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One of the first, youngest, funniest and best punk bands in the UK were The Cortinas, from Bristol. OK, there's never going to be a box set of their finest moments but they did make two great singles on the Step Forward label in 1977. Their first was Fascist Dictator, which wasn't about fascism or dictators, but about love. Of course. The b-side was brilliant too. Television Families. Some kind creative soul has made a very amusing video for it on YouTube.Ìý
The Cortinas followed that single with Defiant Pose which was good, but not as good as the picture sleeve which showed a nice middle class family kitchen with the teenage boy throwing up behind his parents. After this CBS records signed them up, gave them some money and put them in a proper recording studio to make an LP. It wasn't as good as their first two singles and The Cortinas put on the handbrake, wound up the windows, locked the doors and walked away in 1978. (The car reference had to make an appearance some time.)
I tell you this because the bass player with The Cortinas was a 16 year old called Dexter Dalwood who has just been nominated for The Turner Prize. He's now a very successful painter, and the bookies' favourite to win the prize later this year. Of course, he'll never regain the artistic heights he reached with his chums in The Cortinas in 1977 but you can't have it all.