Punk Rock

[Sgt. Pepper]

I never listened to much Punk Rock. I was listening to a punk band I really like on the way into work, and it was, X - Under The Big Black Sun. I saw them twice. I used to listen to The Misfits, Fear, The Dead Kennedy's, X, The Ramones, Black Flag, and Social Distortion. The Sex Pistols were just garbage. Never Mind The Bullocks is just unlistenable to me.

So who did you listen to, or go see. Or did you even like Punk Rock.

[Dub-T-123]

I like too many to rattle off but lately I’ve been listening to some Johnny Thunders

[Sgt. Pepper]

41 minutes ago, Dub-T-123 said:

I like too many to rattle off but lately I’ve been listening to some Johnny Thunders

I heard his first album. It was not to bad. I did see Bad Religion three times. The last time a friends wife couldn't go, so I went instead of him eating a ticket. The other two times were in Hawaii and I would just about go see anyone back then. They were good. I do want to conquer the world and give all the idiots a brand new religion.

Edited August 8, 2023 by Sgt. Pepper

[Ceptorman]

I saw Thunders with the Dolls once, quite the show, I was a teenager. I like The Cramps, X, Echo, Blondie, Ramones, and I'm a huge Clash fan. I think punk hit at the right time, It carried me through the hair band days (which sucked).

[Sgt. Pepper]

55 minutes ago, Ceptorman said:

I saw Thunders with the Dolls once, quite the show, I was a teenager. I like The Cramps, X, Echo, Blondie, Ramones, and I'm a huge Clash fan. I think punk hit at the right time, It carried me through the hair band days (which sucked).

Oh yeah The Clash were punk for two seconds. I saw them open for The Who, by then they were big rock stars which was what they were rebelling against. London Calling is great. Sandinista was 3 albums that should have been one. I never got into The Cramps, and I don't think Blondie is punk at all.  

[rct]

Punk was a style, a fashion statement, an outwardly visible commitment to some "I'ma badass" kind of life.  The music was just another Pop.

Same as it ever was, with all popular music.

rct

[Sgt. Pepper]

7 minutes ago, rct said:

Punk was a style, a fashion statement, an outwardly visible commitment to some "I'ma badass" kind of life.  The music was just another Pop.

Same as it ever was, with all popular music.

rct

They were giving the middle finger to Yes, ELP and Genesis. Who bands that could actually play their instuments.

[sparquelito]

I was aware of Punk, and managed to hear a bit of it during Punk's short time in the popular consciousness.

I understood the fashion, and the attraction, for some, the unpolished, raw, 3-chord rock and roll.
I got it.   It just never grabbed me at any point, nor did it very really do anything for me.

A couple of reasons that punk never really lit me on fire:

* Though I did have plenty of reasons (or excuses) to be angry at the world at that time, I really wasn't an angry, unhappy young man.
I was too cheerful for Punk.

* I was then, and still am now, a fan of music with a hook.
Music with quirky melody and pleasing harmony.
Rock music written with an interesting story to tell.

Living in Germany in the early 1980's (post-Punk) I did find myself attracted to two acts that were considered, at the time, to be New Wave, though not necessarily Punk.
Elvis Costello and the Attractions out of the UK, and Split Enz (out of New Zealand).
Over the years, I have indeed kept up with, and listened to a lot of music by Declan MacManus (EC) and the Finn Brothers.
🙂

 

Edited August 8, 2023 by sparquelito

[Narwhal6]

There were some decent punk bands following the original era.

Camper Van Beethoven, which spawned Cracker.

Rancid which had crossover into the Transplants and Tim Armstrong doing solo stuff.

Mike Ness of Social Distortion has some good solo stuff .

The Kills do a great cover of "linger on your pale blue eyes" from Velvet Underground.

[Sgt. Pepper]

39 minutes ago, Narwhal6 said:

There were some decent punk bands following the original era.

Camper Van Beethoven, which spawned Cracker.

Rancid which had crossover into the Transplants and Tim Armstrong doing solo stuff.

Mike Ness of Social Distortion has some good solo stuff .

The Kills do a great cover of "linger on your pale blue eyes" from Velvet Underground.

REM covered the same VU song. I love Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart, but it’s not punk. I have one one with Let’s Take The Skinhead’s Bowling on vinyl.

[saturn]

The only punk rock I knew, was either the poppier stuff that might have gotten some airplay on the radio, or hearing it from some friends I had. I was more of a  metal guy back then.

One of my friend groups was into what they called "hard core" and I would either hear the songs or hear them talking about bands like Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, Corrosion Of Conformity, Butthole Surfers, and some others I can't remember.  I could listen to it when around them, but it was nothing I would buy myself and I wasn't into the fashion or anti fashion or whatever you call it. 

There used to be this unsanctioned punk club in Baltimore, I think it was called The Loft. It was in an abandoned warehouse or rowhouse somewhere in the city. I went once with this group of friends. They thought the place was awesome and went often. I thought it was a bunch of dorks with spiked hair and spiked wristbands all bashing into each other as hard core/punk music blasted. They called it slam dancing and now I guess it's called moshing. Supposedly a young Dave Grohl used to come from DC and hang there. If you liked hard core, this place was about as authentic as it came. It was dirty, smelly,  loud and I don't even think it was licensed or anything. I don't even know who, if anyone was in charge of the place.    

Edited August 9, 2023 by saturn

[IanHenry]

With The Sex Pistols Never Mind The Bullocks, I think the clue is in the name, that's exactly what it was 😄

Sparquelito, I also saw Split Enz but I never really thought of them as a punk band and they didn't sound anything like how they did when they started to have some success,  as I recall, they were dressed and made up like clowns and even did one song playing the spoons.  I found it a rather strange experience. 

['Scales]

we had the best down here in Oz around 1976 - most notably The Saints and Radio Birdman, though many others too. 

The aforementioned didn't call themselves punk of course, but the media was and remains a law unto itself... great bands though!

[Sgt. Pepper]

The term Punk took many shapes and forms. There was Hardcore like Black Flag, and Straight Edge like Minor Threat. Hell even the posers Green Day were called Punk. They just dress like 15 year old's, act like morons, and put on act to look cool. 

[sparquelito]

12 hours ago, IanHenry said:

With The Sex Pistols Never Mind The Bullocks, I think the clue is in the name, that's exactly what it was 😄

Sparquelito, I also saw Split Enz but I never really thought of them as a punk band and they didn't sound anything like how they did when they started to have some success,  as I recall, they were dressed and made up like clowns and even did one song playing the spoons.  I found it a rather strange experience. 

Yeah, man.
Split Enz sort of epitomized the 'new wave' music of the early 1980's, for me anyway, and Tim Finn certainly infused a lot of quirky, weird fashion and stage antics.

They matured into a fine band though.
I loved the Time And Tide album especially.


Over the years, everything that Neil Finn and Tim Finn had my attention.
Saw Crowded House a number of times, and loved them thoroughly.

I'm pretty sure I own every CD or album that Crowded House and the Finn Brothers ever put out.

😐

[saturn]

On 8/8/2023 at 11:48 PM, saturn said:

 

There used to be this unsanctioned punk club in Baltimore, I think it was called The Loft. It was in an abandoned warehouse or rowhouse somewhere in the city. I went once with this group of friends. They thought the place was awesome and went often. I thought it was a bunch of dorks with spiked hair and spiked wristbands all bashing into each other as hard core/punk music blasted. They called it slam dancing and now I guess it's called moshing. Supposedly a young Dave Grohl used to come from DC and hang there. If you liked hard core, this place was about as authentic as it came. It was dirty, smelly,  loud and I don't even think it was licensed or anything. I don't even know who, if anyone was in charge of the place.    

After posting this, I got curious and asked my friend, who I also work for. He was one of my old friends who used to go to this place regularly. I guess it wasn't quite as I remembered it. Apparently it was an actual legitimate venue. I found this old news clip about the place from around 1986.

 

[Narwhal6]

A few others I remember;

 

 

 

 

 

[merciful-evans]

Punk indulged the talentless. It's supposed raison d'etre was negativity. It epitomised the maxim that 'its easier the destroy than create '. 

Artists that were not punk at the time seemed to ride its wave, probably driven by marketing. eg: Elvis Costello. Punk? Really?

I had a small place in my head for the Clash & X. Maybe a couple more. 

I saw a rock doc recently with Rick Wakeman interviewing Roger Chapman saying that in the uk, when punk arrived, everything else was removed from the shelf, but in europe everything else still mattered and remained on the shelf (Chapman's career continued in Germany after Family & Streetwalkers). 

Always driven by the next big thing, I think that was done by the music press here: 'Punk has arrived & everything else is now irrelevant'. Punk was more than a waste of time. It was destructive. 

[saturn]

6 hours ago, merciful-evans said:

Punk indulged the talentless. It's supposed raison d'etre was negativity. It epitomised the maxim that 'its easier the destroy than create '. 

Artists that were not punk at the time seemed to ride its wave, probably driven by marketing. eg: Elvis Costello. Punk? Really?

I had a small place in my head for the Clash & X. Maybe a couple more. 

I saw a rock doc recently with Rick Wakeman interviewing Roger Chapman saying that in the uk, when punk arrived, everything else was removed from the shelf, but in europe everything else still mattered and remained on the shelf (Chapman's career continued in Germany after Family & Streetwalkers). 

Always driven by the next big thing, I think that was done by the music press here: 'Punk has arrived & everything else is now irrelevant'. Punk was more than a waste of time. It was destructive. 

I remember reading an interview sometime in the 90s  with Johnny Rotten. (I've never seen anything with him where he is not a complete ******bag) He was talking about the early punk days and said how they hated bands like Steely Dan. I remember thinking "yeah  bands that could actually play their instruments and understand music theory". 

[Sgt. Pepper]

3 hours ago, saturn said:

I remember reading an interview sometime in the 90s  with Johnny Rotten. (I've never seen anything with him where he is not a complete ******bag) He was talking about the early punk days and said how they hated bands like Steely Dan. I remember thinking "yeah  bands that could actually play their instruments and understand music theory". 

Being a D Bag was/is Rotten/Lydon’s schtick since he stared out as Malcom’s toy. I certainly can irritate people, but I’m not famous or is it infamous? I probably should have been in a band that was a waste of a load and maybe I would be?

How did you Brits feel about that Manchester dance, and taking Ex scene in the late 80’s and early 90’s. I like the song I Wanna Be Adored, by the Stone Roses, and that was about it. Never cared for Jesus Jones, Inspiral Carpets, The Happy Mondays, The Charlatans, or Primal Scream.

Edited August 20, 2023 by Sgt. Pepper

[SteveFord]

I saw Nina Hagen once (she was horrible) and Patti Smith numerous times.

I don't know if Patti counts although they got their start at CBGBs like so many others.

[Sgt. Pepper]

14 hours ago, SteveFord said:

I saw Nina Hagen once (she was horrible) and Patti Smith numerous times.

I don't know if Patti counts although they got their start at CBGBs like so many others.

There is no way on Earth Patti puts out a song today called "Rock And Roll _______________ " from the Easter album. If she did, she would be what Generation LBGTQ+-? call cancelled.

So Steve how was the endless nonsensical diatribe that flowed poetically form Patti's mouth? I remember watching The Rolling Thunder Revue, and she was in it for about 5 mins for no reason blathering nonsense out of her speaking hole. A pimp slap would have been appropriate at that moment to shut her up. 

Baby was a black sheep, baby was a whore
Baby got big and baby get bigger

Edited August 21, 2023 by Sgt. Pepper

[SteveFord]

Not too much babbling the times I saw her.

They must have been good nights for the band, they really got the crowd going.

Rock And Roll Ni**er was great, they were on fire doing that one.

They're still going but I know touring is getting old.  Last I heard they were on a European tour and the trains were shut down so they had to take a taxi from one country to another which really sucked.  Everybody, pile in this little car with your guitars and crap.

[Sgt. Pepper]

30 minutes ago, SteveFord said:

Not too much babbling the times I saw her.

They must have been good nights for the band, they really got the crowd going.

Rock And Roll Ni**er was great, they were on fire doing that one.

They're still going but I know touring is getting old.  Last I heard they were on a European tour and the trains were shut down so they had to take a taxi from one country to another which really sucked.  Everybody, pile in this little car with your guitars and crap.

Taking a taxi from France to Italy must be really afforable? So Ms. Smith that will be 3469 Euros (spoken in French).

[SteveFord]

I just remembered, I saw another punk band, Blonde Redhead.

I don't know if they were good or bad, they had the sound system cranked up so loud it was just deafening.  They started playing and it was a wave of people running backwards.

I do recall looking over at the stage and seeing the guitarist fall onto his back and one of his legs shooting up in the air.  WTH?

I also saw the Plasmatics at the Pier in NYC.  Wendy O. was really entertaining, the musical highlight was when this giant black guy with a mohawk stepped on his guitar cord, unplugged his Flying V and didn't realize it so he kept going for about a minute with his guitar unplugged.  

Does Siouxsie and the Banshees count?  There's a cold fish for you.  

Edited August 21, 2023 by SteveFord