We are shocked and saddened to learn of the passing of Pete Shelley. Pete was the great romantic of the punk era and one of its truly great songwriters. In 1978 it felt like Buzzcocks released a perfect single every two months and they were regularly beamed into the living rooms of our provincial homes via Top Of The Pops like a pop art post punk Beatles . We bought their singles for 49 pence from Woolworths on the day they came out and played them repeatedly, over and over again.. I even remember getting a copy of their Love Bites album for my thirteenth birthday present. Played it to death.
Now it’s 40 years on and we’re all grown up and Domino is the proud guardian of the Buzzcocks incredible catalogue. We have been preparing a re issue campaign for next year which Pete had just signed off on the art and packaging for. We are so sorry that Pete isn’t going to be around for their reissue.
We send our love and respect to Pete and his nearest and dearest and we salute his eternal pop genius.
Laurence Bell