Did anyone really ever "invent" punk? They call Iggy Pop the "Godfather of punk", but aside from embracing the do-it-yourself-attitude, the likes of the Stooges and the MC5 had very little in common with the British punk scene.The Sex Pistols in their prime were considered a threat to society, which isn't bad for some half-talented teenagers who just want to be in a band. They were cleverly and shrewdly managed and marketed, but really as with many of these bands it was the right time and the right place, and they expressed the anger and frustration of their generation.
For the record, I don't consider Sid Vicious to ever have really been a proper member of the Sex Pistols -- he wasn't involved with writing or making "Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols", and only joined the band after Glen Matlock left. Sid Vicious was about an image, about the bandwagon of punk and the cashing in.
"Never Mind the Bollocks..." is an album I can still play and don't consider it to sound particularly dated -- it doesn't sound as out of place like the 80s electro that eventually followed, or the prog rock epics that preceded it. Granted, the stripped-down sound has its place, and has been copied and adapted many times over -- and it wasn't necessarily a great feat of musical genius to begin with. I remember once thinking what a classic example of bad lyric writing the song "Bodies" was, with lyrics like "Her name was Pauline, she lived in a tree" -- until I found out the band really did know a girl named Pauline, from Birmingham, who lived in a tree.
Some of the songs do seem to run deeper, with songs like "Pretty Vacant" -- which you could speculate is either an attack on other bands of the time, or a rebuke against an assumption they must be stupid themselves. And there's "God Save The Queen" -- perhaps carrying as much weight today as it did in the 70s, with the royal family seeming to be increasingly obsolete.
It seems fitting I should post the song that caused the band so much trouble and so much controversy. I used to start a college radio show at the University of Utah every week with this song...
LOVE it. And you're right the sex pistols don't sound particularly dated.
ReplyDeleteAs for the invention of punk - I think like all genres of music it evolved rather than was invented. Then, was it Lester Bangs that came along and called them 'punks'? I think there are a couple of theories..
BTW:forgive my ignorance,but what is "Music Mondays" sounds intriguing..
ReplyDeleteAgree with you and M - Punk and the Sex Pistols are still up-beat..though must say don't know much about that. Talking of "Punk" one of my fave bands springs to mind: "The Clash"(give me "Combat Rock" any day!) well,better go 'cause 'if I go there will be trouble,but if I stay it will be double!'
ReplyDeleteObsolete! I'll have you know we work very hard eating cucumber sandwiches and making positive diplomatic relationships with other royal families of the world. We are also highly skilled at waving!
ReplyDeletegreat pick, tho when it comes to punk, for me you gotta have some Ramones.
ReplyDeleteParticularly these days, coz i do need to be sedated.
M: It sounds like Lester Bangs, although the word punk had been used for decades before I can well imagine him linking one to the other.
ReplyDeleteItalian Chick: 'Si no me quieres, librame' and if you want to know more about musical monday, click on the picture :)
Baron: My baron, please forgive my impetuousness, please keep up the waving, it does raise our morale so. I remain your humble servant.
Treespotter: You make a good call, and I did consider a Ramones post, but Mez has already done one, so I thought I'd "bring it back home" a little.