Yeah, Punk Did Happen
Wanna Destroy Passerby
So where did Punk Rock originate? The Ramones and John Lydon will tell very different stories. Lydon will say the UK, The Ramones or whats left of them will say New York.
For definite, New York developed the origins of Punk Rock — venues like CBGB’s and Max’s Kansas City hosted the early anti establishment bands such as Patti Smith, Blondie, The Ramones etc. They were bands with “three chords and little hope of success”. But The New York Dolls were an earlier blueprint for Punk, as were The Stooges led by one Iggy Pop who emerged as early as 1967 in Detroit. Iggy even had a song called “Search and Destroy” in 1973.
Passion 4 Fashion
Malcolm McLaren, the fashion shop owner cum Band manager dallied with shambolic The New York Dolls in NY in the early 70s. He took on the role of manager, but according to Lydon and the Dolls themselves did nothing of note with them except dress them in red leather, a vaguely Communist stance. McLaren says there was nothing like the New York Dolls in London in ’73. He declared in an article in The Guardian that glam rockers The Sweet were ugly men dressed in glitter, unlike the beautiful Dolls. He didnt notice David Bowie, seemingly or Marc Bolan or Roxy Music, then?
Which is where Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) weighs in. Only recently he mentioned that The Sweet with Ballroom Blitz (and strangely Mud with Tiger Feet) were major influences on him. — I’d add listen to a song called “Teenage Rampage” by The Sweet, which is nothing if not a prophecy of Punk.
Sidney or John Simon Ritchie or John Beverly
Sid Vicious was a major Bowie acolyte. In his book “Anger is an Energy” Lydon says that “The so-called Bromley Contingent (Siouxsie Sioux et al) were really made for the Sex Pistols. They came out of liking Bowie and Roxy Music which was very much about dressing up.” Sid lived to dress up. To me he always had a look of Frankenstein’s monster. But it seems having the look went a long way, because he got into The Sex Pistols with zero talent. He did have a nice face tho.
Richard Hell
Meanwhile in New York, Richard Hell claims to be the first to tear up clothes, put them back together with safety pins. Which leads on to DIY Fashion.
DIY Fashion
The kids were ready for a change in London in the mid seventies. In Dublin we heard these punks in England they wear safety pins in their mouths and old fella baggy trousers and dog collars and the girls have short hair and wear narrow ties. Straight jeans (hello the fifties) were back with an unbelievable vengeance. One girl in school bought a pair of straight PINK cords in London. Absolutely beautiful. She wore them to a mid summer meeting in school. Some of us girls cut our hair short, then some like me let it grow and then lopped it off — Chrissie Hynde style.
Svengali Emerges
McLaren, somewhat of a genius, while it is acknowledged known to be slack in the action department had put together The Sex Pistols, the group that started the ball exploding…did you know how many bands The Pistols inspired in the following years? Everyone, except maybe Wham!
My argument about the depth and profoundness of Punk which came from the UK is that The Sex Pistols (that is Rotten) had better targets - the Queen, the Seventies recession, Dodgy managers, dodgy record companies, dodgy holidays, dodgy office types — probably the bloody weather didnt help either, than the NY cohorts. Rotten and Vicious made quite a pair too, didnt they? Now everyone knows though that Punk is not the Mohican/leather jacket brigade that came later after Sid’s passing…
Other Punky Asides
- The Trashmen’s “Surfin’ Bird” could be the beginning of punk (1963)
- At The Sex Pistols last gig, the last song was Iggy Pop’s “No Fun” at the Winterland, San Francisco in 1978.
- Neil Young wrote Hey, Hey, My, My about Sid Vicious, but got him and Rotten mixed up. (According to Rotten)
- Debbie Harry is the punk Queen.
- The author (me) once got a kiss off John Lydon.
- Additional info from Damian David Collins.
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