The Waitresses - No Guilt (Live TV 1982)

My Waitresses moment had a long gestation period.

It began in 1999 when I was (appropriately) a Catering Assistant working at Stockport Co-Op. In the run up to Christmas, the department store CD, which used to go around in a sonic loop about eight times a day, was changed for a festive CD, which not only had less songs on it (meaning they came round more often and I was being slowly tortured by the Westlife version of 'Last Christmas') but which also only included one song that I actually liked. That song was the Waitresses 'Christmas Wrapping'.

I'd just dropped out of my degree at Bolton Institute and, as if that wasn't enough, started a new job the week before Christmas in Macclesfield, which required a horrible and extortionate commute by bus and train every morning. I remember coming home knackered after the commute from hell one night, not long afterwards collapsing into bed while the John Peel show was on, and then frantically throwing the bedcovers off and running across the bedroom to the tape deck, hitting record and play as the twinkly opening chords to that most realistic of festive songs rang out.

It was as I was running out of material to fuel my Martha and the Muffins obsession that I returned to the Waitresses and, still not downloading, even in 2008, I bought the Waitresses best of CD. And discovered what a bloody great post punk band they were.

People tend to know them mainly for either 'Christmas Wrapping' or 'I know what boys like', and if that's the case for you, 'No Guilt' should prove a pleasant surprise. It's a very arch, very funny tale of girl meets boy, girl loses boy, girl discovers the joys of independence, girl has a great time and gets on with her life. No apologies.