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Julian Cope presents Head Heritage

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Dog 3000
Dog 3000
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Re: Don't be afraid to be made fun of moog-in-cape man!
Jan 01, 2009, 01:15
But Rotten had to struggle to get his ideas heard in the Sex Pistols -- Malcolm wanted titilating songs about bondage, while Steve & Paul just wanted to be the Heartbreakers or the Ramones. I would argue it wasn't til Johnny got into the more "progressive" PIL that his music became "extraordinary."

(In a lot of ways Sex Pistols career almost seems based on the Monkees anyway: Svengali gets together 4 "charismatic" young lads, creates an image for them, and works the media to produce instant fame. Band breaks up when one of them gets "serious about being an artist" instead of continuing to act like a cartoon character according to the original plan. Face it, the Pistols were always more about the marketing than the music.)

The Damned were great, but kind of retro (60's and Stooges covers from the get-go.) A classic punk band in that they were a throwback to 60's garage rock, which is not progressive it's reactionary! "They did it better back during the golden age."

The Clash did Sandinista! . . . why, that's almost a prog-punk album. Longer than Tales From Topographic Oceans! They are sort of the exception that proves the rule (and so it's no wonder they're probably the most popular and influential of their peers 30 years later -- unlike most of those UK punk bands, they were "progressive".)

Punks (the popular class of '77 bands in particular) generally did not push the envelope MUSICALLY -- whatever "cultural" impact that movement had (hairstyles, clothing, making it cool to start your own band, etc.) is sort of beside the point, at least to me. In a lot of ways I think the concurrent DISCO trend was much more important! (Popularizing beat-driven and DJ/producer music, which leads to hiphop and house and rave and all that . . . what did punk lead to, MTV? Hair metal?)

And yes there are a zillion more exceptions -- Lydia Lunch, Wire, Black Flag, Chrome, etc. -- even in a scene that strives for extraordinary-ness (or it's opposite), there are always some who are going to be more extraordinary than others. ;-)

Anyway, happy new year all!!
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Re: Don't be afraid to be made fun of moog-in-cape man! (machineryelf)		 Replies:
Re: Don't be afraid to be made fun of moog-in-cape man! (keith a)
Re: Don't be afraid to be made fun of moog-in-cape man! (machineryelf)
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