BBC Punk season

[Tony L]

Last night's program (episode 2) was interesting as it highlighted just how dull, formulaic and turgid the second phase of punk was. I remember at the time there being a lull between the initial hit of Ramones, Pistols. Adverts, X-Ray Spex, Clash, Buzzcocks, Devo etc and things getting really interesting again with the early indie labels such as Factory, Zoo, Rough Trade, Mute etc. I found the program quite depressing to be honest; there is no other way of looking at Sham 69, Cockney Rejects etc, really pedestrian stuff to my ears. The highlights of the evening was the Arena interview with Poly Styrene and the clip of The Au Pairs on the compilation footage.

PS Where the f*** were Wire?

 

[RickyC6]

Tony - correction - the highlight was Joy Division doing She's Lost Control on Something Else. Still one of the finest things I have ever seen on telly.

 

[Tony L]

Tony - correction - the highlight was Joy Division doing She's Lost Control on Something Else. Still one of the finest things I have ever seen on telly.

Maybe, but I'd seen that hundreds of times before. I'd never seen the Au Pairs before despite their first album being a real favourite of mine.

 

[RickyC6]

Gang Of Four doing To Hell With Poverty was decent as well; also PIL Death Disco. Worth catching these things for the odd classic. I agree the Poly Styrene prog was ace, particularly the live bits from Eric's.

 

[Still]

Something Else was the peak of UK music tv imo (old farts r me).

 

[kendo]

Part 2 was almost like watching the TOTP that was broadcast with part 1. Mostly piffle with a few stand-outs IMO.

 

[Paul Mc]

The book "rip it up and start again" was a pretty good if scatterbrained report on the state of the post punk movement. I am not sure when post punk was coined as I only really recall it happening to describe the music of what came before the new romantics. Visage... Ultravox dropping the ! from their name and John Foxx going it alone. Tubeway Army becoming Gary Numan in suits... Spandau Ballet in kilts and basses played waaaaaay up on the chest... Siouxsie made the transition ok as did the Cure inventing their own Goth genre... and my oh my history was not kind to Steve Strange.

I remember hearing the John Peel show for the sessions from 77 to 81 thinking this level of pace and innovation was how music was going to be forever. I think punk was well over by Siouxsie's LP join hands poss one of the first post punk lps.

Prog was never really takn seriously except by young men in their late twenties still living with their mothers.

Pink Floyd's Animals was in Peel's top ten album's of 1977.

 

[Paul Mc]

Last night's program (episode 2) was interesting as it highlighted just how dull, formulaic and turgid the second phase of punk was. I remember at the time there being a lull between the initial hit of Ramones, Pistols. Adverts, X-Ray Spex, Clash, Buzzcocks, Devo etc and things getting really interesting again with the early indie labels such as Factory, Zoo, Rough Trade, Mute etc. I found the program quite depressing to be honest; there is no other way of looking at Sham 69, Cockney Rejects etc, really pedestrian stuff to my ears. The highlights of the evening was the Arena interview with Poly Styrene and the clip of The Au Pairs on the compilation footage.

PS Where the f*** were Wire?

Agree. I was 13/4 at the time and after the real thrill of the first 18 months of punk I couldn't understand two things: post-Rotten Pistols and all the truely dreadful new punk bands. It became a joke very quickly and coloured my view of new wave. I wondered how Elvis Costello, the Cure and many of the new wave acts were remotely interesting musically, politically or culturally. I liked the Manchester groups and Television, but ended up back in the arms of rock and prog for many years.

 

[BLACKMASS]

On last nights programme there was a piece of 'ambient' music used at the start and at the end.Any idea who it was?Eno maybe?
I thought the Au Pairs and Gang of four were the best thing on last night.Not knocking anything else you understand.

 

[Tony L]

Agree. I was 13/4 at the time and after the real thrill of the first 18 months of punk I couldn't understand two things: post-Rotten Pistols and all the truely dreadful new punk bands. It became a joke very quickly and coloured my view of new wave. I wondered how Elvis Costello, the Cure and many of the new wave acts were remotely interesting musically, politically or culturally. I liked the Manchester groups and Television, but ended up back in the arms of rock and prog for many years.

As I remember it as a 13-14 year old school kid I bought the Pistols singles, Bollocks, Complete Control by The Clash, Peaches and No More Heroes by The Stranglers, 3 Devo's singles and a Canadian multi-coloured vinyl copy of their first album, and that was about it. I went back to T. Rex, Bowie, Hawkwind, Man, Nektar, Groundhogs etc until I was introduced to things like Joy Division, Echo And The Bunnymen, Teardrop Explodes, OMD, Durutti Column, ACR, Au Pairs, Cure etc. By this point I was 16-17 and in a far better position to start seeing bands and actually being a part of things, especially given how much was happening locally. The new wave scene was a great thing IMO, 1979-81 remains one of my favourite rock / pop music periods for sure - much of the stuff I missed at the time has proven rewarding to discover since, which is usually a very good indicator of quality.

PS give The Cure another go! Three Imaginary Boys, Seventeen Seconds and Faith are truly superb albums IMO.

 

[GaryT]

I was 17 in 1977, and having been a Floyd/Bowie/Rundgren fan for a few years, thought the Pistols, Clash et al were a huge breath of fresh air. As far as I'm concerned the major point of punk was that it let everyone see you didn't have to spend years learning your instrument & get to Yes/Genesis levels of proficiency before unleashing your ideas on the public - you could just get up and do it. I joined a (relatively) well known punk band in Belfast in early 1978 (my mates & I are seen in a brief clip on last night's show walking through Belfast) & thoroughly enjoyed every minute. But once the mohican cuts, tartan trousers & bar towel bum-flaps appeared the whole 'punk' thing was dead.

 

[johnfromnorwich]

Great to see Magazine, Go4 and Au Pairs, but too much proto Oi stodge for my liking. Angelic Upstarts (or was it Cockney Rejects)? Nobody likes to see that, surely? I'm a wee bit younger so post-Punk is really my earliest musical memory and most enduring benchmark so for me Punk is just the backstory, both to what happened next and to what was already going on under the radar (This Heat, Pere Ubu etc). Things that never would have found an outlet without the indutry being thrown into disarray by Punk. However: XTC on Crackerjack? WTF?

 

[RickyC6]

Crackerjack!

 

[Minstrel SE]

However: XTC on Crackerjack? WTF?

This was one of the major issues about the mainstream media. why we had to rely on the stuffy BBC , ITV etc for good new music! Television was a joke! Most radio wasnt much better.

This is why John Peel shone through and will always be highly respected.

Its less of a problem now but the bands had to promote themselves on a medium that just wasnt (and didnt want to be especially for punk) ready for them.

Crackerjack pencil anyone?

 

[molee]

This was one of the major issues about the mainstream media. why we had to rely on the stuffy BBC etc for good new music.

This is why John Peel shone through and will always be highly respected.

Its less of a problem now but the bands had to promote themselves on a medium that just wasnt ready for them.

Crackerjack pencil anyone?

Now then, where does one start?

 

[kendo]

Now then, where does one start?

Got an opinion.....hmm?

 

[molee]

Got an opinion.....hmm?

I might.

 

[johnfromnorwich]

This was one of the major issues about the mainstream media. why we had to rely on the stuffy BBC , ITV etc for good new music! Television was a joke! Most radio wasnt much better.

This is why John Peel shone through and will always be highly respected.

Its less of a problem now but the bands had to promote themselves on a medium that just wasnt (and didnt want to be especially for punk) ready for them.

Crackerjack pencil anyone?

Are things better now? Corporate media are never accepting of the vanguard. I haven't owned a TV since 2005 so I genuinely have no idea but as of then, BBC was no worse than the competition - and I had cable then too.

 

[Yank]

I'm watching it now.

When did Mick Jones turn into Sir Frank Williams?

 

[sq225917]

When professor Xavier stole his chair?