This post is one of a series describing my top ten London punk songs
“We like to sit in wine bars and browse the new boutiques…”
Released in 1979, ‘Richmond’ is a joyful slab of snotty-nosed punk-pop contempt launched at the inhabitants of one of London’s wealthiest neighborhoods:
“In Richmond we’ve all got the right credentials
in Richmond where the breakfast’s continental
in Richmond where the cigarettes are menthol
in Richmond we’re all very smart
in Richmond we’re all objects of art!”
Sadly I didn’t get to see Pinpoint play live, I only found their single by chance while rummaging through the 10p bin at the Record and Tape Exchange in the early 80s, and by that time they were long gone.
Unfortunately, the band were unable to repeat the sheer brilliance of ‘Richmond’. The b-side is awful, as is the follow-up single and album, all terrible.
But that isn’t important at all.
“…holiday in Malta!”
Some bands spend decades churning out banal crap and are lauded for it. Some bands, such as Pinpoint, release one great, wonderful, fantastic single and are remembered by only a few, a lucky few though.
Here’s the track itself:
- This is one in a series of posts about my top 10 London punk songs
- You can find a couple of interesting pages on Pinpoint on the Bored Teenagers website