. Driving You Insane (Peel Session 2003) (2:20)
11. Peel Talks (Peel Session 2003) (0:28)
12. Certain Move (Peel Session 2003) (2:40)
13. Peel Talks (Peel Session 2003) (0:25)
14. Lester Sands (Drop in the Ocean) (Peel Session 2003) (2:32)
15. Peel Talks (Peel Session 2003) (0:10)
16. Jerk (Peel Session 2003) (2:01)
17. Peel Talks (Peel Session 2003) (0:06)
18. Steve Diggle - Heated and Rising (2:50)
19. Steve Diggle - Over and Out (3:42)
20. Steve Diggle - Terminal (3:31)
21. Steve Diggle - Wednesday's Flowers (3:13)
22. Steve Diggle - unknown (The Independent Session 2011) (3:12)
23. Steve Diggle - Planet Star (The Independent Session 2011) (2:42)
24. Steve Diggle - Harmony in My Head (The Independent Session 2011) (4:15)

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Disc Two:

1. Everybody's Happy Nowadays (Live at Hultfredsfestivalen 1990) (3:40)
2. What Do I Get? (Live at Hultfredsfestivalen 1990) (3:18)
3. Ever Fallen in Love with Someone You Shouldn't've? (Live at Hultfredsfestivalen 1990) (2:58)
4. Successful Street (Live at Hultfredsfestivalen 1990) (5:20)
5. Nothing Left (Live at Hultfredsfestivalen 1990) (4:51)
6. Why Can't I Touch It? (Live at Hultfredsfestivalen 1990) (3:54)
7. Isolation (Live in Texas 1993) (3:48)
8. Palm of Your Hand (Live in Texas 1993) (3:16)
9. Unthinkable (Live in Texas 1993) (2:30)
10. Interview (Live on Jonesy's Jukebox 2004) (18:55)
11. What Do I Get (Live on Jonesy's Jukebox 2004) (2:50)
12. Interview (Live on Jonesy's Jukebox 2004) (2:08)
13. Sell You Everything (Live on Jonesy's Jukebox 2004) (2:19)
14. Flat-Pack Philosophy (Live on Jonesy's Jukebox 2004) (2:48)
15. Interview (Live on Jonesy's Jukebox 2004) (3:05)
16. Fiction Romance (Live on Jonesy's Jukebox 2004) (5:22)

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Disc Three:

1. I Don't Mind (Live in Toronto 1979) (2:32)
2. What Do I Get? (Live in Toronto 1979) (3:05)
3. Love You More (Live in Toronto 1979) (2:07)
4. Harmony in My Head (Live in Toronto 1979) (3:38)
5. Sixteen (Live in Toronto 1979) (3:54)
6. Autonomy (Live in Toronto 1979) (3:54)
7. Moving Away from the Pulsebeat (Live in Toronto 1979) (5:43)
8. Nothing Left (Live in Toronto 1979) (4:44)
9. Noise Annoys (Live in Toronto 1979) (3:19)
10. Breakdown (Live in Toronto 1979) (2:06)
11. Orgasm Addict (Live in Toronto 1979) (2:18)
12. Ever Fallen in Love with Someone You Shouldn't've? (Live in Toronto 1979) (2:52)
13. Promises (Live in Toronto 1979) (2:24)
14. Everybody's Happy Nowadays (Live in Toronto 1979) (4:18)
15. Boredom (Live in Toronto 1979) (2:47)
16. Oh Shit (Live in Toronto 1979) (1:56)
17. Fast Cars Intro (Live in Toronto 1979) (1:31)
18. Fast Cars (Live in Toronto 1979) (2:20)
19. I Don't Mind (Live in Manchester 1980) (3:22)
20. Ever Fallen in Love with Someone You Shouldn't've? (Live in Manchester 1980) (3:13)
21. What Do I Get? (Live in Manchester 1980) (3:38)
22. Strange Thing (Live in Manchester 1980) (4:11)
23. Why She's a Girl from the Chainstore (Live in Manchester 1980) (2:30)
24. What Do You Know? (Live in Manchester 1980) (3:50)
25. Autonomy (Live in Manchester 1980) (3:32)

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