bidhardcore.com

I am no skinhead, that much is obvious, and while Cocksparrer is no hardcore band, they are one of the finest and most accessible punk bands ever. But pertaining to the site here, their ‘77 single Runnin’ Riot (maybe their first bonafide anthem), is such a flawless cut of proto hardcore. It’s a little Chuck Berry’d/Angus Young’d/Steve Jones’d out, but add a little speed and this is as good as the best numbers by any top tier early 80’s HC band, except that the vocals are delivered in the way of actual singing. It’s got such a massive million dollar chorus it’s just impossible not to get swept up by it, a perfect combo of tuneful chords and generalized teenage rebellion. The way it hangs for a couple seconds before driving back into the verse is a great tension builder too, and after the second time through you get that amazingly weird and great solo, that starts way out in left field.

Sister Suzie backs this one and it’s a more conventional pub rocker. Could be a Sex Pistols song, but it’s a bit too well written to really fit them. It reminds me a lot of Slade or something actually. I think Bon Scott could have recording a really killer vocal for this, and in fact it may be one of the bigger tragedies of his untimely demise that he was not able to. The riff is actually really similar to Pure Hell’s punkified version of Lee Hazelwood’s “These Boots” (as sung by Nancy Sinatra)… kinda funny I guess. Good jam, but a sleazy bar rockin’ sex jam can only get you so far when stacked up against one of the greatest British rebellion songs of all time (fuck off Lennon, but R.I.P. Harrison).

So after consulting with resident former skin Cooch, I was able to determine that only Spanish and Portuguese come with this sweet picture sleeve, and as such, you’re gonna pay out the nose for one.