Coming at the tail end of Punk was this masterful record by Irish band Stiff Little Fingers. Sure it harked back to the sound of 1977 but it did it with such style and melody and commitment it was just the stuff I could relate to. This was how I was trying to write songs. Fast and furious. But with a pop edge. I loved this band but unfortunately, this was where me and my old group of friends really started to diverge. While playing in bands in the late 70s I saw less and less of my old friends. But 1979 was where I kind of stopped seeing them altogether. The last time I got together with them I brought this over. We used to have record listening parties but for them after the Pistols and The Stranglers and The Clash this was the last time they wanted to hear my rubbish. Actually, I knew it was over two years previously but we had kept our friendship together over the sounds of Roxy Music and Bowie the like.
Towards the end of the year a group of my newer friends started talking about the Mod revival in the UK and since we were already into the style (as opposed to punk) began working on a Fanzine. Being in a band I started working on putting together a night. Although I rejected a lot of the punk bands especially hating Sham 69 I remained a fan of The Clash and Stiff Little Fingers. Truly great bands. I even had a soft spot for Generation X.
In 2020 Stiff Little Fingers played at the Croxton Hotel in Thornbury. My other band The Fiction scored the support gig. I was pretty sick that night but there was no way we were pulling out. If you're in a band the show must go on. And COVID was just around the corner and there would be no more gigs for a year. Not that I knew that then. In the end it was a great night. When they played Alternative Ulster they raised the roof.
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