Unglued Reviews

ā€™77: The Year Of Punk & New Wave
Henrik Bech Poulsen
(Helter Skelter Publishing)
382 pages

There are a plethora of books available about the punk movement, but ā€™77 manages to find a unique perspective on the phenomenon by focusing almost exclusively on the year of 1977. It begins by setting the scene and documenting the musical revolution that occurred when those two sevens clashed, and also features several pages worth of quotes from original 1977 punks about the cause that they were a part of. But the bulk of the book, and its raison dā€™etre, is a comprehensive, heavily illustrated list of every punk or new wave group from the UK and Ireland that released a record during the titular year. (And the meticulous scope is clearly defined ā€“ for example, although Siouxsie And The Banshees were active in 1977, they donā€™t get an entry, because they didnā€™t release a record that year.)

Each artist gets their own entry with a biography (ranging up to several pages for the better known groups) and discography focusing purely on 1977, with potted details about subsequent years/releases. As such, this is a goldmine for record collectors and trainspotters ā€“ but the wealth of background details revealed make it interesting even for those who donā€™t need to know, for instance, that 999ā€™s Nasty Nasty 7ā€¯ was released in three different versions (black vinyl, green vinyl and a gimmick promo spinning at 78rpm, if you were wondering). Admittedly, Poulsenā€™s style is often clumsy (this is his first book) but his obvious enthusiasm for the subject is both endearing and contagious.

Owen Heitmann