| Archived Music - Birth Of Punk I like mp3s. I like them a lot. (If you're in the FBI or RCMP or whatever, yes, I own all the CDs, the mp3s are just convenient). I have far too many for my meager hard drive to hold. This has led me to start archiving my mp3s on CD-R, not only so I can free hard drive space, but for ease of transport, backups in case of catastrophe and organizational purposes. No longer do I have 7000 mp3s in one huge directory, sorted alphebetically, I can now organize them into nice chunks of 300-500 minutes of music, hopefully grouped into nice thematic collections.
Anyways, my latest archival compilation's theme is 'Birth of Punk'. I'm usually pretty good at hitting all the important singles and artists in a genre, but since I wasn't actually alive for most of the first wave of punk, and I definitely wasn't alive for the proto-punk of the late 60s and early to mid 70s, I'm a little worried I'll miss some major contribution to the punk world. I'm asking for some help, so please, point out anything I've overlooked.
The rules for this compilation are basically as follows:
1. The song either has to be a clear forerunner of modern punk (like Television, The Stooges, The Velvet Underground, The New York Dolls and MC5), a first wave punk band (like The Damned, The Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Ramones), or one of the really early post punk/goth/new wave bands that sprung up immediately following punk (like Siouxsie, Public Image Ltd, Talking Heads, Joy Division and Wire). If it came out after 1980, it's too old. Also, I'm not a fan of hardcore at all, so don't suggest Bad Religion or The Misfits.
2. Any group I really like will inevitably get a comp all it's own, or a split comp with some other band, collecting just about everything they ever recorded. I'm not interested in depth with this comp, just breadth. I just want the best 1-3 singles from each group.
3. Mostly these get played as background music to something, so the singles should have maximum impact. I love Joy Division's 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' but it's just not as catchy as 'Disorder'.
Here's what I've got so far (if there's just an artist listed, I'm still deciding between singles, feel free to offer your opinions on what you think is best): The Velvet Underground | Run Run Run Modern Lovers | I'm Straight MC5 The Stooges Television | Friction New York Dolls The Ramones | Judy Is A Punk The Ramones | The KKK Took My Baby Away The Damned | New Rose The Damned | Love Song The Sex Pistols | God Save The Queen The Sex Pistols | Anarchy In The UK Stiff Little Fingers | Suspect Device The Stranglers | No More Heroes Public Image Ltd | Public Image Ltd The Vibrators | Wrecked On You The Dead Boys | Sonic Reducer The Clash | Clampdown The Clash | London Calling The Clash | White Riot The Adverts | Bored Teenagers The Fall | Rebellious Jukebox The Fall | Totally Wired Wire | Mannequin Wire | 1 2 X U Joy Division | Disorder Protex | Don't Ring Me Up X Ray Spex | Oh Bondage X Ray Spex | Identity Dead Kennedys | California Uber Alles Dead Kennedys | Kill The Poor Minutemen | Song For El Salvador The Birthday Party | Mr Clarinet The Birthday Party | Nick the Stripper The Buzzcocks | What Do I Get? The Buzzcocks | Everybody's Happy Nowadays The Buzzcocks | Why Can't I Touch It? The Jam | I've Changed My Address The Jam | Down in the Tube Station at Midnight The Rezillos | Top Of The Pops Generation X | Your Generation The Mekons | Where Were You? Siouxsie & The Banshees | Clockface Sham 69 | I Don't Wanna Talking Heads | Psycho Killer The Voidoids | Love Comes In Spurts Liliput | Outburst The Slits | Instant Hit The Slits | So Tough The Raincoats | Lola The Raincoats | Fairy Tale In The Supermarket Gang Of Four | I Found That Essence Rare Suicide | All Night Long Magazine | Shot By Both Sides Mission To Burma | That's How I Escaped My Certain Fate
I probably need another 30 or so singles to fill out the compilation, but I'm hesitant to start thinking about more mediocre stuff before I exhaust genuine early punk. If I have to, I'll mine the west coast hardcore scene and more new wave, but I'd prefer more New York/British punk. |