About this item

Things moved at some pace in the early years of UK punk and not much moved faster than Mark Perry, founder of Sniffin’ Glue, the fanzine that would inspire a thousand others and lasted for only 12 issues from July 1976 to August 1977.

SG12 came with a free flexi of the first track from Perry’s group Alternative TV. ‘Love Lies Limp’ was a reggae-grounded lament for impotence – or at least for lost desire – that was as far from a stereotypical punk track as you could get. It was a statement: ATV were going to break the moulds quicker than the mould factory could make them.

Most punk groups hit a spot and stood on it, either embroidering their style or echoing themselves. Perry’s ever-changing combo were restive, forever eyeing the next zone. Whatever they tried, you always got the feeling they were going somewhere – and would probably get there. Where they ended up each time tended to be a step further away from commercial success or easy categorisation.

Their trajectory from providers of thinking fan’s Can, reggae and even Zappainfluenced punk to arguably the first avant-garde outfit to emerge from the new wave is encapsulated in their two sessions for the John Peel show, released here on vinyl for the first time, in Sniffin’ Glue’s 50th anniversary year.

On the first session there’s an Auntie-protects-sensitive-ears version of ‘Love Lies Limp’, censored by a comic car horn, and ‘Action Time Vision’ – as close to a signature tune and trad punk as they got. ‘Still Life’ is a hard, slow driver from the first LP, ‘The Image Has Cracked’ (one of the essential debuts of the era, whose variations suprised fans and telegraphed the group’s intent). Perry considers the take on ‘Life After Life’ here, with “wonky” guitar solo, better than the single release.

Session two looked back a bit and forward a lot, with ‘The Good Missionary’ and ‘Release The Natives’ at the core – lenghty, improvised signposts on the road to the second LP, ‘Vibing Up The Senile Man (Part One)’. Creative repetition, droning guitars and the spirit of free jazz had arrived and ATV were spinning off in a direction musical miles from that of their peers. The session is completed by live favourite ‘Going Round In Circles’ and a sultry ‘Nasty Little Lonely’.

Perry has propelled ATV through the decades accompanied by a cast of dozens, switching sounds and styles, and active up to this day. These sessions, released in a limited edition of 350 with sleeve notes by Perry and vintage images including an Alternative TV family tree, catch his group in the raw at a crucial early junction on their long journey.

TRACK LISTING

1. Love Lies Limp
2. Action Time Vision
3. Still Life
4. Life After Life
5. The Good Missionary
6. Release The Natives
7. Going Round In Circles
8. Nasty Little Lonely