the jets

Luton band the Jets perform live. Originally filmed on one Super 8 mm camera (with no sound) over one night in 1978 by a friend of the band, who given the difficulty of a typical punk gig and the medium itself actually managed to capture the events.

 

For the best information on the band check out the Jets part 1 and part 2 on the Punk77 site.

the ramones first album demos 1975

How these recordings have come to light is miracle of the times, given that it was probably only ever on a cassette in the first place. This set of demos by The Ramones recorded in 1975 was to eventually become their first album.
As raw and lo-fi as it is those chainsaw guitars and snotty vocals are all in place some two years before their debut album is released. Some of the songs sound a bit slower or even in different keys but within those couple of years and CBGB's later they would be tighter and faster and make one of the most important albums of the the 1970's and inspire a new era in rock and roll.
Here's the track listing with the time each track begins -

1. I Don't Wanna Go Down To The Basement Demo 00:00
2. 53rd & 3rd Demo 02:27
3. I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend Demo 04:50
4. Judy Is A Punk Demo 06:39
5. Loudmouth Demo 08:20
6. Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue Demo 10:40
7. I Can't Be Demo 12:22
8. Today Your Love Tomorrow The World Demo 14:18
9. I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You Demo 16:29
10. I Don't Wanna Be Learned I Don't Wanna Be Tamed Demo 18:22
11. You Gonna Kill That Girl Demo 19:25
12. What's Your Name Demo 22:09
13. Chainsaw Demo 24:58
14. You Should Never Open That Door Demo 26:54

the last ramone

It's become a rather odd thing in the past few years that an obit for a musician should find it's way broadcast on the day by the BBC midnight news. It doesn't show up anywhere else in the news slots just the midnight news or maybe the hours after. Perhaps they think it's the time when those that might be interested in the passing of a musician might be listening to the radio. The night owl news.

So it was on Saturday night with the announcement that Tommy Ramone had died. And what a miserable thing it is to know that 3 of these lives were all ended with cancer as the cause. Dee Dee's death being from a heroine overdose in 2002.

And for those not aware of the other members deaths some years back, the sombre voiced BBC announcer informed us that Tommy was the last of the original members of the Ramones.
Damn it. There shouldn't be a time when there just isn't a Ramone anymore. It's like part of rock and roll has gone. Whether you were a long time fan of their music or not hardly anyone one could say they hadn't heard or known of the Ramones. They represented an image and sound of rock and roll that came from it's past and still perceived today. What is rock and roll without buzzing guitars, leather jackets and a snotty vocal.
It starts with a young Elvis in a biker jacket on a Harley Davison, to the Beatles in the Cavern Club and Hamburg, to the arrival of the Ramones themselves at The London Roundhouse in 1976, and where every young punk Londoner who was anyone packed the iconic venue and became immediately influenced by them and the sound and image of a new era in rock and roll. Now forward 4 decades to the Opening Ceremony of The Olympic Games in 2012 and you'll see the Arctic Monkeys play rock and roll in much the same way and dressed in leathers. You can similarly name anyone of hundreds between those decades. Sure it's different lyrics, and a different tune but the song remains the same.

The Ramones represented all of that like some cartoon characterisation of every rock and roll band you've ever wanted to see. Their songs were intelligent yet encapsulated like a graphic novel. Their sound was a wall of sound driven at relentless pace in 2 and 3 minute chunks with the only the shout of "1..2..3..4" between each number. Phil Spector wanted to produce them and they turned him down flat after a day or two in the studio with him. That's how great the Ramones were. Not even Lennon managed that one.

Tommy Ramone was a producer for them first and foremost before they realised he was also the only drummer to be able to stay the pace with them on kit. So through their classic years of 1974 until 78 Tommy held the drum stool and then went back to producing them after that. But he also always stayed a musician. In his latter years he played in a bluegrass-based folk duo called Uncle Monk of all things. Which sounds a might unexpected... from punk to blue grass? How does that work?
Maybe the resonance of the Ramone's early years playing at CBGB's (Country, Blue Grass and Blues) returned to Tommy in his later years.

Tommy :
"There are a lot of similarities between punk and old-time music. Both are home-brewed music as opposed to schooled, and both have an earthy energy. And anybody can pick up an instrument and start playing."
WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE

See that right there. It sort of sums up the Ramones.
Anybody can pick it up.. and thousands did. But no one ever sounded quite like the Ramones.

So long Tommy. You made a difference.

RAMONES - Live December 31st, 1977

devo's alan myers RIP

Devo's drummer, Alan Myers died on Monday. He was with the band during their formative years from 1976 and leaving during 1987, playing on 7 of their releases.
Devo’s Gerald Casale "He could not tolerate being replaced by the Fairlight and autocratic machine music."

Myesr was a true original who created the metronomic timing that lifted the band from a straight ahead punk band into something incomparable at the time. Late 1970's and 80's new wave and pop groups imitated the beat but with the use of the drum machine instead. It takes a very special sense of rhythm, especially in a young drummer to keep such a rigid yet consistently grooving beat.
Devo's first hit in the UK came in 1977 with the EP 'Be Stiff' released by the then HQ of punk, Stiff Records.
The clunk of the disjointed Devo rhythm was irresistible to the pogo-ing fans at many of the punk gigs DJ picks in '77.

Here's a wonderfully early performance of them at New York's legendary Max's Kansas City in 1977 with their cover of the Stone's '(Can't Get No) Satisfaction' which was included on the Stiff EP, although here live, Myers plays the beat much slower to great effect.

the ramones on phil spector

The notion that Phil Spector could work with The Ramones on an album seemed like a liaison made in punk heaven. The groups natural guitar wall of sound enhanced by the experience and genius of the great American wall of sound producers? What could go wrong? Surely nothing could stop what would have been one of rocks great partnerships.
The following interview with the band puts it all in perspective. The visionary genius of Spector is now a nightmare in punk hell. The band, mainly Dee Dee and Johnny, accompanied by a rather glum and silent Joey, tell it how it was.
"we didn't know how difficult it was to work with the guy before we stepped into it... we found out."
"and I never met anyone like him and I hope I... ya know."

the ramones backstage

This Ramones footage has a section with them being interviewed backstage at a Minnesota PBS show in January 1978, which is unusual in itself but there's also fascinating and rare view of guitarist Johnny and bass player Dee Dee warming up in the dressing room before the gig. It looks and sounds like it's un-amplified which really highlights the tight synchronisation they had when working a tune over and proof enough The Ramones could have played on banjo's and it would have sounded good.
The on stage live tracks are “Rockaway Beach” , “California Sun” and “Blitzkrieg Bop” and they tear through them with their customary intent.
In 1978, and despite their success in England during the formative punk years they were still on the support bill at gigs and were still largely under valued, likewise here in Minnesota they were also playing support slot on the show. The large percentage of the audience seeming somewhat docile and still not grasping what this new punk thing was actually all about. Some even rejecting it out right. The commentators tone at the end takes almost a parental (or condescending) view as he asks the TV viewer to "give it a try".
The Ramones were just about as good as it got in that or any other era. They were nice guys too, as you'll hear.

iggy pop in 1979

By 1976 Iggy Pop had achieved rock and roll notoriety by the end of the 1960's. He'd met David Bowie in 1971 who'd then gone on to produce him in 72's R'aw Power album'. Since the collapse of The Stooges with Iggy's dependancy on heroine, meeting Bowie had been a boost to his flagging music direction and Bowie had seen Iggy as needing the full support he'd lost and also recognised his own reflection in the drug dependency.
In 1976 Iggy was now sick of being sick and along with Bowie they moved to Berlin in a self motivated attempt to clean themselves up in isolation and along the way happened to produce a whole new sound than that of The Stooges bands, and probably Iggy's best known albums 'The Idiot' and 'Lust For Life'. Berlin had worked out well for both of them.
Then moving to Arista Records Iggy released 'New Values' in 1979 which was a complete about face from his Bowie produced albums and a return to the Stooges wall of guitar sound.
The album failed to sell.
So now pick up the tour bus with Iggy in a rare short film of him in 1979. He's 32 year old, clean from dependency, talking and thinking clearly. The songs are 'Dog Food', 'Real Cool Time' & 'Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell' live at The Loghorn, Minneapolis. Plus interviews with some fans. The live band sound isn't the best quality but there's still plenty of interest in this film.
And if you want to know why Iggy has no trouble in taking the shill with his last few years of Insurance adverts. The last words he say's will tell you all.

slovakia rock and roll

In the UK in 1977, young bands were finding ways to make their music as easily and cheaply as possible. On the back of the UK's punk explosion small venues, independent studios and record labels sprang up in most towns supported by local bands or sometimes run by them. Without these places and the energy of the bands many would never have had the opportuniy to make a record or be heard at all. Major record labels were the last place that these groups would have fitted or even wanted to go.
But that was some 35 years ago and the music scene now in the UK is a very different place, with the small venues, independent labels and bands all fading away and not to be replaced by a new generation.
Now the place for any young group or musician to begin is naturally with the internet to exchange and post music to their audience from there. Without which you'd be hard pressed to know what was going on in any town or country outside of your own. Places like Soundcloud and Bandzone are now a potential home for the new independent musicians worldwide.
It's pretty obvious right now in corners of European countries they are experiencing the freedom of the independent artists in a similar way to the UK in 1977.
A small recording studio in Nové Mesto nad Váhom, Slovakia called Upstairs Records make it possible for their local groups to record which in turn get published on Soundcloud, Facebook and My Space, etc.
Upstairs Records : "It's a new recording studio in New Town n / V, intended for young bands... we do not know the amount per hour, price is always conjecture beforehand".
Garage Surf are Nika (drums), and Majo (guitar, bass and keyboard). They recorded their first EP their in 2012.
"We are playing garage punk'n'roll for about a year, and recently we are going to finish new songs for our debut album, which we want to record this summer here at Upstairs Records"
It sounds a healthy music scene in Nové Mesto nad Váhom, it is most unlikely to be the only one in many similar towns in Europe.
The top picture gives you a perfect view of 'Upstairs' console at Christmas. Very civilised and very independent.

Here's the Garage Surf EP 'About Hardy Joe', below that a video by the Anonymous Kids, and below that the latest EP by Genuine Jacks. They've all been recorded at Upstairs Records over the last year. All great rock and roll in Nové Mesto nad Váhom. Long may it continue.
Upstairs Records can be reached on Facebook (click here)

wilko johnson - important notice

I am very sad to announce that Wilko has recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer of the pancreas. He has chosen not to receive any chemotherapy.
He is currently in good spirits, is not yet suffering any physical effects and can expect to enjoy at least another few months of reasonable health and activity.
He has just set off on a trip to Japan; on his return we plan to complete a new CD, make a short tour of France, then give a series of farewell gigs in the UK. There is also a live DVD in the pipeline, filmed on the last UK tour.
Wilko wishes to offer his sincere thanks for all the support he has had over his long career, from those who have worked with him to, above all, those devoted fans and admirers who have attended his live gigs, bought his recordings and generally made his life such an extraordinarily full and eventful experience.
Thank you.
Robert Hoy (Manager)

spasms / big g

A new release from the splendid Detour records 'Only Fit For Then Bin' label is due on 19th November. Our friend "Dizzy" Holmes continues the unearthing of the UK's punk archives and this time found a Newcastle based band from a 1977 session by Big G.
Their 10 track CD "I Hate The Whole Human Race" is the next in line for a limited edition of 300 pressings, which the original is so hard to find there isn't anything to stream of the band anywhere.
So, the next best thing is play a track by a previous band having had a retread on the label, so here's Spasms who've got a damn good garage sound on their single 'Went Back' from 1978.
The Spasms CD 'Return Of The Spud Gun Kids' is available for 8 quid (GBP). Advance orders are being taken for the Big G "I Hate The Whole Human Race" CD (£9 ).
Get them both from here

bored teenagers

For some years now David "Dizzy" Holmes at Detour Records has been scouring the UK in a one man mission to release the rarities and unissued recordings of the punk bands that were part of the explosion of noise that came from all corners of the country from 1977 and into the 1980's.
These bands were the real voices of the punk movement not feted by the major record companies, with many of them unheard outside of their local venues and occasional support gigs. They all took part in the response to the mainstream and bloated music business machine of the times and made music their own way with little funds but plenty of enthusiasm.
A subsidiary label of Detour, Bin Liner Records have produced a series of punk compilations, their latest release has just been announced
"It is getting harder and harder to unearth some of these long lost punk rock gems. In fact, many many long and tedious hours have been spent on trying to locate and search out these tracks… Then more monotonous hours are spent in the studio repairing and enhancing the tracks, but the end result is worth every minute"
Volume 6 of the Bored Teenagers series is due out in October this year. Bands featured are Victimize, Stereotypes, Unorfadox, Machine, F-X, Vox Phantoms, Dead Airmen , Vile Bodies and The Daze.
The double CD includes a 20 page A5 glossy booklet with rare photos and write ups by the bands and it's all wrapped up for a bargain 12 quid (GBP).
Jump over to the Detour web site for a pre-order as the albums sell out fast.

And here's Victimize, a band who were obviously influenced by The Ramones and got a fuzz guitar to sound like an electric shaver, with Where Did The Money Go?
Exactly ! that's what we say.

"who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?"

Saturday, 18th August Pussy Riot release new single "Putin Fires Up The Lights"

Friday, 17th August. 13.52 GMT : Pussy Riot sentenced to 2 years each

11.23 GMT : Pussy Riot found guilty of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred. The three await sentencing.

Thursday, 16th August 2012
A verdict in their court case is due on Friday, when supporters of Pussy Riot are calling for a day of worldwide protest. Sign the Free Pussy Riot petition at freepussyriot.org.
Good luck girls.

Tuesday, 31st July 2012
Vladimir Putin decides to wield his political power by keeping 3 young Russian women punk protestors locked up for being anti-Putin.
"Last week, the Moscow City Court ruled to extend their detention by another six months on the grounds that the women committed a serious crime, and may abscond if granted bail.
it was their February performance of 'Virgin Mary, redeem us of Putin' in Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral that led to their arrest. The song calls on the Virgin Mother to embrace feminism, shun Putin, and cut ties between the state and the church.
Whether or not they push your musical buttons, it's indisputable that Pussy Riot - as a collective, or any number of individuals - has a legitimate right to freely criticise its government. International human rights law absolutely outlaws restrictions on free speech when they are based purely on the notion that others may find the content offensive - regardless of the beat behind the message, or where it's played.
Why are Nadezhda, Maria and Ekaterina awaiting a trial that could see them serving prison sentences of up to seven years?"
These young women are not terrorists.

the underground

Underground music first arose in the 60's with the bands reflecting pretty much the hippie ideals of the time. They'd be unrecognised commercially and grew with a select word of mouth audience and small scale live venues, often free or low cost that could be as easily held on the back of a truck or spontaneously in a small local venue. Sometimes self promoted or just an individual with no intent of making a profit. In support was the birth of the underground press giving vent to views that could guide or reflect the audience.
This early underground scene was carried forward in a similar fashion during the punk of the late seventies with a different agenda but carried a similar aesthetic, ie, in small venues, voiced opinions both political and social in fanzines and independent records sold to dedicated and often localised audiences. All were non-commercial unless they transformed otherwise, which was often accompanied by the phrase "sell out".
It was repeated in later decades with disco records created by nightclub DJ's, hip hop "from the streets" and heavy metal.
It's probably fare to say the heavy metal underground is still the largest community. To support that view take one look at the metal underground website with over a 1000 groups registered from around the world and few you will have heard or heard of.
In April this year new psychedelic rock groups appeared in strong numbers at a festival in Austin Texas, few of which would be heard commercially.
Independent record labels dealing in nothing but vinyl for a particular genre appear to be growing due to internet availability and that may be making a level playing field of anything that's been seen as underground in the past. One click and an entire sub-genre opens up. No word of mouth required.
".. music now transmitted laterally and collaboratively via the internet. You once had a series of gatekeepers in the adoption of a trend: the innovator, the early adopter, the late adopter, the early mainstream, the late mainstream, and finally the conservative. But now it goes straight from the innovator to the mainstream."
The Independent.
Alternatively you're quite likely to find a piece of music on YouTube made with all the same credibility as anything Underground in previous decades but has only a small amount of plays due to it not having been found.
It appears the underground today is so vast it's just a matter of whether you've clicked the link.

Here's The Black Angels - 18 Years.
Genre : New Psychedelic rock, Garage rock, (use to be Underground)

punk brittania

BBC have just finished broadcasting a three part series on the 1970's punk scene in the UK. Taking three parts to show how punk rock developed out of the pub rock bands of the mid 70's, into the birth of the first punk bands in 1976 and finishing in the post punk era of the early 80's.
For TV, a surprisingly accurate and well researched series put the whole period into focus of a broken political and social era and the music that reflected or rebelled against it. Documentaries of this type often have a rose coloured view of the times usually being told by those reminiscing about their youth rather than the reality of the times. In the main this series avoided such indulgences
Despite the reputation punk has grown over the years by mainly those not there at the time, it showed the actual reality of the punk movement was not the mass popularisation of the music but more its small scale compared to the music business giants that surrounded punk and the attempts to swallow what they saw as the latest fashion.
But it was if nothing else, something that grew from young people making an effort to "do it for yourself" as John Lydon pointed out in part 3 of the series. The real punk period in the UK was short lived (about mid 76-78) but was a dynamic and diverse creative time for the young people who looked to escape the oppression of poverty both financial and social.
John Lydon (Rotten) as always, was great value and still holds on to the attitude and outlook that stopped him from becoming one of "the morons" he first raged about it in 1976.
YouTube has the first two parts of the Punk Brittania series and no doubt the final part will appear in the coming week or so. It's worth checking out. Search : Punk Brittania.
In the meantime here's John Lydon in a 2007 interview for a taste of what you'll hear from him. Metaphorically speaking, his song will remain the same no matter when it's recorded.

patti smith 2012

So what do you do when your a 65 year old punk in 2012?
You nail one on the David Letterman Show.
Recorded June 12th. CBS television.

robert quine

It's amazing that his name is relatively obscure when you consider who this man worked with. A guitarist with a unique almost avant garde style, he produced exactly the right sound when adapting to different genres and individuals. Richard Hell owes much of the biting punk edge of his first album to his playing.
The steel like chords of Hell's 'Blank Generation' single (see post) caught the mood of the time perfectly and produced a sound unlike any other in rock, possibly still unmatched today.
Richard Hell.. "His command of technique came from endless hours of studying the records that moved him—but it was the combination of rage and delicacy, and the pure monstrosity of invention, that set him apart".
He later session-ed on albums with Lou Reed as well as live for some years, Brian Eno (on Nerve Net, see post), John Zorn, Marianne Faithfull, Lloyd Cole, Tom Waits (Rain Dogs). Quine created a stark modernism to the song that particularly suited these artists.
The fact that he never liked touring suggests he didn't want to be far from his home for any length of time and probably also explains the lack of recognition.
Depressed after the unexpected death of his wife Alice in August 2003, he committed suicide by heroin overdose in his New York home on May 31, 2004. The two had been together since the seventies and it seemed that now life for Robert was no longer worth living.

Here's the classic instrumental "Cheyenne" from Japanese drummer Ikue Mori's album "Painted Desert". With Marc Ribot and Robert Quine on guitar. The 1909 composed tune 'Cheyenne' became a standard underscore in many early western films, over used to the point of it becoming a cliche .
In 1995 Mori, Ribot and Quine's recording fragments it's theme without ever losing the thread of the tune. Something Quine had always done so naturally. An inspirational player!

pere ubu

When John Peel's first punk show was broadcast in November 1976 he included a single by an unknown Cleveland group Pere Ubu. It had to be one of the strangest and dark records heard at the time.
Probably comparable with one of Velvet Underground's shadowy moments yet Pere Ubu's lead singer/director David Thomas sang with an unnerving sense of desperation that separated them entirely from anything gone before. A similar American desperation at the time came over in bands like Television, Richard Hell and Patti Smith,
The title of the song 'Final Solution' was of course taken completely out of context to the lyrics and a lot of lower life forms assumed it had anti-Semitic connotations. This was nonsense of course especially when the lyrics are plainly not inflammatory and not about the holocaust, but the damage had been done and Thomas refused to perform the song live for many years.
Befitting a band who were best described as experimental rock they had produced a great rock and roll moment in Final Solution, and in true John Cage fashion it was a second of silence bang in the middle of the track. In 1976 that silence hit exactly the right note!
Pere Ubu were underground rock, and had a far reaching influence to groups who would be more widely recognised. "To define their music, Pere Ubu coined the term avant-garage.."
David Thomas always had a wry sense of humour. Here's "Final Solution"...

joey ramone

1.. 2.. 3.. 4.. Joey Ramone's birthday. Born 19th May 1951.
When The Ramones played the London Roundhouse in July 1976, Joey Ramone's shouted count-in to the song was to forecast a sea change in UK rock and from then on copied by countless punk bands up and down the country.
The Ramones stood in front of a stack of Marshall amps and created a wall of rock and quick fire songs the like of which hadn't been heard before in the capital. Anyone who had the news on these New York punks wanted in for this gig.
It was one of those seminal moments in the evolution of pop and rock that could only have been equaled by the Beatles playing the Cavern Club some 15 years earlier or Hendrix playing the Marquee in 1967.
This excellent short documentary has some rare footage of the event and stories from those that were there at the time. Notice as influential as The Ramones were it would be others who went on to reap the greater commercial financial rewards.
Though the rock and roll legend and quality still lay with The Ramones.

johnny thunders

Richard Hell... "Johnny Thunders is quintessential rock and roll. Rock and roll is life and death. No exit."

There wasn't. It had all gone wrong. Dead at 39. April 23 1991.

cbgb's

Sticker plastered, dark, sweaty, beer swilled, smoke filled, and that was just going down the stairs to CBGB's !
The club had started in 73 on New York's East Side and promised in it's title Country, Bluegrass and Blues, by 1977 it become the home of Punk. In it's 70's heyday it inspired the first punk club in the UK, The Roxy. Malcolm McLaren had nicked most of the CBGB bands visual ideas and fed the early Sex Pistols with the results.
The Ramones, Television, Patti Smith Group, Mink DeVille, The Voidoids, Cramps, Blondie, The Shirts, and Talking Heads all began their less than big break in the place. The breaks for these bands came later but CBGB's is where the reputation was earned. Some were good musicians and artists. Some just weren't. It didn't matter though, it was owned as much by the audience as it was by anyone. Freaks, misfits, dropouts, bums and rock and roll fans had made the club their own. In later years it mainly become known for just hardcore punk and metal.
CBGB's closed in October 2006 with the owner Hilly Kristal in a mountain of debt. He tried to move it to another location but died before he could open.
It seems only fitting then, that one day after the anniversary of Joey Ramone's death on April 15 2001, to show a film of the club in 1977 with The Ramones, resplendent against a backdrop of Marshall stacks.