by John Dougan Much like Mark Perry in Alternative TV, Vic Godards career has gone on much longer than his limited talent warrants. But despite being part of the early days of English punk rock, hes still recording (albeit infrequently), and still must have fans — somewhere. Godards best moments were with his punk-era band Subway Sect, and are available in a fine anthology which provides the average music lover all the Godard (with or without the Sect) theyre likely to need. True to the time of its recording, its loaded with punk aggro thats a tad more expansive musically than the average fast-guitar band, occasionally wandering into dissonant guitar noise à la the Mekons and Gang of Four. Despite his punk pedigree, Godard — in a move that anticipated Tony Bennetts MTV credibility by nearly 15 years — was singing Cole Porter songs in 1982 on Songs for Sale. It was a daring move, and he sings OK, but its hardly an essential record. Godard broke up and reformed Subway Sect three or four times between 1976 and 1980. After the last breakup in 1980, the band got sick of being jerked around and became the lamentable, cartoon funk/pop band the Joboxers. Godard sallied forth as a solo act, working with Edwyn Collins (ex-Orange Juice) as a more traditional, pop/rock singer/songwriter.