| The Roxy London WC2 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Live album by Various | |
| Released | July 1977 |
| Recorded | January–April 1977 |
| Venue | The Roxy, Covent Garden, London |
| Genre | Punk |
| Label | Harvest Reissue 1: Receiver Reissue 2: Sanctuary |
| Producer | Mike Thorne |
The Roxy London WC2 is a live album of recordings taken from various punk bands that played at The Roxy club in Covent Garden, London between January and April 1977.
The original Harvest Records release in 1977 (cat. no. SHSP 4069) included tracks by Eater, Johnny Moped, and the Unwanted that were left off the 1991 Receiver reissue (cat. no. RR 132). Also, the Boys, the Damned, Sham 69 and U.K. Subs appeared on the reissue but not the original. Finally, even for bands that appear on both discs, some of the tracks have been changed (e.g. Wire's "1 2 X U", X-Ray Spex' "Oh Bondage Up Yours!", etc.) The Receiver album was re-released in 2001 by Sanctuary as a double CD set.
The original 12-track album reached No. 24 in the UK Albums Chart and spent five weeks in the chart. [1] The album was described as "seminal" by The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music [2] and others. [3] In 2004, it was recognised as one of the five "Classic Punk Rock Compilation LPs" of all time, [4] with writer Johnny Normal declaring, "Capturing the full force of the first wave head on, The Roxy is an essential historical reminder of the power and the glory of punk rock". [4] Author and critic Dave Thompson called it "one of the most important (and poorest sounding) live albums ever made, a document of the Roxy Club from on and off stage". [3] However, it has also been described as "a punk rock album of 10 unknown acts who can barely play". [5]
Paul Marko's book The Roxy London WC2: A Punk History (2007) delved deeper, featuring more obscure bands than those on this compilation.
Buzzcocks is 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 music journalist and critic, Ned Raggett, as a "punk masterpiece".
X-Ray Spex were an English punk rock band formed in 1976 in London.
The Adverts were an English punk band who formed in 1976 and broke up in late 1979. They were one of the first punk bands to enjoy chart success in the UK; their 1977 single "Gary Gilmore's Eyes" reached No. 18 in the UK Singles Chart. The Virgin Encyclopedia of 70s Music described bassist Gaye Advert as the "first female punk star".
The Punk Rock Movie is a British 1978 film that was assembled from Super 8 camera footage shot by Don Letts, the disc jockey at The Roxy club during the early days of the UK punk rock movement, principally during the 100 days in 1977 in which punk acts were featured at The Roxy club in London.
Slaughter and the Dogs are an English punk rock band formed in 1975 in Wythenshawe, Manchester. Their original line-up consisted of singer Wayne Barrett McGrath, rhythm guitar Mick Rossi, drummer Brian "Mad Muffet" Grantham, lead guitarist Mike Day and bassist Howard Bates.
Howard Devoto is a retired English singer and songwriter, who began his career as the frontman for punk rock band Buzzcocks, but then left to form Magazine, an early post-punk band. After Magazine, he went solo and later formed indie band Luxuria.
The Roxy was a fashionable nightclub located at 41–43 Neal Street in London's Covent Garden, known for hosting the flowering British punk music scene in its infancy.
This is a timeline of punk rock, from its beginnings in the early 1960s to the present time. Bands or albums listed before 1974 are of diverse genres and are retrospectively called by their genre name that was used during the era of their release.
Germfree Adolescents is the 1978 debut album of English punk rock band X-Ray Spex. It contained the UK hit singles "The Day the World Turned Dayglo", "Identity" and "Germ Free Adolescents" which reached No. 18 in November 1978. Upon release, the critics noted it wasn't all new material: five songs on the twelve tracks had already been released on A-sides and B-sides of singles.
Eater are an early British punk rock band from North London who took their name from a Marc Bolan lyric.
Damaged Goods is a British independent record label.
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.
Johnny Moped are an English punk rock group formed in South London in the mid-1970s, who once had Chrissie Hynde and Captain Sensible as members.
D.O.A.: A Right of Passage is a 1980 rockumentary film directed by Lech Kowalski about the origin of punk rock. The rockumentary takes interview and concert footage of some of punk rock's earliest bands of the late seventies scene. Features live performances by the Sex Pistols, The Dead Boys, Generation X, The Rich Kids, X-Ray Spex, and Sham 69, with additional music from The Clash, Iggy Pop, and Augustus Pablo.
Garth Smith and sometimes credited as Garth, was known for being one of the bassists of the Bolton formed punk rock band, Buzzcocks.
Pogo A Go Go! is a cassette album released by NME Magazine in 1986, reflecting on the punk/new-wave era. It contains some rare or unreleased tracks by well-known artists such as the Sex Pistols, The Clash, Elvis Costello and the Attractions and The Stranglers as well as less known artists such as The Nipple Erectors, Victim and Johnny Moped.
"Oh Bondage Up Yours!" is the debut single by English punk rock band X-Ray Spex. Released in September 1977, it is regarded by critics as a prototypic example of British punk, though it was not a chart hit.
Jak Airport was the guitarist of 1970s punk band X-Ray Spex and new wave band Classix Nouveaux, before retiring from music and working for Vision Video and the BBC.