VARIOUS ARTISTS > > ŒBRISTOL THE PUNK EXPLOSION¹ > > Released worldwide on 14th June 2010 > > > > 20 STUNNING TRACKS 7 OF WHICH NEVER PREVIOUSLY RELEASED > > > > The Cortinas were the first. They played the Roxy Club, released two > > singles on Mark Perry and Miles Copeland's Step Forward label, graced the > > front cover of Sniffin' Glue and recorded a Peel Session. Guitarist Nick > > Sheppard remembers the night it all slotted into place: ³I think a real > > turning point for us was seeing the Ramones at the Roundhouse on July 4 > > 1976 we definitely started to write our own songs after that gig. We had > > been playing and doing gigs for about a year by then all covers apart > > from one song, Tokyo Joe as I remember. After that gig we started writing > > stuff like Television Families. I think we saw people like us in the > > audience at that gig, and it must have given us confidence.² > > > > Taking their cue, bands like Social Security (the first band on Heartbeat > > Records), The Pigs (whose Youthanasia single was released by Miles > > Copeland's New Bristol Records), The Primates, The Media, The Posers and > > The Verdict gave Bristol one of the strongest provincial early punk > > scenes, mainly centred around the Clifton area of Bristol and Barton Hill > > Youth Club. > > > > Barton Hill also gave us The X-Certs, who by 1978 could already pull > > audiences of 500 into Trinity Church, without the aid of a safety net or > > record contract. Though we didn't realise it at the time, they effectively > > bridged the gap between the late 70s Bristol scene and what our American > > cousins like to term the UK82 bands. > > > > Vice Squad and Heartbeat Records boss Simon Edwards formed Riot City > > Records toward the end of 1980, releasing the band's first single Last > > Rockers in January 1981. It sold well and after a second Vice Squad single > > the label recruited other Bristol bands like Portishead lunatics Chaos UK, > > Court Martial and The Undead, while Disorder recorded for their own label, > > all achieving impressive sales. The less said about Chaotic Dischord, the > > better. > > > > Lunatic Fringe, with the mighty Bear Hackenbush on vocals, recorded their > > first single on the short-lived Resurrection Records label. > > > > The Bristol Punk Explosion brings you all these bands, and closes with a > > track from Death Metal Monsters Onslaught. Before all this ³Spitting blood > > in the face of Gaaaahd!² malarky, Onslaught were a Discharge-style > > hardcore punk band, and here we include the snappily-titled Thermo Nuclear > > Devastation Of The Planet Earth from their first demo. In short, this is > > the history of Bristol punk, from its very beginnings, through the early > > 80s, and up to the point when hardcore began to morph into thrash, metal, > > and, um, thrash metal. > > > > (Sleeve notes by Shane Baldwin Vice Squads Drummer and Record Collector > > / Big Cheese Journalist) > >
