Buzzcocks

Ah, life is grand. The Buzzcocks have reunited after a nearly decade long hiatus. Emerging out of Manchester, England at the end of the 70s, these four guys unleashed a new vigor on rock music, blasting out their tightly structured songs of longing and a search for meaning. These weren't just songs. They were forces that resonated the muddle of identity and brought an adrenaline surge beat to the chaos of youthful, directionless striving. I have to believe they changed a lot of lives besides mine.
    Lumped in with the punk movement of the time—they toured with the Sex Pistols and The Clash—their music had a softer edge to it, a more adorable side. It wasn't about rebellion and anger, though the fervency and breakneck push of their songs might have tricked the unwary. Leader Pete Shelley's lyrics most often were addressed to a "you," a lover just gone or someone he wanted to develop a relationship with. No time for frills, his lyrics were direct, stripped down to the simplest syntax in order to get his message across: "It's in my blood to always love you more." Or he questioned everything, looking for a raison d'tre: "I wanted to live in a dream that couldn't be real."
    After a decade of wondering whatever happened to the boys, suddenly they're back together on a quickly assembled tour, playing with as much power and command as before. I have to admit that at their Ritz show, where I caught them on November 10th, early on their reunion tour, I was impressed that they still had the endurance for two hours of these zealous tempos. At the sound check, I was able to chat with each member. Each was amiable and happy to talk. I came away even more charmed with the band.
    Pete and the band's other guitar player, Steve Diggle, have kept at music since the Buzzcocks broke up. Pete, who's been living in London the last five years, released a few solo records whose sound moves well away from the Buzzcocks to an almost theatrical, lush syntho pop. Steve has "been doing my own band, Flag of Convenience. We've been playing in Europe, England mostly. There's been the odd record but we never toured the states as a band."
    Having made up perhaps the strongest battery in rock, the other two members, Steve Garvey (bass) and John Maher (drums), had dropped out of music altogether. "I was playing with different bands for awhile," Garvey said, keeping his eye on his 4-year-old son running around the empty Ritz dance floor, "but it was like banging my head against the wall. It's tough to make a living. Especially if you have a family. Except if you're an especially good musician, which I never was."
    "What?" I questioned, astounded.
    "I'm a one-dimensional musician. I'm good at what I do but to be a good working musician you have to be very versatile, which I'm not."
    In fact, he was reluctant to get back together with his former band and had to be talked into it. He'd been working as a carpenter. When I mention that I think that the Buzzcocks have had a tremendous influence on music, he seems amused at the idea and offers, "I swear, we're bigger now than we were then." And, with a wary glance at my tape recorder, "I don't do interviews. I'm too stupid to do interviews. Too honest as well. That's my problem. I say the wrong things all the time."
    I won't repeat what he had to say about the record company who's very late getting the reissue of their material out. But when the set, titled "Package," comes out from the California-based Restless Retro, the three-CD set will contain the music from all their albums, plus some reissued studio and live material. The LPs are being reissued individually on CDs and cassettes as well.
    Pete beamed an inviting smile as I approached. I blubbered, "It's great to have the band back together."

Pete Shelley: It's great to be back.
GM: What prompted the reunion?
Pete: Well, there were rumors that we were getting back together. So we just checked out what reaction there was to those rumors. 'Cause people were asking us with a view to putting on concerts and things. It seemed like the right thing and as soon as we got an offer we put it around to everybody and then we said yeah, let's do it.

GM: I've seen three solo LPs of yours since the breakup. Are you going to be doing anything from those records?
Pete: No, it's a total Buzzcocks experience. We now have 57 songs to choose from. So as it is, we're doing all our personal favorites. If we were going to do any of our own solo stuff, it'd be hard because we could be leaving out a song which could be somebody's favorite.

GM: How's it feel to be doing songs from 10 years ago?
Pete: It doesn't seem like 10 years.

GM: The songs sound so fresh.
Pete: People always said we were ahead of our time. Originally, this could have been called a reunion gig but it doesn't feel like that. We're doing what we're good at doing, you know. I'm well enjoying it. It's great. The shows have all been wonderful.

GM: What's your raison d'etre now?
Pete: Same as it ever was. I still ask all the same questions. And the same answers are in there in the songs. If you know where to find them. It's good. They still seem to translate, to transcend.

GM: 10 years ago you guys were punks.
Pete: We still are. Punk is just a name given to a certain era. Some people thought of it as a fashion or a certain stance but really it was just a state of mind.

GM: How does this tour compare to what you were doing back then?
Pete: There's still nobody doing what we're doing. We're still in the vanguard. [laughs]

GM: Did you ever tour as a solo act?
Pete: Yeah. Did a tour in '82 and another in '86. Me and Steve have been carrying on with it. That's all we know how to do.

GM: Is there a new record in the works? What are the plans?
Pete: There's no plans at the moment. We're taking things as they happen. We're over here till the end of the month then we go over to Britain for about a week of dates. Then, there's other things coming in. Agents want to send us off to tour in Europe, Australia and Japan, Brazil. So, it's turning into a world tour. And as long as we enjoy doing it it's well worth doing. And then people enjoy it. We're a lot better now cause we're more accomplished musicians. We've matured like fine wine. The success part of doing what we do is people feeling that our songs meant something to them.

(Cover, February 1990)