I've always loved classic punk rock, but thanks to YouTube I've been able to find many great punk bands which I haven't heard before. The Sex Pistols thread brought me an idea - which punk bands would you recommend that they're worth listening ? I'm talking about the classic 70's punk, I'm absolutely NOT interested in any EMO garbage or pop-punk of the 90's, just good old punk bands.
Well currently I listen a lot to
Buzzcocks
Clash
Ramones
Generation X
Iggy Pop (well not directly punk, but he influenced punk a lot)
The Damned (up to 1979, I'm not interested in their gothic stuff)
Beastie Boys (their punk stuff is fantastic)
Sex Pistols
The Professionals
Stiff Little Fingers
Any other tips for bands worth listening to ?
I saw SLF play when I was a kid, in a church hall near my house. When I grew up, I lived in the same street as their lead singer, Jake Burns. Burns, Henry Cluney and Brian Faloon all went to the same school as me (but long before my time), the 'character building' (aka working class, violent, occasionally terrifying) Model School For Boys.
Having said all of that, the only song of theirs I like is Alternative Ulster.
Green Day. Some might say that they are no longer a punk band, and that's why they are great.
Personally I think that punk is the lowest common denominator in terms or rock music. The genre was created basically for poorly skilled musicians who could barely come up with a few easy to play chords. It was a response against the pomposity of progressive rock, and the flamboyance of glam rock. Punk in many ways sucked, but come to think of it, it was better if the punk scene emerged than if it hadn't. As much as I enjoy progressive, metal, and glam ( all of which punk stood against ) it brought a sense of simplicity back to rock music. It also influence the new wave/alternative scene from the 80s, which is also a big influence on the indie scene of this last decade.
The early Ultravox! (yes, with an exclamation mark), with John Foxx on lead vocals, had quite some punkish songs. For example: Young Savage. It is really worth checking out their first three albums. Great music and one of my favourite bands. link
Hmm... I'll say Television, MC5, The Clash, The Ramones, The Buzzcocks and maybe The Dead Kennedys. There are more that I like, but these are probably the ones I play the most. Oh! Iggy and The Stooges, too!
Maybe someone can explain to me what 'punk' actually is, nowadays. On Never Mind the Buzzcocks they had this utterly laughable, talentless knobhead on the show who was the alleged lead singer of some punk band. Everyone on the show ripped into him mercilessly, by the end of the show he hadn't any dignity left - though he hadn't had any at the start either.
What I want to know is - how on earth did he qualify as a punk singer in the first place? He looked like a well groomed nancy boy to me ... I thought punks were supposed to be unwashed hard-bastards??