VA - The Bristol Punk Explosion 1977-1979 (2023)

Originally released in May 2010 on CD only and entitled The Bristol Punk Explosion 1977-1983, Bristol Archive Records have decided to revisit their roots, Bristol Punk, but only focus on the original first generation of bands.

We are delighted to bring you a twelve-track compilation entitled ‘The Bristol Punk Explosion 1977-1979’ issued on ’Fluorescent Punk Pink Vinyl’ and limited to three hundred copies only.
The sleeve notes are written by Shane Baldwin (Vice Squad drummer) who would have been motivated and influenced to form his own band by watching these Bristol punks across various venues and locations across the city. There are six previously unreleased tracks never before available on vinyl.

The Cortinas were the first. They played the Roxy Club, released two singles on Mark Perry and Miles Copeland's Step Forward label, graced the front cover of Sniffin' Glue and recorded a Peel Session. Guitarist Nick Sheppard remembers the night it all slotted into place: “I think a real turning point for us was seeing the Ramones at the Roundhouse on July 4, 1976 – we definitely started to write our own songs after that gig. We had been playing and doing gigs for about a year by then – all covers apart from one song, Tokyo Joe as I remember. After that gig we started writing stuff like ‘Television Families’. We saw people like us in the audience at that gig, and it must have given us confidence.”

Taking their cue, bands like Social Security (the first band on Heartbeat Records), The Pigs (whose ‘Youthanasia’ single was released by Miles Copeland's New Bristol Records), The Primates, The Media, The Posers, 48 Hours and The Verdict gave Bristol one of the strongest provincial early punk scenes, mainly centred around the Clifton area and Barton Hill Youth Club.

The area of Barton Hill also gave us The X-Certs, who by 1978 could already pull audiences of five hundred into Trinity Hall, without the aid of a safety net or record contract. Though we did not realise it at the time, they effectively bridged the gap between the late 70s Bristol scene and what our American cousins like to term the UK82 bands.

As the years moved forward from 1977 bands from the suburbs of Bristol started to appear on the scene Vitus Dance, The Numbers from Yate and Apartment from Downend, a leafy suburb of North Bristol.

This compilation is designed to give all fans of Punk a snapshot of what Bristol Punk was all about during that period. We celebrate our heroes of the time, let them be remembered for ever!

Bristol Boys Make More Noise!