Music Review: Stars (I mean Punks) on 45 Stars on 45 - The Original Version on Youtube - A Novel and Groundbreaking Medley of Punk Classics

 

By Rob Curry

When “Stars on 45” was released in January 1981 you couldn’t escape this addictive ear worm. Although I know many Beatles fans who were not happy with the mixing of the Archies with the greatest rock and roll band of all time. Thinking back, this song was way ahead of its time with sampling different tracks and mashing up different artists. Listening to it today it is hard to recall how novel that approach was in 1981.
 
At around the same time (or who knows, maybe it was before “Stars on 45”?) there was a similar medley of punk songs released. “The Punk of 1976” was released by the Friendly Hopefuls . If you are a fan of that era of music,  “The Punk of 76” may appeal to you more than “Stars on 45” and is just as addictive. No “Sugar, Sugar” this time, but the intro gives you a little UK punk rock history intro to get started.

 
Hey, hey
Remember that day
In 1976
When the music scene was boring
Until along came this

Watch here:

 
The song then launches into snippets of songs by the some first generation UK punk bands. I’ve listed the songs after the link to the song, so don’t peek until you see how many of the songs you can name.  

 
THE FRIENDLY HOPEFUL TRIBUTE-the punk of 76 medley (youtube.com)
 
Buzzcocks “Boredom”
Eater “Outside View” (an obscure choice, but the singer from Eater is the singer on most of the snippets so he slipped in a song of his own.)
The Damned “New Rose”
The Jam "In The City”
The Clash “Career Opportunities”
Sex Pistols “Liar”

  

Some TMI  for the music geeks out there - the medley starts with “Boredom” but the first UK punk song released in 1976 was the damned’s “New Rose”. Now, you may ask, what was the first US punk song? When there’s no simple answer that question and that just might be the subject of a future article so stay tuned.

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