It’s 50 years since punk rock first arose from the streets of London to mortify great swathes of polite British society. 50 years since The Damned, the Vibrators and the Sex Pistols released their debut singles. And 50 years since all three of them, plus The Clash, The Buzzcocks, Subway Sect, Chris Spedding, Stinky Toys and - playing their first ever show - Siouxsie & The Banshees gathered across two nights in a basement club on London’s Oxford Street to show the world what punk rock was really all about.
The audience was equally noteworthy. Sid Vicious was there, both in the crowd and onstage with the Banshees, Gaye Advert and TV Smith, Paul Weller, Shane McGowan, Chrissie Hynde, Jah Wobble, Colin Newman, Kevin Haskins and David J…. And, over the next couple of years, all of them would join the onstage performers in releasing some of the most trail-blazing singles of the late 1970s.
Cleopatra Records has long been conscious of the significance of the two evenings - it is 30 years now since the label released the Banshees’ tribute album Reflections in the Looking Glass, showcasing the very best of the 90s gothic scene that Siouxsie and co. themselves inspired.
The Vibrators have released some half dozen albums on the label over the years, showcasing both old and new material, ncluding the Punk - The Early Years collection, on which they pay their own musical tributes to at least some of the bands on the festival bill, and reunite too with guitarist Chris Spedding, with whom they recorded their very first single.
And you can catch Spedding on Cleopatra, too, as his mercurial guitar playing tears up Joyland - a star-studded collection that draws in musicians from throughout his career - including the Pistols’ Glen Matlock!
“I produced the three-song demo that got [the {Pistols] their deal with EMI,” says Spedding. “I’ve since done several projects with Glen over the years… so I'm glad Glen was able to play on a track for me.”
The Clash are remembered on covers collections by fellow first wave punkers Eater (Duplication) and Scottish invaders The Skids (Songs From A Haunted Ballroom), while Eater (who we spotlighted in the last installment of Cleopatra’s Punk 50 celebrations) also tackle the Buzzcocks, the Damned and the Pistols.
Who, in turn, are represented in the Cleopatra catalog by the aforementioned Sid Vicious - bassist for the Pistols following the departure of Glen Matlock, and destined, across what remained of his tragically short life, to release two of the very last truly classic punk singles of all, Eddie Cochran’s “Something Else” and Frank Sinatra’s “My Way.” Relive ‘em both on Sid’s 1979 live album Jack Boots and Dirty Looks.
As for The Damned, their first appearance on Cleopatra was back in 1993, barely two years after the label was founded, and they’ve been popping up in the catalog ever since. But we cannot forget Not Of This Earth, the 1996 album that saw the band join forces with Alan Lee Shaw, whose band The Maniacs released the eternal classic “Chelsea 77”; and Fiendish Shadows, a 1985 live album that made its vinyl debut just a couple of years back as Live At Woolwich Coronet.
And it closes (or near enough) with “New Rose,” the song that opened (or near enough!) the band’s 100 Cub set, a full half a century ago this very month.
Meanwhile, punk’s 50 year celebration charges on, and Cleopatra Records joins the party with a catalog brimming with first wave punk rock giants.
From The Damned to Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers, and ex-Runaway Cherie Currie to the Dead Boys (whose own latest release, the live Time Warp Baby was released on June 12); from The Members and The Vibrators to 999, and The Skids, brilliant new releases and precious archive treasures alike have lit up the shelves, and every month through 2026, Cleopatra Records will be spotlighting a fresh classic from the catalog.
Last time around it was Eater’s Duplication. Next month… hmm. Wait and see. But this month, we raise a glass to the 100 Club festival, not only for what it represented back then, but also for all that it unleashed thereafter. Of course we can’t go back in time to witness the real thing. But Cleopatra Records can certainly give you a taste of what it was like!
