Rabid/TJM Punk Singles Collection

Never ranked among those punk-era labels that made the collector's hearts skip a beat, the Manchester-based Rabid nevertheless pushed out some crucial 45s. Debut releases by Slaughter & the Dogs (the still sense-shattering "Cranked Up Really High") and poet John Cooper-Clark served notice that Manchester was set to join London as a center of punk creativity; Ed Banger's Nosebleeds semi-seminal "Ain't Bin to No Music School" delivered a statement of intent at a time when most so-called serious rockers had spent their entire careers in such institutions; and Jilted John's eponymous lament pushed the label onto the chart for the first time, albeit in the arms of the major EMI. And if that was the sum of this collection, then well done, Rabid. But it isn't. Less remembered but exciting still the same, Gyro, Out and V2 all threatened great things as they first emerged on the local scene; the Distractions went even closer than that; and the Frantic Elevators' "Voice in the Dark" remains one of the best records Mick Hucknall ever made. Less highly rated are cuts by Victim, Pathetix, and the returning Slaughter & the Dogs (back after a short-lived major-label dalliance of their own), but the point has already been made by then. Rabid might not be the most exciting punk label ever founded. But what it did was better than most. ~ Dave Thompson|