Buzzcocks (UK)
It's the buzz, cocks!
Hardly a much more legendary guest could the 40-year-old Ilosaarirock Festival hope for: it's the Buzzcocks, founded in 1976 in Bolton, England and widely held to be one of the godfathers and true icons of punk pop. Eight studio albums, more than twenty singles and EPs and an endless number of compilations make Buzzcocks a true heavyweight champion of its genre. And in a contest of bands whose songs have been covered most often, Buzzcocks is easily up there with the winners.
The quartet, which has sometimes been called "The Beatles of punk", was born amidst the musical revolution that had, by then, been underway for some time in Britain. Under the influence of a Sex Pistols show they had seen in London, founding members Pete Shelley and Howard Devoto put together a band that later claimed its well-deserved place in the holy trinity of British punk rock – the other two in the triangle being the Pistols and a certain mob called The Clash. Buzzcocks threw Top40 hits to its ecstatic audience one after another, with Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've) the shiniest family jewel of them all – yes, it's a Buzzcocks song, in case you didn't know.
The band split in 1981, but was back on track eight years later. There have been some changes in the line-up over time, but frontman Pete Shelley is still as energetic as ever, backed by an almost original guitarist Steve Diggle, bass guitarist Tony Barber and drummer Danny Farrant who, according to Shelley, learned 30 songs in just two days when he joined the Buzzcocks.
Bands who have confessed to have been inspired and influenced by the Buzzcocks include Nirvana, Green Day and R.E.M., in addition to the great number of other punk pop/power pop/alternative bands from the last four decades with an unpayable debt to this pride of North England. The Buzzcock's gig at Ilosaarirock Festival's 40th birthday party is very likely to become almost a religious event, where punk rockers, hipsters and other lost-in-music types capable of valuing timeless tunes find solace and comfort in Shelley’s words: "It's a labour of love fucking yourself to death"! Be there like it's 1976! You can miss this only once!
