10 Forgotten 70s Singles You Need To Hear

When punk rock emerged it stood in opposition to almost every other genre going. It spat on the conventions of classic and hard rock; guitar solos were considered self-indulgent, and polished production was for try-hards. And you could forget about disco - it was vacuous, surface-level pop drivel!

Punk was about playing hard and fast and not really caring if it sounded good - as long as you displayed an enthusiasm for all out anarchy, you were onto something. But not all punk groups were as viciously raw as the Sex Pistols. You want the energy of punk rock but with a little more rhythm and melody? X-Ray Spex is what you've been missing. Although they were short lived on the London punk scene, they made one hell of an impression.

Lead singer, Poly Styrene, had all the energy of a Jack Russell hyped up on amphetamine. Her wild vocal performances and erratic onstage presence become the gold standard for the UK punk scene - if you couldn't match her energy you weren't worthy of fronting a punk group. Their biggest single, Oh Bondage Up Yours! was driven by a wailing sax riff. The lyrics denounced oppression in any form it took, and the energy was simply infectious. Sure, the Sex Pistols were great, but they didn't have s**t on the Spex.