Pete Shelley's Homosapien LP - classic or dud?

Sadly, confirmed by the BBC.

Pete Shelley, lead singer of punk band Buzzcocks, dies aged 63 of suspected heart attack https://t.co/OAaSRAEGER

— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) December 6, 2018

oh fuck it. so long pete :(

JUst saw this on Facebook , shared by a relative of his apparently.

Damn. In my opinion Homosapien has a killer title track but XL-1 is a stronger record.

63! He will be eternally young.

RIP:(

fuck... RIP to one of the greats.

fuck

Deep Cut: "Give It To Me" from '84 is very important to me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oclNhYajwo4

Devastated. Such a sublime songwriter and so lovely. He once gave me a pint of champagne with cranberry saying "it'll get you pissed and help treat cystitis." :)

— AMY BRITTON (@amyjaybritton) December 6, 2018

Last chat w/ Pete, Feb 2016: “I went into the kitchen to make a cup of tea after writing Oh Shit in the bedroom. Mum was doing some ironing. She said, Do you have to swear? I said, Yes, mother, I do.”

— Mark Paytress (@Paytress) December 6, 2018

well shit. or oh shit perhaps more appropriate

Sharpest wit of any of those guys around that time.

I leave you with his punchline, you can guess the story I'm sure..

"No, sorry, girls don't give passes to guys that wear glasses"

Noooo! what incredible songwriter.

fuuuck

RIP :(

rip

The two bands that reformed the proper lineup and played gigs I could get to (and did) were Buzzcocks and the Velvets. Television didas well, but I didn't go thought it greedy if me.

Anyway, recently found a cassette of that reunion gig at Brixton academy, was as good as I remembered.

So many good songs and good performances

Just seen the brief tributes on BBC and itv news, now watching news night here it comes.

Yeah, a longer bit of "Ever Fallen in love" oh it just faded.

I guess 6music will be all tributes now.

Hmm, guess not.

Maybe tomorrow

Many of us use boilerplate, i.e. "RIP to one of the greats." Pete Shelley deserves it.

With a band like Buzzcocks and a songwriter like Shelley, the line between hooks and melodies gets a good whacking. I don't know if "What Do I Get" and "You Say You Don't Love Me" are giant hook-songs or songs with indelible melodies. Does it matter?

I almost wrote, "and, god, 'I Believe'" but it would dishonor one of the brutal examples of self-abnegation in rock. But it's not nihilistic -- a person who sang "I Believe" like Pete Shelley did was holding out for another reason to believe.

6music playing a full peel session now.

Hmm, bit jumpy but that might be my TV

No way, Pete Shelley can't be dead ;_;

Don’t have the usual love/hate relationship with him I otherwise would have with an artist I spent a lot of time listening to, just the former.

Checking my Facebook, amazing how many disparate people loved Pete's music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf2DgSJuUHc

this is horrible, horrible news, RIP.

Oh man. Never got to see him play but I had a friendly phone interview with him once, very sweet guy. One of those ones where I was like, "I know you hear this all the time, but your music means a lot to me. Thank you." R.I.P. Pete.

He meant a good deal to me -- as queer artist (even Fine Young Cannibals' "Ever Fallen in Love" cover couldn't hide the gay subtexts; if anything, Roland Gift sounded queeer), as singer-guitarist. Recovering from a deep dive into Can and listening to Buzzcocks a couple hours ago, I noticed how they interpolated Can's use of space and well-timed bits of noise in a pop punk context like no one did.

xps yeah this is all over my FB feed in a way that surprises me and warms my heart

just gonna c&p this great remembrance from Lou Barlow:

I sat next to Pete Shelley for the duration (2-3 hrs?) of the Mojo magazine awards a few years back and it was one of th best -getting drunk with a stranger- moments I’ve ever had.. his asides and comments on the assembled group of rock stars around us in his heavy (and ofter indecipherable) Mancunian accent was as hilarious as u can imagine.. the fact that he was one of the greatest songwriters of all time (his raw, sexual, emotionally vulnerable lyrics were a huge influence on me) was initially too much take but I had no choice but to relax, share the free flowing wine and let it happen (and never let on how much his music meant to me.. that would have blown the vibe) ..the two funniest things I remember were: #1 when the Zombies rose to accept an award he said ‘who are they?’ and commented that the way they stood in line, facing forward in profile silhouette, resembled an LP cover (it did).. and #2 at the end of the night he insisted that he had met my mother, when I assured him that was not in any way possible, he wouldn’t take my word for it until we stumbled out to the sidewalk (right into Joe Elliott from Def Leppard who was v nice and not at all bothered when I spat out ‘hey, yer the guy from Def Leppard!!’) .. it finally became clear that Pete thought I was Kevin Shields.. anyway, Pete Shelley seemed t b living the life that a lot of those Manchester punk/post punk genius guys did/do .. prob partying till the end, not giving a shit in the most glorious way.. he spoke the immortal words ‘no Moët no show-ay’ after all (in reference to his rider requirement).. the Buzzcocks recorded many of my favorite songs that only get better and more miraculous sounding with age.. their first recordings invented hardcore and the sophistication of the songwriting puts them shoulder t shoulder w the Beatles etc. and Pete Shelley was a good hang, condolences t all his friends and loved ones..

wow`

no Moët no show-ay

better than "homo superior-ah in my interior-ah"

def

Sweet story, although that was definitely a Lancasheeeeere accent Pete had and not a Manchester one

... not that Lou Barlow could be expected to spot that!

Here’s my favorite Buzzcocks story—and I wish I could remember if it happened at WFMU or at a college radio station. At any rate, it was sometime in the mid-‘90s, in the U.S.

— Douglas Wolk (@douglaswolk) December 6, 2018

man that's great. I got to see them in '91 or '92 (only recently reformed iirc) at the I-Beam in San Francisco and it was the same kinda thing, like one new song and then six total classics in a row and then another new songs and then six more killer oldies played with fire and meaning.

I interviewed him once too and all I can remember is how nice and funny he was. Oh, and I remember calling the hotel's front desk and asking to be transferred to Pete Shelley's room, which was super cool.

Love these stories! Bummed I never saw them/him live

Heard the news late last night and played side 1 of XL-1 just before I went to bed, lovely and appropriate if atypical closer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEyhprjbz3A

Should have posted this, audio synced to the ZX Spectrum computer program that came with the album
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4X2FG9Jbqw&t=1080s

don't think anyone's posted this yet, ZX Spectrum code which was the last track on XL-1 and made accompanying visuals for each track:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4X2FG9Jbqw

xp gah

looks like I was a second late but got the link right lol

:)

win.

Gratified by how much coverage his death is getting.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/dec/07/pete-shelley-tributes-glen-matlock-pete-hook-jon-savage

Nice, thanks. I clicked through to the other relevant stuff as well. Enjoyed Malcolm Garrett referring to him as the “P.G. Wodehouse of Punk.”

So sad reading that, especially Marc Riley discovering the news while on air. Sounds like one of those guys, like George Michael, whose generosity of spirit and the affection felt for him only becomes widely known after their passing.

> especially Marc Riley discovering the news while on air

same happened when MES died.

(my thoughts went out to radcliffe and maconie when i heard, except radcliffe is off ill and maconie wasn't doing the show this week)

clicked through to the other relevant stuff as well

That Suzanne Moore piece is really good.

only found today. irl i was playing various buzzcocks and shelley for my pop-punk-fan kid the very day he passed! really bummed.

standard style response from me is “someday, sadly, mccartney will pass, and i will say, ‘what a talent! no pete shelley, but RIP.’” damn.

This afternoon I watched They'll Love Me When I'm Dead, the documentary about the making of Orson Welles' The Other Side of the Wind, which plays "Why Can't I Touch It" over the end credits--something that would have surprised me even if the song wasn't suddenly, sadly timely.

Didn't even occur to me that I was playing the Buzzcocks at the dinner table just a couple of weeks ago, because they're awesome

Yeah, I dug out the "Product" box about a month ago, and had the "Operator's Manual" cd in the car.

Oh, and..

. Sounds like one of those guys, like George Michael, whose generosity of spirit and the affection felt for him only becomes widely known after their passing.

― Dan Worsley, Saturday, December 8, 2018 2:36 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Actually, so many people had said what a nice bloke Pete was over a long period, generous to other bands even back then - along with Johnny Clarke.

better than "homo superior-ah in my interior-ah"

I had never seen the video for “Homosapien” before. I like how they went out of their way to place Pete inside the most interior looking of all interiors (hey, and it’s obviously his, he wears matching clothes!). Can’t decide whether this was supreme irony or a way of providing plausible deniability, or a combination of both.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64sxycxRIvI