Pete Shelley / Buzzcocks

Pete Shelley, founder and leader of the definitive punk/new wave band Buzzcocks who were responsible for great tunes such as "Ever Fallen In Love", "Everybody's Happy Nowadays" and "Orgasm Addict".

Shelley originally penned 'Homosapien' for the fourth Buzzcocks album, but when the group disbanded he took the song with him.

The title track to his first post-Buzzcocks solo album shifted the emphasis from guitar to synthesisers and dance rhythms, providing the blueprint for scores of electro-dance hits to come.

Pete Shelley played all of the instruments on the recording and when it was released in mid 1982 the title track, 'Homosapien', shocked many people. It's scintillating synth-pop bubble beat and sexually ambiguous hook made it an immediate dance-floor favourite and a model for numerous early 80's club hits to follow.

2002 saw the long awaited release of "Buzzkunst". This was the much anticipated reunion of Pete Shelley and Howard Devoto. Together they formed Buzzcocks in 1976, releasing the seminal EP 'Spiral Scratch' just as Devoto left to form his own group, the hugely acclaimed Magazine. Shelley and Devoto's initial brief collaboration revealed a creative chemistry which seemed to scorch the air around it, minting newness from the friction of opposed ideas: touting the convulsions of philosophy, for instance, in the form of a ram-raiding three minute pop song.

This collaboration derived from the sheer enjoyment of working together in Shelley's front room. Whether it becomes a one-off for ShelleyDevoto still remains to be seen, but like Iggy Pop's 'Kill City' or Fripp and Eno's 'No Pussyfooting', Buzzkunst has the feel of a record which will mark an era.

Shelley returns in 2003 with a new Buzzcocks studio album released through Cherry Red Records. The album is untitled.