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One of the lesser lights of English punk rock was the squirmingly named Embryo, whose single 'I'm Different' is on this week's show. TheyÌýwere from Dartford in Kent and took the traditional route to the stage by starting a band at school in the 1970s. According toÌýan interview on the website , their first amplifiers were a modified television set and a tape recorder permanently set to 'record'.ÌýAs someone who needs directions to the 'on' switchÌýof an amp I am in awe of such ingenuity. Any suggestions on how I can convert an old Radio Rentals cast off to a Marshall stack substitute will be welcomed. In The Undertones, the man with the soldering iron was Feargal, a Radio Rentals employee. Whether he was a repairman or a mere aerial installer I was never able to establish but he did have access to a Ford Escort van, which came in handy transporting ourÌý'Fish' PA speakers. 'Fish' is not the name of an obscure electronics company which has since been bought out by Peavey. It was the name Feargal gave to the speakers which he constructed from a few sheets of chipboard in 1977.Ìý Solder ran in the veins of the Sharkey men. Sharkey senior, Jim, is credited with wiring a speaker in the bedroom of a teenage Eamonn McCann to the radio downstairs which was tuned toÌýRadio Luxembourg. His son kept the band connected to the national grid long enough to make the move to proper amps. Whether he could have wired up a guitar to a TV, tape recorder, or microwave oven, we never found out.