John Savage

Savage Jukebox
2009 PERSONS UNKNOWN ;-)

The Damned - New Rose Their debut, a sub-three minute torrent of pounding drums and fearsome guitar riffing with an intro that referenced The Shangri-La's kitsch via the New York Dolls pipped the Pistols to become British punk's inaugural release. This chaotic cacophony and its flip, a ludicrous reworking of The Beatles' Help, set the template with a rapid-fire tempo and rubbishing of music's sacred heritage respectively. Sex Pistols - Anarchy In The UK Despite the headlines, the Pistols' debut only hit Number 38. That illustrates the depth of resistance towards punk rock, an affront to virtually every accepted norm. However, aficionados whispered that Anarchy... was just not anarchic enough. Certainly, after the sledgehammer intro and Rotten's beautifully insane Carry On cackle, the verses sounded sluggish. The difference, though, was Rotten, whose voice - and face - did more than anything else to establish punk's pernicious purpose. Buzzcocks - Spiral Scratch EP The E.P.s title track, Boredom, a sardonic encapsulation of then-leader Howard Devoto's dissatisfaction Im living in this, uh, movie / But it doesn't move me" - was recorded under the watchful eye of producer Martin Hannett and Pete Shelley's dad. Costing just 500 to make, it became the U.K.'s first independent single, selling 16,000 copies. Devoto immediately left and formed Magazine. The remaining Buzzcocks became the undisputed masters of heart-on-sleeve melodious punk. The Clash - White Riot After witnessing 1976's Notting Hill carnival, where black and white youths took on racist police, Joe Strummer was awakened from his political slumbers and penned this glorious call to arms. A plea to disaffected whites to join together and fight the establishment - "white people go to school, where they teach you how to be thick," he bellows White Riot lost some of its blustery power when delivered via a US-owned major label. Dissenters cried "sell-out".

The Adverts - Quickstep Recorded at London's Pathway Studios in just one take, The Adverts' second single and follow-up to their brilliant debut outing, One Chord Wonders, pins TV Smith's wry, semi autobiographical lyric - "I knew my youth couldn't last forever / I knew some chords so I got the band together / Sick of sleeping and beating up my mother / Forget those luxuries, I've got myself another buzz" - to a thundering yet ramshackle glam rock backdrop. "Me cymbals fell off," mumbles sticksman Laurie Driver on the record's outro. Sex Pistols God Save The Queen If you had to reduce punk rock to one single, this would be it. Every second of God Save The Queen is graven in stone: its impossible to imagine it sounding any other way. Infuriated by the Bill Grundy scandal and the World War II retro of the Queen's Jubilee, everyone involved with the Sex Pistols concentrated on making this single count: from the video to the graphics to the timing of its release, everything was perfect. None of this would have mattered if the record hadn't showcased a great rock group at the height of its powers. From the opening, patented Sex Pistols fanfare - an accelerating guitar / drum figure through the ringing verses, right down to the closing terrace chant of "no future", God Save The Queen is a masterpiece of wildness and discipline, tension and release. This iconic confidence belies a troubled gestation. Written in autumn 1976, No Future, as it was first known, was first demo'd in January 1977. With crisp, full production from Chris Thomas and some judicious editing - bye bye "God save Windolene" - God Save The Queen was retitled as an alternative national anthem and selected as the group's first single under their new A&M contract. When they were sacked and all but a few pressed-up copies destroyed, the pressure was on to get the record out for the Jubilee celebrations in June 1977. Quickly signed to Virgin, the Sex Pistols faced a struggle to get heard at all. Banned by the BBC and the commercial media, God Save The Queen nevertheless sold enough to reach Number 1 in Jubilee Week and was only kept off the top by a piece of craven manipulation on the part of the British Phonographic Institute.

What were they all so worried about? Three minutes, 17 seconds of the toughest, most concise hard rock ever to be recorded, with no flab, not a note out of place. This was meant to hurt, and it did: every word by Lydon was a goldplated bullet shot right at the heart of the British Establishment. A scandalised international media zeroed in on the sarcastic insults directed at the Queen (even if "she's not a human being" was, and is, a reasonable comment) but ignored the deeper point: "it made you a moron". Here was the reality of 1977, direct from "the flowers in the dustbin": 'There is no future in England's dreaming." Backed up by the hundreds of thousands who rushed out to buy this one - yes, the only anti-Jubilee protest of any substance - the Sex Pistols opened up a gap in perception that radicalised a generation. By daring to tell the truth when their whole world was lying, these four Londoners became 20th century heroes. The Heartbreakers - Born To Lose With the break-up of the New York Dolls, guitarist Johnny Thunders and drummer Jerry Nolan recruited Television bassist Richard Hell and guitarist Walter Lure to form the first punk supergroup. Hell soon departed to found the Voidoids; meanwhile, the remaining trio plus Billy Rath released this grubby bar-room rock number that melds heroin chic with a gutsy swagger and death wish mentality. It set their manifesto but just a year later Thunders would go solo. The Saints - This Perfect Day Debut single - (I'm) Stranded - intuitively locked into punk's sense of dislocation, but it was born as much out of geographical isolation as any sense of social rebellion. This Perfect Day spat on the cars and beer culture of The Saints' bemulleted Brisbane home, yet managed to turn Chris Bailey's disgust into a universally recognisable rage. The band's ability to make guitars churn - second only to Buzzcocks - was still in evidence, but the song's keening harmonica set The Saints' musical bar far higher than their dunderhead peers.

Sex Pistols - Pretty Vacant Punk's studied boredom in musical form, Pretty Vacants dismissal of, well, everything didn't shock like Anarchy... or God Save The Queen. Its subversion was more subtle, Rotten's phrasing ("we're va-cant') allowing him to say the "c" word on radio. Whether intentional or not, it gave punk its first war cry and allowed the pogoing hoardes the chance to snigger conspiratorially when "sir" played it at the school disco. The Lurkers - Shadow Dubbed Uxbridge's answer to The Ramones the original fab four-piece - Arturo Bassick (bass), Howard Wall (vocals), Pete Stride (guitar), Manic Esso (drums) - fired just one perfect pop punk missive before their bassist upped and left. Shadow was a no-holds-barred, twisted-love-gone-bad narrative that showcased Wall's spectacularly deadpan finger wagging. The band continued with several new lineups but its here that their true punk legacy lies. The Clash - Complete Control While the group thrilled the UK's live circuit on the White Riot tour, CBS released the unauthorised single, Remote Control. Complete Control, the group's angry, potent retaliation was penned by Mick Jones. A trail blazing explosion of aggressive energy, it was aimed squarely in the direction of their label and manager Bernie Rhodes, who had demanded "complete control" of the group. Reggae figurehead Lee Perry produced, which further added to the band's credentials. Generation X - Your Generation London pop-art punks Generation X used their debut single as a statement of intent an answer to The Who's My Generation (sample lyric: "Your generation don't mean a thing to me"). Given the group's evident love of their '60s forefathers these sentiments may not have rung entirely true but did provide a first taste of Generation X's singalong pop-punk. The flipside was even better though: a three-minute big city tour guided by wide-eyed and amphetamised teenagers.

Buzzcocks - Orgasm Addict Orgasm Addict was the first of the Mancunian prime movers' string of classic punk-pop 45s. Like the others, it was founded on taut hyperactive arrangements, a clever chaos of phraseology and neat, sing-a-long choruses. Pete Shelley's fruity delivery adds a comic wink to lines such as "Sneaking in the back door with dirty magazines"; the sheer energy of his chatterbox style smuggled two references to fucking past the censors. Most overt masturbation song since Curved Air's Not Quite The Same. Wire - I Am The Fly Having set out their stall with the deliberate, ultra minimalist Pink Flag, Wire further blurred the line between punk and art rock with this startlingly original 45. As if a riposte to the rash of identikit punk then clogging up the racks, I Am The Fly took deadpan delivery and humdrum rhythms into a heady, almost psychedelic space. The result was unashamedly experimental, yet instantly unforgettable, thanks to the extraordinary, insect-mimicking guitar line to the simpleton chorus. The Normal - TVOD Inspired in equal parts by Neu! and The Ramones, Daniel Miller recorded his first and only single in early 1978, cresting the wave of homegrown punk / synthesizer productions by Throbbing Gristle and Cabaret Voltaire. The nominal B-side to the JG Ballard-derived Warm Leatherette, TVOD presents the nightmare future that has actually occurred. Apart from a rare one-sided 1979 live album, The Normal made no further records; instead, Miller went on to run Mute records.

Throbbing Gristle - United Savage messiahs of misanthropy put out pop 45? Strange, but true. More perverse still, Throbbing Gristle's 7" debut was a love song, albeit one that quoted 20th century occultist Aleister Crowley ("Love is the law"), and referenced the gas chambers on its cover. A deathly electro paean to obsession ("You become me / I become you"), United was trance-like and full of morbid charm, as if a barely comatose Syd Barrett had returned with a mission to become the English Kraftwerk. Cabaret Voltaire - First EP Like Throbbing Gristle and US sci-fi weirdos Chrome, CV's connection to punk was more timing and attitude than their actual sound. As this shows, while their contemporaries sped up pub-rock and struggled with two chords the trio of Stephen Mallinder, Richard H Kirk and Chris Watson used primitive electronic rhythms, tapes, synths and guitars to create a dark politicised noise, slow and menacing rather than fast and furious - a mutant take on The Velvet Underground's Here She Comes Now only piling on the strangeness. Jilted John - Jilted John Rivalling Belgian Plastic Bertrand in the "punk novelty" stakes, budding Mancunian actor (and future John Shuttleworth creator) Graham Fellows' Jilted John persona seemed omnipresent over the summer of '78, thanks to a Top 5 UK chart placing. Over a jerky, up-tempo rhythm, John's camp Northern brogue spat out this angst-ridden tale of doomed adolescent romance with darling Julie and the dastardly interloper who dared usurp her affections. Made one feel sorry for anyone named Gordon. X-Ray Spex Identity Despite the so-called intellectualisation of pop, it was only with the supposedly lowbrow punk that the form truly grappled with matters close to home. Identity is a key text, a desperate howl at the bittersweet desire for recognition and the perils of public life, set to the band's characteristic chug-a-lug. But it proved all too real for singer Poly Styrene, by this time a regular on Top Of The Pops. Shortly afterwards, she dramatically quit the business.

Siouxsie And The Banshees - Hong Kong Garden After two years in the punk wilderness, Siouxsie And The Banshees got the deal they wanted, then surprised everyone with this effervescent slice of pop exotica. More surprising still, the song-inspired by Siouxsie's local Chinese takeaway - rewarded the hitherto punk untouchables with a Top 10 hit. Their early iconoclasm wasn't far away, though: the flipside, the pop-defying Voices, was responsible for more than a few pub jukeboxes receiving a good kicking that summer. Metal Urbain - Hysterie Connective Outsiders within their native Paris, Metal Urbain nevertheless became the best-known French punk group, making and releasing records in the UK. Hysterie Connective is their third 45 for Andrew Lauder's Radar records, and showcases their innovative and still compelling fusion of synthesizers and buzz-saw guitar attack. The lyrics, as ever, are extremely sarcastic. Metal Urbain stopped operating in the late 70s, but have since re-formed twice. Subway Sect - Ambition Vic Godard and his band were seen as certain A-listers when their second single was released, but it would be the'80s before they were heard of again, by which time punk was dead. A swirling 1960s fairground organ is brutally stabbed throughout, Godard out-oiks Bowie on vocals, the drummer has a fit and twin guitars add muscular power chords. Think of it as a punk's mini-version of The Who's Won't Get Fooled Again. Gang Of Four - Damaged Goods The pleasure and guilt of sex was a thorny topic for punk, but on Damaged Goods Gang Of Four elevated it to the same level of evil as corporate greed and political corruption. The stabbing guitar and bouncing bass was the nearest the band came to pop music on their debut album, while uncompromising B-side Anthrax equated love to a disease first contracted by humans through carnal knowledge of sheep. Even when writing pop songs, GOF played for keeps.

Television Personalities - Part-Time Punks Hilarious attack on out-of-towners who "pogo in their bedroom... but only when their mum's gone out, wont buy The Prefects unless its on red vinyl and refuse to use toothpaste. We called them "plastics", but four fingers pointed back at us. Played with almost rudimentary ability, sung in a deadpan monotone with the worst harmonies ever, it deserves space on your shelf next to The Pooh Sticks' On Tape and Half Man Half Biscuit. Electric Eels Agitated The worst band out of the US's deadest cities, Cleveland's Eels were at the barricades in 75, alongside The Dead Boys and Rocket From The Tombs. Didn't like each other (still dont), didn't like you, couldn't play, didn't care ('bout nuthin'), looked like shit. Utterly brilliant, then, though it took me to convince Rough Trade to release this uncompromising howl of unarticulated boredom four years too late. The Undertones - Get Over You Having debuted with a perfect pop song, the Tones could hardly get any better, but nobody can say they didn't come close on a few occasions. With big-budget support from their label, the rough edges were sandpapered by people who would never understand the band's appeal. Still, somethings survived: Feargal's vibrato, the Ramonesey guitars, a chorus to die for and hooks a-plenty. If you're going to have a flop single, make it this good. Wire - A Question Of Degree As Radiohead are to Britpop, so Wire were to punk. On EMI's prog label, they morphed from punks to visionaries. Coming between their LPs Chairs Missing and its successor, 154, this 45 summed up their transformation: starting with a simple beat and rhythm, it then crams too many syllables into each line and moves through dreamy sequences with the hand of an experienced producer apparent. Your big brother in his afghan might like it.

2009 PERSONS UNKNOWN ;-) For more Punk E-books go to http://persons-unknown.blogspot.com