Named, of course, for the Ramones' song of the same name, Blitzkrieg Bop formed in Cleveland, England, in early 1977 from the remains of an earlier local band, Adamanta Chubb. A lineup of Blank Frank (vocals), Gloria and Telly Sett (guitars), Mick Sick (bass), and Nicky Knoxx (drums) came together slowly, as the band shifted its focus toward a hard-edged and distinctly Ramones-influenced brand of punk and, in July 1977, their first single, "Let's Go," was released on the independent Mortonsound label. A handful of good reviews in the music weeklies brought the band to the attention of Lightning Records, who picked up the record's distribution. A new recording of "Let's Go" was released in December and Lightning saw the band through to a follow-up single the following year, "UFO." It was a fraught relationship, however, with Lightning continually delaying the band's hopes of recording an album; Blitzkrieg Bop retaliated by sanctioning a cassette-only bootleg of live recordings and rehearsals, Scum 78, and then splitting. Further compilations of similar material were released in 1998 as Top of the Bops (Overground Records) and Bottom of the Barrel (Opportunes Records). ~ Dave Thompson