The Vibrators

The Vibrators are year-zero godfathers of singalong punk who shook the world in ten days; that's how long it took to record their iconic, hook-filled 1977 debut Pure Mania. Outlasting safety-pin peers such as the Clash and Sex Pistols, they toured with Mott the Hoople's Ian Hunter manimal Iggy Pop. Singer Knox later joined Charlie Harper of UK Subs in the Urban Dogs, after boot-boys the Exploited carried the Vibrators' ominous "Troops of Tomorrow" to the Mohawked masses. Musically, the Vibrators keep history well-tucked in their tunes: up-tempo proletarian pub-rock ("Sweet Heart"); street-punk with clandestine pop vibes ("Yeah Yeah Yeah"); rhythmic glam-rock strides ("Whips and Furs"); and take-no-prisoners rock and roll ("Petrol"). One prime cut, "Baby Baby Baby," sounds like a stripped-down, broken-neon version of the Raspberries or Tommy James, and was later covered by R.E.M.