[1] Named after a car, the Ford Cortina, the band moved from R&B towards covering songs by punk forerunners like the New York Dolls and The Stooges.

The Cortinas' first two singles, "Fascist Dictator" and "Defiant Pose", were released by Step Forward, the label run by The Police manager Miles Copeland and Mark Perry.

On 16 July 1977, a few weeks after releasing "Fascist Dictator", the band recorded a session at Maida Vale 4 studio, for John Peel at BBC Radio 1.

One critic described the album as "disappointing" but rescued from "bland oblivion" by "cheeky tracks such as "Ask Mr. Waverly" and "I Trust Valerie Singleton".

[6] This was a view echoed by Wilson Neate of AllMusic: "Having begun life under the spell of '60s R&B and garage rock, the Cortinas soon emerged as Bristol's premiere punk band, injecting a speedy, shouty, confrontational edge into their sound for their first two singles ("Fascist Dictator" and "Defiant Pose").