Re: a thought here and half a thought there and two thirds o

[danderso@xxxxxxxxxxx (David Anderson)]

The Pink Lady writes:

>Punk music couldn't draw you into it from a standpoint of being really 
>hypnotic or compelling. It was rigged to make you think you were being 
>cool because you thought you were being disgustingly outrageous. You 
>didn't have to care what anybody thought, when the real issue was how 
>many safety pins could you poke through your clothes - and your nose - 
>and your lips and my black combat boots with one black sock and one red 
>sock with the holes in them are nastier than yours, etc. I don't care 
>anymore, I'll just be different...

This could have easily been said about Zep in '69:  "Their hair's too long, 
the singer is abrasive and shrill, the guitar player LOOKS like a girl (a 
girl with thick sideburns), their music seems to be HEAVY for the sake of 
being heavy.  The only distinctive thing about their act is that they're 
louder than everyone else."  In fact, many of Zep's bad early reviews were 
just variations on some of those statements.  The Pistols, The Damned and 
The Clash were outrageous in '77, Zeppelin was outrageous in '69.  I think 
they looked and sounded cooler than anything, but not everyone felt that 
way.  

When the politics and the clothes fade away, what's left is the work, and 
while Punk may not have made it over here, it was necessary.  It produced 
at least one very good band, The Clash, and without it, we probably 
wouldn't have "classic rock" bands like The Police and U2.  Though I don't 
think he was influenced directly by Punk, Elvis Costello certainly 
benefitted from the anti-establishment climate, and many of his songs are 
"classics" today too.

- --Dave