Stephen E Diggle (born 7 May 1955) is an English guitarist and vocalist in the

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

band Buzzcocks.

Biography

Early years

Diggle was born on 7 May 1955 at Saint Mary's Hospital in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, and grew up in the Bradford and

Rusholme Rusholme () is an area of Manchester, England, two miles south of the city centre. The population of the ward at the 2011 census was 13,643. Rusholme is bounded by Chorlton-on-Medlock to the north, Victoria Park and Longsight to the east, F ...

areas of the city, where he was a mod. After attending

Oldham College Oldham College, is a further education college based in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. History Oldham College was established in 1893 after a donation from the Platt family, a famous textile machinery manufacturer. This led to the institu ...

, he got a job, but was dismissed for organising a strike.

Buzzcocks

He attended the Sex Pistols gig at Manchester's Lesser Free Trade Hall, in June 1976. Their manager Malcolm McLaren introduced him to guitarist

Pete Shelley Pete Shelley (born Peter Campbell McNeish; 17 April 1955 – 6 December 2018) was an English singer, songwriter and guitarist. He formed early punk band Buzzcocks with Howard Devoto in 1976, and became the lead singer and guitarist in 1977 wh ...

and vocalist Howard Devoto, who were looking for a bassist for their band, Buzzcocks. John Maher joined as drummer and six weeks later, Buzzcocks played their first concert. Steve played bass at several concerts and on the ''

Spiral Scratch ''Spiral Scratch'' is an EP and the first release by the English punk rock band Buzzcocks. It was released on 29 January 1977. It is one of the earliest releases by a British punk band (preceded by The Damned's " New Rose" in October 1976, a ...

'' '' EP''. Howard Devoto left Buzzcocks shortly after the EP was released, which prompted the band to reshuffle – Pete Shelley becoming lead vocalist as well as guitarist and Diggle switching from bass to guitar. Steve Diggle of Buzzcocks onstage 2011

Steve Diggle wrote several songs for Buzzcocks, including "Autonomy", "Fast Cars" (co-written with Howard Devoto and

), "Love Is Lies" (perhaps the first Buzzcocks song featuring an acoustic guitar), "Sitting Round At Home", "You Know You Can't Help It", "Mad Mad Judy", "Airwaves Dream", and, perhaps his most famous song, "

Harmony in My Head "Harmony in My Head" is a song by Buzzcocks. It was released as a single in 1979, reaching number 32 in the UK Singles Chart. It was written and sung by Steve Diggle. In a 2006 interview with Pitchfork Media, Diggle revealed he had smoked 20 ci ...

", a

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "cont ...

hit in 1979.

Early solo career and Flag of Convenience

After Buzzcocks split in 1981, Diggle was briefly a solo artist, releasing the ''50 Years of Comparative Wealth'' EP (with the guest participations of fellow-Buzzcocks

Steve Garvey Steven Patrick Garvey (born December 22, 1948) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres from 1969 to 1987. Garvey was the National ...

and John Maher) the same year. In 1982, he formed a new band,

Flag of Convenience Flag of convenience (FOC) is a business practice whereby a ship's owners register a merchant ship in a ship register of a country other than that of the ship's owners, and the ship flies the civil ensign of that country, called the flag state ...

with ex-Buzzcock John Maher. Ex-

Easterhouse Easterhouse is a suburb of Glasgow, Scotland, east of the city centre on land gained from the county of Lanarkshire as part of an expansion of Glasgow before the Second World War. The area is on high ground north of the River Clyde and south ...

drummer Gary Rostock played on Diggle's 2000 album ''Some Reality'', released on Diggle's own label, 3:30 Records. In 2013, Diggle also appeared in the British punk-pop comedy ''

Vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

'', playing himself.

Discography

Solo albums

* ''Some Reality'' (2000) * ''Serious Contender'' (2005) * ''Air Conditioning'' (2010) * ''Inner Space Times'' (2016)

Compilations

*'' The Best of Steve Diggle and Flag of Convenience – The Secret Public Years 1981–1989'' (2000, Anagram)

Singles and EPs

* '' 50 Years of Comparative Wealth E.P.'' (7" EP) (1981, Liberty) * ''Heated and Rising'' EP (1991, 3:30 Records)

References

External links

*
Steve Diggle's "Harmony In My Head"

An Interview with Steve Diggle (UK)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diggle, Steve 1956 births Living people Buzzcocks members English rock bass guitarists Male bass guitarists English rock guitarists English punk rock guitarists English male guitarists English male singers Musicians from Manchester People from Rusholme