I was listening to the first two dB’s albums on my iPod the other night, and I forgot that the CD I burned to my iTunes had some singles tacked on. Years ago I landed a six-pack of early dB’s singles, which along with awesome cover art included some songs I’d never heard on the two albums I’d been playing to death in the year leading up to that purchase. Way back when and again the other night I was underwhelmed by the song “Soul Kiss.” I remembered how hearing that song became a Holy Grail issue for me when I was 18 years old. I remembered how finally hearing it didn’t live up to the advance billing I’d somehow accepted as gospel.
Another Holy Grail that I shouldn’t have bothered chasing was that first Buzzcocks ep, Spiral Scratch. It took me about 10 years to finally shell out for that bad boy, and it sucks. The Buzzcocks aren’t the Buzzcocks, to me, without Pete Shelley singing lead. I never minded Howard Devoto singing for Magazine, despite never finding that band half as appealing as the Shelley and Steve Diggle-led Buzzcocks, but Spiral Scratch is not an ep I’d ever recommend tracking down and paying top dollar for – or even buying at a reasonable price as a CD reissue with bonus tracks, as I did.
You may disagree with my particular nonrecommendations, but I’m most interested in hearing your own walk-on-by nonrecommendations.
