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Re: but

66.65.59.174

Posted by J on March 11, 2003 at 12:36:44

In Reply to: Yes it can be an endgame- but posted by Ross on March 11, 2003 at 10:33:59:

Well, it's all about what punk is to the individual. In my definition of punk I have to take Jerry Lee Lewis into consideration, with Little Richard and others--but I also can't forget some of the rockabilly madmen that influenced the Cramps. The Misfits had nothing to do with attitude (in spite of their song with that title), but how anyone could not consider them a punk band is beyond me. I always try to remember that there was a 'punk' scene going on in NYC (as well as other places, though the name was most specifically applied here by Punk Magazine relatively early in the game) in 1975 that had nothing to do with the things you're describing. Nor did it have anything to do with the mohawks, safetypins through the cheeks, or Vivienne Westwood clothing that many associate with 'punk rock' through the media splash that it made in England in 1977. Also, Black Flag's early records talk about the things you're saying make a band punk, but just because Television's or Patti Smith's don't doesn't make them not punk. Besides, if punk is a question of having utter disregard for the establishment, then why did so many punk bands sign with major labels?

I myself wouldn't have brought 'Rumble' up because I find it difficult to state in musical terms exactly what it is that makes that record punk. It's more a question of production values & feel than anything musical, except for the fact that it has a sloppy-by-design style of playing (much like Johnny Thunders or perhaps the Replacements) that does kind of make it sound like Wray was going for a feel that suggested an attitude. Some say they don't hear it. You would have heard this song if you've seen the movie Pulp Fiction, though it didn't make the soundtrack. But it's the kind of tune that had a lot of people wondering, when they saw that movie, where they'd heard it before.

As for punk having complete & utter disregard for musical predecessors--you're defining the Who as punk, yet they did covers on their first album. The Ramones were big Doors & Beach Boys fans; John Lydon liked Hawkwind also; the Damned & Siouxsie & The Banshees did Beatles covers; Gen X did a Lennon cover; X did a Doors cover (their first album produced by Ray Manzarek); the Minutemen did a Van Halen cover; the Pistols did Jonathan Richman, Monkees (Boyce-Hart?), and Eddy Cochrane covers; the Dickies' cover versions are legendary. So, though the Clash did sing 'No Elvis, Beatles, or Rolling Stones,' I think most people took it as at least somewhat tongue-in-cheek, in spite of the stupidity of the lyric (no Zeppelin, Boston, or Emerson Lake & Palmer would've been more like it), especially since they weren't above doing covers themselves.

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