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Born: Patrick Joseph Fitzgerald, London, 19 March 1956

Punk poet Patrik Fitzgerald was a special talent. Armed with just an acoustic guitar, he rose to prominence via a record deal with Small Wonder, one of Britain’s most consistently interesting indie labels at the time. Singing in a charming boy-next-door Cockney accent about the realities of working class life, often in a hail of spit from disgruntled kids who decided he wasn't punk enough, he was as punk as it got. (He even auditioned for London SS, you know.)

His debut EP Safety Pin Stuck In My Heart is a classic, filled with witty lyrics and pithy observations about state control tactics (‘Work. Rest. Play. Reggae’) and the pains of unrequited love on the frantically strummed title track. Two more EPs in a similar vein (the excellent Backstreet Boys and the slightly boring The Paranoid Ward) followed, his increasing popularity resulting in Small Wonder making a deal with Polydor to distribute Grubby Stories. It’s a splendid album, one of the forgotten beauties of the time. Seventeen songs on all manner of subjects (prostitution, football violence, suicide pacts, sexual diseases, boredom, trendies, punk as a commodity), the one-man approach is abandoned on a couple of group efforts featuring assistance from members of Buzzcocks and Penetration. Throughout there is a commitment to Crass-like punk idealism, but the delivery is warm, cheeky and charming, and at times summoning up moments of genuine pathos and even sadness and regret.

Following two more great singles and the Tonight E.P., Fitzgerald abandoned punk entirely.

Safety Pin Stuck In My Heart is a CD-only compilation that includes the entire contents of the first three EPs, selected singles sides (‘All Sewn Up’ from 1979 and ‘Pop Star Pop Star’ from 1982), some songs from the debut album, and a handful of demos. It is a great overview of his punkier years and features amusing liner notes from Fitzgerald himself ("I also appeared in front of 80,000 people in Victoria Park, Hackney, a Rock Against Racism event where some Clash fans, tolerant souls that they were ...mistook myself and the acoustic for a dartboard".)

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DISCOGRAPHY

Subsequent studio albums: Pillow Tension (1995), Room Service (2001), Floating Population (2006), Dark Side Of The Room (split with Pog, 2006), Subliminal Alienation (2012).