Punk 30!

[Dr Crewe]

Celebrate 30 yearsof UK PUNK ROCK 1977-2007 - anyone there at the beginning like me then?

[Wayne]

Celebrate 30 yearsof UK PUNK ROCK 1977-2007 - anyone there at the beginning like me then?

Yes! I was 14 in '77, & i was well into it all at that age. I didn't buy many albums, apart from the Stranglers who were my favourites, 'coz my pocket money wouldn't stretch to it, but i built up a pretty big collection of Punk/New Wave singles throughout '77, & most of '78, before i started turning more towards Heavy Rock.
I recently watched 'The Story of Punk' on ITV4 that brought back many memories. I wish i'd saved all those singles though. I bet some of 'em are pretty rare now, especially as many of 'em had picture sleeves, & some coloured vinyl ones like The Stranglers' 'Pink E.P.' & loads of others.
I've got most of 'em on CD or MP3 now of course, but i remember my vinyl with fondness!

[Dr Crewe]

What about THE ANGELIC UPSTARTS? My fav band - OI!OI!

[Wayne]

I saw them about 20yrs ago..... Gotta go offline for an hour or so.... talk to you later.

[Dr Crewe]

TEENAGE WARNING - now that is a great punk/oi! album!

[Ralph]

I remember 1977 very well - can't believe it was really three decades ago! Like Wayne I was 14 but I can't claim to have been a fan of punk at the time. I remember the Sex Pistols being banned with "God Save the Queen". I liked "No More Heroes" by the Stranglers. I didn't have enough money to buy any records - my paper run only paid 2 a week - an LP was about 2.49 at the time... Anyway I just bought lots of C90s and taped off the radio.

I enjoyed the new wave spin off from the punk era, it certainly created a fresh new era in it's wake

[Wayne]

I saw them about 20yrs ago..... Gotta go offline for an hour or so.... talk to you later.

Yeah, i was saying..... I saw the Upstart's (along with the gorgeous 'Becki Bondage') at the a club called the 'Golden Diamond' nr Mansfield sometime around 1985, so it was past the golden days of Punk, but it was still a great gig for getting pissed & jumping around!
I only ever had one record of theirs, which was their 'I'm an Upstart' single. Great record!

[Carol Baynes]

I was very young when punk broke, but have quite vivid memories of being told that if I ever grew up to look like the youths on the town hall steps I would be in trouble!
In my early teens a friends' brother got me into The Stranglers and The Buzzcocks and I never looked back really. I've been in some kind of 'alternative' scene ever since to be honest. It got me into all those indie bands later on, beginning with The Smiths. Discovering the founders of what became punk was quite pivotal too- Iggy and the stooges, MC5, New York dolls, Patti Smith and so on. The New York scene really captured by imagination too, and I'm still a big Blondie fan (and The Ramones too!)

Fave albums are "Never mind the bollocks" (of course), the wonderfully dark and imaginative "Black and white" by the Stranglers, ""The scream" by Soixsie and the banshees and "Plastic letters" by Blondie

1977 is a deceptive date isn't it? I think '77 was the year it reached national conciousness, which I think is the point...


Oi! Wayne...FLUCTUATIONS AT A MINIMUM. HYPOCONDRIAC TOMBSTONE.

He knows what I'm saying! :d

[Wayne]

Oi! Wayne...FLUCTUATIONS AT A MINIMUM. HYPOCONDRIAC TOMBSTONE.

He knows what I'm saying! :d

BIG BROTHER SEZ ITS THE PLACE TO GO! TOO MUCH TIME TO THINK TO LITTLE TO DO!

[Carol Baynes]

"Sweden"- great track. Almost a single choice I think.

The Stranglers were a bit too advanced to be 'punk', but utilised it's popularity very well. Do you know I've got every Stranglers album from "Rattus Norvegicus" in 1977 to "About time" in 1995 (which was a huge dissapointment I can tell you)....All of them that is except "Feline" from '82, which I've never heard in it's entirety (although I knew a couple of the tracks, including the hit "European female") I gave up buying their records after the mid nineties; just not the same band to me, although I almost bought "Norfolk coast" when it came out.

[Captain Tancredi]

I was very young when punk broke, but have quite vivid memories of being told that if I ever grew up to look like the youths on the town hall steps I would be in trouble!

Isn't it funny how hanging around on the steps of public buildings is a goth thing now? I've seen it in a couple of places- the Corn Exchange in Leeds and the town hall in Nottingham (complete with plastic scythe-how on earth do you explain that on the bus home?).

[Wayne]

"Sweden"- great track. Almost a single choice I think.

The Stranglers were a bit too advanced to be 'punk', but utilised it's popularity very well. Do you know I've got every Stranglers album from "Rattus Norvegicus" in 1977 to "About time" in 1995 (which was a huge dissapointment I can tell you)....All of them that is except "Feline" from '82, which I've never heard in it's entirety (although I knew a couple of the tracks, including the hit "European female") I gave up buying their records after the mid nineties; just not the same band to me, although I almost bought "Norfolk coast" when it came out.

Yes, they were definitely more musically advanced, but they had the right aggression/attitude/lyrics that suited Punk really well i think. (especially 'Rattus')

I've got the full albums of:

IV Rattus Norvegicus
No More Heroes
Black & White
Live X-Cert
The Raven
The Men in Black

I've actually been meaning to get 'Feline' for ages, but have never got around to it. I've got a couple of tracks on MP3, including 'European Female', which i like. I've heard a lot of their post 'Feline' stuff, - What was the album with 'Skin Deep' on it? Can't remember..... That wasn't a bad one, but some of it is a bit a 'easy listening' for me. Although, i think i should re-visit some of it, as i'd probably like it more now than i did at the time.

I think i'll always like the first 3 best, & like you, my ultimate favourite is 'Black & White'. (Don't you think 'Toiler on the Sea' sounds vaguely Jim Morrison/Doors?)
The Men in Black is a damn strange (but good) album. What do you think of that one?

[Carol Baynes]

Oh yeah..."The gospel according to the men in black". It'a quite an experimental album that, I can see they were trying for something different...oh let's be honest it was a bit shite wasn't it?!

The first three albums are really good and were huge sellers, and I felt they brought home what '77- '78 was like to me in 1986! A bit like Pip with his Brit pop really!
Most people thought I was a right weirdo for liking punk/New wave stuff at school. Then I got into The Jam and Blondie and started looking like I was constantly in my school uniform.

"Toiler on the sea" never really gave me a Doors connection (although other Stranglers tracks do), but I can hear where your coming from.
The album with "Skin deep" on it also has the fab "No mercy" and is "Aural sculpture". A good album I think! They started getting a bit too 'Art rock' with "Dreamtime" though. It actually bought that when it came out- my first time!

I have to mention how much fun "Live X-cert" is. Hugh Cornwell's dry stage banter is the best thing. "Come along...and 'ave a good time..." said like a man who wants nothing like a good time.

I've also go tto add that getting into all the late '70s stuff actually broadened by horizons and eventually opened me up to stuff that the original punks would probbaly scoff at- like all the '60s groups! I also discoverd Mod through The Jam rather than through the '60s artists.
I don't listen to punk stuff that much these days, but the New wave stuff still get splayed a lot.

[Wayne]

oh let's be honest it was a bit shite wasn't it?!

I wouldn't say that myself. I wouldn't describe it as a classic, but i still think it's a good album. Well, i like it anyway. "Just like nothing on Earrrrrth!"

The album with "Skin deep" on it also has the fab "No mercy" and is "Aural sculpture". A good album I think! They started getting a bit too 'Art rock' with "Dreamtime" though. It actually bought that when it came out- my first time!

That's the one! Yeah, i couldn't put my finger on it, but yeah i quite liked that. 'No Mercy' was a nice track. God, i've not heard that since back when it came out!

[Carol Baynes]

Actually, I stand corrected as "just like nothing on Earth" is very good, but I never thought much of the album as a whole.

Did anyone like The Clash by the way? They never really gelled with me.

[Wayne]

Did anyone like The Clash by the way? They never really gelled with me.

I never progressed to buying albums like i did with the Stranglers & the Pistols & a few others. I did have a few singles that i liked by 'em though. 'Clash City Rockers', 'Tommy Gun', 'White Man In Hammersmith Palais' were my favourites, & i also had 'White Riot', & 'Complete Control'.

One of the bands that slipped through my net to an extent was 'The Damned'. I had the single 'Neat Neat Neat', & that was it.

[Dr Crewe]

Actually, I stand corrected as "just like nothing on Earth" is very good, but I never thought much of the album as a whole.

Did anyone like The Clash by the way? They never really gelled with me.

Must admit , didnt like THE CLASH after the first album -they went STADIUM ROCK and to me belied their Punk principles - then again I always prefered Street Punk like THE UPSTARTS and SHAM 69 etc!

[Trudi G]

I'm just a bit too young to have been into the Punk thing, my genre was New Wave, New Romantic and Electro-Pop. Having said that, i do like some bands, like The Stranglers, Siouxsie And The Banshees, The Buzzcocks, The Slits, X-Ray Spex etc.
Johnny Lydon's little brothers lived round the corner from me and they were a couple of sh*ts.

[Dr Crewe]

Johnny Lydon's little brothers lived round the corner from me and they were a couple of sh*ts.

Bet they were just!