The Sex Pistols may have been a cynically manufactured band, but the one thing they did do is inspire a substantial number of people who saw their early shambolic gigs to go out and start their own punk bands. In 1976 Marianne Elliot-Said (better known as Poly Styrene) did exactly that by putting a small ad in the music papers and so X-Ray Spex were formed. They were an unusual band in many respects, not least for their anti-capitalist and feminist lyrics and probably the only early punk band to feature a saxophone which was the perfect foil for Poly Styrene’s wailing vocal style. I was slightly too young for the first wave of punk, but hearing songs like Identity and the sessions they did for John Peel certainly left an impression on me as a dorky, germ free adolescent. Oh-Bondage-Up-Yours-tastic!
