Homosapien by Pete Shelley

Homosapien is Pete Shelley's second solo album, the record he made once Buzzcocks first came apart in 1981, and anyone expecting another round of buzzsaw guitars got a jolt. With Martin Rushent producing, Shelley traded the amps for programmed synthesizers and drum machines, then strummed an acoustic guitar over the top, turning in a crisp, cool new wave record that owes more to synthpop than to his old band's punk charge. Island put it out in Britain through Genetic, with Arista handling America.

The title track was the flashpoint. Its homosexual references got it banned by the BBC, but it found its audience anyway, charting in Canada and Australasia. It came after Sky Yen, an experimental instrumental set Shelley had recorded back in 1974, and XL1 followed.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.