Punk Rock totally changed my life back in 1977 (I was in Wales so we didnt get it in 1976 due to the Border Controls) but really it was the politics of "God Save The Queen" and Sid Vicious's acne that really swung it. Up until then I was a George Best fan had had zero interest in music. God Save The Queen was probably the first time that a song spoke to me - the first time I agreed with a song - the first time I thought that the band was just like me - very pissed off - wanting something else - not really sure what but when I heard the Sex Pistols it was like a light switch going on - that instant - that life changing.
The next day I cut my hair - just like J.J Brunell of the Stranglers, started listening to John Peel every night and Stuart Henry's Streetheat show on Radio Luxembourg every weekend. Mail order was the only way of getting the singles, so I'd send off from adverts in the back of the NME and a few days later there would be a package with "In The City" or "Safety in Numbers" - delivered to downtown Llanfair Caereinion - pretty good for the pre-Internet age. We even managed to get over to Shrewsbury to see bands at the Music Hall and by 78, 79 we were not so cut off. Even the Clash came close - they came to Deeside Leisure Centre on the 16 Ton Tour - one of the best gigs ever (obviously!).
I still call myself a "punk" in terms of politics, those in the know realise that things can still be "punk rock" but for others it may well appear that we are still banging on about something that happened 35 years ago. I'm sure I felt that all those 60s heads were banging on about things - so I do understand that Punk Rock can appear totally irrelevent in this day and age and obviously totally irrelevent to those not even born 35 years ago. I'm now doing workshops in schools and colleges where they were not born when we did the first records with Catatonia back in 1993 so Punk Rock must really seem like archaeology to them.
As Iggy Pop and John Lydon do their bit for insurance and butter it came as no suprise to hear a news item on Radio 2 or Radio 4 - I forget which because I was flicking channels on the car radio at the time, announcing that the Sex Pistols and various punk bands were supporting the National Trust. At first I thought they were going to announce a series of concerts in some of the National Trust estates but hey, it's a CD !
I actually asked for the CD at Plas Newydd, Anglesey but no one really knew if they had copies for sale. Anglesey was never that punk rock I guess. I have actually recently joined the National Trust. I have a background in archaeology and do quite a bit of tour guiding around various sites, archaeological, castles and also to National Trust sites in North Wales - so the whole thingh seems to have come together.
In my Welsh Language review I suggested that the thought of Steve Jones and Paul Cook from the Pistols wandering around Erddig brought a smile to my face but why not of course ..... so let's get on to the CD itself.
This is quite an interesting collection because strictly speaking it covers "New Wave" acts and also "League Division II" bands, those that came later which would probably not be acknowledged as punk by the '76 or '77 purists, but what it does make is a great CD for the car - in fact a great CD for a car journey en route to a National Trust property - just right for me going from Caernarfon to say Erddig or Plas Newydd or Plas yn Rhiw.
We start with "Identity" by X Ray Spex and this track really reminds us or even confirms how "original" the original punk bands were back in '77. They all had an unique sound, they may have been influenced by the Sex Pistols, provoked and inspired to pick up a guitar but they did not all sound the same. ADSIDE : This is a lesson that Welsh bands should consider - DO NOT SOUND LIKE THE SUPER FURRY'S - get your own sound.
So Polystyrene (RIP)'s ouutfit do just that - come up with their own sound. She was of her time and in many ways ahead. They even managed with the help of a very young Lora Logic to make good use of the saxophone. Normally all saxophones should be banned and kept a healthy distance away from pop music.
The two Sex Pistols tracks are both demos from the Dave Goodman period, Anarchy and Pretty Vacant. Intersesting for the fact that they are early demos, these are the raw versions before Chris Thomas polished them off for Never Mind The Bollocks but boy are they slow, they are almost painfully slow. I remember the Damned taking the piss that Anarchy was so slow but then the Damned speeded up the tapes to get New Rose that fast. Welcome to the punk wars.
In fact after a few plays both Pistols tracks sound quite good but you are aware that Steve Jones is still at the work in progress stage as is Rotten's lyrics / vocals.
If we go with the "original" punk tracks first we get two Weller classics, "In The City" and "Going Underground" - classics if only for the lines "and the kids know where it's at" and "the people want what the people get". For all his sins Weller did stir things up, by being a bit mod and un-punk in many ways he was more punk than those who fell into the cliches so backtracking to '77 I certainly accepted what the Jam were doing as being part of the same thing as The Adverts and The Clash, whether Weller called it punk or not. "Modern World" was the theme tune to Street Heat for years - it made sense - it was a call to arms.
Siouxsie of course was there right at the begining and on listening to the 12" mix of Spellbound on this CD I kind of thought that current bands like Joy Formidable are so lightweight, maybe that's unfair and unkind, but the energy coming from the Banshees just makes that point. Today the NME is certainly the e-n-e-m-y - it encourages and supports the average, no diffrerent to X Factor - just another set of rules to follow, to conform to, not so with the Banshees ......
In terms of originality, the Manchester bands really do stand out. "Bingo -Master's Break Out" by The Fall still sounds punchy, Mark E Smith singing remarkably well on this track and despite the highly crap punk guitars on John Cooper Clarke's track "Innocents" and the shouty shouty chorus you still realise that Clarke is an original, a visionary - he was the "punk poet" - brilliant, poetry was allowed and welcomed - try that with the NME today - ohh yeahhhh they'd be soooo supportive.
The other Manchester band here are Slaughter and The Dogs, more glam-mods- Mott The Hoople almost, probably not punk rock at all but they did release "Where Have All The Bootboys Gone ?" What a classic moronic song, moronic riffs, moronic beat but what a brilliant brilliant chorus "Where have all the bootboys gone ?" can't fault that one. it's the kind of track Jon savage would either hate for being shite or he'd love for being pure moronic genius. Not sure where Savage stands on Slaughter and The Dogs but as far as this CD is concerned it put a huge smile on my face for sure !
Sham 69 were good for a while, then it turned into a bit of a Jimmy Pursey soap opera at the point that he was to join up with Steve and Paul post-Pistols. That never happened and Sham 69 probably never recovered. Great guitar sounds on "If The Kids Are United" as there was on "Angels With Dirty Faces" but it does not stand the test of time so well "if the kids are united they will never be divided" or "I don't want to be rejected, I don't want to be denied, it's not my misfortune that I opened up your eyes" or something like that in the passionate middle eight. Yep during 6th Form Pursey did make some kind of sense but listening today you tend to go with "Where have all the Bootboys gone ?" because that's blatantly funny and blatantly moronic and still more cred than Pursey going on and on ........
Likewise Stiff Little Fingers, that first album Inflammable Material and those early tracks "Suspect Device" and "Alternative Ulster" sounded absolutely brilliant on those first Peel plays, and of course the subject matter dealing with the North of Ireland - how much more punk rock could you get - but the track here "Beirut Moon" seems a bit out of context, a bit out of date, who cares even ? I don't really know if anybody does care about SLF these days. Even if they do they probably just want the old hits. Pass or rather skip.
I actually caught the last song of their set at Rebellion Festival last year - I'd just finished working with Viv Albertine, got her back to her hotel and came back just to catch the last song - and it was the same feeling - pass - I may have loved the first album, today I have no interest at all ......
What really made me laugh about this CD is that whoever compiled it must have had a laugh because it does really jump through New Wave through the League Division II bands and even manages to squezee in Discharge with "Protest and Survive". Discharge were part of the early 80s Crass / post-Crass scene - lyrically and politically they had developed the Anti Nuclear, Anarchist, vegetarian arguments - I still agree with a lot of that to this day - still veggie. Musically it's a F*** Knows ?????
I do not approach this review with cynicism towards the New Wave. Some of it was good. Listening today to "Lucky Number" by Lene Lovich there is a good argument that she was ahead of her time, of her time as well but a visionary - Lucky Number still sounds pretty good to me, pretty fresh and pretty strange. great Label of course, Stiff Records, mavericks who released maverick pop records - again a lesson for today's popstars and NME stars - stand out for F*** sake ! God Bless Lene.
We always called Jilted John's song "Jilted John" by the hook "Gordon is a Moron". The moronic quality here is high indeed. Bless Mr Shuttleworth. This is utter shite of course but it's brilliant utter shite - and again it;s very very funny and still sounds good..
Apologies for not reviewing G.B.H - what would I say ? Same with Anti Nowhere League but again respect the compiler for throwing all these acts at us on one CD - this is probably what makes the CD a little bit punk rock. It stretches things a bit and that's no bad thing. It make you smile - and that's another no bad thing.
On the front cover we get a little sticker that say's "A British Music Culture that started a revolution". Agreed !
Never Mind The Dovecotes (Punk Collection) is released by the National Trust - how much more punk rock can you get !
The punk rock scene hit us 50 year olders at a interesting age. I was listening to all kinds of stuff but Mr Peel suddenly started to play something with a different attitude...not so different musically..the Sex Pistols were a speeded up pub rock band with anarchist lyrics the Jam sounded like the Who etc but there was a new inclusiveness, a DIY aesthetic and it was all exciting again. Every 15 year old could be a punk rock star...and also an anything goes attitude (well; apart from ELP, Yes, Deep Purple (thank god), Disco, and even Bob Dylan, (John Cooper Clarke anyone!?)). So, lots of 3 chord wonders and Velvet Undergound wannabees on speed, but also the Clash playing reggae, Ian Dury (nothing similar before or after!!), XTC, The Stranglers, Elvis Costello and a few years on, Joy Division , and even Ornette Coleman free jazz sidekick James Blood Ulmer on Rough Trade, the Smiths etc. In short massive diversity and in hindsight all in a remarkably short time.
ReplyDeleteI recently met up with an old friend in an Edinburgh pub and we laughed about how there was a Best of Punk Rock CD on the juke box and how hard it was to get some of those singles in Smiths in Carlisle. So we played them all..mostly ranging from pretty good to brilliant, apart from Billy Idol who was always shite.
Dave Hopewell..3 sheets to the wind in Bethesda