ZONES - 'Stuck With You'

01 - Stuck With You
02 - No Angels
Zoom ZUM-4, 1978.

Born out of Glasgow teenyboppers Slik, via PVC2, and losing Midge Ure on the way. Not quite as punk as the excellent PVC2 single but retains enough energy to give it that vital spark that's missing from the band's later output on Arista Records.

THE PRAETORS - 'Pink'

01 - Pink
02 - Across The Corner
Paprika PST-0433/180, 1980 (Belgian pressing).

There's some truly bizarre facial hair involved here. Still, Belgian musos The Praetors knock out some killer melodic punk rock on their debut single 'Pink' which spent five weeks in the Belgian top 30 in July/August 1980. The B-side is quite different and hints at the ska-ish sound that developed on later records. Most of those later records were on the Monopole label which is revered amongst fake punk enthusiasts for releasing Bobby Ranger's sublime 'Punke Punke' and King Louis' police siren fueled noise-fest 'The Fuzz On My Bag'.

THE BERNIE TORME BAND - 'I'm Not Ready'

01 - I'm Not Ready
02 - (She's So) Free
Jet S-JET-126, 1978.

Dirty Dog once supported the Bernie Torme Band at the Marquee. Cliff Cresswell noted that Bernie Torme had quite a bad stutter, but it didn't seem to affect him once on stage. There's certainly nothing stuttering about this fine muso-punk 45.

DEMOB - 'No Room For You'

01 - No Room For You
02 - Think Straight
03 - New Breed
Round Ear EAR-3, 1981.

The 2nd of two singles from Gloucester punks Demob. 'No Room For You' is described as 'disappointing' by Vernon Joynson in his book 'Up Yours'. Now, even allowing for personal taste that must be one of the most ridiculous things ever written in any punk/new wave guide. 'No Room For You' is without doubt a 100% certified punk classic!

The two B-sides have a more typical early 80's punk sound, but make up for in energy what they lack in melody. The band's debut 'Anti-Police' is also worth picking up and has a nice fold-out poster sleeve. It's a pity they never made more records.

THE POOH STICKS - 'Go Go Girl' + 'Hard On Love' flexi discs

01 - Go Go Girl
02 - Simon E
Cheree CHEREE-3F, 1989.

01 - Hard On Love
Woosh WOOSH-007, 1989.

OK, let's see if The Pooh Sticks get a better response than the Mondo Billie Davies record did? These two flexis were released a few months after the Swansea band's 'Dying For It' 45 and both include exclusive recordings.

'Go Go Girl' was written by Marc Bolan and originally recorded by John's Children. Musically The Pooh Sticks approach it in much the same way as they did with their cover of The Vaselines 'Dying For It'. 'Simon E' is best described as 'twee-punk', and is short and to the point, the point being The Pooh Sticks didn't like a certain Rough Trade employee.

The sound quality of the 'Hard On Love' flexi isn't the best. It's a great song though and came with the added bonus of a 'Pooh Sticks Rock Like Fuck' fanzine. I'm not sure I'd want The Pooh Sticks to 'rock like fuck', and I don't think they ever did except maybe in Trudi Tangerine's imagination.