TOM ROBINSON BAND: The Song, Not The Singer
My choice had been simple. The Buzzcocks are a straight pop group, entertaining and predictable, but TRB had hit real trouble. The critics descended on TRB 2 like vultures, picking over its pieces with cackles of disdain. People were beginning to say, "I told you so, never did think much of their music.
TOM ROBINSON BAND: The Song, Not The Singer
by Simon Frith
Thanks to some promotional moves, the Buzzcocks and the Tom Robinson Band played Coventry on the same night one week in late March. TRB delayed their appearance to give the Buzzcocks fans time to cross town, but, by then, it was too late. People had had to choose and the two concerts neatly divided the audience. The Buzzcocksgot the kids, TRB got the oldies. The local left bopped happily away and I
decided that Tom Robinson's real function is not to bring politics to rock, but to bring rock to politics.
My choice had been simple. The Buzzcocks are a straight pop group, entertaining and predictable, but TRB had hit real trouble. The critics descended on TRB 2 like vultures, picking over its pieces with cackles of disdain. People were beginning to say, "I told you so, never did think much of their music." On Round Table a smug deejay pronounced the importance of keeping politics out of rock. The aura of failure was drifting round, and I wanted to see how TRB handled it on stage.