Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band formed in Bolton, Greater Mancheste… Read Full Bio ↴Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band formed in Bolton, Greater Manchester, UK in 1976, led by singer-songwriter and guitarist Pete Shelley (1955 – 2018) for nearly their entire existence.

They are commonly regarded as an important influence on the Manchester music scene, the independent record label movement and the punk rock, power pop, pop punk and indie rock genres in general. They are primarily remembered for their singles, a string of would-be hits that combined a strong grasp of pop song craftsmanship with rapid-fire punk energy. These singles were collected on Singles Going Steady, described by critic Ned Raggett as a "punk masterpiece" The widely covered "Ever Fallen in Love?" remains one of their best-known songs.

The name "Buzzcocks" partially comes from the Manchester slang term cock meaning youngster, and its use in the 1970s ITV drama serial Rock Follies which included the catch phrases "that's the buzz, cocks" and "give me a buzz, cock!"

Buzzcocks were one of the key first generation British punk rock bands to form in the wake of the Sex Pistols in 1976. They were founded by Mancunians Pete Shelley and Howard Devoto, however Devoto left soon after the group released their Spiral Scratch EP (on their own independent label), leaving Shelley to take over vocals.

They are best known for their catchy, poppy punk sound, which has been widely influential, which was adopted as Peter Shelley took over on the vocals, singing about what the whole punk rock scene opted not to sing about: love. Devoto in the meanwhile formed Magazine.

They rehearsed in a friend's kitchen and played at the all-day 100 club punk "festival", in London. At the end of 1977 the band signed to United Artists and released "Orgasm Addict", with Shelley's high-pitched vocal delivery and Ramones-esque fuzz-guitar sound ensuring the controversial single would be played over again. Later came "What Do I Get?" which hit the UK charts and showed Shelley's brilliance in songwriting.

An LP was then released, Another Music in a Different Kitchen which came with its own carrier bag, labelled "Product". In 1978-79 five chart-hitting singles were released including "Ever Fallen in Love?" and had captured a pop-loving audience by this time. Love Bites, their second LP was released later on, which had less excitement than the last album, though it did sell well, with Steve Diggle taking over lyric-writing.

October 1979 saw A Different Kind of Tension which was panned by some critics, quite unfairly, as it contains some excellent songs, the title track being the stand-out. It perhaps suffered from being the second album to be released that year, with the record company keen to capitalise on the band's chart success at the time.

3 more singles followed in 1980, but the spark had clearly gone out for a while. Musical differences and the long slog behind them led to the band splitting in early 1981. Pete Shelley embarked in a solo career..

He released three dance/electronic influenced solo albums: Homosapien, XL1 and Heaven and The Sea - all with the same fine songwriting skills. Meanwhile, Steve Diggle formed Flag of Convenience - a power pop combo - and toured with some success.

A 5 album/CD set was released in 1989 called Product, which contained all the albums to date, plus the greatest hits and B sides album, Singles Going Steady, and the last non-album singles, Why She's A Girl From the Chainstore, Airwaves Dream and Running Free, plus the B sides

In 1992 the Buzzcocks reformed, without original drummer John Maher and bassist Steve Garvey, and releasd Trade Test Transmissions in 1993, quite different from their earlier material, with nods to the power pop scene popular at the time. All Set in 1996 saw a return to form with familiar riffs and pin sharp lyrics pop-punk. Next year Chronology was released, the missing album, including outtakes from the three United Artists albums. In 1999 they released Modern, which saw Shelley in reflective mode and Steve Diggle taking over more of the vocal duties.

Then followed another brief break in 2000, with Shelley teaming up with old band-mate Howard Devoto to release a largely disappointing album, Buzzkunst. Compilations followed, including Inventory in 2003, which contained every single to date, and 30 in 2005 to celebrate 30 years performing

2005 saw the Buzzcocks back touring and in 2007 they released the superb Flat Pack Philosophy, widely agreed to rank up with the best of Buzzcocks output

2008/9 saw a short tour where the band played tracks from Another Music and Love Bites.

In August 2011 they headlined the first night of The Rhythm Festival in Bedfordshire.

In November 2011 it was announced they would be playing two shows in 2012 that would feature the original line-up as well as the classic line-up of the band reunited for the first time in many years; these shows took place on 25 May 2012 in Manchester at the O2 Apollo and on 26 May in Brixton at the O2 Academy. It was announced on 26 May 2012 that, for the first time, they would headline Thursday night in the Empress Ballroom at the Rebellion Festival in Blackpool sharing the stage with the likes of Rancid, Public Image Limited and Social Distortion.

On 1 May 2014 Buzzcocks released the album The Way via PledgeMusic. On 13 September 2014 Buzzcocks played "a brief but triumphant set" at Riot Fest 2014 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. In October 2014 Buzzcocks toured the U.K. for three weeks with The Dollyrots as main support.

In 2016, the band embarked on their 40th-anniversary tour (dubbed "Buzzcocks 40"). In 2017, "Why Can't I Touch It" was featured in the opening segment of the Telltale game 'Guardians of the Galaxy.

Buzzcocks continue to be a huge influence on many bands and are still enjoyed by a large, and very loyal, fanbase.

Pete Shelley died on 6 December 2018.

Real World
Buzzcocks Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I'm in love with the real world
It's mutual or so it seems
'cause only in the real world
Do things happen like they do in my dreams
Some of the rules may be different
But maybe they'll stay the same
In the real world
In the real world

In the real world
We both win when we play the same game

I'm in love with somebody
I wish somebody loved me too
You may wonder how this concerns you
Well perhaps the somebody is you
I don't even know what your name is
But I just hope that you'll stay
In the real world
In the real world
In the real world
Things happen this way

I'm in love with somebody
I wish somebody loved me too
You may wonder how this concerns you
Well perhaps the somebody is you
I don't even know what your name is
But I just hope that you'll stay
In the real world
In the real world
In the real world
We both win when we play the same game
In the real world
In a real world

In a real world
By the way what's your name

Overall Meaning

The Buzzcocks' song "Real World" expresses the longing for a connection with someone in the real world, someone loved from afar. The lyrics suggest the singer is a dreamer, hoping to find a reciprocal love in reality. The real world here is portrayed as a potential utopia, where both parties feel the same, where they both can share a world where they play the same game.

The lyrics use the phrase "in love with the real world" as a way of framing the singer's desires. The line "only in the real world do things happen like they do in my dreams" highlights the duality between the dream world and the real world, and the hope that they will come together. The listener can pinpoint the sense of urgency in the singer's voice as they plead for the listener to stay in the real world, in hopes of the two individuals uniting.

Line by Line Meaning

I'm in love with the real world
I love the realness of life and everything that happens in it.

It's mutual or so it seems
It seems like the world loves me back.

'cause only in the real world
Everything that happens in my dreams can only exist in the real world.

Do things happen like they do in my dreams
My dreams come true in the real world.

Some of the rules may be different
There might be some differences in how the world works compared to my dreams.

But maybe they'll stay the same
But some things might also be the same.

We both win when we play the same game
We both benefit when we're on the same page.

I'm in love with somebody
I long for someone to love and be reciprocated.

I wish somebody loved me too
I wish someone else would return my love.

You may wonder how this concerns you
You might be wondering why I'm telling you this.

Well perhaps the somebody is you
Maybe it's you I'm in love with.