[PREV - MUSEODD] [TOP]
FIRST_PUNKS
July 12, 2004
December 19, 2003
Of all the places to begin, January, 2001
let's begin with "Horses": November 26, 2005
Patti Smith's first album was
released in 1975. I was
listening to this a lot
when I was a teenager.
And within a few years I was
reading articles about Punk in
the Village Voice, and listening
to "The Good City Rock Show" on
WBAI...
And it was *obvious* to me that Around 1990 I would
Patti Smith had done this: she'd try to tell the neo-punks
kicked the door open to what that Patti Smith was first,
really was a "new wave" of stripped and they'd play her records
down, high-energy and lyrically and wonder what was wrong
strong music. with me. Hey man, this
doesn't sound like the
Then I was caging records where I Dead Kennedys. It doesn't
could: the Ramones, Talking Heads, even sound like the Ramones.
Blondie, the Sex Pistols... but if
you asked me, the best of this first NEOPUNK
wave was clearly "Richard Hell and
the Voidoids".
Much much later -- when doing
research for wikipedia articles -- (January 2001)
it dawned on me that it was more
complicated than this. The Trouser Press guide
has an oddly dismissive
Patti Smith was a poet that article on Patti Smith,
decided to form her band only calling her "too
after seeing Television perform idiosyncratic to have
at CBGBs. been influential".
And in those days, Television Except that she
(originally "The Neon Boys") influenced everyone
was fronted by *both* Tom else to become more
Verlaine... and Richard Hell. idiosyncratic.
In any case: Patti Smith
The man I thought had was already well-known in
followed Patti Smith Though the NY scene as a poet,
got there ahead of her... it could and her attention to
be it's the punk scene clearly
even helped put it over, helped
more to validate it.
And there are other complicated:
contenders for "first Patti's She published the first
punk": "poetry" review of Television at
was awfully CBGBs, in the Soho
Someone I know who rock n' roll, Weekly News.
was kicking around with Lenny
in New York at the Kaye on And scoring a
time, (if not doing guitar... major label
a lot of concert record contract
going) picks "The is not to be
New York Dolls". PLEASE_KILL_ME sneered at...
At a time when no (Or at least it
original music was wasn't, back then.)
breaking through on the
radio, The Dolls were VINYL_PUNKS
clawing their way up
playing street fairs Certainly they
and such. Punks before became a staple
there were punk rock of "The Good (Hm: "street fairs"?
bars. City Rock Show". All published accounts
talk about a regular
And glam before gig at the "Mercer
there was glam Arts Center".)
rock...
There's also the Ramones,
or maybe Iggy Pop, who
were both doing what they One thing that's clear:
did pretty early...
The Sex Pistols were not
And the gaze of history a the first, and punk did
century hence will find the *not* originate in
gap of a few years between England, however much
"The Velvet Underground" and credit they deserve for
"Television" rather small. picking up on it as fast
as they did... and for
doing what they did with it.
PISTOL_WHIPPED
--------
[NEXT - MISSING_THE_SUN]