mix number three. the beginning of punk rock at the end of the 1970s.
Punk, as a musical genre, as a fashion movement, as a way of life, put the power in the hands of those a part of it. It was an entirely self-sustaining culture, run on the hope for and practice of abrasive change in music, art, fashion, politics and thinking. Punk shook the world to its core, and regardless of whether or not you like it, it paved the way for everything that has followed.
Punk is the reason why any kid with a guitar can record songs and have an audience for it. Punk made music free and independent again, aggressive and dangerous, invigorating and exciting.
Punk seemed to just happen, without any warning. Here it was in New York City, around the same time it cropped up in Australia, and in London, and in the Pacific Northwest, and, of course, in Southern California. It was on the tip of everyone's tongue, and the pioneers screamed it in unison with one another.
It was a moment in time, one that has unfortunately passed, one left undefined, but terribly damaged in desperate attempts to do so. As it became more and more about how many studs one puts on their leather jacket, how high one's mohawk can be, how well-versed one was in what was acceptable within the culture (and how hard one rallied against "sell-out" traitors to their cause), the meaning was lost.
Fortunately, the meaning can be found within the following songs, as well as countless others; the short bursts of raw power and snotty energy gave the metaphorical middle-finger to everything that came before. It was intelligent, as it was primitive. It was orchestrated, it was chaos.
But above all else, it was what it was.
We all know The Clash, The Ramones, and the Sex Pistols. A document of every great band from this era would be impossible for one lone blogger to compile.
At the very least, here are some of the other songs and artists that made it happen.
1. Richard Hell & The Voidoids - "Liars Beware"
Richard Hell became famous as "the first poet of Punk", and the wordplay present in this frenetic song is no exception. Here, a swell of guitars leads to angular riffs, propulsive drums and a perfect punk piece that takes no prisoners.
2. Gang of Four - "Natural's Not In It"
Currently known as the theme song to Sofia Coppola's kinda-period-film, Marie Antoinette, Gang of Four's "Natural's Not In It" uses a stuttering beat with staccato guitar riffs and kickass bass line to rally against vice and decadence in the upper class. As the refrain goes: "This heaven gives me migrane."
3. Neon Boys - "Time"
Another Richard Hell-helmed project that predates The Voidoids, "Time" finds itself in a similar place of the bands that followed it, both The Voidoids and seminal NYC punk band, Television, and is an interesting document of where both bands divided and where they stayed the same.
4. Suicide - "Rocket USA"
A sort of ideological brother to The Clash's famous apocalyptic single "London Calling", the nerveracking and claustrophobic mix of Suicide's "Rocket USA" is a brilliantly unsettling usage of sound, particularly in the quivering vocals of Alan Vega, constant fuzz and drums, and the ghostly Farfisa organ in the background. The song is less about evoking a swell of emotions and dynamics, and more about capturing, in its steadiness, the fear and paranoia of looming destruction.
5. The Accident - "Kill The Bee Gees"
This is a personal one for me, primarily because I'm related to half of this band. Two of my father's cousins formed this band, who became infamous for this song. Though probably born from ordinary annoyance at the shining gloss of disco that overpopulated radio at the time, this Olympia, WA band's song symbolized a greater shift, and kind of a thesis statement for punk at the time--to tear down the decadence of the disco era, spit all over its sheen, and hold up a mirror to the shit and piss of the times.
It's also just monstrously aggressive, and still heavy, after all these years.
6. Television - "Friction"
You couldn't describe punk without talking about Television, an often overlooked band of the era who helped lay down the foundations of the New York punk scene. Its members were involved with everyone from Blondie, Patti Smith to Talking Heads. Television were pushing punk forward, while the Ramones were focused on amateurish frenetic bursts. "Friction" with its almost-new-wave tendencies and terrific guitar work, is art-punk on a plate, and classic Television.
7. The Slits - "FM"
The Slits, an all-female punk group from the UK, took the pathway of the Talking Heads and The Police, by melding nervy art-punk with reggae/dub influences. Though well-known for the risque topless album cover to their 1979 debut, Cut, the craft put into their songs took a cue from Television, by making them slicker, more intricate compositions than a lot of the more rough and tumble work coming out of Britain at the time.
What ensues in "FM" is a fantastic melding of shaky reggae rhythms with punk elements, (and even a little folk) that doesn't come off as heavy-handed as some of The Clash's songs can. By combining these ingredients, something new was formed in The Slits.
It is a shame that punk turned into a hypermasculine boys club in the 1980s and 90s. The female punk spirit created some of the most memorable, liberating tunes of the era.
8. Siouxsie & The Banshees - "The Staircase (Mystery)"
The doomy goth-punk of Siouxsie & The Banshees continues to impact and influence.
In Britain, as in New York, women were central to the punk aesthetic, and Siouxsie was Queen. Everyone from Robert Smith to Sid Vicious were involved with the Banshees at one point or another, and listening to "The Staircase" is easy to see the interest.
Its dark, menacing sound is huge. This is music that demands to be listened to, and it is in no small way attributed to the seductive power of Siouxsie.
9. Patti Smith - "Free Money"
Ending our trilogy of female-fronted punk is this classic from Patti Smith.
Let me just shout it from the rooftops: I LOVE PATTI SMITH.
From its shimmery introduction, to its gradual transition to a propulsive anthem, "Free Money" is fast, rocking, as well as oddly emotional. Its structure seems to make no sense, but is absolutely perfect: it builds at just the perfect rate before exploding and hurdling forward, leaving everything in its wake.
Patti Smith's lyrical prowess and vocal power remains unparalleled. Every bad rock girl (and some boys) have tried to mimic her vocal tics and imagistic words but consistently fail to capture the nuances and intricacies of Smith's.
If you don't already have it, I beg of you: Buy Patti Smith's "Horses". You won't regret it.
10. Dead Kennedys - "California Uber Alles"
Though typically associated with the hardcore punk of the 1980s, Dead Kennedys first recorded their most famous song, "California Uber Alles" in 1979. Depicting the hypothetical Presidential administration of then-California governor, and 1980 Presidential candidate Jerry Brown, (and likening it to a Hitler-esque regime), "California Uber Alles" is not only one of the greatest songs I've heard, it remains relevant after almost thirty years. It would seem that a song so of-the-moment would remain dated, but "Uber Alles", as with every Dead Kennedys song, can be applied to any frightening political circumstance, and continues to be shockingly hilarious and terrifying.
The tense, final seconds of "Uber Alles" are some of the finest in any rock song, evoking an image of Nazi-esque soldiers marching through the streets of San Francisco.
11. Richard Hell & The Voidoids - "The Blank Generation"
The first punk rock anthem, and apt closer to this collection, Richard Hell's "The Blank Generation" encapsulates what it meant (and means) to be young in a tumultuous time. Its lyrics and ferocity resonate in our current day. The biggest shame of this song is how it was misconstrued by many to be promoting an apathetic, nihilistic outlook that eventually caused punk to implode.
In its original connotation, Hell imagined "The Blank Generation" as undefined and thusly free, rather than absentminded, (i.e. "The _______ Generation").
Within Hell's lyrics are what came to be the story of punk: the movement tore itself from its womb, sprawling out fully formed, yet completely premature. Fiery and free-falling, punk was made to destroy and enlighten. It was for the lonely children who set an extra place for the wall at dinnertime. It was for the misunderstood kids, damaged kids, the dirty streetrats who felt like "God's consolation prize".
The birth imagery suggests music reborn, but images of heroin tracks on arm, "air packed with cash", and vacant lots, and losing your train of thought suggests the very things that led to punk's untimely death.
But perhaps, that was the point.
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with love, chris osborn.
