Originally a pub rock called Rockslide who released a single called 'Roller Coaster' which got nowhere.  Sniffing the punk wind of change in'76 however, they emerged as one of the most exciting bands from Manchester's punk scene.  While Slaughter & The Dogs erred on the Glam side and The Buzzcocks delivered pop with a buzzsaw, The Drones, who could obviously play, took the energy of punk to heart and delivered it on vinyl in a series of taut, amphetamine driven toons.  With a mixture of originals like Persecution Complex, Lookalikes and  Corgi Crap and covers such as Search & Destroy & My Generation they blitzed venues like Pips, Rafters and The Electric Circus.

Signing to Valer records the future looked rosy. The 'Bone Idol / Just Wanna Be Myself' single was the classic and shifted over 20,000 copies. Supporting bands like The Stranglers (even joining them for encores of Go Buddy Go) followed with some good press in the music weeklies like Sounds and features in Fanzines such as Shy Talk and Summer Salt increased their profile.  While recording demos for their Bone Idol single they also  recorded a number of pisstakes of Clash songs which Strummer found amusing on hearing bless him.