Stumbled upon unwares upstairs in an Oxford pub, in the Winter of 1986, Razorcuts were the coolest looking band I’d seen to date. Magnificently stylish beatniks, but clad in threads you could snag from charity shops, beamed in from bohemia. For the next three years it seemed impossible to avoid them.
And the sound was like nothing around. Summer of ’66 psychedelia slashed with a summer of ’76 sneer. Today there’s fifty years of rock and roll source material instantly downloadable to young hipsters the world over, but in 1986, the flavours of 1976 and 1966 were distanced from us by un-navigable dimensions, apparently lost for ever. Achieveing this apparently effortless fusion would have taken Razorcuts real dedication.
Razorcuts were The Byrds playing The Buzzcocks, lyrically emboldened by Morrissey’s winsome wordplay and the bookish Postcard records crowd, not embarssed to write a song with the word ’embarass’ in its title. But they were here and now, four feet away, at The Jericho Tavern and The Ice rink, and slinking through the streets in pointy shoes carrying skinny guitar cases.
I was eighteen. I never saw The Byrds, or spat at The Sex Pistols, but stepping out into the frosty north Oxford night, the 12-string guitar parts of that song about the snowbirds still ringing in my ears, I couldn’t imagine that the after-buzz of either could have been much better.
A quarter of a century later, revisiting the things that spun you out as an impressionable teenager, it’s clear we often mistake objective excellence with the hormonal rush that made everything we experienced seem special. How graitifying to realise that Razorcuts, however briefly, really were that good.
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Deepbass, Guardian.co.uk
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Rubyshoes, Twitter
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Birmingham Sunday Mercury
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General Lurko 36, Guardian.co.uk
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Richard Herring, Comedian
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John Robins, Comedian
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Neolab, Guardian.co.uk
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Kozzy06, Youtube
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98rosjon, Twitter
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Aiden Hearn, Twitter
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Ishamayura Byrd, Twitter
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Tweeterkiryakou, Twitter
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Emilyistrendy, Youtube
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Rowing Rob, Guardian.co.uk
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James Dellingpole, Daily Telegraph
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Funday’schild, youtube.
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Guest1001, Youtube
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Someoneyoudon'tknow, Chortle.com
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Robert Gavin, Twitter
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Shane, Beverley, Dailymail.co.uk
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Lenny Darksphere, Twitter
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Etienne, Chortle.com
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Tweeter Kyriakou, Twitter
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Anon, dontstartmeoff.com
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A D Ward, Twitter
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Alwyn, Digiguide.tv
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Johnny Kitkat, dontstartmeoff.com
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Secretdeveloper, Youtube
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Meanstreetelite, Peoplesrepublicofcork
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GRTak, finalgear.com
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Nicetime, Guardian.co.uk
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Fowkes81, Twitter
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Lents, redandwhitekop.com
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Mearecate, Youtube
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Peter Fears, Twitter
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Dick Socrates, Twitter
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Genghis McKahn, Guardian.co.uk
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Spanner, dontstartmeoff.com
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Zombie Hamster, Twitter
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Rudeness, Youtube
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Lee Mack, Mack The Life, 2012
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Tin Frog, Twitter
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Tres Ryan, Twitter
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Len Firewood, Twitter
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Yukio Mishima, dontstartmeoff.com
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Pudabaya, beexcellenttoeachother.com
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Guest, Dontstartmeoff.com
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Iain, eatenbymissionaries
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Peter Ould, Twitter
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Dahoum, Guardian.co.uk
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Esme Folley, Actress, cellist, Twitter
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FBC, finalgear.com
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Stokeylitfest, Twitter
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Peter Ould, Youtube
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Pnethor, pne-online.com
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Bobby Bhoy, Twitter
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Joe, Independent.co.uk
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Neva2busy, dontstartmeoff.com
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Anonymous, The Northfield Patriot
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Dave Wilson, Chortle.com
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Cabluigi, Guardian.co.uk
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Maninabananasuit, Guardian.co.uk
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Contrapuntal, Twitter
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World Without End, Twitter
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Bosco239, youtube
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Joycey, readytogo.net
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Anamatronix, Youtube
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Coxy, Dontstartmeoff.com
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Keilloh, Twitter
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Brendon, Vauxhallownersnetwork.co.uk
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Dominic Cavendish, Telegraph
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Al Murray, Comedian
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Dominic Cavendish, Daily Telegraph
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Lancethrustworthy, Youtube
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Carla, St Albans, Dailymail.co.uk
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Karen Laidlaw, Edfringe. com.
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Carcrazychica, Youtube
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Alex Quarmby, Edfringe.com
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12dgdgdgdgdgdg, Youtube
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Syhr, breakbeat.co.uk
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Aaron, comedy.co.uk
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Anon, BBC Complaints Log
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Gmanthedemon, bbc.co.uk
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Microcuts 22, Twitter
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Mrdavisn01, Twitter
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Mpf1947, Youtube
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Sam Rooney, Youtube
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Gwaites, Digitalspy
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Anon, westhamonline.com
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Patrick Kavanagh, Guardian.co.uk
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Clampdown59, Twitter.
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Henry Howard Fun, Twitter
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Sweeping Curves, Twitter
BBC iPlayer edition of discussion of Stewart Lee on A Good Read
BBC iPlayer edition of discussion of Stewart Lee on A Good Read
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Sidsings000, Youtube
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Liam Travitt, Twitter
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Joskins, Leeds Music Forum
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Gabrielle, Chortle.com
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Danazawa, Youtube
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Cojones2, Guardian.co.uk
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Frankie Boyle, Comedian
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Brighton Argus