Saturday, February 26, 2011

Punk = An Accident Waiting Impatiently to Happen or Was it?

Did you know that Jello Biafra ran for mayor of San Francisco in 1979 and that Jell-o was his official corporate sponsor? Did you know that I have a San Francisco shot glass? Did you know that Harvey Milk was Jello's Biafra's uncle?

Okay, that last statement was false but the rest is true (except for Jell-o sponsoring Biafra). Learn these need-to-know FAQs about your favorite punk rock icons and more on the Bsides Wee Hour Classics radio show on CKUT 90.3 FM.


Hey folks, this show highlights some of the bands that form part of the fabric of the period known as first generation punk between 1976 - 1979. For purists, it was so fleeting, literally over the span of two, maybe three years; so many bands came and went. Because there was such a vibrant underground economy--the fanzine (i.e. Sniffin' Glue) and the indie label (i.e. Rough Trade) playing a key role in conjunction with clubs (i.e. the Roxy, the 100 club) and music journalists (i.e. Chrissie Hynde and Nick Kent)--punk exploded before even being labeled as such and was already foreshadowing its end while just barely beginning. It was a case of punk being cannibalized by its own legend. How did it get so big so quickly? It was the players in the first wave themselves that were walking advertisements. They were marketing themselves on their own terms, atleast semi-conscious of some of the major implications of punk-as-movement. This has never really been repeated at such an *organic level reaping such tremendous results. Its equivalent now would be a YouTube video gone viral. I claim no vast knowledge of the major label recording industry but it seems to me that the kind of access that some of these bands like the Sex Pistols were getting to major labels (i.e. EMI) could never occur now. (This kinda squashes the rock star pipe dream for myself as well as many others I know!) These were indeed special times for many reasons--times to be relished!


*I use organic very loosely here. I think that there was more than just a casual toying with art as artifice culminating in brilliant acts of subversion. First gen punks had popular attention--for a 'media minute', the public was watching as they gobbed, puked, and pogoed into the hearts of kids that had something to say. Many of those same kids picked up a guitar themselves and people listened.


Anyways, enough banter. Have a listen for yourself HERE.


Stay tuned for the Wee Hour Review back in a few weeks with a look at experimental music, Brian Eno and, "The Competition of the Bryans/Brians: Ferry vs. Eno". I'll be posting an online survey with results of "The Competition of the Bryans/Brians: Ferry vs. Eno" being announced on the next Wee Hour Review. Until then, be well!


This weeks playlist:




Identity - X - Ray Spex

Siouxsie interview 22 Nov 1976

Gary Gilmore's Eyes - The Adverts

Babylon's Burning - The Ruts

Top of the Pops - The Rezillos

Ready Steady Go - Generation X

Sound of the Suburbs - The Members

Anti - Pope - The Damned

(I Belong To The) Blank Generation - Richard Hell & The Voidoids

Good Kisser - Hunx And His Punx

Borstal Breakout - Sham 69

Oh Bondage, Up Yours! - X - Ray Spex

One Chord Wonders - The Adverts

(I'm) Stranded - The Saints

What Do I Get - The Buzzcocks

Baby, Baby - The Vibrators

Neat Neat Neat - The Damned

Sonic Reducer - The Dead Boys

Your Generation - Generation X

Bored Teenagers - The Adverts

If The Kids Are United - Sham 69

Born to Lose - Johnny Thunders

Action Time Vision - Alternative TV

Another Girl, Another Planet - The Only Ones

Smash It Up - The Damned

Orgasm Addict - The Buzzcocks

Another Girl, Another Planet - The Only Ones

Lexicon Devil - the Germs

Personality Crisis - The New York Dolls

Faster & Louder – The Dictators

Hersham Boys – Sham 69

2 - 4 - 6 - 8 Motorway - Tom Robinson Band

Jimmy Jimmy - The Undertones

We Are The One - The Avengers

Emergency - 999

Trash - The New York Dolls

Stranglehold - U.K. Subs

King Rocker - Generation X

Harmony In My Head - U.K. Subs

The Clash - Interview with Tom Synder 1981 - Generation X

1977 - The Clash

Drowning Men - The Adverts

Poly Styrene and X - Ray Spex interview

Day the World Turned Day - Glo - X - Ray Spex

Hurry Up Harry - Sham 69

(My Baby Does) Good Sculptures - The Rezillos

Here Comes The Summer - The Undertones

Ever fallen in love - The Buzzcocks

Free Money - Patti Smith

Two tub Man - The Dictators

Staring at the Rude Boys - the Ruts

How Much Longer - Alternative TV

Jello for Mayor (Interview) - Dead Kennedys

Let's Lynch the Landlord - Dead Kennedys