John Battles
Most of you have probably heard already , but , if not , Pete Shelley from The Buzzcocks abd various solo outings , has died , from a heart attack , at age 63. In the pre- suck , pre- Pop Punk era , The Buzzcocks ( along with The Vibrators , Rezillos , Dickies , Lurkers , Boys and , of course, The Ramones.) merged impossibly catchy Pop hooks with a good solid Punk crunch. They were'nt afraid to eschew politics for themes like unrequited love and sexual inadequacy (Both of which are personal politics.) , but it all came together as good fun. And fun is what he'd want you to have as you play his records , CDs , cassettes , MP3s, Edison Cylinder , whatever you got. I met Shelley twice , and found him to be very pleasant and as funny as all get out. The Buzzcocks were still slugging it out on the concert and festival trail, arguably more in demand than ever. The band broke up twice , then reformed , but their live shows were still a celebration of life , so , celebrate his , now.