Operators Manual | ||||
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Compilation album by | ||||
Released | 12 November 1991 | |||
Recorded | 1976−1979 | |||
Genre | Punk rock | |||
Length | 78:18 | |||
Label | I.R.S. | |||
Producer | Martin Rushent | |||
Buzzcocks chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Robert Christgau | A [2] |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [3] |
Q | [ citation needed ] |
The New Rolling Stone Album Guide | [4] |
Spin Alternative Record Guide | 9/10 [5] |
Operators Manual: Buzzcocks Best is a compilation album by English punk rock band Buzzcocks. [6] It was released in 1991 by I.R.S. Records. [7]
Trouser Press called the album "a concise 25-track career condensation." [8]
Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band formed in Bolton, England in 1976 by singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto. They are regarded as a seminal influence on the Manchester music scene, the independent record label movement, punk rock, power pop, and pop punk. They achieved commercial success with singles that fused pop craftsmanship with rapid-fire punk energy. These singles were collected on Singles Going Steady, an acclaimed compilation album described by critic Ned Raggett as a "punk masterpiece".
Howard Devoto is an English singer and songwriter, who began his career as the frontman for the punk rock band Buzzcocks, but then left to form Magazine, one of the first post-punk bands. After Magazine, he went solo and later formed indie band Luxuria.
Pete Shelley was an English singer, songwriter and guitarist. He formed early punk band Buzzcocks with Howard Devoto in 1976, and became the lead singer and guitarist in 1977 when Devoto left. The group released their biggest hit "Ever Fallen in Love " in 1978. The band broke up in 1981 and reformed at the end of the decade. Shelley also had a solo career; his song "Homosapien" charted in the US in 1981.
ShelleyDevoto was a musical collaboration between singer Howard Devoto and singer/guitarist Pete Shelley. Both were founding members of the Buzzcocks in the mid-1970s, and ShelleyDevoto was their first collaboration in over two decades.
Another Music in a Different Kitchen is the first studio album by the English punk rock band Buzzcocks. It was released in March 1978 by the United Artists record label. This was the third line-up of Buzzcocks, with the guitarist Pete Shelley singing following the departure of the original vocalist Howard Devoto and then the firing of the bass guitarist Garth Smith. The album includes the single "I Don't Mind", which reached number 55 in the UK Singles Chart in May 1978.
Singles Going Steady is a compilation album by English punk rock band Buzzcocks, first released on I.R.S. Records in the United States on 25 September 1979.
Homosapien is the second solo album by British musician Pete Shelley, released in 1981. The album follows his experimental instrumental album Sky Yen and his work with the group Buzzcocks, who initially disbanded in 1981. Homosapien saw a marked departure from the punk stylings of Buzzcocks' records, being heavily influenced by the programmed synthesizer sounds and drum machines of synthpop, with the addition of Shelley on acoustic guitar. The title track was released as a UK single and was banned by the BBC due to explicit homosexual references, but was nevertheless a hit in several other countries.
All Set is the fifth studio album by English pop punk band Buzzcocks. After standardising their line-up of vocalists and guitarists Pete Shelley and Steve Diggle, bassist Tony Barber, and drummer Phil Barker for the band's previous album Trade Test Transmissions (1993), the band's first record since their reunion in 1989, the band toured relentlessly which inspired the band–especially Shelley–to create a new album. Hiring longtime punk rock producer Neil King to produce and engineer All Set, the band recorded in Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California, a studio where then-huge pop punk bands like Green Day, to whom Buzzcocks had been a big influence, had recently recorded music engineered by King.
Modern is the sixth studio album by English pop punk band Buzzcocks. After the critical success of the band's previous album All Set (1996), the band became disillusioned with trying to be a rock band and set out to become more "modern," thus birthing the project. Recording the album in Chipping Barnet with the band's bassist Tony Barber producing, Modern sees a strong electronic music influence, with electronic instruments and drum machines featuring on the songs, especially those written by Steve Diggle, who wrote five of the album's songs whilst Pete Shelley wrote the other eight songs.
Stephen E Diggle is an English guitarist and vocalist in the punk band Buzzcocks.
Buzzcocks is the seventh studio album by English pop punk band Buzzcocks. It was released on 18 March 2003 by record label Merge.
Love Bites is the second studio album by English punk rock band Buzzcocks. It was released on 22 September 1978, through United Artists Records.
A Different Kind of Tension is the third studio album by English punk rock band Buzzcocks. It was released in September 1979 by record label United Artists.
Trade Test Transmissions is the fourth studio album by English pop punk band Buzzcocks. It was released on 2 June 1993 by record label Castle and was their first release in fourteen years, following up 1979's A Different Kind of Tension. The music was quite different from their earlier material with nods to the power pop scene popular at the time.
Spiral Scratch is an EP and the first release by the English punk rock band Buzzcocks. It was released on 29 January 1977. It is one of the earliest releases by a British punk band. The EP is the only Buzzcocks studio release with original singer Howard Devoto, who left shortly after its release to form one of the first post-punk bands, Magazine.
"Orgasm Addict'" is a song by the English punk rock band Buzzcocks. It was the A-side of the Buzzcocks' first single, with "Whatever Happened To...?" as the B-side, which was released on 4 November 1977 by record label United Artists.
Stephen Garvey is a musician who is known for being the bass guitarist of the punk band Buzzcocks, forming part of the classic line-up of the group, from 1977 to 1981, and, again, from 1989 to 1992.
Flag of Convenience were a rock group formed in 1982 by former Buzzcocks members Steve Diggle and John Maher, along with bassist Dave Farrow and keyboard player D.P. Through their first two line-ups they were managed by the writer and music critic Michael Gray, shortly after his personal management of Gerry Rafferty. Hence the band's first single was produced by Rafferty's co-producer Hugh Murphy. The band continued with changing line-ups until 1989, with later incarnations releasing records under the names F.O.C. and Buzzcocks F.O.C. The final incarnation of the band included former member of The Stone Roses Andy Couzens and former Inspiral Carpets drummer Chris Goodwin, who both went on to form The High. The band ended when Diggle joined Pete Shelley in a re-formed Buzzcocks, the reunion prompted by controversy over the use of "Buzzcocks" in the billing of Diggle's band.
"I Don't Mind" is the third single by punk rock band Buzzcocks, released in 1978. It charted at number 55 in the UK Singles Chart. Backed with "autonomy", both songs appear on the Buzzcocks' debut album, Another Music in a Different Kitchen.
The Way is the ninth studio album by English punk rock band Buzzcocks. It was released on 1 May 2014. It is their final album to feature Pete Shelley before his death in 2018.