The past is is another country:They do things differently there.

My memories of punk have provided me with a back-story that both informed and directed many parts of my life. The main prisms were ,how it affected me,how it was cool and therefore how I was cool and lastly how it was free thinking but…. it wasn’t any of those things. Analyzing those memories for the most part  it’s like the “recovered memories” bollocks that alt health nuts claim to find in abuse victims.Except that I “found” those memories not an interfering psychoanalyst . The fact that the (self) abuse happened in the early to mid 70’s is the only mitigating factor is my defence.

I came to punk in 1977 the decade ruled by the tank top

In the Seventies the look below was pretty typical – a decade ruled by the tank top. The only difference between the 70s and today’s hipsters is that this look wasn’t ironic – young people WE KNEW NO BETTER . The look below was pretty typical. It was at least a year behind the trend but, for Northern Ireland, that was pretty much bang up to date. Cheesecloth was a recent memory *shudder*.

SOOOO I got my ma to change my flares into drainpipes – yes that’s right my ma what rebellion. I got a short  haircut actually (pretty much a skinhead). However just having short hair made you a punk – and I joined the less than 50 young people in my hometown who didn’t like Status Quo.

Musically I bought what I could The Rods, Boomtown Rats, The Jam, The Stranglers, The Pistols etc etc – a true punk smorgasbord I thought until I looked at Youtube .

Without the self-recovered memories you get

First Punk single – Do anything you wanna do by the Rods

Yup..former Eddie & the Hot Rods they were what R’n’B used to be before it  became Kelis, Beyonce and all the other big assed wigglers took it over and made it what it is now. Definitely not punk apart from the attitude (possibly).

Next Single The Boomtown Rats Looking After Number 1.

Warning Contains Noel Edmonds (I wish Yewtree would get a move on)

I bought it on the then unusual outside of reggae 12″ single (TBH I thought they had given me an album at the wrong price). It had a cutout and wear Rat armband which I did cut out and wore. As it was cardboard it melted in the first shower.

Now Geldof certainly had the attitude, the Rats had Pete Briquette (such a funny name …sad face) on bass,  relatively short hair, some catchy pop punk tunes and what appeared to be an american sailor themed rent boy on drums.

HOWEVER they also had :-

• songs longer than 4 minutes
• a sneaking desire to be a Bruce Springsteen tribute act – Rat Trap people
• a long haired front man who thought it was still ok to act like Mick Jagger

Pseudo Punk….maybe

Other early purchases would be The Stranglers

Punk Royalty, not in retrospect. Drummer was a fat middle aged jazz man ;Hugh Cornwell was a creepy teacher/sneaky uncle figure; Dave Greenfield was still a hippy; and though Jean Jacques Burnel had punk chops they were all hideously misogynistic, could play their instruments and had solos. And the truth was at the time they had a punk question mark – i.e. fellow travellers .

The Jam In The City (bargain bin in Woolworths)

Obvs a “The Who” tribute act  in the same way that Oasis were a Beatles tribute act. They also famously voted Tory and created the mod revival – to this day it amazes me the arse licking reverence that greets every word Paul Weller utters.

The Sex Pistols Anarchy in the UK

Punk attitude sung to a glam rock backing track. Rotten was an Art School boy and he had McLaren & Westwood to thank for the look – oooh the rebellion.

I’m being overly harsh on the bands obvs. They hadn’t come out of nowhere. They were busy railing against one cage of repressive rules. But hey did it by happily welding together a new set. What was right , what was wrong and who the boring old hippies were. We were as deluded as any Led Zep fan, still not so many drum solos so it wasn’t all bad.

Looking back 2 bands who could truly be said to have a punk philosophy were

Crass

That was punk alright …..but a little bit shit. They created a legacy that started with The Exploited and ended (hopefully) with The Levellers. What a shower of bastards.

ATV

Original , quirky, lo fi and very very good. But you can’t pogo to reggae boys – elementary mistake ( Yes I know that was their only cod reggae one but a gag is a gag).

So then – that’s punk year zero (in Derry – punk year one everywhere else) next blog Sid Vicious is Innocent for those of you who remember the slogan plus the next set of stupidities. However also the sainted Undertones.