100 Top 70s Punk LPs
This article originally appeared in NFH #21.
Last issue's feature
on 100 essential 70s punk singles was highly successful on many levels. First of all, it
apparently helped sell most of the issues taken by distributors so I don't have a huge
pile of back copies in my garage that will never sell (maybe a Madonna feature is in
order...). Second, it netted me lots of great hate mail from people whose faves were left
out (actually, there was surprisingly calm reaction from most people). Finally, it filled
up several pages writing about something that flows considerably more easily than getting
features on recluses like Rob Younger. So under the credo that a good horse should always
be ridden straight into the ground, here's the sequel, namely "A Large Pile Of 70s
Punk LPs Without Which You Are An Individual Of Debatable Consequence And Why In 100 Words
Or Less Each" or "How I Learned To Love The Bombs".
As before, the idea
is not to say which is best, although it's Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex
Pistols. I can't be bothered with ranking them...just go get them all. Would I lead
you wrong?
THE ADVERTS
Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts (Bright)
TV Smith at his finest, no doubt. He's got those great urgent vocals, and when it came out
the prominent British accent was a breath of fresh air after years of Brits trying to
sound like Americans. There's several pressings of this, and I'd recommend trying to find
one that has "Gary Gilmore's Eyes" on it, since that's one of their best ever
and not all pressings have it. But even if you miss it, "One Chord Wonders",
"Bored Teenagers", "Bombsite Boy", "No Time To Be 21" and
"Great British Mistake" are all killer. WARNING - the second Adverts lp, Cast
Of Thousands, was a victim of a horrible attempt to convert the band into a safer new
wave style andwhile anything with TV Smith on it is bound to be good, is nowhere near the
classic that the first one is.
THE AVENGERS
The Avengers(CD)
Although this lp wasn't released until 1983, it was recorded in 1977 and 1978 when the
Avengers were conceivably the best and most powerful band on the west coast of the US. If
there had been the opportunities to get press and make records that UK bands had, there's
little doubt in my mind that the Avengers would have been as important as the Clash.
Tough, gut wrenching songs that said something, and a female vocal performance that's been
matched rarely in the days since. The band plays hard with loud fat guitars...classic
punk.
THE BEAT
The Beat (CBS)
No, I'm not talking about the English ska band...this is the powerpop outfit fronted
by Paul Collins. They were ahead of the Knack, and they were honest, too...this is what
they wanted to do, not some scam to cash in on a coming fad. The LA Times Calendar section
picked this the best lp of 1979, and it's probably the last time they were remotely close
to right. The songs on this are just super pieces of rock and roll...great harmonies with
rough edged playing. Songs like "Rock'n'Roll Girl", "Walking Out On
Love" or "Don't Wait Up For Me" are great pieces of Buddy Holly flavored
rock and roll.
BLONDIE
Blondie (Private Stock)
Underground music fans remind me a lot of the Communist Party in China. Bands come along
and are in favor, then all of a sudden they lose it all and everybody dumps them.
Sometimes they get rehabilitated and become acceptable to like again. Has Blondie ever
recovered from having the gall to do "Heart Of Glass" and worse atrocities
later? I dunno, but I still love that first lp with those great girl group songs like
"Little Girl Lies", "Rifle Range", "Kung Fu Girls", and of
course, the brilliant "X Offender". How anybody ever thought this was punk rock
(and they did back then) I'll never know...it must have been their CBGBs roots, but it's a
great record (their next one, Plastic Letters, is pretty good, too).
THE BOYS
The Boys (Nems)
The Boys were a London punk band that evolved over time into a kind of strange power pop
outfit, but for their first lp they were great pop/punk fiends. Somehow they never got
much notice for their efforts, which is hard to understand now, because this lp has a lot
more kick, spunk, and tunefulness than a hell of a lot of more highly regarded
competitors. It's got a pretty classic chugging 4/4 drum sound and some tasty, fat
guitars. Maybe the problem was that the lyrics were kind of goofy good time things, while
the press was more interested in political bands. That might explain why this record has
aged a lot more gracefully; I can imagine this being released today.
BUZZCOCKS
Another Music In A Different Kitchen (UA)
Love Bites (UA)
Singles Going Steady (IRS)
A Different Kind Of Tension (IRS)
There's no way I'm gonna leave out any Buzzcocks record from this list, although I'm not
counting posthumous stuff or any reunion things that may come along. Best way to get up to
date on these guys is to buy the Product CD set, which has all the lps and every
missing B side, plus the Parts 1-3 single series and some live stuff. The Buzzcocks
were one of the two or three best ever... killer snappy punk songs with pop hooks and
deliriously catchy tunes with weird perspectives on love. Every one of these lps has a
handful of songs so good that the average band would be lucky to come up with one
comparable track in their career. I'd rate the first three as dead equals for quality and
the fourth less by a gnat's eyelash.
CHELSEA
Alternative Hits (Step Forward)
Chelsea were a London based band who led off their existence with a fairly dull political
song called "Right To Work", but then broadened their horizons and got a lot
stronger musically. This record, which is different by only one track from a US disc
called No Escape, compiles a batch of their singles to produce a really solid
album. Chelsea often sound pretty awkward, and their singer was more of a shouter, but
there's some great songs like "No Escape", "Urban Kids", "Look At
The Outside" or "No One's Coming Outside". Chelsea surprisingly hung around
for quite a while and had some good lps into the early 80s, too.
THE CHORDS
So Far Away (Polydor)
This might be cheating a bit since it came out in 1980, but it was recorded in 1979 and
the band had most of their success that year in the UK mod movement that brought the Jam
to the peak of their popularity. It's been widely ignored but I thought it was the best lp
of the year it came out...great anthemic songs with huge ringing guitars and wild man
drumming. I'd describe them as a slightly more straight on and more energetic version of
the Jam circa their first two lps. "Maybe Tomorrow" and "Somethings
Missing" are two of my all time faves.
THE CLASH
The Clash (CBS)
Give 'Em Enough Rope (CBS)
How do you convince anyone that the Clash were a really meaningful band when all they know
by them is "Rock The Casbah", "Should I Stay Or Should I Go" and
"Brand New Cadillac"? It's damn hard, I'll tell you. But pretend it's a totally
different band and go try on these two lps (get the US copy of the first one; it's piles
better). Songs like "Jail Guitar Doors", "I'm So Bored With The USA",
"Janie Jones", "Career Opportunities", "Remote Control", or
"Safe European Home", now those are some great songs. As usual, the first lp is
the better, but although there are fewer standout tracks on the second, it's consistently
good throughout. The press went to their head, but you can still hear the magic from
before it happened.
ELVIS COSTELLO
This Year's Model (CBS)
It's been a long time since I've paid any attention to a new Elvis Costello release, but
they used to be a very significant event. The My Aim Is True record was an
impressive debut, but even so it was pretty overrated by the rock press; This Year's
Model proved how much better Costello could be if he got a band that really gave a
damn behind him instead of the feeble San Francisco band Clover, who were the main backing
on that first record. The Attractions were a tough and gutty band; I remember seeing them
on their first US tour just before this record came out and I couldn't believe how much
better they were live than the first lp was on a stereo, but what really blew me away was
the songs they previewed from this record...although I'd never heard them before I can
still remember the attack and bite of songs like "Radio Radio", "Lipstick
Vogue", "No Action", "Hand In Hand" and "Lip Service".
The US version of this is definitely the one to get since the UK record drops "Radio
Radio" for a couple of much weaker tracks.
THE DAMNED
Damned Damned Damned (Stiff)
Machine Gun Etiquette (Chiswick)
I bought the first Damned lp on Stiff from a Wherehouse chain shop import bin in 1978. At
the time I'd never heard anything so raw sounding, including the first Sex Pistols record.
Unused to the wild production style, I took several months to absorb it all; at first it
was some of the slower tracks like "Fan Club", with it's killer guitar hook,
that caught my interest, but as time went on it became obvious that tracks like the
hammering "New Rose", "Neat Neat Neat" and "So Messed Up"
were the real aces. In a year's time I was playing this lp constantly, and now it's
apparent that it's one of the punk lps that has aged most gracefully...it still sounds
great today with wild drumming, great hot guitar licks from Brian James, and some killer
songs. How anybody could listen to this and say that punks couldn't play is beyond me! By
the time of their third lp, Machine Gun Etiquette, the Damned had split up and
reformed several times, and now had Captain Sensible moving up to replace Brian James on
guitar. Although it might have been expected that the band would have matured some by now,
little of the sort had in fact happened. There are some more sophisticated songs with more
complicated structures, but basically it's more of the same rave up stuff, especially with
"Love Song", "Plan 9 Channel 7" and "Smash It Up" as
signatures.
THE DEAD BOYS
Young Loud And Snotty (Sire)
We Have Come For Your Children (Sire)
Cleveland's Dead Boys moved to New York almost at the start of their career and quickly
established themselves as the hardest and nastiest of the CBGBs bands signed to Sire. For
a while they swapped rock and roll headlines with the Pistols with one incident after
another, culminating in a member getting stabbed. Their style was a great metallic punk
sound epitomized by the classic "Sonic Reducer" from the first lp. Cheetah
Chrome spilled out some of the toughest, nastiest guitar ever heard at that point, and
Stiv Bators had the snottiest vocal style of all the American bands. Their songs could be
pretty inflammatory; imagine requesting "Caught With The Meat In Your Mouth"
from your local station! But at the same time, they understood the need for hooks in
songs, and they've got some great ones. On the second lp, the sound was more produced and
a little less raw, but there are still lots of great moments like "Third Generation
Nation", "Ain't It Fun", or the monstrous "Son Of Sam".
THE DICKIES
The Incredible Shrinking Dickies (A&M)
The first time I heard this record, I figured there was just no way a band could play any
faster. When thrash came along that was proved wrong, but few bands have ever played songs
with pop hooks this fast. It's totally silly cartoon punk of the lowest caliber, but it's
so hokey it's like the movie Airplane...it becomes great. Their 100 mph version of
"Paranoid" is one of the greatest punk covers ever, and some of their own songs
like "You Drive Me Ape" are as good. They couldn't continue to match this
brilliance though as their second lp had only a couple of good tracks and now they're just
plain stupid.
THE DIODES
The Diodes (CBS)
Canada's entry in the hot 100, the Diodes actually had quite a few records but this is the
only one I've heard that I'd recommend. And it's a great one. It starts with their killer
version of the Cyrcle's folk/pop classic "Red Rubber Ball", and it maintains the
pace through a batch of their own cool tunes like "Child Star", "Blonde
Fever" or "Behind Those Eyes". As with a lot of records from these days the
sound is a little confused...the Diodes here sound like a early 70s heavy rock band
blended with the Ramones. Lots of good power pop vocal harmonies add to the confusion.
THE DRONES
Further Temptations (Valer)
Aside from the fact that this is a great punk record, I love it because I got it at the
swap meet in front of the Capitol Records building in Hollywood for 49 cents when it first
came out and now people are paying outrageous sums for it. Every review I ever read of it
(and there weren't many) panned it, but I can't figure out why...it's got the same kind of
chugging rhythm section that made the Vibrators so great, and the songs are real catchy
Ramones-type tunes with a hot guitar sound. The singer's got a period-perfect
Cockney-yobbo voice. The Stooges-riffing in "Movement" and the racy guitars of
"Look Alikes" are the highlights, but there's plenty else to hang your hat on
here.
EATER
The Album (The Label)
This is probably overrated, but it's interesting to hear the racket made by a bunch of
teenagers from the late 70s making it to record. The main problem Eater had was that they
had a crappy Fender guitar sound with next to no distortion, which makes things a little
weedy, but you can rely on the bass to drive things along. If the guitar could match the
Drones, this record would be on a similar level with theirs. I list it here primarily
because it's a good sample of some of the more run-of-the-mill dole queue punk rock.
EDDIE AND THE HOT
RODS
Life On The Line (Island)
Hard to figure these guys...they started with an OK record called Teenage Depression
which was a weird mix of live and studio stuff that showed promise but not much more, then
hit huge with this record, and subsequently slid into oblivion behind a series of
defections and horrible producer choices. On this lp, Eddie And The Hot Rods are probably
better described as a high-octane pub-rock band than a punk band, but they sure did some
great songs, starting with the brilliant "Do Anything You Wanna Do" but
continuing through "Quit This Town", "What's Really Going On",
"Ignore Them" and the title song. Singer Barrie Masters later adopted a style
that sounded really fakey (much like the change in the Who's Roger Daltry as he got
older), but on this record the singing sounds real and urgent. Great stuff.
THE FALL
Live At The Witch Trials (Step Forward)
To me the Fall were too dry to really be contenders, but lots of other people thought (and
still think) they were fabulous, so I figure I ought to list them here to be complete and
let you make up your own mind. These songs definitely do not have pop hooks; they feature
Mark Smith talking the lyrics over the top of scratchy guitars and mercilessly overplayed
drums...a fill at the end of every vocal line and no two the same. The structure of things
is rock and roll, but like a lot of noise bands today, the rhythm foundation is rock and
roll while the vocals and guitar are off doing other things. I don't know if I'd say the
Fall were ahead of their time; it's more like they were off to the side of it.
GANG OF FOUR
Entertainment (Warner Bros)
Although this is a terrific lp, I can't help but look at it as marking the end of the
seventies punk era...it seemed like this was the record that made critics convinced that
it was safe to go looking for music that wasn't bristling with energy and speed. Gang Of
Four were followed as press darlings by Joy Division, then by the Human League, then by
OMD, then Soft Cell, then Boy George and the slide still hasn't ended in the UK. But Entertainment
was a pretty amazing accomplishment...at the time it was virtually a brand new style of
music; a sort of funk based punk rock with this sharp edged, jarring guitar sound and
highly political lyrics. And unlike most bands that reach for a dramatically different
style, Gang Of Four made something really good and listenable. Except for the Mekons first
lp, there really isn't another record out there that sounds comparable to this.
GENERATION X
Generation X (Chrysalis)
Here's another one where you have to be sure to get the US copy. Funny how the US labels
screwed us by putting out all the weakest punk songs as singles but on the lps, they
regularly replaced softer tracks with much better songs available only as singles in the
UK. That's the case here...this thing's loaded with the best of Generation X all on one
record. Yeah, it's Billy Idol singing, but he's a 17 year old kid here, and MTV hasn't
made his head too fat yet. These songs have a great feel for pop hooks and they convey the
sense of teenage rebellion that drove punk rock about as well as any record ever made.
Compare this to the amateurish Eater and it's amazing to think that a bunch of guys under
twenty could put together such a great set of material. Awesome. Warning...all other Gen X
records are lame.
THE HEARTBREAKERS
L.A.M.F. Revisited (Track)
There was much moaning for many years about how the first Heartbreakers lp was ruined by a
shoddy mix, so celebrations were in order when this version remixed by Johnny Thunders and
Tony James came out in 1984. It's basically the same record as the original L.A.M.F.
(it's also been re-sequenced) but it sounds so much ballsier that there's no point in
looking for the original. This is the basic set of songs that Thunders played for most of
his career, all written in a burst in the mid 70s. It's amazing how he could come up with
such a great batch of tracks and then write only about four more good songs the rest of
his life. But it's all here, the slashing classic Thunders guitar style and snotty vocals.
This record is one of the ten best ever.
RICHARD HELL AND
THE VOIDOIDS
Blank Generation (Sire)
Richard Hell was a co-founder of Television and another CBGB alumnus, but his approach was
much more art oriented than a lot of the other bands from that club. As a result, this
record has to be approached with a jaundiced eye...I look at it as an important artifact
to give a well rounded view of what was going on, but that doesn't mean I play it a whole
lot. "Blank Generation" is a pretty great song, and "Love Comes In
Spurts" is good for a few snickers, but the rest of it is kind of average.
HOLLYWOOD BRATS
Hollywood Brats (Cherry Red)
Recorded in 1975, released in 1980 and still ahead of its time today, this is a fantastic
record of snotty, glam punk with Thunders-like guitar, New York Dolls styled rock and roll
songs, and great lyrics of life in the gutter. Totally brilliant from the opening
"Chez Maximes" to the closing blast of "Sick On You", if someone had
gotten this out in 1977 it would have taken a place next to the greats of punk rock
records. As it was it was a little too late and has been ignored ever since. It's
interesting to note that Casino Steel went on to play in the Boys and several of these
songs are on the first Boys lp in radically different form.
THE JAM
In The City (Polydor)
This Is The Modern World (Polydor)
Setting Sons (Polydor)
I suspect the average British critic would pick All Mod Cons as the Jam's landmark
lp, since that's the one that kicked off the mod revival and moved the Jam to star status
in the isles, but it's really my least favorite Jam record. In The City was rough
and raw with an early Who sound...some great songs and some not so incredible but the good
songs were enough to make it rate highly. The title track is particularly great, and
"Away From The Numbers", "Bricks And Mortar" and "Art
School" aren't far behind. The Modern World was my favorite, especially the US
release with "All Around The World", "In The Street, Today",
"Here Comes The Weekend", "Life From A Window" and "The
Combine". I suspect that during my lifetime I've played this more often than any
other record; it appeals on so many levels that it's almost always worth putting on. By
the time of Setting Sons, the Jam were big stars and the record isn't punk at all,
but it's still got a pile of great tracks, especially if you get the US copy with
"Strange Town", but "Eton Rifles", "Thick As Thieves" and
"Private Hell" are powerful, too.
THE JOLT
The Jolt (Polydor)
Proof that timing is everything...if these guys had put this record out in 1979 they'd
have hit the crest of the mod movement and probably been as big as Secret Affair or the
Chords, if not the Jam, but instead they put it out at the beginning of 1978 as their
career was running down. But it's really a pretty strong mod punk hybrid that's musically
as powerful as a lot of the early Jam stuff although the lyrics don't measure up. Still,
other than the Jam and Chords, I reckon the Jolt as the best mod band of the late
70s...really good tuneful tracks with lots of energy and a real raw edge to it.
JOY DIVISION
Closer (Factory)
If a band starts a new direction, can they be blamed if those that follow all run off the
edge of a cliff? Joy Division pioneered this depressing, pre-suicidal style of music which
others managed to commercialize by toning down the guitars, turning up the synthesizers,
and schmaltzing up the vocals. It certainly isn't a punk record, but it's an important one
in understanding how the punk ethic twisted into a boring, stale mass of synthesizer
bands. Joy Division definitely conveyed an emotion in their music, but their more
successful imitators totally overlooked it and unfortunately dragged masses with
them...you can still see them today with their gothic getups and their Smiths
bumperstickers.
KILLING JOKE
Killing Joke (Malicious Damage)
Just about the only industrial band worth listening to in my book, and judging from the
number of fans you used to see at hardcore punk shows in the mid 80s with Killing Joke
stenciled on their leather jackets I'm not the only punk fan who thinks so. On this lp
Killing Joke sounds like a grinding factory pounding out machine parts with a hammering,
precision rhythm and soulless singing. This is another pioneering record that set a trail
for a new kind of band, and as for Joy Division, hundreds wrecked it later.
THE LURKERS
Fullham Fallout (Beggars Banquet)
If you're sick of trendsetters and just want some old time ramalama punk rock with great
singalong tunes, this is your ticket. ZigZag magazine used to rave about these guys, but
nobody else seemed to catch on to how great they were...they're just another Ramones cop
for sure, but they really do it well; right up there with the Undertones. The Lurkers'
strong point is chorus hooks with lots of cool "oh-oh" backings. This lp is by
far their best with production that really makes the guitar kick. It's sloppy and
amateurish, but that's what makes it so great. Hey, Beggars Banquet, do you remember when
you actually released records like this one?
MAGAZINE
Secondhand Daylight (Virgin)
Magazine were Howard Devoto's band after he left the Buzzcocks...for some reason Devoto is
regularly given vast amounts of credit for the fact that the Buzzcocks were as good as
they were, but I dunno why; his efforts outside of the Buzzcocks didn't come close.
Magazine had a few really good songs, and it's tempting to pick their first lp over this
one because it has "Shot By Both Sides", Magazine's best. But I think Secondhand
Daylight is more representative of what Magazine was about...sort of moody, sinister
songs. Even on the great, poppy, "Rhythm Of Cruelty", the underlying lyric is
unsettling, and on "Permafrost" it becomes a full on horror show. Magazine were
another band that tried to figure out how to use synthesizers, and they also weren't too
successful at it. Their best songs are the ones with the synth at the back.
THE MEKONS
The Quality Of Mercy Is Not Strnen (Virgin)
The Mekons are still around, though I haven't heard anything they've done for a long time
so I don't know if they are remotely like they used to be. But they sure were clever
bastards back when this came out. The cover has a monkey at a typewriter, and he almost
types out the first line of the famous "mercy speech" from Shakespeare's Merchant
Of Venice. There's a similar amateurish quality to the Mekons themselves...they sound
like the Lurkers trying to imitate Gang Of Four...yobbish singing, muddy production,
choppy playing, but the result is somehow really good. The songs are pretty spastic, but
they're also really interesting and hold up to repeated listens quite well. It's not a
major league punk record, but it's a pretty decent one.
THE MEMBERS
At Chelsea Nightclub (Virgin)
1980 The Choice Is Yours (Virgin)
Two brilliant records, these. I don't know how many people I convinced with the Members
feature I wrote a few issues back, but these guys are killers. A superficial listen will
leave you mostly with an impression of Nicky Tesco singing, and he's got a loutish Cockney
voice that's punk personified. But a few more listens and you'll begin to take note of a
couple of things. First off, this is a world class band musically, and they're playing
some really complicated songs that shift tempos and switch back and forth from reggae to
rock and hammering hard to subtle and soft. Then the lyrics will catch you; they're both
humorous and insightful at the same time. The Members manage to have it both ways; they've
got punk energy but they've got mainstream proficiency and they can be complicated without
compromising their great songs. After these two albums they lost it, but I've played both
these records year in and year out and I always love 'em.
999
Separates (UA)
There are many people who think Nine Nine Nine were one of the great punk bands. I'm not
one of them...they had some really fun songs like "Nasty Nasty", and live they
were pretty entertaining the time I saw them, but they always struck me as though they'd
just as soon play something else if it was popular. "Homicide" from this lp,
which was about their most well known song, was pretty close to disco, but there's plenty
of other catchy ones here, like "Tulse Hill Night", "Out Of Reach" or
"Let's Face It" (which continues "The boy can't make it with girls!").
Singer Nick Cash has a sort of affected, high pitched snarl when he wants to emphasize a
point, but when the band sings straight verses or chorus parts with backing vocals they
can have a nice punk pop sound that's a lot like the Boys.
THE ONLY ONES
Special View (Epic)
Actually, as I've said before, if I had to pick one Only Ones record, I'd take the Peel
Sessions lp, but I think for this purpose it's only fair to take one that came out in the
period when they were active. This record was released in the US and it's kind of a
compilation of the tracks from their first two UK lps that Epic thought were their best.
They came pretty close to being right, too. The four best Only Ones songs are
here..."Another Girl Another Planet", "Lovers Of Today", "Out
There In The Night" and "You've Got To Pay". These guys were rather old
farts to be considered punks, but they sure latched onto the new style and put together
some great loser songs. This stuff's about halfway from power pop to Johnny Thunders, if
you need to pin it to a style. There's lots of great tasty guitar chunks and cool rocking
songs. Yeah!
RADIATORS FROM
SPACE
TV Tube Heart (Chiswick)
First Irish punk band to release an lp? U2? Get serious! Stiff Little Fingers? Getting
warm, but not as warm as if you nuzzled up to the Radiators From Space, who released this
lp in 1977...the fourth lp on the indie Chiswick label. The music is sort of glitter punk
stuff...the bass motors up and down while the guitar plays these T Rex type chords. This
record is another widely ignored one, but I think it's full of classics like
"Television Screen", "Prison Bars", "Roxy Girl" or
"Blitzin At The Ritz" to name just a few. After this their record company tried
to make 'em into power poppers, which they failed miserably at.
RADIO BIRDMAN
Radios Appear (Sire)
I hardly think much needs to be said about this one. If you've bought more than one issue
of Noise For Heroes and haven't heard Radios Appear then no amount of preaching is
going to help...it's the record that spawned a zillion Detroit punk-metal bands, almost
none of whom come close. When you listen to this, you should imagine what it would sound
like if it was produced by Rob Younger knowing what he knows about how to use a studio
now. Despite the muddy sound it's still loaded with great songs filled with tough guitars,
tougher vocals and unlimited energy. Aces.
THE RAMONES
The Ramones (Sire)
Leave Home (Sire)
Rocket To Russia (Sire)
Road To Ruin (Sire)
It's Alive (Sire)
There's how many dozen Ramones lps at this point? I've lost count. But this first batch
were all the ones I think you need; after this the band started to sound like they didn't
really know what to do with themselves in the studio, but through these five each new one
was an improvement. The Ramones and Leave Home seem fairly slow now, but at
the time they were about the most rocking records you could buy. Rocket To Russia
was the Ramones really letting out their surf music roots to the max, and then on Road
To Ruin (my fave of all of them) they got a super hard and tight sound that really
burns. Though never released in the US, It's Alive is great since it shows the
Ramones where they were best when they were best; all their best stuff done live.
THE REAL KIDS
The Real Kids (Red Star)
The Real Kids were one of the best bands ever to come out of Boston, and if only they'd
cut their hair they'd probably have been ten times as well known. But in a day when
hippies were totally disreputable, there's one of 'em on the cover with hair half way down
his chest, which probably discouraged a fair segment of the potential audience for this
one. Too bad; it's got great songs with a timeless quality. They've got that punk energy
but a more roots rock and roll flavor that makes them fit in almost any period...unlike
say a Chelsea lp, which couldn't have come out at any time other than 1977 to 1981, if you
didn't know that the Real Kids lp came out in 1977 you might have guessed 1989 as well as
1969. John Felice has a great power pop voice and there's a pile of classic guitar rock
songs to back him up.
THE REZILLOS
Can't Stand The Rezillos (Sire)
Mission Accomplished But The Beat Goes On (Sire)
One of the rare Scottish punk bands to make it on any level, the Rezillos played a
brilliant brand of cartoonish punk rock with a sixties day-glo feel. They had two great
singers in Fay Fife and Eugene Reynolds, and the male/female vocal blend worked great on
all their songs. Added to that is some strong and fat guitar playing and lots of rippling
bass. These are their only two lps, and the second is a live lp done to finish off their
record company obligations, but both steam with great, catchy songs about zany topics like
flying saucers or girlfriends loved for their sculptures.
RICH KIDS
Ghosts Of Princes In Towers (EMI)
Despite all the hoopla about Sid Vicious, it was Glen Matlock who was the Sex Pistols bass
player for most of their career, and he made some big contributions to their sound,
writing "Pretty Vacant" among other things. He got kicked out, allegedly for
saying he liked the Beatles, and formed the Rich Kids with some former members of the glam
pop band Slik, including Midge Ure, who later went on to make an ass of himself in
Ultravox. But the one Rich Kids lp is a real kick of stomping power pop. The production is
a little murky, but the guitars are still strong and there's a pile of great songs, like
the title track, "Hung On You", "Cheap Emotions", "Young
Girls" or "Rich Kids".
TOM ROBINSON BAND
Power In The Darkness (Harvest)
Nobody ever talks about this band but I consider this to be one of the greatest records
that came out in the late 70s and I can't figure out why nobody else does. Robinson is a
bit of an opportunist...his previous band Cafe Society was a pretty mild folky outfit and
since the early 80s he's gone through the post-punk Sector 27 and then into some really
revolting lounge type stuff, so I don't pay attention to him anymore, but this one lp is a
big kick in the butt. You have to put yourself in the period...England was in a bit of a
shock as they were finally realizing that they were falling off the world stage into hard
times from which they wouldn't emerge for a long time. It's probably worse now than it was
then, but now the expectations have diminished, too. Back in 1977 there were constant
warnings about England going up in riots everywhere and police crackdowns and all that,
and Robinson put it right out there in his lyrics along with some strong music. The words
to songs like "Winter Of 79" sound a little funny now...the song was written in
1977 from the perspective of a guy looking back on 1979 from the future, and none of the
stuff happened, but you have to try to put yourself in the context in which it was
written. Anyway, "Long Hot Summer", "Up Against The Wall" and
"Don't Take No For An Answer" are as good as it gets. Get the US copy...it's got
an extra ep with a batch of UK single sides on it.
THE RUTS
The Crack (Virgin)
Another band that I don't think got the credit they deserved...the Ruts made some intense
music which they played with a high degree of musicianship and without forgetting that
good songs and energy are most important. No pop band here; these guys blended reggae with
furious punk. Although it would've been great to have both sides of their first single on
this, it still has a pile of ace tracks like the classic rage of "Babylon's
Burning", "Something That I Said" and "Back Biter", all of which
are killer guitar blasts. Then there's great punk-reggae stuff like "Jah
Wars"...so much more real than anything bands like the Police did in those days.
THE SAINTS
I'm Stranded (Sire)
Eternally Yours (Sire)
With Radio Birdman, the Saints complete Australia's best known pair of punk bands. The
Saints got more credit early in their career, although Birdman are most touted now.
There's been all kinds of music under the Saints banner over the years, but these first
two lps, recorded with Ed Kuepper still in the band, are by far the best. I'm Stranded
is full on guitar punk with simple, burning blasts. It's basic, primal, animalistic punk
rock at its best. The second lp has similar songs but more complex production. Amazingly
it integrates horns into the sound without losing punch a bit...just try "Know Your
Product" for size if you have any doubts. Both these have stood up to hundreds of
plays on my stereo and still sound great.
THE SCIENTISTS
Pink Album (EMI Custom)
I'm not going to pretend that I was hip enough to have picked up this record when it came
out...few outside of Australia can make that claim. All I've got's a tape of it, but the
fact that it was obscure or limited doesn't mean it didn't happen or doesn't count. This
record features the Scientists playing punk pop before they started into their subsequent
noisy grunge stuff. It's got a pile of really cool songs filled with teen angst. My
favorite is the rocking "Walk The Plank", but they all connect great...kind of
like a Perth version of the Radiators From Space but with better singing.
SEX PISTOLS
Never Mind The Bollocks (Warner Bros)
In 1977 the music papers were full of stuff about all these punk bands in
Britain...problem was I was in school in rural western Massachusetts and the network for
imports wasn't at the point where shops out there got such bizarre objects as imported
singles, so it was months before I heard the 12" single of "Anarchy In The
UK" owned by the guy who ran the best record shop in town (the only band I could
imagine sounding like that was the Who), and even longer before the Pistols lp was
actually out on a US label so I could bring a copy home. I remember when I first played it
I could only listen to about three songs because it seemed so intense, and then for the
next few weeks I'd play a couple tracks a day until finally I understood what was going on
and I went wild about it. Playing it now it's got this feeling of total familiarity and
the songs almost feel like pop songs to me. A lot of this is due to what came after and
how much wilder bands got in between, but at the time there was nothing like it. But
although it's no longer that fast, it still has great songs and huge guitar to go with
Johnny Rotten's great singing. All other Pistols lps are shit rip-offs except the Flogging
A Dead Horse record, which has some great single B sides and half the songs off Bollocks,
so be sure you get the right one.
SHAM 69
Tell Us The Truth (Sire)
The First The Best and The Last (Polydor)
Sham always wanted to be the Sex Pistols, and they aped the sound pretty well...fat
guitars, cockney singing and the whole bit. Tell Us The Truth is their first rabble
rousing lp...one studio side, one live side. It starts off with a great bit with Jimmy
Pursey's mom giving him a hard time and then bursts into the great "Family
Life". From there on it doesn't let up much anywhere...just basic full on power
chording punk rock. The First The Best And The Last is a UK compilation of singles
spanning their career, and it's a great collection from the riotous first single
"Borstal Breakout" through "Angels With Dirty Faces" and all the rest.
Not subtle but great fun.
THE SKIDS
Scared To Dance (US Virgin release)
Here's another one where you want to get the US copy because they've included some
better single tracks that improve it from the UK release. The Skids were Scotsmen and
included Stuart Adamson, who later fronted Big Country. But the Skids were primarily
driven by Richard Jobson, who at the time of this record was only 18 years old but had
already read piles of books about the two world wars, and the Skids songs all reflected it
with militaristic topics and music with a beat that sounds like troops marching at double
time. For the most part, Jobson's throaty singing is totally unintelligible, but songs
like the powerful "Into The Valley", "Sweet Suburbia",
"Charles" and the driving "Melancholy Soldiers" still make a
statement. This isn't really punk music, but it certainly rocks along...unusual stuff to
be sure.
THE SLITS
Cut (Antilles)
I'm still not sure about the Slits, but there's enough people who swear by 'em that I
figure I better give 'em a mention. The Slits were three women with drummer Budgie (later
of Siouxie And The Banshees), and they played a sort of off beat, twisted reggae. To me
the drummer is the best part of the band, and he's really only guesting. I suspect that
more than a little of the affection people have for this group lies in the photo of band
members as nude mud wrestlers on the sleeve. Still, they're yet another part of the
bizarre mix of different musical styles that all got tagged as punk in the late 70s, so
they deserve a mention.
THE SPECIALS
The Specials (Two Tone)
Hard to believe how many different movements splintered off of punk in the years from 1978
to 1981. As soon as bands found that being branded as punk was a ticket to commercial
oblivion they began to do anything to try to come up with a different angle and a
different label. Many of these turns sucked, but some were surprisingly good. This
Specials lp marked the advent of ska in the consciousness of people other than hardcore
fans of Jamaican music. It's still the best ska record I've ever heard, thanks in no small
part to the production keeping things rough and rugged. The slicked up followers like the
Beat or Madness just didn't wash. There's a pile of tracks on this that I can listen to
any time and get a kick out of 'em.
STIFF LITTLE
FINGERS
Inflammable Material (Rough Trade)
Nobody's Heroes (Chrysalis)
Go For It (Chrysalis)
I love all the Stiff Little Fingers lps (prior to their re-union, anyway), though the live
ones are redundant and not really necessary. SLF steadily got more produced and pop
sounding as their career went on, but they never reached a point where it was too
slick...right up to their last record it was still really good. But there's no topping Inflammable
Material, their incendiary first record and one of those rare records with such
intensity that you really feel it when you first hear it. It's the best kind of
punk...catchy melodies played with a gut level kick, loud, raw guitars, inspired
singing/snarling and words that really have something to say. Nobody's Heroes has
some great songs, too, but not that same level of fire that the first one had. Go For
It also has a batch of terrific tracks, some more pop tasting stuff, but there are
still songs to remember for a long time.
THE STRANGLERS
Rattus Norvegicus (A&M)
No More Heroes (A&M)
Black and White (A&M)
I really hated the Stranglers when they first came out because with their cheesy keyboards
they sounded like the Doors. After letting them sink in though I found that the comparison
didn't stick. If one of these records came out today there's no way you'd call it punk,
but we were confused then, and since this stuff had a dark power to it and felt kind of
threatening, there wasn't anything else to call it. It sure wasn't the Bee Gees. Even
though the swirling keyboard based sound isn't my favorite, there's a lot of really good
songs across these three records, songs that I'd have to rate among the classics of the
time, like "Sometimes", "Hanging Around", "Grip",
"Something Better Change", "No More Heroes", "Tank" or
"Sweden" to name the absolute highlights.
SWELL MAPS
Collision Time (Rough Trade)
You wanna know how to make a noisy record sound good? Use Collision Time as a text
book. It's a greatest hits lp (there's been another one since), which is kind of funny
since they never had anything close to a hit. But it's coherent and powerful by comparison
to their regulation lps with great songs like "Read About Seymour",
"Ammunition Train", "Midget Submarines", "Let's Build A Car"
and "Blenheim Shots". It's wildly amateurish with all kinds of odd sounds and
off key singing plus guitars that are barely in tune but somehow it succeeds brilliantly.
It's a unique and indescribable sound, and you'll just have to trust me on this one and go
for it.
TALKING HEADS
Talking Heads 77 (Sire)
More Songs About Buildings and Food (Sire)
Another band that really isn't punk but got called one because they played CBGBs. But they
were certainly new wave, and though it was arty, there was a lot to recommend about these
first two records. I thought 77 was pretty accessible and easy to latch onto, but More
Songs actually has more staying power and sounds better today. "Psycho
Killer" was one of my fave songs in 1977...it's the typical quirky David Byrne sort
of track, but they were doing it better on these two records than they ever did later.
TELEVISION
Marquee Moon (Elektra)
This is another one I feel obligated to mention though I personally don't like it.
Television were another CBGBs band and are sort of like the dark side of the Talking
Heads...where the Heads are art mixed with pop, Television is arty but brooding and dark.
The songs are long and sprawling and don't give you much to hang onto.
JOHNNY THUNDERS
So Alone (Real)
Johnny Thunders is high on the list of underground heroes these days and lots of bands
cover his songs with the Heartbreakers but I've never heard anyone cover anything he did
on this record, and there's some great songs here. The band changes around from track to
track, including at various times former Sex Pistols, Only Ones, Humble Pies and Thin
Lizzies. It's Thunders at his blazing guitar best, and when he's paired with Steve Jones
at his prime there's an extra kick that his Heartbreakers stuff couldn't even match. The
best track is the scathing "London Boys", which counters the Pistols "New
York" and contains some hysterical lines about Johnny Rotten needing someone to help
to the bathroom. There's also the best cover of "Pipeline" ever done, the killer
loser song "You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory" and the blistering
"Leave Me Alone" (which is really the Dolls "Chatterbox" with a new
name). There's more variety here than the Heartbreakers would have shown, but it doesn't
hurt a bit.
UK SUBS
Recorded 1979-1981 (Abstract)
I suppose this is unfair since this is a "best of" record that goes well past
the 70s, but the early stuff is well represented here, and if I want to listen to a UK
Subs record, this is what I'll put on. The Subs were a second generation punk band, and
they dropped a lot of the pop tendencies of the first wave and went for a really tough,
hard sound that alternates between hardcore and stuff that's like the hardest Ramones
music. This record is consistently solid...if you like one track you'll like 'em all, I
suspect.
THE UNDERTONES
The Undertones (US copy) (Sire)
Punky pop at its finest, Ireland's Undertones led with their best and never came close
again. They were real young and easily influenced by the music press and they tried to
mature faster than they really knew how, so it was all downhill from this. But here,
singing about everyday stuff like girlfriends and summer vacations that they really
related to, they've captured teenage magic in a bottle. There's one track after another of
these incredibly catchy songs. I only regret that it doesn't have "You Got My
Number", which was their best single ever, otherwise it'd be heaven.
THE VIBRATORS
Pure Mania (CBS)
V2 (Epic)
The Vibrators got a lot of shit for being too old for punk (they were in their early 20s
at the time, so it seems like a pretty ridiculous charge now), but they sure figured out
how to play it great right out of the chute. Both of these records are among my all-time
faves. I give the edge to Pure Mania...it's a little more pop sounding and has some
great tracks like "Petrol", "Yeah Yeah Yeah", "London Girls"
and "Whips And Furs". Of course V2 has "Pure Mania" (that's
right, "Pure Mania" isn't on the lp with that title), "Flying Duck
Theory" (a great radio song) or "Destroy", so choosing is tough. But
they've both got that cool chugging 4/4 drum sound and you don't lose either way.
THE WIPERS
Is This Real (Park Avenue)
Why didn't the Wipers make more of a splash? 'Cos they came from Oregon and nobody's ever
come from there, I suppose. Throughout all the 80s they put out one cool record after
another and people barely noticed. This one started it all and it's the best because it's
raw and hard and intense as all hell. The guitar used to remind me of Wire on Pink Flag
because it's so raw, but the Wipers played much more rocking stuff. Their songs are
shorter and more pop structured here than they later became, but they also burn like
crazy. Greg Sage's unique guitar style is present right from the start...I could pick him
out of any lineup of gunslingers in a minute.
WIRE
Pink Flag (Harvest)
Chairs Missing (EMI)
154 (EMI)
The ultimate art-punk band, Britain's Wire debuted in 1977 with Pink Flag, a pile
of songs built like no one had built them before...they started here, they ended there,
and they didn't cover any ground twice. Songs lasted less than three minutes, two minutes,
even less than one minute. Guitars were brutally distorted to where they sounded like
distant cannon fire. It worked brilliantly. Then came Chairs Missing in 1978. It's
got some Pink Flag styled songs, but there's also some songs with a twisted kind of
pop feel to them...songs that feel soft on top but hard underneath. Then there's 154,
by which time the sound had shifted fairly dramatically to where there were keyboards and
synthesizers among the guitars and the singing dropped its harsh edge in a lot of places.
But it's still compelling. But the first was the best...a classic that has to be in every
collection.
X
Los Angeles (Slash)
X looked like a punk rock band and usually sounded like one and they were accepted like
one, but I think they were more just a full on rock and roll band. Out of LA, they had
traditions that went to rockabilly and fifties rock and roll like Elvis and Jerry Lee
Lewis (listen to that Chuck Berry riff at the start of "Johnny Hit And Run
Pauline". The singing combo of Exene and John Doe always made me think of Jefferson
Airplane, and they always sang and didn't scream like most of their US punk rock
compatriots, but the music doesn't match at all. It's Ramones styled punk rock with a
darker feel and these fifties references thrown in. The result has held up well over
time...it's still an urgent, meaningful record to listen to.
XRAY SPEX
Germ Free Adolescents (EMI)
I probably said it all in the review of that bootleg single they just did, but anyway it's
worth hearing this record to get the full picture. Some of these songs are kind of fun,
but this type of punk music sure didn't wear well...the strident screechy vocals just
grate and they sound pretty silly today. This would be a cool album to mine for covers,
though, since there are some good tunes that are ruined in the performance. The basic
concept behind XRay Spex was a rebellion against the plasticness of life by parody, hence
song titles like "Art-i-ficial", "Genetic Engineering", "Plastic
Bag" and "The Day The World Turned Dayglo". The result comes off like a
high school essay that's trying too hard to be creative.
XTC
White Music (Virgin)
Somebody told me they saw XTC on MTV not too long ago...I can believe it because they were
getting pretty bad when I last heard them, but they had a good start with some good snappy
power pop. It still has that sort of quirky keyboard feel that renders it a little suspect
in my mind, and I'll bet that Oingo Boingo has all their early records, but still I've got
room for songs like "Radios In Motion", "Statue Of Liberty" or
"Set Myself On Fire". But if you can't find it, don't have a cow 'cos it's not
the most important record in this list.
THE YACHTS
SOS (Polydor)
Here's where I get my big rant on the Yachts in. This record is killer power pop and
what's wrong with everybody that they can't see it? The Yachts have got this cool cheesy
keyboard sound with a nice chunky guitar underneath and in addition to being catchy tunes,
their songs have hysterically funny lyrics, like "Yachting Type", where the
guy's girl runs off with a yachtsman, or "Mantovani's Hits", which hypothesizes
a rock and roll world where Elvis records hadn't been hits but Mantovani's had, or
"Box 202", where the guy's girl is killed in an airplane crash so he puts out a
classified ad to look for a replacement. The others deal with romance in equally oddball
ways, but always rocking and always catchy as hell. My brother got to see these guys open
for Elvis Costello in Seattle in 1979 but when Costello hit here all we got was the
Rubinoos. It's not fair, I tell you. The second Yachts lp is lame, so make sure you get
this one.
OK, well now with
last issue and this one you've got the complete roundup of essential 70s punk lps and
singles, so don't come bugging me anymore to write articles about these old bands. It's
not the Trouser Press Guide To New Wave Records, after all.
