Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Teenage Kicks - The Undertones
2. Town Called Malice - The Jam
3. Hanging On The Telephone - Blondie
4. Rock The Casbah - The Clash
5. Geno - Dexys Midnight Runners
6. Too Much Too Young - The Specials
7. I Don't Like Mondays - Boomtown Rats
8. Squeeze - Up The Junction
9. Reward - The Teardrop Explodes
10. Making Plans For Nigel - XTC
11. Jilted John - Jilted John
12. Turning Japanese - The Vapors
13. No More Heroes - The Stranglers
14. Hersham Boys - Sham 69
15. At The Edge - Stiff Little Fingers
16. Babylon's Burning - The Ruts
17. Neat Neat Neat - The Damned
18. Into The Valley - Skids
19. Nellie The Elephant - Toy Dolls
20. Splodgenessabounds - Two Pints Of Lager & A Packet Or Crisps Please

Disc 2:

1. Ever Fallen In Love - Buzzcocks
2. Baggy Trousers - Madness
3. Mirror In The Bathroom - The Beat
4. Brass In Pocket - The Pretenders
5. Antmusic - Adam & The Ants
6. Echo Beach - Martha & The Muffins
7. Boys Don't Cry - The Cure
8. Sound Of The Suburbs - The Members
9. If The Kids Are United - Sham 69
10. New Rose - The Damned
11. My Perfect Cousin - The Undertones
12. Valley Of The Dolls - Generation X
13. Anarchy In The UK - Sex Pistols [Demo]
14. Roadrunner (Twice) - Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers
15. Germfree Adolesents - X - Ray Spex
16. 7teen - The Regents
17. Poison Ivy - The Lambrettas
18. Time For Action - Secret Affair
19. Boxerbeat - Jo Boxers
20. Summer Fun - Barracudas

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11622 in Music
• Released on: 2008-02-26
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: Box set
• Dimensions: .24 pounds

Album Description
Teenage Kicks chronicles one of pop music's most exciting periods--the glory days of punk and new wave. The album includes a whopping twenty-seven Top Ten Hits, eight of which went all the way to No.1 in the Official UK Singles Chart.

Comprising knockout classics from The Undertones, The Jam, Blondie, The Buzzcocks, Dexy's Midnight Runners, Madness, The Boomtown Rats and many more, every single tune is an instant sing-a-long classic, sure to stir up fond memories of when music was vibrant, outspoken, and always refreshing.

Starting with that most iconic of tracks, "Teenage Kicks" from The Undertones, through "Too Much Too Young" from The Specials to "Pretty Vacant" from the Sex Pistols, this album is sure to satisfy music lovers who have a passion for great music which still holds a powerful message.

Customer Reviews

Taking me back...
Teenage Kicks

This one brought back some memories...

Watching Top of the Pops with one of my cousins who was obsessed by the Boomtown Rats. We had to stay very quiet as she sang along to "I don't like Mondays". The video featured scary "Village of the Damned "type kids and Geldof wearing big, white framed sunglasses. This was pre Saint Bob days so Geldof at this stage was just a scruffy post punk lead singer with attitude and a weird voice.

"Too much too young"; the first single I ever bought. My dad had a very dim view of the Specials. I think it was because they looked like one of those rough little gangs that you'd see hanging around the local shopping centre.

"Town like Malice" is one of those songs that contains more hooks than an entire top 20's worth of records. One of those records that, when heard on a pub jukebox now, sends men of a certain age and background into a sort of reverie. "Ah, where we ever so young?"

I remember going on a school holiday abroad in France and hating every minute of it. The only thing that made that week bearable was a copy of "Kings of the Wild frontier" that one of my mates brought with him. We'd beg the teachers to play it on the coach's cassette player and when the driver stuck it on, there'd be a big cheer. Adam Ant was cool back then and "Antmusic" his coolest song ever.

Everyone knows Jilted John's song, but probably won't recognise it by the title alone. But once he starts to whinge that "Gordon is a moron" you'll get an irresistible urge to join in. Play this in your car and you will be shouting along to John's tale of woe. Go on. You know you want to.

Secret Affair & The Lambrettas were part of the sound track of my mod phase. The mods made a comeback of sorts in 1980 and that led to the strange sight of boys as young as 11 wearing loafers, fish tail parkas and little union jack badges. And white socks. But then all the boys wore white socks then. This was just before the Casuals appeared who favoured the golfing sweater and Farah trousers.

The Pistols were just before my time but I do remember seeing them on the Bill Grundy show where they said a few rude words and the media seemed to think that they represented the end of civilisation. Punks were weird and exotic and seeing them in public was like seeing a parrot sitting on a garden fence next to a row of starlings. I remember seeing a punk girl with a brightly coloured Mohican on a railway platform when I was about 9 years old. I just stared and stared.

Even back then, I never knew quite what to make of the Clash. Where they poseurs or were they for real? "Rock the Casbah" is perhaps their most immediately accessible song but it seems to lose a bit of its power each time you hear it.

I was in love with Debbie Harry. Me and my mate Chris both had Parallel Lines and we'd memorise the lyrics to all the tracks then sing them on the bus home from swimming lessons.

Still with me?

If you're in your 30's or 40's and was into the new wave / post punk / mod music that predated the Indie scene that appeared just afterwards then you'll probably love this. If you're none of the above you should give it a whirl because some of the tracks on here are nuggets of pure pop gold. And of course, it features John Peel's favourite song (Teenage Kicks). And who's going to argue with the late, great Peely?

The thing is...
there are sooo many late 70s/early 80s compilations that there needs to be something different about any new ones to make them worth investing your hard earned cash in, especially a full price double album. All the tracks here are lifted from between 1977 and 1984 with most from 79 & 80 and, while you would find it hard to quibble with most of the inclusions, are there any you couldn't find on 101 other (possibly cheaper) compilations? Its a mish mash of styles with more emphasis on punk and anything that includes XTC is always worth considering, although Senses.. again?? The inclusion of New Rose is an inspired choice, as is the rarely compiled Secret Affair's Time for Action, although quite why the Joboxers are there is anyone's guess. These apart its one of those "name a band and you can probably guess what song it is" type collections. 4 stars for the quality of stuff here, lose 1 star for lack of imagination!!!

Midlife kicks.
Now the thing about this compilation is that if you were around when these tracks were new you probably have them all on vinyl 7" and you cant bear to hear them without the crackle. It just isnt right. However if you are a 17 year old who thinks they just invented sex, drugs, rock and roll, bought a few green day and killer records then this is about ideal. It has all the anthems on it and its a blooming good party album. Me? Well i'm 36 and i was slightly too young to be at the concerts but young enough to say "i was there" Reward by Teardrop explodes was my first ever single (that said i also bought toyah wilcox and all the fame LP's so i wasnt that cool really) and now i do the cleaning and the ironing and run at the gym listening to the pain of teen anxt on my cd walkman. Its cool but if you are a purist then stick to record fairs and buy the originals to play on your reconditioned Linn Sondek with LP12 cartridge and Nad speakers because you cant kid me you are still sitting in in bus shelters listening to a transistor radio.