John Peel's Record Box, 5-9. Anemic Boyfriends to Big Stick

5.Anemic Boyfriends - Guys Are Not Proud + Bad Girls in Love (RED SWEATER RECORDS) 1980
Female punk/ new wave group from Alaska who made two singles then vanished. This is their debut single, and there's a pic of the sleeve on this collector's site.
This has a Slits-style punk/ reggae feel to it and the best refrain yet - "Guys are such creeps/ They'll even do it with sheep". Only five records in and I'm already discovering hidden gems like this. The Bside is more punky like Johnny Thunders or something which changes the bad guys for the bad girls - "I got a tight little body/ and I wanna get naughty". This was the hardest one to find so far (I've just got mp3s), but well worth hearing!

6. Ann Peebles - I can't stand the rain + i've been there before (LONDON) 1972
After Alan Price, this is only the second A-side in the list so far that I can sing along with. I'm pretty ignorant about 70s soul and RnB but most of that material in this list stands up incredibly well, especially when compared to some of the ropey punk bands around (see next!). I never realised how evocative that little pizzicato guitar at the start of 'I Can't Stand the Rain' was, the arrangement is just about the perfect accompaniment to her voice. The Bside is even more melancholy and has some nice gospel touches. Solid gold and one of the best so far.

7. Anti-Social - Traffic lights + teacher, teacher (DYNAMITE RECORDS) 1977
As far as I know this 7" contains their entire recorded output and we can be thankful for that. This is dull dull punk rock from the self-styled "most violent band in the world" as this biography tells us. Skip this one.

8. MISSING TRACK: Arthur K Adams - Wildwood flower + It's a wild, wild, wild, wild wildwood flower (JETSTAR)

This is the first (of a few) that I have been unable to track down. A google search for info on Arthur Adams is similarly fruitless, but a link to this useful biog page came up on the second page. He sounds interesting, maybe I'll hear him someday.

9. Big Stick - Drag racing + Hell on earth (RECESS RECORDS) 1985 (listen or download- official site)
I love this. I can remember Peel playing this quite a bit over the years. 90s listeners may remember the Festive 50 fave 'Broadcast booth' which was credited to Drag Racing Underground; well, that was Big Stick as well. Official biography is here. This is basically cut-up samples and distorted drum machine, think Colourbox meets Big Black and you're in the right area. The right era too. While you might believe the Aside is slightly sinister, the Bside takes the same backing track and gets even darker. Short, thrilling and plenty creepy.