GUITARIST STEVE DIGGLE WALKS US THROUGH THE MAKING OF THE BAND’S DEBUT ALBUM, 1978’S ANOTHER MUSIC IN A DIFFERENT KITCHEN
By Mark McStea
ALTHOUGH THE U.K. punk explosion of 1976 was initially a very Londoncentric phenomenon, Buzzcocks — from Manchester in the north of England — were actually one of the very first bands to release a single, “Spiral Scratch,” on their own New Hormones label. But they were pacesetters in a number of ways. Singer Pete Shelley (who passed away in 2018) actually booked the Sex Pistols to play an early show in Manchester. The audience for that event, according to legend, included several Mancunians who went on to form significant bands, including Morrissey from the Smiths, the Cult’s Billy Duffy and members of New Order. Buzzcocks bucked the trend, eschewing bleak nihilism for melody-laden, instant pop classics that saw them score numerous chart successes.
Their debut album, 1978’s Another Music in a Different Kitchen, has long been revered as one of the seminal albums of the punk canon. Below, guitarist Steve Diggle looks back on how the band created this timeless — yet arguably lost — classic.
Buzzcocks were fantastically productive. In 1978 alone you released two albums and five singles. How did you decide what to record for the album with so much material to choose from?
The songs seemed to automatically suggest themselves. They were the best collection of songs we had on hand. We just went in, recorded the tracks that ended up on the album, and no more. There was no unused material. We’d been playing those songs live for quite a while anyway. We’d recorded “Moving Away from the Pulsebeat” for a BBC John Peel session, but I hadn’t really figured out what I wanted to do with my guitar parts at that time.
How long did it take to make the album?
About three weeks. We recorded it at Olympic Studios, which has been the scene of numerous legendary recordings, so that was a buzz for the band. I had the Rolling Stones album High Tide and Green Grass, and there were pictures of the band in the studio on the back of the album sleeve, which really stopped me in my tracks — to think who’d been there before us, including the likes of the Who and Led Zep.
Did you do many takes of each song?
We just did three takes of each track — we recorded them in the same sequence that they appeared on the record — and then decided af
