"Love You More" / "Noise Annoys" (7" single)
I remember exactly where I was when this was released. It was the summer of 1978, and although I was still only 15 years-old I had finished my O Levels at Havant Grammar and had left school, so I had a summer job at IBM in Havant - my parents both worked there at the time. IBM had this great system of flexi-time where you could build up 5-minute increments of time - so if you started work 5 mins early you could leave 5 mins early etc. I remember trying to save up enough time to get a decent early finish to go and buy this single.
Looking back it was my first introduction to an adult workplace, goodness knows what they all thought of this naive teenage boy whose Mum got him a job! I recall wondering what all these bits of computer print-out really meant and what I was meant to do with them! Somehow I survived the few weeks until I started my real job at Lloyds Bank as soon as I turned 16 at the end of August. And they paid me as well!!
Anyway music was what I was really into and Buzzcocks were my favourites. This single was two new tracks - neither appeared on an album (apart from compilations in the future) and showed Pete Shelley's ability to write perfect teen-angst love songs set to buzz-saw guitars and the sharpest, busiest drums. Buzzcocks had this fantastic ability of sounding like the four members of the band were individually playing slightly different songs but when put together it made a perfect cocktail of sound.
Both songs were brilliant and got equal billing, although see pictures below of labels that 'Love You More' is the A-side whilst 'Noise Annoys' is the 1-side. The former got played more because it's more instantly catchy and it maybe the shortest single ever released - 1 minute 45 seconds!! A real case of small is beautiful. It charted so Buzzcocks subsequently appeared on Top of The Pops playing it and I wanted to be Pete Shelley. It was worth watching all the middle-of-the-road dross usually on TOTP just to see this little gold nugget shining through.
Just a perfect piece of vinyl.
Here's the music:
https://youtu.be/uMvFL8IK60E
https://youtu.be/_7kfJ9qmP7o
