The Buzzcocks first made waves in '70s punk. The band, now sporting a

new lineup, has completed a new studio LP and is negotiating a record deal.

As fans of these British punk-rockers await new material, they can feast

on live recordings spanning two decades on The Buzzcocks BBC Sessions

CD, which was compiled by bassist Tony Barber and issued last year by

EMI Records.

Pete Shelley, songwriter, guitarist and singer for the Buzzcocks, was

born Peter McNeish 44 years ago today in Leigh, England. As a teen,

Shelley played guitar in heavy-metal bands and attended the Bolton Institute of Technology.

While studying at Bolton, McNeish met singer Howard Trafford in an

electronic-music society. The pair formed a short-lived band that played

songs by the Velvet Underground and the Stooges. Months after the group's

demise, McNeish and Trafford were inspired

by a Sex Pistols performance in London and formed a band.

The boys changed their names to Pete Shelley and Howard Devoto and called the

group the Buzzcocks, after a quote in a print review that read "get a

buzz, cock." The Buzzcocks persuaded the Sex Pistols to play a gig in

Manchester, England, with them, but Shelley and company had to bow out

when their drummer and bassist quit.

At that Pistols gig, Shelley recruited bassist Steve Diggle. The group

recruited drummer John Maher through an ad in the British music publication

Melody Maker. The new Buzzcocks lineup gigged in and around

Manchester, helping turn the city into another British punk mecca.

After supporting the Sex Pistols' "Anarchy in the U.K." tour, the

Buzzcocks issued their indie debut EP, Spiral Scratch (1977).

Devoto then left the band to return to school, leaving Shelley to become

lead singer. The Buzzcocks soon signed a contract with United Artists

Records that gave them full artistic control.

The band's first single, the explicit

HREF="http://www.sonicnet.com/artists/clip.cgi?track=%7Ehh-

XXXXXX%2F0007060_0101_00_0002.ra&x=5&y=5">"Orgasm Addict"

(RealAudio excerpt), was not played on the BBC, but it increased the

Buzzcocks' fanbase via word of mouth. The first Buzzcocks LP, 1978's

Another Music in a Different Kitchen, was quickly followed by

Love Bites.

The Buzzcocks kept up their rapid pace of recording and gigging. After

the flop of their first U.S. tour, the band slowed down and was eventually

left unsupported by EMI, which had bought UA Records. After a disagreement

with the label, Shelley broke up the Buzzcocks in 1981.

Shelley went solo and had a hit with the title cut of the electro-pop LP

Homosapien (1982), which dealt with bisexuality. After a few more

solo albums, Shelley re-formed the Buzzcocks in 1989. The Buzzcocks,

consisting of Shelley, Diggle (now on guitar), Barber and drummer Phil

Barker, issued Trade Test Transmission in 1993 and began a heavy

touring schedule. The album focused on Shelley's favorite themes of love

and tangled relationships, with such songs as "Do It" and "Who'll Help

Me to Forget?" All Set and the live French followed in 1996.

The reputation of the Buzzcocks -- who favored a more melodic and less

political approach than the Sex Pistols -- has grown through the years.

They have been cited as an influence by such bands as Nirvana and

Hüsker Dü.

Other birthdays: Roy Estrada (Mothers of Invention), 56; Matt Chamberlain (Edie Brickell

and the New Bohemians), 32; and Liz Phair, 32.