David Bowie - Life on Mars

Sure I'm not the only one who had this running through their head all day today.

Cowboys International - Aftermath

The Cowboys' first or maybe second single, released in 1979. It doesn't hit the heights of their masterpiece, "Pointy Shoes", which I've already posted, but it's still a good solid specimen of lost early new wave.

Gang of Four - I Found That Essence Rare

Entertainment! is a great album from start to finish but this is probably my personal favourite on it - catchy as hell and with sharp, clever lyrics, the kind that sound good even if you don't know what they mean and sound even better once you work out what they do mean. This is why I love the Gang of Four.

Simple Minds - Chelsea Girl

Now here's a trip down memory lane. What a different band Simple Minds were back then! The keyboards remind me of a Van Morrison song (not that one), Jim Kerr looks like Gary Numan, and there's some rather wankery guitar in the middle. Still, there's an infectious song underneath it all, and I love an infectious song no matter how embarrassingly it's dressed.

Their second single, from 1979.

The Radiators from Space - Television Screen

You'd never know it from looking at most British accounts of the era but there was more to 1970s Irish punk than the Undertones and Stiff Little Fingers. Dublin had a thriving scene too, and the Radiators from Space were probably the best known, or at least they're the best remembered now. They were one of (if not the) earliest Dublin punk bands, formed in the pub rock era. You can hear that influence on this song, which was their first single, in 1977.

They've reformed in the past few years (hasn't everyone?) and just released a new album. I haven't heard it yet but it's been pretty well-reviewed.

The Teardrop Explodes - Camera Camera

B-side to their 1979 debut single, "Sleeping Gas". It barely sounds like the Teardrop Explodes; in fact, to my ears it barely sounds like Julian Cope singing. Come to that, it barely sounds like "singing" at all. But it's still a good song.

Fatal Microbes - Violence Grows

I haven't posted any anarcho-punk for yonks now, so here's a classic from the genre. Fatal Microbes were a London band that included two children of the Poison Girls' Vi Subversa - amazing that she was old enough to have two children in their own band in 1979 - who later went on to form Rubella Ballet, the resemblance to whom is quite noticeable. I don't think the Microbes ever recorded anything after this, so they're pretty much the epitome of the one-hit wonder. Except it wasn't really that much of a hit, except among anarchist punks. Which I never was, incidentally, though I did find a lot of their music interesting.

If you're here solely for the indiepop, and don't like anything harsh, discordant or screechy, this isn't the one for you.

The Clash - Safe European Home

One of the more controversial Clash songs, due to the...erm...unfortunate ambiguity of Joe Strummer's intentions in writing it. Just try to ignore that (I do), because it is, really, a tremendous track in every other respect.

From 1978.

T.Rex - Mambo Sun

I've been posting a lot of really obscure stuff lately so here's something a bit better known. It's the first T.Rex song I can remember falling in love with. And I still love it - it's such a great example of how the most ludicrous, senseless lyrics can sometimes say so much.

Public Image Ltd - Public Image

I never took to PiL, despite being a big fan of early post-punk generally. I'm not really sure why. I still find John Lydon one of the most interesting musical personalities around, so maybe I should go back and give his band another listen.

Anyway, here's one I always did like: their debut single, from 1978.

David Bowie – Kooks

Always loved this track from the 1971 album Hunky Dory, which is one of my favourite Bowie albums. It was written for his then infant son Zowie. The kids in my own extended family always seem to enjoy it, too.

The Riptides - 77 Sunset Strip

Following on from that Pointed Sticks post a little while ago here's some more classic but somewhat forgotten late '70s punk-pop, this time from Australia (Brisbane, to be precise). Robert Vickers of the Go-Betweens was in an early incarnation of this band, who I gather were significantly better known in their native country than outside of it.

This was their first single.

Patti Smith - Kimberly

I was planning on writing an intelligent piece about this song - because really, it's a bit of an insult to the wonder that was Horses to post a song from it without writing something intelligent about it - but unfortunately the pub intervened and I am not really in a fit state to write anything intelligent about anything. Let's just say that this is a very enjoyable and underrated track from an album that you should already own anyway.

Pointed Sticks - Out of Luck

Vancouver power-pop. This is an absolute belter of a single, from 1979. It was re-recorded for the Sticks' lone album the following year but this is the version you want.

Seriously this one is a classic.

Generation X - Kiss Me Deadly

Gen X's reputation as a cartoon-punk band isn't entirely undeserved, but at least a few of their early songs have stood the test of time as solidly memorable punk-pop hits quite apart from all the nonsense that surrounded them. This one in particular - from their 1979 self-titled debut, not the 1981 dud that bore its name - really has to be seen as a true classic, and one of the most authentic-sounding teenage rebellion anthems ever recorded. It certainly triggers all my own memories of misspent youth every time I hear it.

Plus, it's just a deadly (sorry!) tune.

Wire - Outdoor Miner

"Great pop songs" aren't exactly the first thing that come to mind when you think of Wire, but how else could you describe this one? It has all the charm, brevity and infectiousness of anything on C86, as well as some of the most entertainingly inscrutable lyrics ever. The closest thing they ever had to a hit, and deservedly so.

It's from their second album, Chairs Missing from 1978.

Not an official video but goes well with the song.

Blondie - 11:59

Album track from Parallel Lines and the b-side to the "Heart of Glass" single. That was the first record I can remember buying and I loved it so much I wore it right out. Only this side, I mean. I don't think I even listened to the a-side very much.

What a great pop song it still is. There's just nothing about it not to love.

Stiff Little Fingers - Barbed Wire Love

While I'm in a nostalgic mood, here's a great track from Belfast's finest. Some of the puns in this song are the stuff of genius; others... not so much.

Originally released on their 1979 debut Inflammable Material. Not sure when or where this performance took place.

Big Star - Stroke It Noel

Here's one from Big Star's Sister Lovers album that you don't hear an awful lot about, but it's such a lovely, sad, haunting song. You'd be afraid to turn down his request for a dance, he sounds like he might top himself if you say no.

Love the strings on this one too.

X-Ray Spex - Identity

I had something else lined up for today but then I heard the news about Poly Styrene's untimely death. I cannot even begin to explain how much this distresses me. People always throw out words like "icon" and "legend" when someone dies but she really did fit those descriptions, particularly for awkward teenage punk girls like me (once).

I'd heard about her cancer but hadn't known it was so serious, so the news really came as a complete shock. It's a very small consolation, though, that she's trending on Twitter and over half the people on my Facebook friends list seem to have posted a tribute to her - so at least she's getting the recognition she deserves.

'Bye Poly. And thanks.