The Currency Of Pop. Week 1. Ep 4.

The best place to buy these records in Hull back then was at Sydney Scarborough's, an independent music retailer in the city centre underneath the City Hall. The problem with that for me was that it involved a bus journey there and back. This cost money. Money that could be spent on....you got it!
So I used to walk half a mile or so to a nearer shop called Tempo Records. Which was generally speaking rubbish. They never had the latest releases in on the day of release or anything useful like that. Or even a week later. This resulted in me occasionally buying a record that I didn't necessarily plan on buying when I walked in the shop, as my purchases were so irregular due to my skintness I desparately wanted to come back with something. The other problem with Tempo was they always put a bloody great black ink stamp with the shop name and address on the back of the picture sleeve. Arses.
Anyway...some records were far too crucial to depend on Tempo for...

Buzzcocks were one of the most important bands to us back then. They made great pop singles and also were not afraid of experimenting with longer, stranger songs on their albums. Oh and they swore sometimes as well.

What Do I Get?/Oh Shit United Artists UP 36348

I bought this from Sydney Scarborough's. Not on the day of release. Oh no. The day before! As part of my O-Level English course I had been to the Library Film Theatre in the city centre to watch Of Mice And Men. When it finished a bunch of us went into "Syd's". There was a full box of these beauties behind the singles counter, ready to be put out the next day when it was officially released. Get in!