Martin Kaye - Buzzcocks 1978 - Buzzcocks Paradiso

Buzzcocks. 43 x 64 cm. Vr. 1 Sept. MK. 1978

The Buzzcocks played at Paradiso, Amsterdam on 1 September 1978, most famously as part of their early European tours, and this show is known among punk collectors for its vintage poster, rarities, and historic significance. The group performed material from their first two albums, including hits from "Another Music in a Different Kitchen" and "Love Bites," songs such as "Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)" and "Orgasm Addict"—staples of their set at shows during this era.

Vintage Paradiso posters and memorabilia from 1978, such as those for nearby dates, sell on specialized sites. The Buzzcocks item aligns with high demand for punk-era posters from this venue.

Designer Martin Kaye lived and breathed the posters he screen printed from the basement of Paradiso. His aesthetic was dominated by heavy bold letters selected from a dazzling array of fonts, many of Kaye’s own invention. Kaye’s Paradiso posters could also be light and colorful, especially when he chose to print using the split-fountain technique.

From the vantage point of 2024, Kaye’s work for Paradiso is in a class by itself, wedded neither to the psychedelic posters of the 1960s that preceded it or the punk flyers of the 1970s, which vied for space with his Paradiso posters on the crowded posting walls of Amsterdam. In this respect, Kaye’s work stood apart from both rock-poster history and its contemporaneous wheat-pasted competition, resulting in posters that were both the product of a man obsessed with typography, as well as a response to the urban environment in which that man and his screen-printed advertisements lived.