Hope & Anchor Front Row Festival is a hit double-LP of live recordings taken from various bands – mainly Power pop

Power pop

Power pop is a popular musical genre that draws its inspiration from 1960s British and American pop and rock music. It typically incorporates a combination of musical devices such as strong melodies, crisp vocal harmonies, economical arrangements, and prominent guitar riffs. Instrumental solos are...

, Pub rock

Pub rock (UK)

Pub rock was a rock music genre that developed in the mid 1970s in the United Kingdom. A back-to-basics movement, pub rock was a reaction against progressive and glam rock. Although short-lived, pub rock was notable for rejecting stadium venues and for returning live rock to the small pubs and...

, Punk

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

, and New wave

New Wave music

New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...

 groups - that played the Front Row Festival at Hope and Anchor, Islington

Hope and Anchor, Islington

The Hope and Anchor is a public house on Upper Street, in the London Borough of Islington. During the mid-1970s it was one of the first pubs to embrace the emergent, but brief, phenomenon of pub rock...

 between Tuesday 22 November and Thursday 15 December 1977. It reached number 28 in the UK Albums Chart

UK Albums Chart

The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...

The Hope & Anchor has been described as a "seminal live venue" in 1977, catering for "both emerging punk / new wave bands and the numerous pub rock acts operating on the live circuit at the time". The same author called the album as "eclectic" with "superb performances from artists like The Stranglers

The Stranglers

The Stranglers are an English punk/rock music group.Scoring some 23 UK top 40 singles and 17 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are the longest-surviving and most "continuously successful" band to have originated in the UK punk scene of the mid to late 1970s...

, The Only Ones

The Only Ones

The Only Ones are an English rock band. They were initially active in the late 1970s and were associated with punk rock, yet straddled the musical territory in between punk, power pop and hard rock, with noticeable influences from psychedelia...

, X-Ray Spex

X-Ray Spex

X-Ray Spex were an English punk band from London that formed in 1976.During their first incarnation , X-Ray Spex were “deliberate underachievers” and only managed to release five singles and one album...

, The Saints

The Saints (band)

The Saints are an Australian rock band, which formed in Brisbane in 1974 as punk rockers. Founders were Chris Bailey , Ivor Hay , and Ed Kuepper . Alongside mainstay Bailey, the group has had numerous line-ups...

 and The Suburban Studs

Suburban Studs

The Suburban Studs were a punk rock band formed in Birmingham in 1976.-Line-up:*Vocals, guitar - Eddy Zipps*Guitar - Keith Owen*Bass - Paul Morton*Drums - Steve Poole*Saxophone - Steve Heart -Releases:...

 alongside staple pub rock acts".

Side one

1. "Dr. Feelgood" by The Wilko Johnson
   Wilko Johnson
   Wilko Johnson is an English guitarist and songwriter, particularly associated with the UK rhythm and blues band Dr. Feelgood in the 1970s.-Career:...
   
    Band
2. "Straighten Out" by The Stranglers
   The Stranglers
   The Stranglers are an English punk/rock music group.Scoring some 23 UK top 40 singles and 17 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are the longest-surviving and most "continuously successful" band to have originated in the UK punk scene of the mid to late 1970s...
   
   
3. "Styrofoam" by The Tyla Gang
4. "Don't Munchen It" by The Pirates
5. "Speed Kills" by The Steve Gibbons Band
6. "I'm Bugged" by XTC
   XTC
   XTC were a New Wave band from Swindon, England, active between 1976 and 2005. The band enjoyed some chart success, including the UK and Canadian hits "Making Plans for Nigel" and "Senses Working Overtime" , but are perhaps even better known for their long-standing critical success.- Early years:...
   
   
7. "I Hate School" by The Suburban Studs
   Suburban Studs
   The Suburban Studs were a punk rock band formed in Birmingham in 1976.-Line-up:*Vocals, guitar - Eddy Zipps*Guitar - Keith Owen*Bass - Paul Morton*Drums - Steve Poole*Saxophone - Steve Heart -Releases:...
   
   

Side two

1. "Billy" by The Pleasers (see Thamesbeat)
2. "Science Friction" by XTC
   XTC
   XTC were a New Wave band from Swindon, England, active between 1976 and 2005. The band enjoyed some chart success, including the UK and Canadian hits "Making Plans for Nigel" and "Senses Working Overtime" , but are perhaps even better known for their long-standing critical success.- Early years:...
   
   
3. "Eastbound Train" by Dire Straits
   Dire Straits
   Dire Straits were a British rock band active from 1977 to 1995, composed of Mark Knopfler , his younger brother David Knopfler , John Illsley , and Pick Withers .Dire Straits' sound drew from a variety of musical influences, including jazz, folk, blues, and came closest...
   
   
4. "Bizz Fizz" by Burlesque
   Burlesque (band)
   Burlesque were an English pub rock band formed in London in 1972 and disbanded in 1977. Core members were Billy Jenkins and Ian Trimmer, who after Burlesque had disbanded went on to record and perform as Trimmer and Jenkins.-Albums:...
   
   
5. "Let's Submerge" by X-Ray Spex
   X-Ray Spex
   X-Ray Spex were an English punk band from London that formed in 1976.During their first incarnation , X-Ray Spex were “deliberate underachievers” and only managed to release five singles and one album...
   
   
6. "Crazy" by 999
   999 (band)
   999 are an English rock band who formed in London in 1977. They are often cited as one of the first punk rock bands. Between 1978 and 1981, they had five Top 75 singles in the UK Singles Chart, and one Top 40 single. After extensive touring across the Atlantic Ocean, the band's third and fourth...
   
   

Side three

1. "Demolition Girl / The Saints
   The Saints (band)
   The Saints are an Australian rock band, which formed in Brisbane in 1974 as punk rockers. Founders were Chris Bailey , Ivor Hay , and Ed Kuepper . Alongside mainstay Bailey, the group has had numerous line-ups...
   
   
2. "Quite Disappointing" / 999
3. "Creature Of Doom" / The Only Ones
   The Only Ones
   The Only Ones are an English rock band. They were initially active in the late 1970s and were associated with punk rock, yet straddled the musical territory in between punk, power pop and hard rock, with noticeable influences from psychedelia...
   
   
4. "Gibson Martin Fender" / The Pirates
5. "Sound Check" / Steel Pulse
   Steel Pulse
   Steel Pulse is a roots reggae musical band. They originally formed at Handsworth Wood Boys School, in Birmingham, England, composed of David Hinds , Basil Gabbidon , and Ronald McQueen .-History:...
   
   
6. "Zero Hero" / Roogalator
   Roogalator (band)
   Roogalator was a pub rock band formed in London in 1972, by the US born guitarist, Danny Adler.That same year, Adler had recorded demos with 10cc's Graham Gouldman at Strawberry Studios. Prior to Roogalator, Adler had also played with Smooth Loser, a band formed with BBC DJ Emperor Rosko's brother,...
   
   

Side four

1. "Underground Romance" / Philip Rambow
2. "Rock & Roll Radio" / The Pleasers
3. "On The Street" / Tyla Gang
4. "Johnny Cool" / Steve Gibbons Band
5. "Twenty Yards Behind" / Wilko Johnson Band
6. "Hanging Around" / The Stranglers