I could write a Top 20 list but I would probably change it tomorrow.
If you regard I'm Stranded by The Saints https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/(I%27m)_Stranded as the first punk album and Inflammable Material by Still Little Fingers as the last then there is some great music in between.
We can argue forever about what is and isn't New Wave, Power Pop plus Post punk etc. and we all think that the music from our teenage years is best - but no other time in popular music has been as creative (as documented in Simon Reynolds book "Rip It Up and Start Again").
The true spirit of punk has only been carried on through the years by one group and that is The Fall.
There are many definitions and arguments about what is, or is not, punk. Totally agree. As an example of someone who divides opinion, Plastic Bertrand was definitely punk for me, but not for others. Wire-too arty? Punk for me. Leyton Buzzards might have morphed into Modern Romance (yuk) but punks for me-"I don't want to go to art school" was great.
One thing where punk does not get enough credit, is that it was the first genre to have large amounts of female stars. Compare/contrast with Glam (Suzi Quatro & precious little else) or indeed Metal.
I am not knocking The Fall's undoubted contribution. But it does slightly annoy me that Fall fans tend to believe the Fall are the only Punks that matter these days. 999. The Lurkers. John Otway. All still touring. All still great.
Rap certainly had some things in common with Punk. Drill probably has even more.
PS-Shot by Both Sides. What a truly great song that is.
Pretty much agree with this. I have seen 999 and The Lurkers in the last few years and they were great. The thing about Mark E Smith is that once he broke the mould, he carried on breaking the mould and kept on doing so for 35 years.
Shot by Both Sides still gives me a thrill every time I hear it.
Excellent thread this one. Kudos to @Essexphil for picking Ieya by Toyah, that beings back memories of playing that track and Danced over and over again until the tape broke.
Then mention of John Otway, what a legend he is, saw him play at university and then he stayed chatting and drinking with us until the early hours, really nice guy.
The reason I love threads like this is it reminds me of great music I have forgotten.
Saw Toyah in 1980 on The Blue Meaning tour. Only went cos a friend was a fan-what a performer. There are some iffy versions on the internet. Try "Live at the Church in Dundee, 2019"-it is the Encore at about 1:22.
I have been a fan of John Otway since Really Free/Beware of the Flowers (Cos I'm sure they're gonna get you yeah). Even my Stars poker name is "Otwayfan". Given his 2nd hit at the age of 50 by his fanclub. Or, as he says, it took him 25 years to get the "s" on the right side of "hit"....
I saw her live at Eastbourne Bandstand in 2015, still puts on a great show and still has a good voice.
John Otway is a natural entertainer who deserved so much more success 🤣
Here's a list I found on Decade 77-87 - a grown up disco: new wave, punk, postpunk, goth & indie page.
JOHN PEEL’s FESTIVE FIFTY – PRE 1981 (plus bonus 10 tracks).
1. Joy Division - Atmosphere 2. Sex Pistols - Anarchy in the UK 3. Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart 4. New Order - Ceremony 5. Joy Division - New Dawn Fades 6. Undertones - Teenage Kicks 7. Joy Division - Decades 8. Cure - A Forest 9. Dead Kennedys - Holiday in Cambodia 10. Clash - White Man in Hammersmith Palais 11. Joy Division - Dead Souls 12. Damned - New Rose 13. Jam - Down in the Tube Station at Midnight 14. Joy Division - Transmission 15. Altered Images - Dead Pop-Stars 16. Stiff Little Fingers - Alternative Ulster 17. Sex Pistols - Holidays in the Sun 18. Clash - Complete Control 19. Birthday Party - Release the Bats 20. Undertones - Get Over You 21. Specials - Ghost Town 22. Scritti Politti - The `Sweetest' Girl 23. Jam - Going Underground 24. Stiff Little Fingers - Johnny Was 25. Theatre of Hate - Legion 26. Public Image Ltd. - Public Image 27. Killing Joke - Requiem 28. Killing Joke - Follow the Leaders 29. Heaven 17 - No Fascist Groove Thang 30. The Fall - Fiery Jack 31. Ruts - In a Rut 32. Stiff Little Fingers - Suspect Device 33. The Fall - How I Wrote `Elastic Man' 34. Laurie Anderson - O Superman 35. Siouxsie & the Banshees - Jigsaw Feeling 36. B-Movie - Remembrance Day 37. Siouxsie & the Banshees - Israel 38. Sex Pistols - God Save the Queen 39. Pigbag - Papa's Got a Brand-New Pigbag 40. Siouxsie & the Banshees - Icon 41. Only Ones - Another Girl, Another Planet 42. Dead Kennedys - California Uber Alles 43. Joy Division - Twenty-Four Hours 44. Joy Division - Isolation 45. Killing Joke - Psyche 46. Echo and the Bunnymen - Over the Wall 47. The Fall - Lie Dream of a Casino Soul 48. New Order - Procession 49. Siouxsie & the Banshees - Switch 50. Altered Images - Happy Birthday 51. Joy Division - She's Lost Control 52. Bauhaus - Bela Lugosi's Dead 53. Magazine - Shot by Both Sides 54. New Order - In a Lonely Place 55. Anti-Pasti - No Government 56. The Fall - Totally Wired 57. Specials - Gangsters 58. Fire Engines - Candy Skin 59. Sex Pistols - Pretty Vacant 60. Siouxsie & the Banshees - Hong Kong Garden
Heaven 17 for me is a strange inclusion as is possibly Echo and the Bunnymen, but all in all I'd buy that compilation.
Isn't it funny how perceptions alter over time ? I always had a dislike of New Romantic and Electronic Pop but looking through my collection I see I have managed to accumulate albums by O.M.D., Spandau Ballet, Ultraxox, Human league and Tears for Fears.
I even learned to dance the Prince Charming in 2014 for a flash mob at a friends wedding.
Decade 77-87 - a grown up disco: new wave, punk, postpunk, goth & indie.
SHAM 69 – BORSTAL BREAKOUT (1978).
43 years ago today, NME published its list of the Top 60 albums of 1978.
#42 Tell Us The Truth - Sham 69.
From the album, the confrontational BORSTAL BREAKOUT, a great love song done up punk – “Well now I'm over the wall I'm nearly home, I'm coming through that door coming back to you, Now I'm nearly home nearly back for you”.
It riled up the papers, but ultimately failed to dent the pop charts.
The song remains an irrepressible slab of thugged-up love still capable of getting the dance floor fired up today.
1. Darkness On The Edge Of Town - Bruce Springsteen 2. All Mod Cons - The Jam 3. This Years Model - Elvis Costello 4. More Songs About Buildings & Food - Talking Heads 5. Africa Stand Alone - Culture 6. Peter Gabriel (2) - Peter Gabriel 7. Street Legal - Bob Dylan 8. Dub Housing - Pere Ubu 9. Germ Free Adolescents - X Ray Spex 10. David Johansen - David Johansen 11. The Modern Dance - Pere Ubu 12. The Scream - Siouxsie & The Banshees 13. Moving Targets - Penetration 14. Shiny Beast - Captain Beefheart 15. Rasta Communication - Keith Hudson 16. An American Prayer - Jim Morrison 17. Who Are You - The Who 18. Some Girls - The Rolling Stones 19. Marcus Children - Burning Spear 20. Real Life - Magazine 21. Blue Valentine - Tom Waits 22. Go 2 - Xtc 23. Jazz - Ry Cooder 24. We Are Not Men... - Devo 25. Another Music In A Different Kitchen. - The Buzzcocks 26. Dynamite Daze - Kevin Coyne 27. Give 'Em Enough Rope - The Clash 28. First Edition - Public Image 29. Live & Dangerous - Thin Lizzy 30. Man Machine - Kraftwerk 31. Tonic For The Troops - Boomtown Rats 32. Power In The Darkness - Tom Robinson Band 33. Dread Beat & Blood - Linton Kwesi Johnson 34. Wavelength - Van Morrison 35. The Real Kids - Same 36. Road To Ruin - The Ramones 37. Hearts Of Stone - Southside Johnny 38. Some Enchanted Evening - Blue Oyster Cult 39. Suicide - Same 40. Smooth Talk - Evelyn ‘Champagne’ King 41. Roy Hill - Same 42. Tell Us The Truth - Sham 69 43. Comes A Time - Neil Young 44. Disguise In Love - John Cooper Clarke 45. The Image Has Cracked - ATV 46. Midnight Express - Giorgo Moroder 47. Dark Album - Wigwam 48. Fool Around - Rachel Sweet 49. Love Bites - Buzzcocks 50. Black & White - Stranglers 51. Easter - Patti Smith 52. Love - Twinkle Brothers 53. The Akron Compilation - Various Artists 54. Crusin - Village People 55. The 5th Power - Lester Bowie 56. Rosewood - Woody Shaw 57. One Nation Under A Groove - Funkadelic 58. V.S.O.P. - The Quintet 59. Enhance - Billy Heart 60. X Dreams - Annette Peacock
Decade 77-87 - a grown up disco: new wave, punk, postpunk, goth & indie.
THE CLASH – JIMMY JAZZ.
42 years ago today, NME published its list of the Top 30 albums of 1979.
No. 8: LONDON CALLING - THE CLASH.
A marmite number from The Clash that was described by Vulture.com as "plainly the oddest song the band had yet recorded”, JIMMY JAZZ was there on the first side of London Calling to let us know that the next four sides were going to be filled with surprises.
"Stevens makes it come alive, with those goofy horns and an arrangement that makes it all sound deliberate. Note how Strummer totally delivers the outlandish vocal: He really was one of the very greatest rock singers of all time."
With its opening line "The police walked in for Jimmy Jazz," as a listener it's easy to imagine a run down bar that just had a visit by a minor police squad.
The song has been described as “impressionistic, with the story being as hard to grasp as the smoke hanging in the air of the nightclub”.
The police brutality is more implied than explicit. "Cut off his ears and chop off his head" is an expression used in Bring Me the Head of Alfred Garcia.
Jimmy Jazz is both alliteration and synonym for the drug the police are looking for, but it is not there because the leaves (ears) and bud (head) have already been cut off. 'Satta Massagana' is Amric for “give thanks”, an Ethiopian language.
1. Fear Of Music - Talking Heads 2. Metal Box - Public Image Ltd. 3. Unknown Pleasures - Joy Division 4. Setting Sons - The Jam 5. Entertainment - Gang Of Four 6. Armed Forces - Elvis Costello 7. Do It Yourself - Ian Dury 8. London Calling - The Clash 9. Squeezing Out The Sparks - Graham Parker 10. The Specials - The Specials 11. Forces Of Victory - Lintin Kwesi Johnson 12. The B52's - The B52's 13. Bop Till You Drop - Ry Cooder 14. The Raincoats - The Raincoats 15. Tom Verlaine - Tom Verlaine 16. I Am - Earth, Wind & Fire 17. The Undertones - The Undertones 18. 154 - Wire 19. Repeat When Necessary - Dave Edmunds 20. Drums & Wires - Xtc 21. New Panic Time - Pere Ubu 22. Cut - The Slits 23. Risque - Chic 24. Regatta De Blank - Police 25. Humanity - The Royle Rasses 26. Same Song - Israel Vibration 27. Katzenmusic - Michael Rother 28. Rust Never Sleeps - Neil Young 29. Brudder Des Schattens, Sohne Des.. - Popol Vuh 30. Dragnet - The Fall 31. Even Serpents Shine - The Only Ones 32. Eskimo - The Residents 33. Slow Train Coming - Bob Dylan 34. Blue Valentine - Tom Waits 35. This Heat - This Heat 36. A Train To Marineville - Swell Maps 37. I’m The Man - Joe Jackson 38. Soldier Talk - The Red Crayola 39. Reproduction - The Human League 40. Lodger - David Bowie
Comments
Pretty much agree with this. I have seen 999 and The Lurkers in the last few years and they were great. The thing about Mark E Smith is that once he broke the mould, he carried on breaking the mould and kept on doing so for 35 years.
Shot by Both Sides still gives me a thrill every time I hear it.
John Otway is a natural entertainer who deserved so much more success 🤣
I never rank my favourites of anything - so here is my list (in alphabetical order) of my best post punk albums 1979 - 1985
A Certain Ratio: Force
The Associates: The Affectionate Punch
The B 52’s: Wild Planet
Cabaret Voltaire : The Covenant, the Sword and the Arm of the Lord
Echo & the Bunnymen: Crocodiles
Gang of Four: Entertainment!
Joy Division: Unknown Pleasures
Joy Division: Closer
Magazine: The Correct use of Soap
Public Image Limited: Metal Box
Red Noise: Sound on Sound
Siouxsie and the Banshees: Ju Ju
Wire: 154
XTC: Drums and Wires
JOHN PEEL’s FESTIVE FIFTY – PRE 1981 (plus bonus 10 tracks).
1. Joy Division - Atmosphere
2. Sex Pistols - Anarchy in the UK
3. Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart
4. New Order - Ceremony
5. Joy Division - New Dawn Fades
6. Undertones - Teenage Kicks
7. Joy Division - Decades
8. Cure - A Forest
9. Dead Kennedys - Holiday in Cambodia
10. Clash - White Man in Hammersmith Palais
11. Joy Division - Dead Souls
12. Damned - New Rose
13. Jam - Down in the Tube Station at Midnight
14. Joy Division - Transmission
15. Altered Images - Dead Pop-Stars
16. Stiff Little Fingers - Alternative Ulster
17. Sex Pistols - Holidays in the Sun
18. Clash - Complete Control
19. Birthday Party - Release the Bats
20. Undertones - Get Over You
21. Specials - Ghost Town
22. Scritti Politti - The `Sweetest' Girl
23. Jam - Going Underground
24. Stiff Little Fingers - Johnny Was
25. Theatre of Hate - Legion
26. Public Image Ltd. - Public Image
27. Killing Joke - Requiem
28. Killing Joke - Follow the Leaders
29. Heaven 17 - No Fascist Groove Thang
30. The Fall - Fiery Jack
31. Ruts - In a Rut
32. Stiff Little Fingers - Suspect Device
33. The Fall - How I Wrote `Elastic Man'
34. Laurie Anderson - O Superman
35. Siouxsie & the Banshees - Jigsaw Feeling
36. B-Movie - Remembrance Day
37. Siouxsie & the Banshees - Israel
38. Sex Pistols - God Save the Queen
39. Pigbag - Papa's Got a Brand-New Pigbag
40. Siouxsie & the Banshees - Icon
41. Only Ones - Another Girl, Another Planet
42. Dead Kennedys - California Uber Alles
43. Joy Division - Twenty-Four Hours
44. Joy Division - Isolation
45. Killing Joke - Psyche
46. Echo and the Bunnymen - Over the Wall
47. The Fall - Lie Dream of a Casino Soul
48. New Order - Procession
49. Siouxsie & the Banshees - Switch
50. Altered Images - Happy Birthday
51. Joy Division - She's Lost Control
52. Bauhaus - Bela Lugosi's Dead
53. Magazine - Shot by Both Sides
54. New Order - In a Lonely Place
55. Anti-Pasti - No Government
56. The Fall - Totally Wired
57. Specials - Gangsters
58. Fire Engines - Candy Skin
59. Sex Pistols - Pretty Vacant
60. Siouxsie & the Banshees - Hong Kong Garden
Heaven 17 for me is a strange inclusion as is possibly Echo and the Bunnymen, but all in all I'd buy that compilation.
Isn't it funny how perceptions alter over time ? I always had a dislike of New Romantic and Electronic Pop but looking through my collection I see I have managed to accumulate albums by O.M.D., Spandau Ballet, Ultraxox, Human league and Tears for Fears.
I even learned to dance the Prince Charming in 2014 for a flash mob at a friends wedding.
SHAM 69 – BORSTAL BREAKOUT (1978).
43 years ago today, NME published its list of the Top 60 albums of 1978.
#42 Tell Us The Truth - Sham 69.
From the album, the confrontational BORSTAL BREAKOUT, a great love song done up punk – “Well now I'm over the wall I'm nearly home, I'm coming through that door coming back to you, Now I'm nearly home nearly back for you”.
It riled up the papers, but ultimately failed to dent the pop charts.
The song remains an irrepressible slab of thugged-up love still capable of getting the dance floor fired up today.
1. Darkness On The Edge Of Town - Bruce Springsteen
2. All Mod Cons - The Jam
3. This Years Model - Elvis Costello
4. More Songs About Buildings & Food - Talking Heads
5. Africa Stand Alone - Culture
6. Peter Gabriel (2) - Peter Gabriel
7. Street Legal - Bob Dylan
8. Dub Housing - Pere Ubu
9. Germ Free Adolescents - X Ray Spex
10. David Johansen - David Johansen
11. The Modern Dance - Pere Ubu
12. The Scream - Siouxsie & The Banshees
13. Moving Targets - Penetration
14. Shiny Beast - Captain Beefheart
15. Rasta Communication - Keith Hudson
16. An American Prayer - Jim Morrison
17. Who Are You - The Who
18. Some Girls - The Rolling Stones
19. Marcus Children - Burning Spear
20. Real Life - Magazine
21. Blue Valentine - Tom Waits
22. Go 2 - Xtc
23. Jazz - Ry Cooder
24. We Are Not Men... - Devo
25. Another Music In A Different Kitchen. - The Buzzcocks
26. Dynamite Daze - Kevin Coyne
27. Give 'Em Enough Rope - The Clash
28. First Edition - Public Image
29. Live & Dangerous - Thin Lizzy
30. Man Machine - Kraftwerk
31. Tonic For The Troops - Boomtown Rats
32. Power In The Darkness - Tom Robinson Band
33. Dread Beat & Blood - Linton Kwesi Johnson
34. Wavelength - Van Morrison
35. The Real Kids - Same
36. Road To Ruin - The Ramones
37. Hearts Of Stone - Southside Johnny
38. Some Enchanted Evening - Blue Oyster Cult
39. Suicide - Same
40. Smooth Talk - Evelyn ‘Champagne’ King
41. Roy Hill - Same
42. Tell Us The Truth - Sham 69
43. Comes A Time - Neil Young
44. Disguise In Love - John Cooper Clarke
45. The Image Has Cracked - ATV
46. Midnight Express - Giorgo Moroder
47. Dark Album - Wigwam
48. Fool Around - Rachel Sweet
49. Love Bites - Buzzcocks
50. Black & White - Stranglers
51. Easter - Patti Smith
52. Love - Twinkle Brothers
53. The Akron Compilation - Various Artists
54. Crusin - Village People
55. The 5th Power - Lester Bowie
56. Rosewood - Woody Shaw
57. One Nation Under A Groove - Funkadelic
58. V.S.O.P. - The Quintet
59. Enhance - Billy Heart
60. X Dreams - Annette Peacock
THE CLASH – JIMMY JAZZ.
42 years ago today, NME published its list of the Top 30 albums of 1979.
No. 8: LONDON CALLING - THE CLASH.
A marmite number from The Clash that was described by Vulture.com as "plainly the oddest song the band had yet recorded”, JIMMY JAZZ was there on the first side of London Calling to let us know that the next four sides were going to be filled with surprises.
"Stevens makes it come alive, with those goofy horns and an arrangement that makes it all sound deliberate. Note how Strummer totally delivers the outlandish vocal: He really was one of the very greatest rock singers of all time."
With its opening line "The police walked in for Jimmy Jazz," as a listener it's easy to imagine a run down bar that just had a visit by a minor police squad.
The song has been described as “impressionistic, with the story being as hard to grasp as the smoke hanging in the air of the nightclub”.
The police brutality is more implied than explicit. "Cut off his ears and chop off his head" is an expression used in Bring Me the Head of Alfred Garcia.
Jimmy Jazz is both alliteration and synonym for the drug the police are looking for, but it is not there because the leaves (ears) and bud (head) have already been cut off. 'Satta Massagana' is Amric for “give thanks”, an Ethiopian language.
1. Fear Of Music - Talking Heads
2. Metal Box - Public Image Ltd.
3. Unknown Pleasures - Joy Division
4. Setting Sons - The Jam
5. Entertainment - Gang Of Four
6. Armed Forces - Elvis Costello
7. Do It Yourself - Ian Dury
8. London Calling - The Clash
9. Squeezing Out The Sparks - Graham Parker
10. The Specials - The Specials
11. Forces Of Victory - Lintin Kwesi Johnson
12. The B52's - The B52's
13. Bop Till You Drop - Ry Cooder
14. The Raincoats - The Raincoats
15. Tom Verlaine - Tom Verlaine
16. I Am - Earth, Wind & Fire
17. The Undertones - The Undertones
18. 154 - Wire
19. Repeat When Necessary - Dave Edmunds
20. Drums & Wires - Xtc
21. New Panic Time - Pere Ubu
22. Cut - The Slits
23. Risque - Chic
24. Regatta De Blank - Police
25. Humanity - The Royle Rasses
26. Same Song - Israel Vibration
27. Katzenmusic - Michael Rother
28. Rust Never Sleeps - Neil Young
29. Brudder Des Schattens, Sohne Des.. - Popol Vuh
30. Dragnet - The Fall
31. Even Serpents Shine - The Only Ones
32. Eskimo - The Residents
33. Slow Train Coming - Bob Dylan
34. Blue Valentine - Tom Waits
35. This Heat - This Heat
36. A Train To Marineville - Swell Maps
37. I’m The Man - Joe Jackson
38. Soldier Talk - The Red Crayola
39. Reproduction - The Human League
40. Lodger - David Bowie