In the midst of what could be termed a punk rock explosion in the UK landed this incendiary record. And the fact that the album is still a favourite talking point for guitarists over 40 years later sustains it's recognition as a classic album.
In the seventies I treated my weekly copies of NME like a bible. Yes, it was already 2 months old before it got to my local newsagent but I would read it from cover to cover. Looking for clues about what was the best music out there. Often records would be bought without ever hearing what they sounded like. None of this punk rock was on the radio. There was no Spotify. There was only print. Or word of mouth. Or we went into the record store and asked the guy behind the counter to play it for us. After reading about it. We trusted the journalists to describe what was on the piece of plastic.
So I would buy The Ramone's first album because the reviewer compared it to the sound of jackhammers on a New York Street.
Marquee Moon was reviewed by Nick Kent in the NME. It was a two-page spread. And it sold the record to me. Actually, I would more often than not buy a record if Nick Kent recommended it. He was uber cool. Maybe because of the time delay of when we got these magazines but often the records would be in the shop when you read about them. So I was on my bicycle to Box Hill and home within the hour with the LP. And it was almost as Nick described it. Especially the sprawling title track. A lot different to what had been coming out of the UK.
It was great. And with all the great records, the first thing I wanted to do was get some friends around to listen to it.
