Punk
Television produced one of the foundation stones of punk with their debut single Little Johnny Jewel, released in 1976. (more…)
It’s the beginning of 1977 and punk is going overground. The Stranglers start the year with a bang, releasing their debut single Grip / London Lady. (more…)
All together now: “Rrrrright…. nowwww… Hahahaaaa!”
One night in late November 1976 I was at the Marquee Club watching a short fat Frenchman called Little Bob who played amphetamine-fuelled RnB when Malcolm McLaren walked in with a bag under his arm.
Protest songs don’t get more powerful than this state-of-the-nation report – its finger firmly on the xenophobic pulse of post-Brexit Britain. (more…)
No one would pretend Nick Lowe was a punk – he had almost a decade in music behind him by 1976. But he plays a key role in punk pre-history.
Here’s another of those not-quite-punk-but-nearly records that came out in the musical hinterland between pub rock and punk in 1976.
(I’m) Stranded is just fantastic. It’s a perfect storm of Ed Kuepper’s buzzsaw guitar and Chris Bailey’s sneering vocal, anchored by the whirlwind of Kym Bradshaw on bass and Ivor Hay’s drums.
Delving further into the roots of punk, I discover The Hollywood Brats, whose 1973 song Sick Of You is arguably the earliest example of the genre
Not a single song, but a handful of them – from the four-track EP that made a little bit of punk history. Released in late 1975, Speedball was the first record put out by Chiswick Records, the UK’s first real indie label.
RIP Julz Sale, the singer in proto-feminist post-punk band Delta 5 – a vital part of the soundtrack of my youth.