Puncture (band)

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"Puncture" were an early English punk group. Founded in the Summer of 1976, this Islington based, 4-piece combo consisted of Paul McCallum (Guitar/Vocals), Steve Counsel (Bass/Vocals), Jak Stafford (Guitar/Vocals) and The Fabulous Marty Truss (Drums). Their influences ranged from early Who/Kinks/Small Faces through to Roxy Music/Bowie/Blues RnB and The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.

Their first major gig was in November 1976, at Fulham Town Hall in London a week after an early gig by The Clash. Various personnel changes ensued, with Jak Stafford leaving to join prominent punk band X-Ray Spex, as Jak Airport. A brief tenure with guitarist (Eric Electroid aka Kenny) saw them move on to pastures new, with the recruitment of band member Anthony Keen on Synthesiser/Keyboards.

In October of 1977 they released a single called Mucky Pup/Can't Rock N Roll (In A Council Flat), the first release (Small One) for the Small Wonder Records label, based in Hoe Street, Walthamstow, London. 2,000 copies of the single sold out, prompting Small Wonder Records to press another 1,000 singles."Mucky Pup" gained lots of airplay at various punk gigs throughout 1977 and the B-side, "Can't Rock N Roll (In A Council Flat) was played on the John Peel Show, with favourable comments from the man himself! They continued to play various gigs around London, notably at the punk club "The Roxy" in Covent Garden, supporting The Wasps and "The Man In The Moon" in Kings Road, Chelsea, supporting The Fruit Eating Bears. They continued gigging until January of 1978, culminating in their farewell gig on 20th January 1978 at the Basement Club in Covent Garden, London.

In the Eighties, punk band The Exploited covered "Mucky Pup" on their best-selling album Punk's Not Dead.

Like so many other English punk singles of the time, original copies of the Puncture single now sell for up to £30.

"Mucky Pup" can now be found on the Small Wonder Vol. 1: Punk Singles Collection and "Can't Rock N Roll (In A Council Flat) is on Small Wonder Vol.2: Punk Singles Collection