Volume three of the Greater Manchester Punk series, released by Vinyl Revival records, limited to 500 puke coloured vinyl copies, unearths 14 more rare and previously unreleased gems from the Manchester punk/new wave scene 1977-1981.

Includes previously unreleased tracks from Local Heroes, Chaos, The Things, Pure Product, Emergency (recorded at the legendary TJM studio / rehearsal rooms) and Mellotron.

Also featured are two tracks, never released on vinyl by The Cliches (Mark Burgess pre-Chamelons) and one of the uk’s rarest punk singles by Rochdale band The Singles which has sold for £2800 and was recorded at the now legendary Cargo Studio with only 100 being pressed.

Volume 1 was compilation of the week on Lauren Lavern’s BBC6 morning show. With 2026 being the 50th anniversary of punk this compilation is the ideal addition to any punk collection.

Band information:

The Cliches

Mark Burgess, Kenneth Grimes, Carl Huddart. Formed in Middleton in 1978. Tracks Rock Of Ages and Whole Wide World recorded in Feb 1980 but never released until they appeared on a Mark Burgess compilation cd in 2004. Mark went on to form The Chameleons in 1981 and Kenneth went to study at Oxford University.

Local Heroes

Ken Park, Colin Schofield, Alan Wild and Flea. Formed in Rochdale and recorded a handful of tracks at Cargo Studios and released one single Blast The Pop in 1980.

The Teardrops

Jim Donnely, John Key, Karl Burns and Trev Wain. Recorded at Smile Studios and released in 1979 on Tony Davidson’s TJM label. Karl Burns was also a long standing member of The Fall.

Chaos

Mark Bill. Andrew Kynaston, Garry Abbott and Steve Brown. Formed in 1978 and tracks were recorded at Drone Studios Manchester. Supported The Hoax, Seventeen (The Alarm) and due to their unruly behaviour were band from a number of venues.

The Singles

Niall Drennan, Gerard Towey, Mark Grabowski and Paul Taylor. Band members were from Rochdale and Oldham and formed in 1978. Recorded their only single at Cargo with a pressing of only 100 copies. Now classed as one of the rarest Uk punk singles with one copy selling for  £2800 in 2012. Their claim to fame was they supported Siouxsie and The Banshees in Manchester in 1978.

The Things

Timothy Lyons, Dave Holmes, Joe Brehony, Ella Metcalfe and John Maher.Formed in Manchester around 1980. John Maher joined after leaving the Buzzcocks. Released one single Pieces Of You on the Manchester Imperial Records label in 1980. Joe Brehony is currently still playing with The Distractions.

Twisting Ferraris

1980. Rae, Clive Wilkinson, Paul Nicholl and Phil Gorman. Little known about this band but recorded at Cargo in 1979 and released on local label Round Records, Moston in 1980.

Armed Force

Aki, Muppet, Lynda, Jim, Colin and Norman. Local favourites on the Manchester punk scene playing with bands such as Joy Division, The Fall etc. Also recorded at Cargo studios in 1979 and released the same year on their own AFI label.

Pure Product

Phil Rainford, Andrew Ratcliffe, Chris Page, Peter Hooker and Dugald Somerville. Soth Manchester based and released one single, Rejection on the Streets Ahead label run by Bob Jefferson who also used to promote local bands including the Joy Division at Bowden Vale Youth Club Altrincham. Phil Rainford also joined The Durutti Column for a short time.

Emergency

Ralph Bowe, Stuart Bowe, Dave Midwood, John Midwood and Dave Murray. Another local live favourites who rehearsed at the now legendary TJM studios. Also headlined a gig at The Mayflower with Joy Division as support. The band changed their name to Foreign Press in 1979 and had more success signing to EMI records.

The Relatives

Shaun Carter, Ian Cameron, Raymond Lyness, and Dave Brown. Oldham based band who recorded their only single at Smile Studios in 1980.

Septimus

John Kirkbride, Jonny Newman, Alex Flanagan and Andy Hurley. Another Oldham based outfit who recorded their single at Pennine Studios and released in 1977.

Mellotron

Dave Tucker, Pete Barnett, Maurice Vanderburgh and Karl Burns. Another band who rehearsed regular at TJM Studios and had one of their singles Warriors From Space appear on the TJM compilation Identity Parade. Waystation was produced by Pete Shelley (Buzzcocks).

 

Tracklist

Side A

1  The Cliches  Rock Of Ages

2  Local Heroes  Sanctuary For Parliament

3  The Teardrops  Seeing Double

4  Chaos  Fakt

5  The Singles  Mercy

6  The Things  Pleasures Of The Mind

7  Twisting Ferraris  Lipstick

Side B

1  Armed Force  Attack

2  Pure Product  You And Me And The Clothes People Wear

3  Emergency  False Information

4 The Relatives  As A Child

5  Septimus  Do You Wanna Touch My Safety Pin

6  Mellotron  Way Station

7  The Cliches  Whole Wide World

 

Available to order from all good record shops and Vinyl Revival records next week