If bands like Television and Talking Heads were outliers in the punk firmament, then The Dead Boys, led by the scrawny, malnourished Stiv Bators, were perhaps its archetype. (more…)

Talking Heads were one of the least punky-sounding punk groups when they released their debut single in the summer of 1977. (more…)

Debbie Harry opened the door for girls in rock bands when Blondie released their debut single, with the sexiest B-side ever. (more…)

Blondie made their debut in June 1976 with X Offender, making them one of the first ‘punk’ bands to release a single. (more…)

I’m not sure if it’s the soothingly hypnotic sounds or the hypnotically surreal images that drew me to this tune, Tacoma. Probably both. (more…)

I’ve always been a sucker for a melancholy song about grief and loss, and this one’s a real heartbreaker. The music, the lyrics, the vocals, the video… all of it. (more…)

Here’s a tragic TV moment – my childhood pop idol from the early 1970s introduces a future pop idol of the 1980s in what became a posthumous broadcast. (more…)

In the summer of 1977, the future lead singer of Ultravox was making a bold transition from boy band pin-up to punk. (more…)

Before Vienna, before Midge, Ultravox were quite a punky proposition. I remember seeing them at The Marquee in 1977. (more…)

Subway Sect were one of the first punk bands, and one of the more unusal. They played at that epochal 100 Club Festival in 1976 but their sound has more in common with what would come to be called post-punk. (more…)