Punk & New Wave - who did you see/enjoy?

[Lotobear]

I was there and the right age when it all started and it still resonates as one of the most incredible phases of my life. The pace at which the change happened was mind blowing, I recall going on holiday for 2 week with my parents and coming back and everything had completely changed in 2 weeks, hippies had shaved their heads and were wearing safety pins, mohicans and cut drainpipe jeans, bootlace ties and everything.

Anyhoo, bands I recall 'exploding' at the time included:

Angelic Upstarts
Magazine (brilliant)
The Vibrators
Sham 69
Desperate Bicycles
Punishment of Luxury - local Newcastle 'art punk' band, very good
The Slits
The Adverts
The Damned
Penetration
The Stiffs - various bands including of course Elvis Costello, Rachel Sweet, Wreckless Eric et al
The Stranglers - Peaches on repeat all day
Pistols (natch)
Pork Dukes
Motorhead (proto)
Television
The Saints
Iain Dury
The Jam
The Police
Devo!

Bands I managed to actually see:

The Police (1978)
The Clash
The Upstarts
Punishment of Luxury
X Ray Spex
The Cramps
Ian Dury
Buzzcocks

I missed loads but what are your memories/recollections of this seminal period?

Edited by Lotobear on Wednesday 10th July 14:41

[Punk1234]

Oh now this is a thread that caught my eye !!!

Was just a bit too young to see the Pistols first time round - so have seen them twice since the early days - once at Party at the Palace at Crystal Palace and second time Brixton Academy - and a couple of months ago went to see John Lydon's spoken tour in Chelmsford and did a meet and greet - got pics with him , shook his hand etc ...... they say never meet your heroes but he was beyond awesome !!!

Second gig I ever went to after Motorhead was The Clash - Arthur Scargill's Xmas party in Brixton if I recall - was very lucky

Others that spring to mind in all sorts of places were

Sham 69
Exploited
999
Discharge
Jayne County (bizarre lol)
Sploganessabounds - Max Splodge say having a pint after
Bauhaus - awesome
Carter USM - Legends
Julian Cope
The Shamen
Depeche Mode
Morrisey - wasn't a fan but he announced a gig at the Brentwood Centre - was blooming good
Never saw Crass , but have corresponded with Steve Ignorant and have his autograph framed -proper gent

And I'm sure lots of other randoms that I'm now going to spend the rest of the afternoon going - oh yea haha !!

All were great and great times indeed - thanks for the subject , happy days !

[Lotobear]

Punk1234 said:

Oh now this is a thread that caught my eye !!!

Was just a bit too young to see the Pistols first time round - so have seen them twice since the early days - once at Party at the Palace at Crystal Palace and second time Brixton Academy - and a couple of months ago went to see John Lydon's spoken tour in Chelmsford and did a meet and greet - got pics with him , shook his hand etc ...... they say never meet your heroes but he was beyond awesome !!!

Second gig I ever went to after Motorhead was The Clash - Arthur Scargill's Xmas party in Brixton if I recall - was very lucky

Others that spring to mind in all sorts of places were

Sham 69
Exploited
999
Discharge
Jayne County (bizarre lol)
Sploganessabounds - Max Splodge say having a pint after
Bauhaus - awesome
Carter USM - Legends
Julian Cope
The Shamen
Depeche Mode
Morrisey - wasn't a fan but he announced a gig at the Brentwood Centre - was blooming good
Never saw Crass , but have corresponded with Steve Ignorant and have his autograph framed -proper gent

And I'm sure lots of other randoms that I'm now going to spend the rest of the afternoon going - oh yea haha !!

All were great and great times indeed - thanks for the subject , happy days !

...Wayne County (and the Electric Chairs)?

[Arrivalist]

Wow this has really made me think hard. I saw the following, and most on more than one occasion.

I’m sure I’ll remember more later …

Magazine
Tubeway Army
The Vibrators
Sham 69
The Rezillos
The Slits
Boomtown Rats
The Buzcocks
Siouxsie and the Banshees
The Damned
Penetration
Stiff Little Fingers
The Stranglers
The Sex Pistols
Alternative TV
Generation X
Iain Dury
The Jam
The Police
Devo
The Police
The Clash (3 times)
X Ray Spex
The Ramones
The Fall
The Undertones
Altered Images (not sure they count)

Edit to add:

Flock of Seagulls (yes they do count )
Ultravox (John Foxx)
The Cure
Teardrop Explodes
OMD
Howard Jones

Edited by Arrivalist on Wednesday 10th July 15:45

[Punk1234]

Ah yes - after they finished maybe - Jayne County did a poetry night at our local pub if I remember correctly - think it was way beyond any of us haha - ended up as proper mess from memory

Ah Still Little Fingers too !
James of course
Was at last Nirvana gig here too at Reading - fell over in the mud and ended up right at the front looking up - mad and scary but great
Sisters of Mercy

Goldie Looking Chain - can I count them as so bloody funny !!

And I'd definitely count Altered Images in ...

[bnseven]

the Dickies
The Damned (many times)
Naz Nomad and the Nightmares
Pop Will Eat itself
Flying Tractors
Exploited
UK Subs
GBH
The Abrasive Wheels
PIL
Tenpole Tudor
Flock Of Seagulls (do they count??)
Psychedelic Furs
The Police

and probably more that I just cannot recall, did see a lot of metal as well, Saxon, Motorhead, Iron Maiden etc

[popeyewhite]

Went through a punk period before finally settling for being a rocker and growing my hair. Bands seen aren't many:

Blondie
Stiff Little Fingers
Ian Dury
PIL
Buzzcocks
XTC
The Damned
Sham 69
The Ruts

I'm sure there were more but it was a while back!

I've seen Motorhead countless times, but I'd class them as hard rock with a hint of thrash. Not sure how long a punk would have lasted surrounded by several hundred hairy bikers at an early Motorhead gig.

[Lotobear]

popeyewhite said:

Went through a punk period before finally settling for being a rocker and growing my hair. Bands seen aren't many:

Blondie
Stiff Little Fingers
Ian Dury
PIL
Buzzcocks
XTC
The Damned
Sham 69
The Ruts

I'm sure there were more but it was a while back!

I've seen Motorhead countless times, but I'd class them as hard rock with a hint of thrash. Not sure how long a punk would have lasted surrounded by several hundred hairy bikers at an early Motorhead gig.

Motorhead were widely regarded as proto punk and here's an interersting thing - John Lydon was and is a massive Hawkwind fan, who are also considered proto punk and of course Lemmy was their bassist. See also Pink Fairies.

[some bloke]

I went and saw the Devo tribute band recently - We are not Devo. I was a big fan 405 years ago but thought of them as more of an electronic band - turns out they were pretty punk. The trib band put on a great show, go and see them if you can.

[popeyewhite]

Lotobear said:

Motorhead were widely regarded as proto punk and here's an interersting thing - John Lydon was and is a massive Hawkwind fan, who are also considered proto punk and of course Lemmy was their bassist. See also Pink Fairies.

I respect others may think that, but Motorhead is nothing to do with punk regardless of what some NME journo may claim, neither is Hawkwind. Dave Brock would be astonished.

[droopsnoot]

I didn't see any of them back in the day - I was about 10 or 11 when it all became popular, and my parents certainly wouldn't have let me go to any gigs of any sort at that age, never mind a punk band. Their idea of music - because of their age - was dance band stuff, and they were into ballroom dancing, so it's not as if either of them were going to take me.

I became a Stranglers fan in the very late 70s or early 80s just through hearing stuff on the radio and buying a live album in the Woolworths bargain bin, and saw them live for the first time in 1983. I've more recently seen some of their contemporaries - The Damned, Buzzcocks, Stiff Little Fingers - because they were appearing in a local venue that is no more, and seen some others who have been support on Stranglers tours. Looking at film from when it all began it's clear that the gigs were a lot more lively (to put it mildly), but I'm not sure I'd have fancied that even if I hadn't been 11.

[Yahonza]

Agree to a certain extent that Motorhead were progenitors of thrash and the rest but there were no punks at all at their early gigs, at least up here, as Lemmy reckoned - Motorhead were a Rock 'n' Roll band.

My list of Punk / New Wave:

The Skids
X Ray Spex
The Clash
UK Subs
The Ruts
Sex Pistols
Exploited
Ian Dury
Siouxsie & The Banshees
PIL
XTC
The Jam

A whole lot of others as well, a great time to be a yoof music wise.

[alpertonian]

Slightly too young for first wave, but spent most Tuesdays and Thursdays at the 100 Club, Sundays at the Lyceum and frequented, Club Foot, Moonlight, The Rainbow etc etc for several years 1979-1984

In no particular order

Theatre of Hate
Dead Kennedys
Killing Joke
Southern Death Cult
The Cramps
The Meteors
Birthday Party
Stiff Little Fingers
Xmas Deutchland
Discharge
GBH
Exploited
UK Subs
Vice Squad
Crass
Conflict
Stranglers
Siouxsie
Pistols (Hammersmith)
Anti Nowhere League
Toyah
Angelic Upstarts
Blitz
Partisans
The Business
Altered Images
Thompson Twins (original line up)
Flux of Pink Indians
Bauhaus

Some have aged really well..others less so

[Notsofastfrank]

I was mainly into heavy metal and still am. I did see
The Damned
The Ramones (New Years Eve1977 at The Rainbow)
The Rezillos
Billy Idol
John Otway and Wild Willy Barrett.
Tom Robinson

[Lotobear]

popeyewhite said:

Lotobear said:

Motorhead were widely regarded as proto punk and here's an interersting thing - John Lydon was and is a massive Hawkwind fan, who are also considered proto punk and of course Lemmy was their bassist. See also Pink Fairies.

I respect others may think that, but Motorhead is nothing to do with punk regardless of what some NME journo may claim, neither is Hawkwind. Dave Brock would be astonished.

I don't think anyone is suggesting that Motorhead and Hawkwind are punk bands or that they in any way started it but it's hard not to see certain similarities in terms of their non conformist approach to music, and even the structure of some of their songs such as Brainstorm.

Anyway the thread is not about either of those bands, it's just interesting to observe similarities and links.

[the-norseman]

I was too young to experience it first hand but have seen quite a few of the bands listed above since.

Sisters of mercy was my most recent.

[franki68]

Dead Kennedy’s .

[vixen1700]

X-Ray Spex, Ultravox & Siouxsie & the Banshees back in '78 when I was 12, can't remember too much about those gigs unfortunately.

Stiff Little Fingers & Adam & the Ants in 1980 at The Rainbow & The Electric Ballroom.

Then it took off going to gigs constantly at places like the Lyceum, 100 Club, Clarendon Hotel and Marquee.

UK Subs
Anti-Pasti
The Damned
Vice Squad
Chelsea
Discharge
Chron-Gen
The Exploited
Anti-Nowhere League

Plus shedloads of other bands that have contributed to my tinitus.

Got into the anarcho-punk scene around that time and saw Crass a couple of times and plenty of bands on tiny labels at the Wapping Anarchy Centre (a dodgy old warehouse when Wapping was a bombed out slum area ) and the Centro Iberico in Westborne Park which was an old school taken over by anarchist Spanish Civil War veterens and where bands played every Sunday.

Think I saw The Mob there about ten tines along with all manner of weird and wonderful punk bands.

My favourite gig ever was just a ten minute walk from where I lived and a couple of days after my 15th birthday, A Flux of Pink Indians, The Subhumans and Rudimentary Peni upstairs at The Red Lion, Leytonstone. What a mad night.

It even made a page in Sounds the following week:



Great times as a kid, surprised I had the time for doing my home-work.

Oh yeah, Jayne County rocked live!

Edited by vixen1700 on Thursday 11th July 10:58

[marcosgt]

I wasn't really that into gig-going in my early teens, so most of the proper Punk bands has imploded or toned down by the time I did.

Early 80s was really my era of music, so I loved London Calling/Capital Radio era Clash, but I've not really revisited many of these bands in latter days.

I did see Siouxsie and the Banshees in the early 80s and they were excellent (unexpectedly so, I thought) - one of my most memorable gigs.

Most of my early gigs were Two-Tone bands (Bodysnatchers and Selecter good, Madness a bit boring).

Punk was a much needed kick that music needed in the 70s, but I don't really look back and think I wish I'd seen such and such a band, except the Clash.

I always liked the Ruts and Dead Kennedys, too, but I can't imagine they'd be great today, likewise the Stranglers (how many original members are left?)

Edited by marcosgt on Thursday 11th July 10:59

[popeyewhite]

What about punk poets? Anybody remember John Cooper Clarke? I must have seen him dozens of times, he always seemed to be support to something. Became unfunny quite quickly though.