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1,335 articles

MC5: An Interview with Rob Tyner

Interview by John Sinclair, The Warren-Forest Sun, May 1967

The following interview with ROBIN TYNER, the lead singer of the MC5, the major Detroit avant-rock band, was recorded by JOHN SINCLAIR in the first ...

The Stooges: The Stooges (Elektra)

Review by Lenny Kaye, Fusion, 19 September 1969

I WAS ONCE thinking of doing a piece on Blue Cheer where I wanted to show, through all sorts of diagrams and convoluted logic, that ...

The Stooges: The Very New "Iggy" Approach To Rock Music

Interview by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 21 September 1969

"On Saturday, Iggy appeared onstage wearing only sneakers and dungarees cut down to shorts. Iggy, who was a high school valedictorian back home, seeks to ...

The Velvet Underground c/o New York, NY

Report and Interview by Robert Greenfield, Fusion, 6 March 1970

NONE OF THIS concerns anything except maybe the back room at Max's Kansas City, which is on Union Square in Manhattan but not worth finding ...

Iggy Pop, The Stooges: Night of the Iggy

Report and Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 12 February 1972

WHO IS IT who smashes a microphone in his teeth, tears flesh from his bare chest, leaps into the audience busting bones in all directions, ...

Iggy Pop, The Stooges: Iggy & The Stooges: Kingsound (King's Cross Cinema), London

Live Review by Rosalind Russell, Disc, 22 July 1972

IGGY AND the Stooges made their first performance in over a year on Saturday night, Sunday morning. Despite the event happening in the dead of ...

Iggy Pop, The Stooges: An Initiation Into Iggy Pop

Profile by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 29 July 1972

For those who think Bowie a trifle lame... ...

Iggy Pop, The Stooges: Iggy and the Stooges: Raw Power (Columbia KC 32111).

Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 3 June 1973

The Genuine Depravity of Iggy ...

Mike Oldfield, The Stooges: Mike Oldfield: Tubular Bells; Iggy And The Stooges: Raw Power

Review by Simon Frith, Let It Rock, August 1973

SOME RECORDS GET so much critical attention that I can’t listen to them blind, can’t ignore other opinions. So, according to John Peel Tubular Bells ...

Another Pretty Face, The Brats, Wayne County & The Electric Chairs, The Fast, The Harlots of 42nd St., The Miamis, The Stilettos, Teenage Lust & the Lustettes, Television: New York City Rock: Tacky!

Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 6 July 1974

— that's how the Americans describe those freaky New York bands like Wayne County and Teenage Lust. Chris Charlesworth, guided by photographer Bob Gruen, takes ...

13th Floor Elevators, The Chocolate Watch Band, The Sonics, The Standells: The Shakin’ Street Punk Survey

Overview by uncredited writer, Shakin' Street Gazette, 7 November 1974

THIS IS YOUR BIG CHANCE! Yes, it’s all coming back. Following the rock & roll revival, the surf music revival, and the reggae revival, the ...

The Stooges: Iggy And The Stooges: Metallic K.O. (Skydog) ****

Review by Giovanni Dadomo, Sounds, 18 September 1975

Crass, conceited, vulgar and unpleasant. Also quite unique.  ...

Blondie, David Johansen, The Ramones, The Shirts, Talking Heads, Television, Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers, Tuff Darts: New York: The Sound Of '75

Report by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 8 November 1975

"BEAT ON the brat, beat on the brat, beat on the brat with a baseball bat..." ...

Patti Smith: La belle dame sans merci: Patti Smith: Horses (Arista Import) *****

Review by Jonh Ingham, Sounds, 20 November 1975

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I give you the record of the year. Or the record of 1976, since it won't be released here until January.  ...

Patti Smith: Art for Art's Sake

Profile by Gary Kenton, Phonograph Record, December 1975

I WAS ON the telephone to one of New York's successful management firms last week and, like all successful New York firms, they put me ...

Patti Smith: Somewhere, Over the Rimbaud

Profile and Interview by Susin Shapiro, Crawdaddy!, December 1975

NEW YORK – IT'S 8:30 a.m. on a fog-soup Friday, an indecent hour to be conducting an interview, much less making a record. ...

The 101'ers, The Clash, Sex Pistols: The 101'ers — 1976

Special Feature by Ira Robbins, Peter Silverton, unpublished, 1976

September 21, 2021 introduction by Ira Robbins  (www.trouserpress.com) ...

The Ramones

Interview by Mary Harron, Punk, January 1976

RIGHT NOW I am sitting by the stage where Joey Ramone has wrapped his tall languorous body and his long long hands around the microphone ...

Bob Dylan, Bob Marley & the Wailers, Bruce Springsteen: Is Rock 'N' Roll Ready For 1976?

Comment by Mick Farren, New Musical Express, 3 January 1976

What has all this to do with all this? Does anyone care? MICK FARREN'S IS THE VOICE FROM THE GALLERY ...

The Ramones, Talking Heads, Television: Punk Rock: Its Day Will Come

Report by Wayne Robins, Newsday, 25 January 1976

IF YOU thought Jefferson Airplane was a weird name, let some of these drop off your tongue. Talking Heads. Tuff Darts. Ramones. Planets. Heartbreakers. Shirts. ...

The Ramones

Essay by Alan Betrock, New York Rocker, February 1976

WHEN I THINK back a few years, I'm really amazed at how well certain records sold. I'm talking about basic rock 'n' roll records, or ...

Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers, Patti Smith, The Ramones, Richard Hell, Television: New York: Plug in to the Nerve-ends of the Naked City

Report by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 27 March 1976

In downtown Manhattan the rock 'n' roll war rages on as potential crown princes of Punkdom battle for recognition.. NICK KENT interprets the action ...

Sex Pistols: El Paradise Club, London

Live Review by Jonh Ingham, Sounds, 10 April 1976

SOHO'S EL Paradise Club is to become a Sunday residency for the Sex Pistols and London is all the better off for it. It's about ...

Sex Pistols: The Sex Pistols are four months old...

Report and Interview by Jonh Ingham, Sounds, 24 April 1976

THE SEX PISTOLS are four months old, so tuned in to the present that it's hard to find a place to play. Yet they already ...

Suicide

Interview by Lisa Jane Persky, New York Rocker, May 1976

Suicide Note: "The thought of suicide is a great consolation; with the help of it, one has got through many a bad night."– F. Nietzsche ...

Sex Pistols: Terrorise Your Fans The Pistol Way

Readers' Letters by Neil Tennant, uncredited writer, New Musical Express, 8 May 1976

GOSH, BLIMEY, what's going on ere? Relax, it's just a friendly Friday night down at the local — the Nashville, Kensington to be precise — ...

Patti Smith Group: The Roundhouse, London

Live Review by Giovanni Dadomo, Sounds, 22 May 1976

Energy is back in fashion ...

Patti Smith: At Last, The Lower Manhattan Show

Report and Interview by Miles, New Musical Express, 22 May 1976

Patti Smith at the Roundhouse, facing fans, friends, fungoids and straightforward weirdos – Britain's first live chance of checking out the 'legend'. MILES went as ...

Patti Smith, The Stranglers: Patti Smith: The Roundhouse, London

Live Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 22 May 1976

Patti Smith: poet cornered ...

The Sex Pistols: 100 Club, London

Live Review by Greg Shaw, Phonograph Record, June 1976

LONDON, THE TREND centre of last decade’s mod rebellion, has been running a poor second, if not third, this time around. ...

The Sex Pistols: Sex Pistols: 100 Club, London

Live Review by Jonh Ingham, Sounds, 5 June 1976

BUT FIRST a few words about support group Dogwatch. At first they sounded exactly like It's A Beautiful Day circa 1968, but this rapidly gave ...

The Titanic Sails at Dawn

Essay by Mick Farren, New Musical Express, 19 June 1976

AS YOU CAN all quite well-imagine, the letters that get themselves printed in Gasbag (or Dogbag or Ratbag or Scumbag or whatever jiveass name we've ...

The Ramones: Grins and Groans with the Ramones

Profile and Interview by Susin Shapiro, Sounds, 26 June 1976

Everyone in New York has got the Ramones bug. Some people like the punks, others hate them but they sure don't ignore them. Nor will ...

The Ramones: Ramones (Sire Import)

Review by Kris Needs, ZigZag, July 1976

PHEW, WHAT A scorcher! From the opening call to action of 'Blitzkrieg Bop' to the last strung-out powerchord of 'Today Your Love, Tomorrow The World', ...

The Ramones: Why the Ramones Are Great (I Think)

Comment by Paul Nelson, Circus, 6 July 1976

RAMONES (SIRE) may or may not be the best album so far this year, but its fate — good or bad — is going to ...

The Flamin' Groovies, The Ramones: One Chew Tree Faw!! The Ramones/Flamin' Groovies: Roundhouse, London

Live Review by Giovanni Dadomo, Sounds, 10 July 1976

Whadya want, good diction or good music? Giovanni Dadomo sees da Ramones an' da Groovies an' gets some good an' some bad a' both. ...

The Flamin' Groovies, The Ramones, The Stranglers: Flamin' Groovies/The Ramones/The Stranglers: Roundhouse, London

Live Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 10 July 1976

MAYBE IT WAS no accident that the hottest, steamiest, dirtiest night of the year was reserved for July 4. It's not every day that we ...

The Ramones: Ramones (Sire SASD-7520)

Review by Paul Nelson, Rolling Stone, 29 July 1976

IF TODAY'S Rolling Stone were the Cahiers du Cinema of the late Fifties, a band of outsiders as deliberately crude and basic as the Ramones ...

Buzzcocks, Sex Pistols: Sex Pistols/Buzzcocks/Slaughter and the Dogs: Lesser Free Trade Hall, Manchester

Live Review by Jonh Ingham, Sounds, 31 July 1976

ABOVE MANCHESTER'S Free Trade Hall is a little known auditorium, capable of holding some 400, cunningly named the Lesser Hall. Until the Sex Pistols discovered ...

The Sex Pistols: Punk Rock: Rebels Against the System

Report and Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 7 August 1976

JOHNNY ROTTEN looks bored. The emphasis is on the word "looks" rather than, as Johnny would have you believe, the word "bored". His clothes, held ...

The Clash: Rehearsal Rehearsals, Chalk Farm, London

Live Review by Giovanni Dadomo, Sounds, 21 August 1976

The first band to come along who'll really frighten the Sex Pistols ...

The Ramones: Are the Ramones, or Is the Ramone?

Interview by Lisa Jane Persky, New York Rocker, September 1976

PUNK IS A word described in many dictionaries as that which is used to light fireworks; and in this case it is. Eager to pin ...

Television: Symbolist Coffee Break: A Dream Date With T.V.

Interview by Wesley Strick, Gig, September 1976

IF IT CAN boast nothing more, Television bears the distinction of being Manhattan's most written-up, unrecorded band. Given the availability of press hype, you don't ...

The Count Bishops, The Damned, The Gorillas, Little Bob Story, Nick Lowe, The Pink Fairies, Roogalator, Shakin' Street, Tyla Gang: Salut les Punks

Report by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 4 September 1976

Special report from the first European Punk Rock Festival in the South of France by CAROLINE COON ...

Buzzcocks, The Clash, Sex Pistols: Sex Pistols, Clash, Buzzcocks: Screen on the Green, Islington, London

Live Review by Giovanni Dadomo, Sounds, 11 September 1976

A STRANGE affair, this. And then some. ...

The Clash, The Kursaal Flyers: The Kursaal Flyers/Crazy Cavan/Clash: Roundhouse, London

Live Review by Chas de Whalley, Sounds, 11 September 1976

JOE STRUMMER'S Clash — the best new band of the year? Well, some would claim as much. At least you can guarantee that any band ...

Buzzcocks, The Clash, Sex Pistols: The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Buzzcocks: Screen On The Green, Islington, London

Live Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 11 September 1976

Our Islington correspondent mingles with the Sex Pistols' portable audience looking for Johnny Rotten's toof. It's incisive stuff… ...

The Sex Pistols: Club De Chalet Du Lac, Paris

Live Review by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 11 September 1976

PARIS: The Sex Pistols believed the myth that it all happens in Paris. The fans who drove over specially to see the band's first appearance ...

The Ramones: Short Hairs: Ramones

Profile and Interview by Wesley Strick, Blast, October 1976

IF THE BAY City Rollers were weaned on Manhattan Clam Chowder instead of Scotch Broth, they'd be the Ramones. Oh, yeah? ...

The Ramones

Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, October 1976

Kris Needs, a rather weird creature whose brain has the capacity to appreciate talents as diverse as those of Tom Rapp and the Runaways, decides ...

Buzzcocks, The Clash, The Damned, Sex Pistols, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Chris Spedding, Stinky Toys, The Subway Sect, The Vibrators: Parade Of The Punks

Report by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 2 October 1976

THE 600-STRONG line, which last Monday straggled across two blocks outside London's 100 Club in Oxford Street, waiting for the Punk Rock Festival to start, ...

Buzzcocks, Eater: The Buzzcocks, Eater: Holdsworth Hall, Manchester

Live Review by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 2 October 1976

YOU CAN count on Manchester to be 48 months behind apparent national trends. Like, reggae is largely frowned upon: crunching hard rock bands employing predictable ...

The Clash, The Damned, The Sex Pistols: The Sex Pistols, The Clash et al: Punk Rock Festival, 100 Club, London

Live Review by Giovanni Dadomo, Sounds, 2 October 1976

High dummy count flunks punks ...

Sex Pistols: The Sex Pistols: The 100 Club, London

Live Review by Ed Jones, New Society, 7 October 1976

A STEAM ENGINE IN LABOUR ...

The Sex Pistols, Siouxsie & The Banshees: The (?) Rock Special (#2): The Audience

Report and Interview by Jonh Ingham, Sounds, 9 October 1976

"I didn't even know the Summer of Love was happening. I was too busy playing with my Action Man."— Sid Vicious ...

The Sex Pistols: The (?) Rock Special (#3): Sex Pistols

Report and Interview by Jonh Ingham, Sounds, 9 October 1976

John Rotten (vocals), Steve Jones (guitar), Glen Matlock (bass), Paul Cook (drums). ...

The (?) Rock Special (#4): Mark P

Profile and Interview by Jonh Ingham, Sounds, 9 October 1976

"I may be sounding dramatic but I wanna go out and hear the sounds that I like every night, I wanna have to choose what ...

Buzzcocks, The Clash, The Damned, Eater, Eddie & The Hot Rods, The Subway Sect, The Vibrators: The (?) Rock Special (#5): Other Bands

Profile by Jonh Ingham, Sounds, 9 October 1976

"I don't understand why people think it's so difficult to learn to play the guitar. I found it incredibly easy. You just pick a chord ...

The Clash, The Damned, The Sex Pistols: Welcome To The (?) Rock Special (#1): In Love With The Modern World

Overview by Jonh Ingham, Sounds, 9 October 1976

Johnny Rotten, the Clash, the Damned and a committed cast of hundreds of new music makers give the finger to the old farts ...

The Clash: Institute of Contemporary Arts, London

Live Review by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 30 October 1976

THE ICA, that home of lively experiment in London's Mall, is fast becoming the badly needed workshop-cum-watering hole for the growing number of jolly ravers ...

The Stranglers: I've heard we're a second-hand British Doors ten years on... Or was it the Velvet Underground?

Profile by Giovanni Dadomo, Sounds, 30 October 1976

Whatever, Giovanni Dadomo should know. He's been keeping "tabs" on these "psychedelic" Stranglers and he's hip to their "trip" ...

The Dictators, The Ramones, Television: The Punk Rock Machine

Report and Interview by Lester Bangs, Screw, November 1976

IT'S A WARM New York night in the spring of 1976, and there are a lot of places that the press moguls who publish, edit, ...

The Stranglers

Profile and Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, November 1976

AMONG THE hordes of bands currently playing London's pub and club circuit, the Stranglers are leading contenders to break out and hit unsuspecting mass audiences ...

Patti Smith: The Field Marshall on Portobello Road

Interview by Vivien Goldman, Sounds, 6 November 1976

"THIS ALBUM is I think much more feminine than the first album...the rhythm, it's more like ocean. The cuts that I love the best are ...

The Clash, Roogalator, The Vibrators: Roogalator/The Clash: Fulham Town Hall, London; The Vibrators: Nashville, London

Live Review by Giovanni Dadomo, Sounds, 6 November 1976

THIS ONE takes place in Fulham Town Hall and a glance tells you whoever designed this place had his sights firmly set on Cummerbund City. ...

The Clash, Suburban Studs: Barbarella's, Birmingham

Live Review by Jonh Ingham, Sounds, 13 November 1976

WEDNESDAY HAD been booked as Punk Night at Barbarellas, an excuse, if nothing else, for the club deejay to fall in love with the sound ...

The Clash: Barbarellas, Birmingham

Live Review by Jonh Ingham, Sounds, 13 November 1976

WEDNESDAY HAD been booked as Punk Night at Barbarellas, an excuse, if nothing else, for the club deejay to fall in love with the sound ...

The Clash: Down And Out And Proud

Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 13 November 1976

THREE WEEKS AGO at London's ICA, Jane and Shane, regulars on the new-wave punk rock scene, were sprawled at the edge of the stage. Blood ...

Buzzcocks: Band on the Wall, Electric Circus, Manchester

Live Review by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 27 November 1976

MANCHESTER MADMEN ...

Malcolm McLaren, New York Dolls, The Sex Pistols: Malcolm McLaren: Meet The Colonel Tom Parker of the Blank Generation

Profile and Interview by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 27 November 1976

MEET MALCOLM McLAREN. He runs a shop called "SEX". He manages a group called THE SEX PISTOLS. He sincerely believes that he and his band ...

The Clash, Sex Pistols, Throbbing Gristle, The Vibrators: Punk and the Sex Pistols

Essay by Ed Jones, The Spectator, 27 November 1976

BEWARE! WHEN Britain's biggest record company, EMI, and the Institute of Contemporary Arts, the citadel of the self-regarding avant-garde, unite behind a single idea within ...

The Sex Pistols: Sex Pistols: Rotten To The Core

Interview by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 27 November 1976

"I had absolutely no interest in singing. I was more interested in being obnoxious." ...

The Clash: Nag's Head, High Wycombe

Live Review by Kris Needs, Sounds, 27 November 1976

THE CLASH gave the provincial nightmare of High Wycombe an electric shock it won't soon forget last Thursday night. ...

The Damned: In The Pub Across The Road With The Damned

Interview by Giovanni Dadomo, Sounds, 27 November 1976

1. Point Of Information This isn't, as one might have been lead to expect from the blurb in last week's paper, an 'In The Road' ...

Cherry Vanilla, Mink DeVille, Pere Ubu, The Shirts, Suicide, Tuff Darts, Wayne County & The Electric Chairs: Various Artists: Live At CBGB's/Max's Kansas City 1976

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 27 November 1976

YOU KNOW what these albums remind me of: The This Is Mersey Beat collections that Oriole put out after the first wave of Liverpool bands had gotten ...

The Clash, Tapper Zukie: London/The Clash

Profile and Interview by Kris Needs, New York Rocker, December 1976

"WE'RE ONE up the arse for the rich, established groups... There's so many useless bands around it's not even worth naming any." ...

The Clash, The Damned, The Sex Pistols, Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers: Sex Pistols, Damned, Clash, Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers: Leeds Polytechnic

Live Review by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 11 December 1976

Punk! On stage! ...

The Slits: Slits

Interview by Vivien Goldman, Sounds, 11 December 1976

Palmolive, drums; Kate Korus, rhythm guitar; Suzi Gutsy, bass; Arianna Forster, lead vocals ...

The Clash: Eighteen Flight Rock...

Interview by Miles, New Musical Express, 11 December 1976

...AND THE SOUND OF THE WESTWAY ...

Sex Pistols: The Sex Pistols: Great Moments In Rock Part 4336 — It's Those F***ing Punks Again!

Report by Giovanni Dadomo, Sounds, 11 December 1976

Thousands outraged by four-letter words ...

Sex Pistols: The Sex Pistols: Johnny knows he's not mad. Can you say that?

Interview by Barry Cain, Record Mirror, 11 December 1976

Barry Cain talks to the band everyone's talking about, the Sex Pistols ...

Generation X: Central London College of Art and Design

Live Review by Peter Silverton, Sounds, 18 December 1976

WITH SIOUXSIE and the Banshees not playing because "they couldn't get it together" and the remaining support act, Eater, being a band that I wouldn't ...

Buzzcocks, The Clash, Sex Pistols, Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers: Pistols, Clash etc.: What Did You Do On The Punk Tour, Daddy?

Live Review by Peter Silverton, Sounds, 18 December 1976

The Sex Pistols/The Clash/The Heartbreakers /The Buzzcocks: Electric Circus, Manchester ...

The Sex Pistols: U.K. Sex Pistols Fire a Controversy

Report by Peter Jones, Billboard, 18 December 1976

LONDON — A live televised shouting match between interviewer Bill Grundy and the EMI punk rock band, Sex Pistols, in which four-letter words flew fast ...

The Clash, Sex Pistols, Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers: Sex Pistols, The Clash, Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers: Electric Circus, Manchester

Live Review by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 25 December 1976

THREE DANCE bands playing the Electric Circus for the second time in ten days. They're back because the Circus is one of the very few ...

The Sex Pistols: 1976

Book Excerpt by Caroline Coon, 1988: The New Wave Punk Rock Explosion, 1977

THE SEX PISTOLS made their debut at St Martins School of Art on Friday 6th of November 1975. The irate social secretary cut the power ...

The Adverts, Alternative TV, Buzzcocks, Eater, Generation X, The Jam, The Saints, Siouxsie & The Banshees, The Subway Sect, Ultravox, The Vibrators: Other Punk Bands

Book Excerpt by Caroline Coon, 1988: The New Wave Punk Rock Explosion, 1977

"I want more bands like us. I want people to go out and start something, to see us and start something, or else I'm just ...

Buzzcocks, The Clash, The Damned, Sex Pistols, Siouxsie & The Banshees: The 100 Club Punk Rock Festival

Book Excerpt by Caroline Coon, '1988: The New Wave Punk Rock Explosion', 1977

Monday, September 20th: The Sex Pistols, the Clash, Subway Sect, Siouxsie and the Banshees. Tuesday, September 21st: The Damned, Chris Spedding and the Vibrators, the ...

The Clash

Book Excerpt by Caroline Coon, '1988: The New Wave Punk Rock Explosion', 1977

WHEN I FIRST interviewed the Clash in their barrack like studio in Chalk Farm, they had yet to sign a record contract, although they were ...

The Damned

Book Excerpt by Caroline Coon, '1988: The New Wave Punk Rock Explosion', 1977

IN OCTOBER 1976 Nick Lowe produced the single 'New Rose' in an eight-track recording studio. It was the first U.K. punk sound on vinyl, preceeding ...

The Damned: The First European Punk Rock Festival

Book Excerpt by Caroline Coon, 1988: The New Wave Punk Rock Explosion', (Omnibus), 1977

VERY LITTLE ABOUT the festival turned out as planned. Initially the Heartdrops (now the Clash), Richard Hell, the Sex Pistols and Graham Parker and the ...

The Sex Pistols

Book Excerpt by Caroline Coon, '1988: The New Wave Punk Rock Explosion', 1977

THE RECORD INDUSTRY is waking up. In October there were rumours about huge deals on the horizon, and Polydor look set to be the first ...

The Stranglers

Book Excerpt by Caroline Coon, '1988: The New Wave Punk Rock Explosion', 1977

THE STRANGLERS slogged through over four hundred gigs in two years building up an ever-increasing following. They did not jump on the punk bandwagon but ...

Chelsea, The Stranglers: The Stranglers, Chelsea: Nashville, London

Live Review by Chas de Whalley, Sounds, 8 January 1977

BASS MAN Jean Jacques Burned now sports a torn t-shirt and black eye liner. If it wasn't for the big Fender Precision slung round his ...

Blondie: Blondie (Private Stock PS2023, Import)**

Review by Giovanni Dadomo, Sounds, 22 January 1977

This gentleman doesn't prefer Blondie ...

The Damned, The Sex Pistols: U.K. Report: Sex Pistols And Beyond

Report and Interview by Mick Brown, Rolling Stone, 27 January 1977

LONDON – So this is how legends are born. Not with a song, or even a death, but with an expletive. ...

Generation X: The Band of the Book

Profile and Interview by Giovanni Dadomo, Sounds, 29 January 1977

IT BEGAN with a street whisper. ...

The Ramones, Talking Heads: Ramones & Heads: Punk Art?

Report and Interview by Toby Goldstein, Crawdaddy!, February 1977

NEW YORK — The glittered frenzy of recent years has receded into a brooding severity of black and grays. The punk-rockers, newest manifestations of media ...

Buzzcocks: Teen Rebel Scores £250 From Dad

Profile by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 5 February 1977

This feature bears the New Wave Seal of Quality ...

Generation X, Sex Pistols: Just Dropped Intuh Tha Fun House: Impressions Of The Roxy

Report by Jane Suck, Sounds, 12 February 1977

I CAME to see Generation X and to look for prospective musicians as I had been assured that the floor was knee deep in 'em ...

The Damned: Damned Damned Damned (Stiff SEEZ 1)

Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 19 February 1977

Damned with faint praise ...

The Damned: Damned, Damned, Damned (Stiff Records)

Review by Barry Cain, Record Mirror, 19 February 1977

LADIES AND Gentlemen — welcome to the world's first 78 rpm album. At last, a recording that gives credence to the claim that punk does ...

The Damned: Damned, Damned, Damned (Stiff Seez 1)*****

Review by Giovanni Dadomo, Sounds, 19 February 1977

Fast, crazy, dangerous and Damned ...

The Damned: Roxy, London

Live Review by Barry Cain, Record Mirror, 26 February 1977

FUNNY WHAT rave reviews can do. ...

Iggy Pop, The Stooges: Iggy Pop on the Stooges (1977) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Stuart Grundy, Rock's Backpages transcripts, March 1977

This is a transcript of Stuart's audio interview with Iggy. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers: Italians Define Rock 'N' Roll

Report and Interview by Giovanni Dadomo, Sounds, 5 March 1977

"YOU ITALIAN? You look Italian," says Johnny Thunders when we're introduced. ...

American Grandstand: Hey Rocky, what's a punk?

Comment by Dave Marsh, Rolling Stone, 10 March 1977

AS ROLLING Stone has developed a nonrock readership, columnists from William Buckley to Russell Baker have been confused by some of the more arcane rock ...

White punks on deadline

Interview by Ed McCormack, Rolling Stone, 10 March 1977

"Nobody wants to see Punk grow up" ...

Cherry Vanilla, Iggy Pop, Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Wayne County & The Electric Chairs: Iggy Pop: Friar's, Aylesbury; Cherry Vanilla, Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers, Wayne Country, Siousxsie & The Banshees: The Roxy, London

Live Review by Giovanni Dadomo, Sounds, 12 March 1977

Run with the pack as ace reporter Joe Varnish checks out Iggy Pop, The Heartbreakers, Cherry Vanilla, Wayne County and one or two local boys ...

Television: Marquee Moon (Elektra K52046) *****

Review by Vivien Goldman, Sounds, 12 March 1977

Do Not Adjust Your Set ...

The Saints: (I'm) Stranded (EMI Import EMC 2870 Code 304)

Review by Barry Cain, Record Mirror, 12 March 1977

St. Stranded ...

Mumps, New York Dolls, The Ramones, Talking Heads: The Ramones: Punk City Night

Interview by Gary Kenton, Circus, 17 March 1977

The Ramones Leave Home While Talking Heads and Mumps Play the Bowery ...

The Damned, T. Rex: T. Rex and The Damned: The Beautiful and The Damned

Report by Giovanni Dadomo, Sounds, 19 March 1977

T Rex and The Damned on tour together... will the boppers say nix to the new wave? Will Bolan get blown off the stage? Captain ...

Buzzcocks, The Clash, The Slits, The Subway Sect: The Clash etc: Harlesden's Burning

Live Review by Vivien Goldman, Sounds, 19 March 1977

The Clash/The Buzzcocks/The Subway Sect/The Slits: Harlesden Colosseum, London ...

Buzzcocks, The Clash, The Slits, The Subway Sect: The Clash/Buzzcocks/Subway Sect/The Slits: Harlesden Colosseum, London

Live Review by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 19 March 1977

NICK KENT comes out of hiding to offer himself as a 'punk' sacrifice to the ritualistic 'beat' of THE CLASH, THE BUZZCOCKS, THE SUBWAY SECT ...

The Clash: Coliseum, Harlesden, London

Live Review by Barry Cain, Record Mirror, 19 March 1977

THE CLASH Somewhere west of Karachi ...

The Clash: 'White Riot' (CBS)

Review by Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 19 March 1977

The Clash: there's a riot goin' on... ...

The Damned

Report and Interview by Mick Farren, New Musical Express, 19 March 1977

THE KID IN THE PUB doesn't believe I'm me. "You a roadie?" "I'm a writer." "Yeah?" He's already dubious. "Who do you write for then?" ...

X-Ray Spex: Roxy, London

Live Review by Jane Suck, Sounds, 19 March 1977

THE DEATH knoll. ...

Lou Reed, The Sex Pistols: The Sex Pistols: Lou Reed Joins Pistols Furore

Report and Interview by uncredited writer, Caroline Coon, Melody Maker, 26 March 1977

LOU REED claims he has been banned from the London Palladium because of the continuing controversy surrounding the Sex Pistols and punk rock. ...

Sex Pistols: The Sex Pistols: Notre Dame Hall, London

Live Review by Barry Cain, Record Mirror, 26 March 1977

CRUCIFIED! High priest Rotten takes up the cloth ...

The Clash, The Damned, Sex Pistols: Punk Is Just Another Word for Nothin' Left To Lose

Essay by Mary Harron, The Village Voice, 28 March 1977

The worst insult in the English punks' vocabulary is "poser". These are working-class kids who resent it when the middle classes ape their style. ...

The Ramones: DUH!.... Ramones

Interview by Radio Pete, Rocky Mountain Musical Express, April 1977

At the conclusion of a wildly successful Western tour which took them from L.A. to Seattle, San Jose to Aberdine, The Ramones descended upon Denver ...

The Ramones: Duh!.... Ramones

Interview by Radio Pete, Rocky Mountain Musical Express, April 1977

AT THE conclusion of a wildly successful Western tour which took them from L.A. to Seattle, San Jose to Aberdine, the Ramones descended upon Denver ...

Blondie, Cherry Vanilla, Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers, The Ramones, Television, Wayne County & The Electric Chairs: NY Punk

Report by Kris Needs, ZigZag, April 1977

Well, we got through to the second issue despite opposition from the hippies. Anyway, here we are...and it's about time we went Over The Top ...

The Clash, Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers: A Storm Is Coming

Interview by Barry Cain, Record Mirror, April 1977

Last week Clash jumped 60 places in the chart and Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers packed out London's Marquee. New Wave is now Big Wave. ...

The Clash: Konkrete Klockwork

Report and Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, April 1977

AT THE MOMENT there isn't a group in the New Wave that comes within spitting distance of The Clash, live or on record. Within a ...

Punk Rock

Comment by Vivien Goldman, Sounds, 2 April 1977

'STAY TUNED for further developments,' John Ingham said at the end of his 'Rock Special' in SOUNDS October 9, 1976. As he forward-thinkingly observed even ...

The Jam: The Roxy, London

Live Review by Barry Cain, Record Mirror, 2 April 1977

OBVIOUS BAND for the slag-off merchants this. ...

The Clash: The Clash (CBS 82000)

Review by Barry Cain, Record Mirror, 9 April 1977

Clash lead black vinyl riot ...

Sex Pistols, The Slits: The Sex Pistols, the Slits: Screen on the Green, Islington, London

Live Review by Sandy Robertson, Record Mirror, 9 April 1977

LIKE THE Pistols' last gig. this was an unpublicised, word-of-mouth affair where you just had to turn up at the door and take your chances. ...

Sex Pistols: The Sex Pistols: The Screen on the Green, London

Live Review by Jon Savage, Sounds, 9 April 1977

IN WHICH IT must be conceded that Malcolm McLaren has a first-class media brain with a perfect instinct for theatre. ...

The Stranglers: Manchester

Live Review by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 9 April 1977

These young chaps have an album out soon. It would be strange if they didn't ...

Buzzcocks, Johnny Moped, Wire, X-Ray Spex: Buzzcocks/X-Ray Spex/Wire etc.: Running with the Ratpack

Live Review by Jon Savage, Sounds, 16 April 1977

ROXY RATPACK, Saturday nite. Find a friend and stick close: sink or swim. Tony and Julie were right: a club full of 'Wild Boys' outtakes ...

Generation X: The Marquee, London

Live Review by Vivien Goldman, Sounds, 16 April 1977

THE QUEUE outside looked promising. Over two months since Gen-X had played a London date (barring the infamous Noreik fiasco). As soon as you forced ...

The Stranglers: IV Rattus Norvegicus (United Artists)****

Review by Chas de Whalley, Sounds, 16 April 1977

I THINK this album will surprise a lot of people. After all (by chance, coincidence and a spot of media manipulation, no less) the Stranglers ...

The Damned: the Starwood, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 20 April 1977

THE DAMNED, the first representative from England's Blank Generation of punk-rockers to reach America, proved more harmless Monday at the Starwood than dispatches from abroad ...

The Boys, John Cale, Generation X: John Cale, Generation X, The Boys: Roundhouse, London

Live Review by Paul Rambali, New Musical Express, 23 April 1977

WILD WELSH ROCK: Lush valleys and terrifying peaks ...

Richard Hell: The Jaws of Hell

Report and Interview by Giovanni Dadomo, Sounds, 23 April 1977

"RICHARD HELL is always a little bit WORSE than everybody else." ...

The Damned, The Dead Boys: The Damned: The Fantastic Four versus the Big Apple

Report by Barry Cain, Record Mirror, 23 April 1977

The story so far: Barry Cain and The Damned have journeyed to New York in pursuit of the evil CBGB... ...

Cherry Vanilla, The Jam, The Stranglers: The Stranglers/The Jam/Cherry Vanilla: The Roundhouse, London

Live Review by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 23 April 1977

THE JAM WERE scarcely halfway through their set at half past six when the geezer at the door of the Roundhouse told the 300-plus still ...

The Adverts, The Damned, Motorhead: The Damned/The Adverts/Motorhead: The Roundhouse, London

Live Review by Jon Savage, Sounds, 30 April 1977

I FIRST saw the Damned at the Roundhouse last November. Shortly after the release of 'New Rose'. Although the 45 had been successful the set ...

Chris Spedding, The Clash, The Count Bishops, The Damned, Elvis Costello, Flo & Eddie, Little Bob Story, The Sex Pistols, The Stranglers, The Vibrators: Blind Date with Flo & Eddie

Review by Ken Barnes, Phonograph Record, May 1977

A monthly blindfold test by those masters of Slander Rock, Mark Volman & Howard Kaylan ...

The Damned, The Dead Boys: CBGB, New York NY

Live Review by Joe Sasfy, Unicorn Times, May 1977

I SawThe Damned And The Dead Boys And Am Alive And Not Angry By Joe Sasfy, Doctor of Rockology ...

The Ramones: Leave Home (Sire)

Review by Richard Riegel, Creem, May 1977

ROCK CRITIC or not, your reviewer resides in the Midwest, and doesn't make it up to Noo Yawk any too often (last such trek occurring ...

The Stranglers: IV Rattus Norvegicus

Review by Kris Needs, ZigZag, May 1977

HERE COME the Stranglers with forty minutes of brain-rapingly original spewings like you ain't gonna hear anywhere else. ...

What The New Wave's Thrown Up — Punk Press Report

Overview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, May 1977

THE RECENT deluge of New Wave fanzines can only be a good thing... they're written and created by fans for the fans, with no sign ...

Blondie, Debbie Harry: Blondie's Debbie Harry & Chris Stein (1977) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by John Tobler, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 1 May 1977

This is a transcript of John's audio interview with Blondie's Debbie and Chris. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Eddie & The Hot Rods: Eddie and the Hot Rods: Teenage Depression (Island ILPS 9457)

Review by Simon Frith, Rolling Stone, 5 May 1977

THE REASON HISTORY can't repeat itself is because we know too much, and the reason that most of the punk bands currently plaguing Britain aren't ...

The Clash, The Subway Sect: The Clash, Subway Sect: Palais des Glaces, Paris

Live Review by Barry Cain, Record Mirror, 7 May 1977

Beware Les Français: C'est la Guerre! The Clash return to the scene of the May 68 riots and whip up a storm. Barry Cain reports... ...

The Clash: Palais des Glaces, Paris

Live Review by Vivien Goldman, Sounds, 7 May 1977

THE AUDIENCE at the Palais des Glaces, a sleazy 30's flea-pit with odd nooks where Parisians indulged in the bourgeois old-wave habit of getting high ...

Buzzcocks, The Clash, The Slits, The Subway Sect: The Front Line: On The Road With The Clash

Report by Giovanni Dadomo, Sounds, 14 May 1977

JOE STRUMMER says he'll smash my face in if I so much as print a syllable of what's said in the dressing room of the ...

The Saints: Would You Let These Men Tie Your Kangaroo Down?

Interview by Peter Silverton, Sounds, 14 May 1977

Watch out, sport, the Saints are coming. PETE SILVERTON gets a buzz from 'em. ...

The Subway Sect: Subway Sect (1977)

Interview by Ian Ravendale, Rock's Backpages audio, 20 May 1977

"The blankest of the blank generation": the pioneering punks attempt to answer the question, what is punk, why punk had to happen, the importance of lyrics and the anger at the heart of it all.

File format: mp3; file size: 10mb, interview length: 10' 54" sound quality: *****

The Clash's Mick Jones (1977)

Interview by Ian Ravendale, Rock's Backpages audio, 20 May 1977

The lanky plank-spanker in a wide-ranging conversation about politics, phlegm and – after Don Letts drops in – white reggae.

File format: mp3; file size: 14.3mb, interview length: 15' 37" sound quality: ****

Penetration: Newcastle

Live Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, 21 May 1977

"TURN OFF the music – we want to play," R the bassist yelled at the DJ and, before you had time to chuckle at the ...

X-Ray Spex: Man In The Moon, Chelsea

Live Review by Jon Savage, Sounds, 21 May 1977

A SMALLISH basement room, low-ceilinged, with a bar along one wall, and quite plush – tonite healthily full with about 100 people, A stopgap scene ...

Siouxsie & The Banshees, Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers: Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers, Siouxsie And The Banshees, Rings: Music Machine, London

Live Review by Jane Suck, Sounds, 28 May 1977

Getting those (Chinese) rocks off ...

The Jam: Music for today

Interview by Barry Cain, Record Mirror, 28 May 1977

WOKING CLASS heroes with Union J-J Jack tenacity. The J-J-Jam. ...

The Ramones, Talking Heads: The Ramones: Gabba Gabba Hey In The UK

Live Review by Chas de Whalley, Sounds, 28 May 1977

The Ramones/Talking Heads: Eric's, Liverpool ...

The Ramones: The Incredible Four-Headed Transplant

Interview by Giovanni Dadomo, Sounds, 28 May 1977

A chat with those Very Special People from NYC, The Ramones, conducted by the shabbily nondescript Giovanni Dadomo of King's Cross. ...

The Vibrators: Winning Post, Twickenham

Live Review by Tim Lott, Sounds, 28 May 1977

OUT IN Twickenham, they haven't really made up their mind. ...

The Sex Pistols, Television: Pimp-Rock?

Comment by Lisa Jane Persky, New York Rocker, June 1977

EVERYTHING happens to us all so quickly these days that even before something is completed, it is dated, labels must be attached for definition and ...

The Sex Pistols: Sex Pistols: Silver Jubilation

Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, June 1977

A Jubilee special from the ever-patriotic Zigzag team in the form of an almost-exclusive interview with those lovable crop-tops from Shepherd's Bush, the Sex Pistols. ...

The Stranglers: IV Rattus Norvegicus (United Artists)

Review by John Tobler, ZigZag, June 1977

THERE'S LITTLE DOUBT that while the first batch of British new wave albums were by the more outrageous elements, and somehow seemed to rely on ...

Gloria Mundi: Sic Transit Gloria Mundi

Profile and Interview by Chas de Whalley, Sounds, 4 June 1977

AND WHAT did Gloria Mundi's Eddie Maelov get for the courage of his, convictions? ...

The Sex Pistols: Rotten Is Mum's Boy Shock

Report by Tony Stewart, New Musical Express, 4 June 1977

NO MATTER how much criticism a young boy incites by his allegedly outrageous behaviour there's always somebody who will lovingly stand by him. His mum. ...

Wayne County & The Electric Chairs: Marquee, London

Live Review by Jane Suck, Sounds, 4 June 1977

AT NINE years of age I decapitated my dolls and donated a life to rock'n'roll. Nights like tonight I understand just why. (Gasp) it was ...

Sex Pistols, Rick Wakeman: Rick Wakeman Denies Press Rumors In Sex Pistols Controversy

Interview by Jim Farber, Circus, 9 June 1977

LONDON: The furor over the Sex Pistols' firing by A&M Records still rages in the British Press. Punk rock is more controversial than ever. Circus ...

Sex Pistols: The Sex Pistols: Enemies of the World

Interview by Barry Cain, Record Mirror, 11 June 1977

• FACT. Simply by stating 'No Future' the Pistols are creating one • FACT. Their music outshines, outflanks and outclasses much of the jetlagged ineptitude ...

The Vibrators: Pure Mania

Review by Jon Savage, Sounds, 11 June 1977

MMM. PSYCHO daisies. Hid her wid de axe/you better relax. More zoop bop cartoon funnies – this time the movie's speeded up. Laugh this one ...

Malcolm McLaren, The Sex Pistols: A Non-Interview With Malcolm McLaren

Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 18 June 1977

I VISITED THE office of Glitterbest (Sex Pistols management) recently, accompanied by Tony D. (editor of Ripped & Torn fanzine) to try and arrange an ...

Buzzcocks, John Cooper Clarke, Joy Division, Penetration: Buzzcocks, Penetration, John Cooper Clarke, Warsaw: Electric Circus, Manchester

Live Review by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 18 June 1977

THERE IS undoubtedly a great deal of refining and cleaning to be done on Buzzcocks' material before the album they can so definitely record comes ...

The Sex Pistols: What Did You Do On The Jubilee? The Pistols on the Thames

Report by Jon Savage, Sounds, 18 June 1977

BEFORE THE POLICE came, it was a great party. Make that a capital G. ...

Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers: Bring a freezer, you're gonna need it

Report by Barry Cain, Record Mirror, 25 June 1977

THE HEARTBREAKERS (make that THE JUNKIES), St Albans and Birmingham ...

The Saints: Saints or sinners?

Interview by Rosalind Russell, Record Mirror, 25 June 1977

THINK OF Australia. Think of Bondai Beach. Think of Fosters lager. Think of big butch lifeguards sunbathing on their surf boards. Ned Kelly. Botany Bay, ...

Siouxsie & the Banshees: Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment

Profile by Jane Suck, Sounds, 25 June 1977

Outrage is the game, Siouxsie and the Banshees is the name ...

Various: The Roxy London WC2 (Jan-Apr 77) (Harvest)

Review by Jon Savage, Sounds, 25 June 1977

AN APPROXIMATE Warhol dictum: ‘In the future, everybody will be famous for 15 minutes.’ We never had a proper Warhol scene over here, did we? ...

Generation X: We're Not Into The Mindless Drone

Report and Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, July 1977

GENERATION X are half way through their soundcheck, and there's a "what shall we play next?" lull in the proceedings. ...

Shaun Cassidy, The Damned, The Dictators, Eddie & The Hot Rods, The Hollywood Stars, The Sex Pistols, Snatch, Ultravox, Venus & the Razorblades: New Releases: The Kids Err Alright

Review by Howard Wuelfing, Unicorn Times, July 1977

REMEMBER "PUNK ROCK?" For a while there it was the supreme hip misconception — a much abused catch-all referring in general to any sort of ...

Richard Hell: Hold Off

Essay by Alan Betrock, ZigZag, July 1977

2:39 Richard Hell and the Voidoids glide into take one of 'The Plan', a quirky composition, supported by subtle mood changes. At 2:43 it's finished. ...

The Sex Pistols: Sex Pistols Squirt Flood Gush

Interview by Kris Needs, New York Rocker, July 1977

AFTER MONTHS of concentrated opposition from about every form of authority under the sun, The Sex Pistols are finally winning. Everybody from record companies to ...

999, The Saints: The Saints, 999: The Nashville, London

Live Review by Paul Rambali, New Musical Express, 2 July 1977

THERE IS A TEMPTATION to regard The Saints as comic. This stems from a number of idiosyncratic things about them, not least of which is ...

The Doors, MC5, The Ramones, Jonathan Richman, The Stooges: Danny Fields: The Fields Connection

Interview by Giovanni Dadomo, Sounds, 9 July 1977

The Doors, MC5, Iggy & The Stooges, John Cale, Lou Reed, Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers and The Ramones — without them the last ten years of ...

The Bay City Rollers, The Sex Pistols: GLC v Punk: Move Over, Sid Vicious

Report and Interview by Tony Stewart, New Musical Express, 9 July 1977

GLC Tory jumps on "Good Kickin'" bandwagon ...

Generation X Put The Boot In

Interview by Jon Savage, Sounds, 16 July 1977

GENERATION X. In the 60's: a book wherein 'youth speaks about itself'. In the 70's: a 'new wave' band which does the same, on the ...

John Lydon, Sex Pistols: A Punk And His Music: An Evening With John Rotten

Interview by uncredited writer, Sounds, 23 July 1977

JOHNNY ROTTEN digs reggae and soul. That was one of the more interesting facets of his personality that emerged when he was interviewed by DJ ...

Alternative TV: Sniffin' Glue…

Report and Interview by Jon Savage, Sounds, 23 July 1977

NOW: THE ROXY these days is not what it was – whatever shrill camera-lens sense of event there was in the Andy Czezowski days has ...

The Lurkers: Attack Of The Distortion People

Profile and Interview by Jeremy Gluck, Sounds, 23 July 1977

ALLOW ME TO present The Lurkers, whose enlightened adherence to the golden rule of "Three Chords, Three Verses, Three Minutes" definitely fingers them as the ...

The Sex Pistols on Top of the Pops (BBC1)

Film/DVD/TV Review by Giovanni Dadomo, Sounds, 23 July 1977

Out to Lunch ...

Generation X, The Lurkers: Generation X/The Lurkers: The Marquee, London

Live Review by Chris Salewicz, New Musical Express, 30 July 1977

YOU KNOW THAT immense sense of relief that hits you when you get through the one album in every twenty or so that you might ...

Buzzcocks, Howard Devoto, The Fall: Manchester: They Mean It Maaanchester

Overview by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 30 July 1977

MANCHESTER as a Rock and Roll town just didn't use to exist. It fed dutifully off London, and there were frequent visits from groups to ...

The Boys: The Boys

Review by Peter Silverton, Sounds, 30 July 1977

The Boys ain't no joke ...

The Sex Pistols: Sex Pistols Trigger Punk Rock Invasion

Interview by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 31 July 1977

DESPITE ENORMOUS media attention, the U.S. music industry has maintained a hands-off policy toward new wave or punk-rock music, probably hoping that it will go ...

The Sex Pistols: Sex Pistols Trigger Punk Rock Invasion

Report and Interview by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 31 July 1977

DESPITE ENORMOUS media attention, the U.S. music industry has maintained a hands-off policy toward new wave or punk-rock music, probably hoping that it will go ...

The Ramones: A Night At The Ramones

Report and Interview by Gary Pig Gold, The Pig Paper, August 1977

IF YOU weren't square, you weren't there, or something. In other words, the gasping legions of Canadian punkdom filled the aptly-named New Yorker Theatre in ...

The Saints

Profile and Interview by Gary Pig Gold, The Pig Paper, August 1977

DID YOU know that there's a punk band in Australia? Well, there are punk bands in Toronto, so nothing should surprise you. ...

The Slits

Report and Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, August 1977

THERE ARE FEW groups I'd rather go and see at the moment than The Slits. They've only been going a few months in their present ...

Generation X: This Canadian Geyser Come to London and Saw Generation X

Report by Jeremy Gluck, Sniffin' Glue, August 1977

"YOUTH, YOUTH, YOUTH". I heard that chorus on a tape just once and spent the whole week mentally playing it over and over. Then I ...

The Adverts: Reading The Adverts

Profile and Interview by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 6 August 1977

THE NEW WAVE scythe has brought about a dual personality in programming for a lot of the more established clubs. ...

The Sex Pistols: The Social Rehabilitation of the Sex Pistols

Report and Interview by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 6 August 1977

THE PROSPEROUS CYBORGS at the next table in the backroom of this expensive Stockholm eating-place are sloshing down their coffee as fast as they possibly ...

The Vibrators: Marquee, London

Live Review by Paul Rambali, New Musical Express, 6 August 1977

THE TWO-FINGER salute put in a surprise appearance at The Vibrators' gig on Sunday. Whether the dozen pairs of arms frantically waving V signs were ...

Wayne County & The Electric Chairs: Wayne County: Electric Circus, Manchester

Live Review by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 6 August 1977

UPSTAIRS IN THE tiny Electric Circus dressing room Wayne County fussily fumbles and fidgets; he's got to look just right. He's wearing a crisp fawn ...

Sex Pistols, The Stranglers, The Vibrators: Punk: something Rotten in England

Report by Mick Brown, Rolling Stone, 11 August 1977

LONDON — British member of Parliament Marcus Lipton told his constituents that if punk rock was going to be used to destroy Britain's established institutions, ...

The Sex Pistols: Sex Pistols: 'Jooh-Nee! Jooh-Nee! Jooh-Nee!'

Report by Giovanni Dadomo, Sounds, 13 August 1977

Swedes plead, Pistols perform, and Dadomo, the lone wop, reports on the second leg of their Scandinavian tour ...

The Clash, The Damned: Clash In Euro-Rock Horror

Report by Vivien Goldman, Sounds, 20 August 1977

'Bilzen? more like Belsen' Clash, Damned: Bilzen Festival, Belgium ...

The Sex Pistols: On The Road With The Pistols Part 101: Inside Rotten's Wardrobe

Report by Giovanni Dadomo, Sounds, 20 August 1977

And other Swedish delights. By GIOVANNI DADOMO ...

Snatch: Speakeasy, London

Live Review by Vivien Goldman, Sounds, 20 August 1977

LET'S HEAR IT FOR THE GIRLS Snatch it while you can ...

MC5, New York Dolls, The Sex Pistols: The Sex Pistols: Kick out the jams

Comment by Dave Marsh, Rolling Stone, 25 August 1977

IT CONTRAVENES logic, but there is little doubt in my mind that the most important record of the past year is the Sex Pistols' 'God ...

Boomtown Rats: The Boomtown Rats (Ensign)

Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 27 August 1977

OH CHRIST, what will we label them? Rock 'n' Roll, Rhythm & Blues, Pop/New Wave? All tags apply. But no one alone totally fits the ...

The Sex Pistols: Sex Pistols: The Rotten Interview

Interview by Giovanni Dadomo, Sounds, 27 August 1977

In Sweden With The Pistols Part 194 ...

The Slits, Steel Pulse: Slits, Steel Pulse: Clouds, Brixton, London

Live Review by Penny Reel, New Musical Express, 27 August 1977

Once more the NME asks the question on the lips of thousands: Is this woman a prat? Yup, 'fraid so says PENNY REEL ...

The Dead Boys: Pretty Vicious

Profile and Interview by Mary Harron, Sounds, 27 August 1977

THE DEAD BOYS are part of anew generation at CBGB's, a generation that has finally succeeded in erasing that fine line that divides the cool ...

The Runaways, The Weirdos: Whisky a Go Go, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 29 August 1977

Jett, Ford Grab Runaways' Reins ...

The Clash: Belgium's Burning! The Clash in Europe

Report by Robin Banks, ZigZag, September 1977

"Be not the first by whom the new are tried/Nor yet the last to lay the old aside." ...

Sham 69

Interview by Danny Baker, ZigZag, September 1977

THE ROXY CLUB. Week one. The band bottom of the three playing that night played the night's most exciting set to about 20 people. ...

The Clash, Generation X: Only in ZigZag! The New Clash Single!

Review by Robin Banks, ZigZag, September 1977

THE CLASH: 'Complete Control'/'The City of the Dead' (CBS) ...

The Clash: The Clash (CBS 82000)

Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, September 1977

TO PARAPHRASE (and soft-peddle) the kind of language that greeted Patti Smith's Horses, this Clash album is a tremendous debut. Of all the new wave bands ...

The Adverts, Buzzcocks, Eater, Johnny Moped, Slaughter and the Dogs, The Unwanted, Wire, X-Ray Spex: Various artists: The Roxy, London, W.C.2 (Harvest SHSP 4069)

Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, September 1977

BACK IN nineteen-sixty-something, when an earlier new wave was proudly unfurling, several Live at the Star Club LPs appeared, scooping up some of the bands ...

The Clash: God, What A Bummer! Stuck Here With Joe Strummer!

Report and Interview by Chris Salewicz, New Musical Express, 3 September 1977

THE CLASH AT BELSEN... 'ALL JOURNALISTS ARE SWINE' BY CHRIS SALEWICZ, WHO DUCKS AND RUNS. ...

Siouxsie & The Banshees: Siouxsie And The Banshees: Vortex, London

Live Review by Jane Suck, Sounds, 3 September 1977

"I DON'T know what it is, but it isn't rock 'n' roll." The Banshees quote Glen Matlock's response to their last Vortex gig with pride. ...

Buzzcocks: Rafters, Manchester

Live Review by Barry Cain, Record Mirror, 10 September 1977

BUZZCOCKS — a Manchester miasma causing GBH to the nostrils? Or one of the best damned bands the rainy city has ever produced? ...

Sham 69: Roxy, London

Live Review by Barry Cain, Record Mirror, 10 September 1977

SHAZAM 77! The antediluvian ideals of the pig-gutted swirl are in the process of a distortion that any bleach-eyed chameleon would be proud of. Like ...

The Rich Kids: Back With A Bullet

Profile and Interview by Peter Silverton, Sounds, 10 September 1977

COMING DOWN from the Harrow Road by bus, Steve New's getting the rise taken out of him by a bunch of kids because he's wearing ...

David Bowie, The Stranglers: David Bowie: 'Heroes' (RCA); The Stranglers: 'No More Heroes' (United Artists UP 36300)

Review by Tim Lott, Rosalind Russell, Record Mirror, 17 September 1977

He says there are... ...

The Jam: The Nashville, London

Live Review by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 17 September 1977

THE NEW WAVE scene is arguably more interesting now than ever, as the big five or six bands are being forced to consolidate their first ...

The Stranglers

Report and Interview by Chas de Whalley, Sounds, 17 September 1977

TW STUDIOS are tucked away behind a drab shopfront off London's Fulham Palace Road. To gain entry you have to go round the side, through ...

Buzzcocks: Whatever Happened To The Buzzcocks?

Interview by Caroline Coon, Sounds, 17 September 1977

Now there's nothing behind meAnd I'm already a has-beenMy future ain't what it wasI think I know the words that I meanYou know me – ...

Aswad, Chelsea, The Doctors of Madness, Eddie & The Hot Rods, Lew Lewis, Slaughter and the Dogs: Eddie & the Hot Rods, Lew Lewis, Chelsea, Aswad et al: Punk Festival, Chelmsford City Football Stadium

Live Review by Tim Lott, Record Mirror, 24 September 1977

And we don't careThe message: punk's now a business ...

Adam & The Ants: The Ants: Nashville, London

Live Review by Jane Suck, Sounds, 24 September 1977

avAntgarde ...

The Stranglers: No More Heroes

Review by Jon Savage, Sounds, 24 September 1977

AHHH – BUT these are testing times...now the very real euphoria has subsided, the scales have fallen from my eyes: not recantation, but re-evaluation. Timely ...

The Vibrators: The Punks Who Came In From The Cold

Report and Interview by Mick Brown, Sounds, 24 September 1977

"I think I ought to make it clear", says Knox, arms waving like flags in a stiff breeze, "that when we first started we were ...

The Sex Pistols: Punk Rock and the Sex Pistols

Overview by Stephen Demorest, Hit Parader, October 1977

Hey, said my name is called disturbance. I'll shout and scream, I'll kill the king,I'll rail at all his servants.–(Rolling Stones, 1968) ...

Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers: The Heartbreakers: LAMF

Review by Kris Needs, ZigZag, October 1977

THE HEARBREAKERS are one of my fave live bands. For sheer ecstatic raunch you can't beat 'em. This album has been a long time coming. ...

The New Wave Washes Out

Overview by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, October 1977

After A Glorious Year, British Punks Are Now Absorbed Into The Music Biz Money-go-round ...

The Sex Pistols: Not So Rotten After All

Profile and Interview by Giovanni Dadomo, Trouser Press, October 1977

RIGHT NOW in London, late August 1977, there's not a single sliver of doubt about it: this is the year of ...the Sex Pistols. They ...

The Stranglers Do The Pose

Comment by Peter Silverton, Trouser Press, October 1977

EXTREME REACTIONS to the Stranglers are not unusual. Take the case of a mate (well, acquaintance) of mine, Dick O'Dell, tour/road manager for Alex Harvey. ...

Alternative TV: Rat Club, London

Live Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 1 October 1977

ATV — FIRST gig with permanent drummer Chris/multi-cultural type crowd with heavy star attendance/sweating/Throbbing Gristle tapes/'Some kind of fanny show' (?)/drag queen movie (I missed ...

Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers: Billy, Walter and Johnny: The Heartbreakers

Interview by Jon Savage, Sounds, 1 October 1977

INTERVIEW TAKES place on a second floor flat, a stone’s throw away from the Thames. Present are: Walter Lure and Billy Rath, singer/guitarist and bassist ...

999, The Adverts, Motorhead: Is Gaye Well Equipped? Will These Boys Show You Their Equipment?

Report and Interview by Rosalind Russell, Record Mirror, 1 October 1977

How easy is it to start your own band? How much does it cost? Rosalind Russell looks at 999's equipment and goes round the shops ...

Sham 69 Shake Down 77

Report by Chris Salewicz, New Musical Express, 1 October 1977

AFTER A WEEK of cloud-sealed gloom the sun shone down on London on Friday pushing the lunchtime temperature to 63 degrees. The vibes seemed auspicious ...

X-Ray Spex: Vortex, London

Live Review by Tim Lott, Record Mirror, 1 October 1977

Tell Laura I love her ...

Generation X: The Marquee, London

Live Review by Peter Silverton, Sounds, 8 October 1977

ROCK ON Indeed.I've finally figured out, after all this time, why, despite the fact that lots of people whose opinions I respect hate them, I ...

Richard Hell & The Voidoids: Blank Generation (Sire, Import)*****

Review by Giovanni Dadomo, Sounds, 8 October 1977

IT'S THE voice you hear first and foremost here.   ...

The Slits, The Subway Sect: Subway Sect, Slits: Music Machine, London

Live Review by Chris Salewicz, New Musical Express, 8 October 1977

Some-of-us-take-this-seriously Productions present: THE CAVORTINGS OF CREATIVE PEOPLE ...

The Slits, The Subway Sect: Subway Sect/The Slits: Music Machine, Camden, London

Live Review by Jane Suck, Sounds, 8 October 1977

Sect stumble. Slits excite ...

The Boys: Boys In Bondage

Profile and Interview by Peter Silverton, Sounds, 8 October 1977

IF I'D KNOWN what I was letting myself in for when I went to see John Cale at the Roundhouse this Easter, I think I'd ...

The Stranglers: Brunel University, Middlesex

Live Review by Chas de Whalley, Sounds, 8 October 1977

OF COURSE, what with all those bad reviews the Stranglers have picked up since the release of the new album No More Heroes, you might ...

Richard Hell: To Hell and Back: Richard Hell

Interview by Vivien Goldman, Sounds, 8 October 1977

"I'M GLAD my name's Hell, because at least those people at the radio stations are gonna have some idea what to expect. I intend to ...

The Ramones, Sex Pistols, Patti Smith, Talking Heads, Television: The Possibilities of Punk

Comment by Richard Goldstein, The Village Voice, 10 October 1977

UP UNTIL about six months ago, CBGB's was the only rock bar I ever felt comfortable in. All you needed was a long scarf and ...

Buzzcocks, John Cooper Clarke, The Fall, Joy Division, Magazine, The Negatives, The Prefects, The Worst: Buzzcocks/Magazine/John Cooper Clarke/The Worst/The Fall/The Prefects/The Negatives/Warsaw: Electric Circus, Manchester

Live Review by Jon Savage, Sounds, 15 October 1977

Prime Manchester venue closes... Power cut at the Electric Circus ...

Devo, the Weirdos: Whisky a Go Go, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 15 October 1977

Avant-Garde Devo at Whisky ...

Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers: L.A.M.F. (Track 2409 218)

Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 15 October 1977

LET'S DISPENSE with some inevitables. One. Heartbreakers Johnny Thunders and Jerry Nolan were originally part of, the New York Dolls and, of course, we all ...

The Clash: Who's In Love With Janie Jones?

Interview by Caroline Coon, Sounds, 15 October 1977

DURING THE hot summer of 1976, a No. 31 bus jolts through Notting Hill Gate. On the top deck is Mick Jones, humming a riff. ...

The Saints: Music Machine, London

Live Review by Rosalind Russell, Record Mirror, 15 October 1977

THE SAINTS opened their new British tour at the Camden Music Machine — that was their first and I hope only mistake. It's fine booking ...

The Damned: Top Drummers Get Itchy Feet Dept.: Why I Quit The Damned by Rat Scabies

Interview by Peter Silverton, Sounds, 15 October 1977

IT'S COMMON knowledge that all drummers are certifiable nutters but I must admit that when somebody whispered in my ear the other Sunday that the ...

Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers: Top Drummers Get Itchy Feet Dept.: Why I Quit The Heartbreakers by Jerry Nolan

Interview by Giovanni Dadomo, Sounds, 15 October 1977

WHEN IS A Heartbreaker not a Heartbreaker? It may sound like the first half of a funny story but the sad truth is it's no ...

Richard Hell & The Void-Oids: Blank Generation (Sire SR 6037)

Review by Fred Schruers, Rolling Stone, 20 October 1977

RICHARD HELL HAS been touted as an underground genius for nearly three years, and this debut album boldly tries to document him as such. The ...

X-Ray Spex: Oh Bondage! Up Yours!

Interview by Chas de Whalley, Sounds, 22 October 1977

"IF SOMEBODY said I was a sex symbol, I'd shave me'ead tomorrer," cackled Poly Styrene. "'Oh Bondage Up Yours' ain't about sex particularly. In fact ...

The Clash, Sex Pistols: Beyond the Dole Queue: The Politics of Punk

Essay by Simon Frith, The Village Voice, 24 October 1977

The Clash and the Pistols have established social realism as an essential part of punk ideology, but this does not make their music the "direct ...

The Clash: Clash in the City of the Dead

Report and Interview by Caroline Coon, Giovanni Dadomo, Sounds, 29 October 1977

NO FUN IN BELFAST AND LONDONby GIOVANNI DADOMO & CAROLINE COON ...

Siouxsie & The Banshees, Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers: Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers: Thunders and Lightning

Report by Barry Cain, Record Mirror, 29 October 1977

BARRY CAIN gets struck down by the crazy past and present of THE HEARTBREAKERS ...

The Sex Pistols: Sex Pistols: Spunk Rock

Report by Chas de Whalley, Sounds, 29 October 1977

FOR A MOMENT there I thought I'd stumbled into a dream I just wasn't equipped to handle. All change for Edge City. The punk behind ...

Sham 69: Sham 1969/1977

Interview by Peter Silverton, Sounds, 29 October 1977

"I'M NOT stupid. I know, however successful I get to be right now, that in two, three, maybe four if I'm lucky, years' time, I'll ...

Blondie, Wayne County & The Electric Chairs, The Dead Boys, The Dictators, Robert Gordon, Richard Hell, David Johansen, Mink DeVille, The Ramones, Michael Simmons & Slewfoot, Sylvain Sylvain, Talking Heads, Television, Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers, Link Wray: New York Lights Up With Soggy Matches!

Overview by Robert Duncan, Creem, November 1977

A Consumer Guide To Rock's Last Drag by Robert Drizzle Duncan ...

The Jam: Environmental Music

Profile and Interview by Howie Klein, New York Rocker, November 1977

LAST MONTH the Jam travelled to America for a short promotional tour, playing dates in established new wave centers, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston and ...

The Sex Pistols: Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols

Review by Kris Needs, ZigZag, November 1977

THE TITLE SAYS it all really. Ignore the press hysteria, dopey articles in Rolling Stone and cross-country panic/fear/loathing over "those foul-mouthed Sex Pistols". This album ...

Iggy Pop, The Ramones: Iggy Pop: Cobo Arena, Detroit

Live Review by Lester Bangs, New Musical Express, 5 November 1977

Iggy suffers metallic KO, Ramones rule OK? ...

Adam & The Ants, Siouxsie & The Banshees: Siouxsie & the Banshees, Adam & the Ants: Vortex, London

Live Review by Jane Suck, Record Mirror, 5 November 1977

"WE ARE not human..." Support band The Ants are bizarre. More at home on Mars than the bondage mag they look like they just fell ...

Sex Pistols Sid Vicious and Johnny Rotten (1977)

Interview by John Tobler, Rock's Backpages audio, 11 November 1977

Amidst a litany of Sid Vicious' belches (and demands for cigs and tea), he and Johnny Rotten are hilariously rude about... well, almost everyone: fellow Pistol Steve Jones; ex-Pistol Glen Matlock; the Bromley Contingent; Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood; Iggy Pop; the Clash; the taxman; the press; Freddie Mercury... and each other!

File format: mp3; file size: 46.9mb, interview length: 48' 52" sound quality: *****

John Lydon, Sex Pistols, Sid Vicious: Sex Pistols' Sid Vicious and Johnny Rotten (1977) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by John Tobler, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 11 November 1977

This is a transcript of John's audio interview with Sid and Johnny. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

The Clash: Head On Clash

Report by Tim Lott, Record Mirror, 12 November 1977

TIM LOTT battles with Joe Strummer's boys and comes out dazed. ...

Sham 69: Don't Follow Leaders

Report and Interview by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 12 November 1977

JIMMY PURSEY bursts upon you. He is a natural. A natural natural. Distortion in the media can colour reputations wrongly, especially the reputation of fulsome ...

X-Ray Spex: Poly Puts The Kettle On!

Interview by Barry Cain, Record Mirror, 12 November 1977

IT WAS just another press conference. Poly Styrene looked surprisingly radiant, showing no signs of the traumas she had suffered over recent months. ...

Behind the growth of punk rock

Comment by Philip Elwood, The San Francisco Examiner, 13 November 1977

THE UNPRECEDENTED attention being lavished on what is called "punk rock" by record companies, trade papers, publicity houses and international media is clear indication that ...

The Hollywood Binliner: L.A. Punk

Report by Mick Farren, New Musical Express, 19 November 1977

THERE ARE 70 PUNKS IN L.A. – HERE'S MOST OF 'EM... ...

Richard Hell, Siouxsie & The Banshees: Richard Hell & The Voidoids, Siouxsie & The Banshees: Music Machine, London

Live Review by Paul Rambali, New Musical Express, 26 November 1977

THERE IS something about the Music Machine in Camden Town that severely dulls one's capacity for enjoyment of an evening of live rock. ...

The Damned: Music For Pleasure

Review by Peter Silverton, Sounds, 26 November 1977

CATCHING SIGHT of the title in a news column, I wondered. 'Music For Pleasure'? Have the dervish-like Damned decided to junk all this credibility rubbish, ...

The Vibrators: The New Yorker, Toronto

Live Review by Dave Schulps, Sounds, 26 November 1977

Vibrators victorious: Canucks crumble ...

Alternative TV: ATV: Is As Wonderful

Profile and Interview by Danny Baker, ZigZag, December 1977

I WAS AT ONE of Steve Mick's bi-annual parties, (baffling, rambling affairs – you want to find your long-lost aunt? Come in and prowl around, ...

The Avengers, Backstage Pass, Crime, The Dils, The Germs, Nuclear Valdez, The Nuns, The Runaways, The Screamers, Street Punks, Vom, The Weirdos, The Zeros, The Zippers: Catch A Wave? No, West Coast NEW WAVE!

Overview by Jack Basher, Creem, December 1977

CREEM's Punk Guides Stagger On... ...

Talking Heads: Talking Heads: 77 (Sire)

Review by Richard C. Walls, Creem, December 1977

AFTER WRITING reviews for eight years, one learns to ignore the press releases that accompany promo copies or at least to read them with a ...

The Clash, Lester Bangs: The Clash: Clash City Rockers On Tour

Report by Kris Needs, ZigZag, December 1977

DERBY KING'S HALL. The thickset geezer with the appearance of a frustrated rugby player – too short to make the scrum but just as tough ...

The Ramones: Rocket to Russia

Review by Kris Needs, ZigZag, December 1977

WHO DOESN'T LIKE the Ramones? Nobody, that's who – unless they're dead or M. Black of Norwich or something. I've had this LP for three ...

The Ramones, The Sex Pistols: The Ramones: Rocket to Russia (Sire); The Sex Pistols: Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols (Virgin/Warner Bros.)

Review by Howard Wuelfing, Unicorn Times, December 1977

The Life-Affirming, Entropy-Baiting Ramones and Sex Pistols ...

The Saints: (I'm) Stranded (Sire)

Review by Robot A. Hull, Creem, December 1977

READY-MADE HYPOTHETICAL PUNK BAND, 1977 MODEL ...

The Stranglers: No More Heroes

Comment by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, December 1977

IT'S SO HARD to decode the Stranglers. After you've gone through the easy observations about Dave Greenfield's keyboard sound and its relationship to Ray Manzarek, ...

Penetration, Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers: London, Vortex

Live Review by Jane Suck, Sounds, 3 December 1977

No more heroes ...

Siouxsie & The Banshees: Siouxsie and the Banshees

Interview by Vivien Goldman, Sounds, 3 December 1977

PREMISE: Record company executives have been skipping the brandy on their expense account lunches in their eagerness to sign up any band that can loosely ...

Sex Pistols: The Sex Pistols: "Money doesn't talk, it swears" — official

Report by Caroline Coon, Sounds, 3 December 1977

Pistols album not guilty ...

The Damned: Why did Rat Scabies leave The Damned? Is the new drummer a rich punk? Did Rat try to kill himself?...

Interview by Rosalind Russell, Record Mirror, 3 December 1977

...Are The Damned splitting up? Why is Captain Sensible embarrassed? What's the name of Rat's new band? All this and more is revealed by ROSALIND RUSSELL ...

Adam & The Ants: Whip In My Valise

Profile by Jane Suck, Sounds, 10 December 1977

'The angel Ga-briel sent me to give you a little bit of sympathy...' ('Plastic Surgery') ...

Generation X, The Lurkers, The Saints, The Valves: Generation X, The Saints, The Lurkers, The Valves: The Roundhouse, London

Live Review by Rosalind Russell, Record Mirror, 10 December 1977

Gen Xcellent ...

Generation X: Roundhouse, Chalk Farm

Live Review by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 10 December 1977

THE FIRST TIME I encountered Generation X (or at least their lead singer/figurehead Billy Idol) it left an unpleasant taste in my mouth. ...

The Sex Pistols, Sid Vicious: The Sid Vicious Guide To London Hotels

Report by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 10 December 1977

IT WAS AT THE A&M Sex Pistols press conference, convened early this year, that newly appointed group bassist Sid Vicious gave his brusque views on ...

Various Artists: Live At The Vortex

Review by Jon Savage, Sounds, 10 December 1977

HA. ANOTHER sledge-hammer blow pulping revolt into style...At least might someone have the good grace and honesty to stick 'Punk (a/k/a 'New/Wave') Sampler' on the ...

The Sex Pistols, Sid Vicious: Never Mind The Sex Pistols, Here Comes The Wrath Of Sid!

Report and Interview by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 17 December 1977

IT WAS the last day in November when the whole ugly mess finally exploded. Sid Vicious, the bass player of The Sex Pistols, had once ...

Penetration: The Future Is Female

Interview by Jon Savage, Sounds, 17 December 1977

ACCELERATION DON'T go to my head...London – a module, self-contained, trapped in an ever-accelerating time/style warp: a week seems like a month in our brave ...

The Ramones, The Sex Pistols: American Grandstand: Punk Inc.

Comment by Dave Marsh, Rolling Stone, 29 December 1977

PETER RUDGE, who manages the Rolling Stones' American tours and likes to speculate about rock & roll almost as much as I do, suggested recently ...

The Lous have a message for the women of Britain in 1978... "Groupies must become musicians"

Interview by Caroline Coon, Sounds, 31 December 1977

(to be read in a French accent. — Ed) ...

John Cooper Clarke (1978)

Interview by Ian Ravendale, Rock's Backpages audio, 1978

The Punk Poet talks about comic writing vs. being a comedian; about writing poetry; about putting his words to music; and about his place in the music business.

File format: mp3; file size: 8.2mb, interview length: 9' 00" sound quality: ****

Eleganza: It's Manic Panic In The Apple

Interview by Toby Goldstein, Creem, January 1978

GINA, SNOOKY and Tish didn't know what to expect when they opened Manic Panic, but they sure found out fast. First, there was the phone terrorist. ...

The Sex Pistols: Sex Pistols: Few Waves Made During Tour Of U.S.

Report by Susan Compo, Santa Ana Register, January 1978

IT'S NOT SURPRISING that Britain's punk rockers, the Sex Pistols, found San Francisco "boring". The city that was to be the last stop on the ...

The Sex Pistols: Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols

Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, January 1978

HO HUM, ANOTHER album from the Pistols. No, seriously, this is it. After all the controversy, bannings, bullshit and speculation, the Pistols finally have something ...

The Slits: Holland Park School, London

Live Review by Kris Needs, ZigZag, January 1978

I BURBLED MY feelings about The Slits for four pages in ZZ75 last July, and happily that resulted in crazed Radio One producer and Zigzag ...

The Sex Pistols Are Cocked

Report by Wesley Strick, Circus, 5 January 1978

Will Their Punk Madness Spread to the States? ...

Sex Pistols: The Sex Pistols: Great SouthEast Music Hall, Atlanta GA

Live Review by Wayne Robins, Newsday, 7 January 1978

More heat than raunch in Sex Pistols debut ...

The Damned: The Torments of The Damned

Report by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 7 January 1978

(a somewhat sobering cautionary tale of our time)Charles Shaar Murray asks, is that a light at the end of the tunnel – or another oncoming ...

Sex Pistols: 'I hear you like Dolly Parton down here... are you still celebrating Elvis' birthday?'

Report by Dave Schulps, Sounds, 14 January 1978

...or how to win friends and influence people i Memphis, Johnny Rotten style. The Sex Pistols hit America and DAVE SCHULPS gives an American's-eye view ...

Sex Pistols: The Great South-East Music Hall, Atlanta, GA

Live Review by Barry Cain, Record Mirror, 14 January 1978

Johnny leaves his heart in Finsbury Park Barry Cain reports on the start of the Sex Pistols' American tour ...

Siouxsie & The Banshees: Siouxsie and the Banshees: A World Domination By 1984 Special

Profile and Interview by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 14 January 1978

This is Siouxsie and the Banshees/They are patient/They will win/In the end. ...

The Ramones: Rainbow Theatre, London

Live Review by Jon Savage, Sounds, 14 January 1978

VERMILION, AFTERWARDS (taking in with a sweep of her arm the splendid rococo-deco vastness of the Rainbow gallery): "Rock'n'roll belongs in the pits, not here". ...

The Ramones: The Group That Sowed the Seeds of Punk

Interview by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 15 January 1978

BEFORE THE Sex Pistols, there was the Ramones. With its supercharged rock sound, comically demented lyrics and stylized, street-tough image, the foursome emerged from Forest ...

Sex Pistols: The Sex Pistols: Winterland, San Francisco CA

Live Review by Philip Elwood, The San Francisco Examiner, 16 January 1978

Sex Pistols end U.S. offensive bored but richer ...

Sex Pistols: America Learns to Loathe the Pistols

Report and Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 21 January 1978

Michael Watts reports on the Memphis hotel set-up (was it the CIA?); the two suspicious cowboys (were they big-time dope dealers?); the sociologists' poll (where ...

The Sex Pistols: Goodbye — and Good Riddance: The Sex Pistols, Winterland, San Francisco

Live Review by Harvey Kubernik, Melody Maker, 21 January 1978

Harvey Kubernik's personal view of the Pistols' last U.S. gig at Winterland in San Francisco ...

Slaughter and the Dogs: Slaughter & the Dogs: Stop spitting, punks

Report by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 21 January 1978

SLAUGHTER AND the Dogs are not one of the great groups of our time, even by the light of punk rock. But they deserve better ...

Slaughter and the Dogs: Marquee Club, London

Live Review by Paul Rambali, New Musical Express, 21 January 1978

NINTEEN seventy-seven happened pretty fast. ...

Sex Pistols: The Sex Pistols: Magical mystery tour

Report by Barry Cain, Record Mirror, 21 January 1978

BARRY CAIN goes to America to say hullo to the Pistols. They say hullo back ...

The Viletones: The Four Viletones Of The Apocalypse

Profile by Jeremy Gluck, Sounds, 21 January 1978

FORGET NEW York, Give London a pass. Come instead to Toronto, Canada's fun city. Join the revellers at David's where, on certain choice nights, you ...

The Sex Pistols: Sex Pistols: This Could Be The Last Time

Report by Jonh Ingham, Sounds, 28 January 1978

HYSTERIA! Disgust! Bemusement! Perplexity! The hip, FM radio dj still can't believe it. The Sex Pistols in San Francisco – heavee, man! Back in Hollywood, ...

Sex Pistols: The Sex Pistols: Winterland, San Francisco

Live Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 28 January 1978

London's pride take over USA – The Pistols' last gig? ...

The Ramones, the Runaways: Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica CA

Live Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 30 January 1978

THE RECENT Sex Pistols tour threatened, among other things, the Ramones' standing as rock's premiere punk band. But while the Ramones is a bit lightweight ...

Don Letts: Cramp and Paralize Them and Those Who Worship Babylon

Interview by Robin Banks, ZigZag, February 1978

DON LETTS shares a comfortable flat in Forest Hill with three Rastafarian friends, a ferret named Brian, and various other permanent or transient guests. The ...

The Sex Pistols: Sex Pistols: Tour Notes

Report by Howie Klein, New York Rocker, February 1978

In case you were incommunicado for the last month, the much-ballyhooed Sex Pistols American tour has come and gone. ...

The Clash, Joe Strummer: The Clash's Joe Strummer (1978)

Interview by Howie Klein, Rock's Backpages audio, February 1978

A typically splendid Strummer interview: He explains Ska! He digs Steve Miller! He prefers the Sun to the Guardian! He's in hospital with hepatitis! Plus stuff on gobbing, politics, the upcoming 2nd Clash album etc.

File format: mp3; file size: 25mb, interview length: 27' 17" sound quality: ***

The Nuns: Whisky a Go Go, L.A.

Live Review by Howie Klein, New York Rocker, February 1978

SOMEHOW THE NUNS manage to transcend the traditionally (like in "traditionally moronic") rivalry between San Francisco and LA. Perhaps that’s because the Nuns are as ...

The Sex Pistols: Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols (Warner Bros. BSK 3147)

Review by Toby Goldstein, Crawdaddy!, February 1978

BOLLOCKS OR BULLETS? ...

Richard Hell: To Hell and Back: Richard Hell

Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, February 1978

RICHARD HELL had just got up, and one of the first things he focused on was John Tobler, looming over him with a tape recorder. ...

The Adverts, The Cortinas, Wayne County & The Electric Chairs, The Depressions, Staa Marx, Suburban Studs: Adverts, Wayne County & the Electric Chairs, Cortinas, Suburban Studs, Staa Marx, Depressions: De Montfort Hall, Leicester

Live Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 4 February 1978

Leicester bangs, Gaye Explodes ...

The Sex Pistols, Sid Vicious: An Evening with Sid and Nancy – The Odd Couple Behind Closed Doors.

Interview by Chris Salewicz, New Musical Express, 4 February 1978

SWAYING CRAZILY, Sid Vicious clambers up off the bed. He manages the three or four steps to where, obeying live-in-lover Nancy's instructions, he removes the ...

Penetration: The Canteen, Newcastle

Live Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, 4 February 1978

PENETRATION MIGHT have been a flicker of inspiration, a couple of months of excitement refracted through a bunch of provincial Johnny Rotten fans. Might have ...

The Clash's Paul Simonon (1978)

Interview by Howie Klein, Rock's Backpages audio, 4 February 1978

The Clash's bassman talks about his life pre-Clash; the Clash's politics (personal and public); his development as a musician and a showman, and a whole lot more.

File format: mp3; file size: 53.4mb, interview length: 58' 16" sound quality: ***

Adam & The Ants: Marquee Club, London

Live Review by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 11 February 1978

Termites devour part of New Wave ...

The Adverts: Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts (Anchor)*****

Review by Jane Suck, Sounds, 11 February 1978

One Chord Wonders: no blunders ...

The Worst

Interview by Jon Savage, Sounds, 11 February 1978

THE WORST THEN. The name? Aha an apt trap. Illustrating at once the extreme that they are, yet at the same time to ...

999: Paradiso, Amsterdam

Live Review by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 18 February 1978

999 ARE A heavy-pop quartet signed favourably to United Artists. They are, in effect, on the verge of some kind of breakthrough. A likeable bunch ...

The Ramones, The Runaways: The Ramones/The Runaways: Santa Monica Civic, Los Angeles

Live Review by Sylvie Simmons, Sounds, 18 February 1978

RAMONES: singing about sun and surf while their home town suffered blizzards. 'Obladi-oblada' for the blank generation ...

The Adverts: Vicarious Thrills + Pol-A-Ticks: Crossing The Irish Sea With The Adverts

Report and Interview by Jane Suck, Sounds, 18 February 1978

ACTUALLY, WE didn't swim across, we flew in a chartered taxi-cab with Rosalind Russell (Record Mirror) on the wing and a two-hour vomiting session courtesy ...

Sham 69: Sham v Them. Referee: Barry Cain

Report and Interview by Barry Cain, Record Mirror, 25 February 1978

JIMMY PURSEY talks. Jimmy Pursey talks corks out of bottles. Talks forks out of mouths. Talks porks out of pigs. Talks hawks out ...

The Adverts: Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 25 February 1978

ONCE UPON a time, the fastest way of revealing yourself as an Old Fart Who Didn't Understand The New Wave was to allege – in ...

Generation X Game

Interview by Robin Katz, Daily Star, 27 February 1978

"MY AGE group is relearning rock 'n' roll, trying to find the essence of it. We're struggling to learn." ...

Sex Pistols: Letter From Britain: Winter Wasteland

Comment by Simon Frith, Creem, March 1978

I HATE WINTER, even in cosy old Britain, so I certainly don't know what I'm doing here, sitting in a motel room in Birmingham, Michigan, ...

Blondie, Shaun Cassidy, Iggy Pop, Suicide, The Vibrators: New Albums: Best at the Theft — Suicide Outclasses Blondie

Review by Howard Wuelfing, Unicorn Times, March 1978

AMONG OUTSIDERS, the paramount issues of the punk/new wave movement revolve around stuff like clothing styles, politics, and the effect of massive success on a ...

The Sex Pistols: Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols (Warner Bros.)

Review by Wesley Strick, Circus, 2 March 1978

Johnny Rotten Assaults Rock & Roll ...

Angelic Upstarts: Bolingbroke Hall, South Shields

Live Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, 4 March 1978

I WAS starting to think the whole thing had gone down the toilet. All the energy and the anger. Suddenly smart suits and cash register ...

John Lydon, The Sex Pistols: John Lydon: Man A Warrior – The Interview part 1

Report and Interview by Vivien Goldman, Sounds, 4 March 1978

There's only one place to be late at night in Jamaica – tuned in to radio JBC, the man Michael Campbell, the man they call ...

Buzzcocks: The Buzzcocks: Another Music In A Different Kitchen (United Artists UAG 30519)*****

Review by Jane Suck, Sounds, 4 March 1978

A real kitchen sink drama ...

The Subway Sect: Bernard Rhodes Great Unknowns Payola Special

Interview by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 4 March 1978

SUBWAY SECT have been together in some form or another since the semi-legendary 100 Club punk festival in September 1976. The line-up on that date ...

Buzzcocks, The Slits: Thames Polytechnic,Woolwich, London

Live Review by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 11 March 1978

Buzzcocks turn pro ...

John Lydon, The Sex Pistols: John Lydon: Man A Warrior, part 2

Interview by Vivien Goldman, Sounds, 11 March 1978

CYNICS AMONG the SOUNDS readership may have been wondering why/how our Johnny Rotten underwent such a speedy transformation into this new-fangled character called Johnny Cool, ...

Elton John, The Ramones, Sex Pistols: Mr. Ramone, Meet Mr. Rotten

Report by Fred Schruers, Circus, 16 March 1978

CIRCUS Invades Britain for a Classic Punk Clash ...

John Lydon, The Sex Pistols: The Poolside Pronouncements Of Johnny 'No-Tan' Rotten

Interview by Chris Salewicz, New Musical Express, 18 March 1978

JOHN ROTTEN likes dressing up. Seeing him stuck away under a parasol by the side of the Olympic-sized pool of the Kingston Sheraton at eleven ...

Buzzcocks, Penetration, The Slits: The Buzzcocks: Another Movie In A Different Cinema

Report and Interview by Jane Suck, Sounds, 25 March 1978

I SMOKE TOO much. I drink too much. I do drugs and don't get off, and, according to Dead Fingers Talk's manager and all the ...

Generation X: X Cert For A Teenage Opera

Report and Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, April 1978

GENERATION X ARE pissed. Legless. Tony James is sprawled in a dressing room armchair, cradling his bass with a glazed-silly grin spread across the face ...

The Sex Pistols: Johnny On The Split: "I'm A Free Man!"

Interview by Susan Whitall, Creem, April 1978

JUST AS we were going to press, pasting up pictures of Messrs. Rotten, Vicious, Jones and Cook, the news broke. The band had broken up ...

The Subway Sect: Subway Sect: An Eiffel of the Subways in Paris

Report by Robin Banks, ZigZag, April 1978

THE METRO is crowded. Looking strangely at home amidst the Parisian hordes, Vic Goddard reclines in his seat, leisurely drawing on a Gauloise cigarette. The ...

The Viletones

Interview by Gary Pig Gold, The Pig Paper, April 1978

GARY AND JOHNNY PIG IN A PIGSCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH NAZI DOG AND FREDDY POMPEII ...

Wire: Pink Flag

Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, April 1978

AS THE FALLOUT from new wave continues to turn up on plastic, a few gangs of rockers have chosen (wisely I suppose) to see how ...

999: Briefing For Direct Action

Report and Interview by Jeremy Gluck, Sounds, 1 April 1978

I WOULD HAVE LAUGHED at you for saying as much to me before, but Liverpool, with all its cool, uninspiring streets and grey sky has ...

Angelic Upstarts: What's Going On 'Ere, Then?

Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, 1 April 1978

"WHO KILLED Liddle?" On stage a tall young man wearing a police hat, white shirt, trousers and jackboots is down on his hands and knees. ...

Generation X: Generation X

Review by Paul Rambali, New Musical Express, 1 April 1978

ON PAPER Generation X have their credentials for being The Now Sensation all present and correct. They've had them for a long time too. ...

Johnny Moped

Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 1 April 1978

"DID YA hear that bit on the news about Charlie Chaplin's body. The IRA claim they took it and now they want ransom for it." ...

The Boys Can Do It

Report by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 1 April 1978

...take it from Sue and Sandra ...

The Vibrators: Pure Mania (Columbia JC 35038)

Review by Ariel Swartley, Rolling Stone, 6 April 1978

Vibrators: artisans of punk rock ...

Generation X: Generation Rock & Roll Soul

Profile and Interview by Chris Salewicz, New Musical Express, 8 April 1978

MIDNIGHT IN THE basement console room at Advision Studios, London W1. As Generation X bassist Tony James avidly demands of producer Martin Rushent that he ...

Sex Pistols, Sid Vicious: Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen: Sex, Drugs and Rock 'N' Roll

Interview by Rosalind Russell, Record Mirror, 8 April 1978

When SID VICIOUS was at the height of fame with the Sex Pistols, be was supporting an £80 a day heroin habit. His fix cost ...

Wayne County & The Electric Chairs: Wayne County: County Counsel

Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 8 April 1978

WHEN WAYNE COUNTY left his native state of Georgia, "because it was icky, and I got shot at", he meant to take a trip down ...

Devo, The Dickies, The Heaters, The Screamers, The Zippers: Punk Bands: Some Do, Some Don't

Report by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 15 April 1978

THE DICKIES and the Heaters have it. The Runaways and the Quick did, but not anymore. Venus & the Razorblades had it for an instant, ...

The Damned: Final Spotlight On The Damned

Report by Peter Silverton, Sounds, 15 April 1978

"OOOOOOOOO CAPTAIN," says Helen from Headingley, "you're so cool these days. That jacket" – indicating his sombre black tuxedo affair and matching multi-colour polka-dotted tie ...

Generation X: 'You Can't Help Selling Out'

Report and Interview by Jeremy Gluck, Sounds, 22 April 1978

"MY FRIEND was bawling her eyes out. She asked Billy to kiss her and he did. She just about fainted!" ...

The Saints: Tiffany's, Edinburgh

Live Review by Ronnie Gurr, Record Mirror, 22 April 1978

THE SAINTS GROW HORNS ...

Motorhead: Various Artists: Long Shots, Dead Certs And Odds On Favourites (Chriswick Chartbusters Vol. 2) (Chiswick)

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 22 April 1978

NO MORE GOOD GUYS ...

Sham 69: Son Of Sham

Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 29 April 1978

SO THERE I was with photographer Harry Murlowski, dozing and half-listening to his interminable, politically-orienated conversation with a couple of hard-core Sham 69 followers in ...

Generation X, Billy Idol: Generation X's Billy Idol (1978)

Interview by Howie Klein, Rock's Backpages audio, May 1978

The Generation X frontman talks about the evolution and nature of the band, and extemporises about the nature of punk rock and the power of rock'n'roll.

File format: mp3; file size: 46.6mb, interview length: 50' 54" sound quality: ***

The Alley Cats, The Consumers, The Dils, X: The Dils, X, the Alleycats, the Consumers, F-Word: Whisky a Go Go, Los Angeles

Live Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 4 May 1978

Five Punk Bands on Bill at Whisky ...

Siouxsie & The Banshees: Siouxsie and the Banshees: Music Machine, London

Live Review by Jon Savage, Sounds, 13 May 1978

SWEET SIOUXSIE and her boys in black play loud, angular, claustrophobic. Batter batter into submission: make you want to do bad things... ...

X-Ray Spex: Poly Styrene Is Still Strictly Roots

Interview by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 13 May 1978

SUNDAY NIGHT in Croydon, and Poly Styrene's voice is shot. Flu goes for the throat like a cornered rat: when the victim's a singer, the ...

Adam & The Ants, X-Ray Spex: X-Ray Spex, Adam & The Ants, The Automatics: The Roundhouse, London

Live Review by Ian Penman, New Musical Express, 20 May 1978

AS MS. POLY'S strychnine air-raid voice shreds the encore and all present, the audience front-line snaps. ...

Plastic Bertrand: "My Bird Has Thrown Up..."

Report and Interview by Paul Rambali, New Musical Express, 27 May 1978

The French produce Punk's Greatest Hit (eat your heart out, Pistols!) ...

Generation X: Generation X

Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, June 1978

FROM THE VERY start of their recording career, it was obvious that Generation X had some rather unparochial ideas about their role as a punk ...

Sham 69: Tell Us the Truth

Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, June 1978

THERE HAVE BEEN quite a few new wave bands who have a strong relationship with their audience, but not a one can compete with Sham ...

Sham 69: If The Kids Are United…

Report and Interview by Caroline Coon, Sounds, 3 June 1978

JIMMY PURSEY'S very baggy grey flannels are held up by a brand new pair of white braces. His striped shirt is as clean as five ...

The Sex Pistols Shoot To The Top

Report by Susan Compo, Santa Ana Register, 12 June 1978

WHEN 'GOD SAVE THE QUEEN', a song by British punk-rockers the Sex Pistols, hit the top of the English charts several months ago, it was ...

The Clash: The 'Serious In-Depth Interview' You've Been Waiting For!

Report and Interview by Peter Silverton, Sounds, 17 June 1978

"AAAWOOOEEEUUUOOO, PETE...'ear you bin to the States...how wazzit?" ...

Advertising: Jingles

Review by Peter Silverton, Sounds, 24 June 1978

FEELING RUTHLESS, you could divide the entire spectrum of pop and rock'n'roll into two. ...

Chrome: Alien Soundtracks

Review by Jon Savage, Sounds, 24 June 1978

REMEMBERING THAT electricity comes from other planets... ...

Siouxsie & The Banshees: Siouxsie And The Banshees: The Unacceptable Face Of '78

Interview by Jon Savage, Sounds, 24 June 1978

'Overground – from abnormalityOverboard – for identityOverground – for normalityOverboard – on identity'– 'Overground' ...

Alternative TV: The World At Once…Dateline: Stonehenge

Interview by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 29 June 1978

I FOUND myself re-reading Colin Wilsons' prodigal slice of philosophical mythmaking The Outsider the other week. During the time I spent submerging myself gleefully into ...

Slaughter and the Dogs: Do It Dog Style

Review by Ian Penman, New Musical Express, 29 June 1978

UNFORTUNATELY, A posthumous debut album. Quite something, not even the anti-Christ (Sex Pistols) managed to pull that off. But it is a rather sad, inevitably ...

Alternative TV: The Image Has Cracked

Review by Danny Baker, ZigZag, July 1978

YOU KNOW them "artists" and "reviewers", they ain't never gonna stop. ...

Generation X: Idol With The Golden Head: Generation X's Billy Idol

Interview by Richard Grabel, New York Rocker, July 1978

RG: What did you do last night? BI: Oh, I went to some disco thing. ...

Siouxsie & The Banshees: Siouxsie And The Banshees

Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, July 1978

"I CAN'T WAIT to get into Polydor and run wild 'round the secretaries and throw all their typewriting paper and get their ribbons twisted. They ...

The Clash: Drug Stabbing Time

Report by Robin Banks, ZigZag, July 1978

CLASH STUDIO REPORT ...

The Idols, New York Dolls, Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers: The Jerry Nolan Story!!

Interview by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, July 1978

JERRY NOLAN is 32 years old. He has been in the New York Dolls and the Heartbreakers. He has made three albums which did not ...

The Clash, The Specials: The Clash/The Specials: Friar's, Aylesbury

Live Review by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 8 July 1978

FOR PEOPLE who like to put things in neat little pecking orders – and because of our conditioning there's a lot of them – the ...

The Undertones: Queen's University, Belfast

Live Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 8 July 1978

ON A NIGHT when one of the world's top bands, Ireland's favourite sons Thin Lizzy, were packing them in at the Ulster Hall, it was ...

Generation X Idolizes Rock & Roll

Interview by Paul Gambaccini, Rolling Stone, 13 July 1978

LONDON — ANYONE WHO calls Elton John a "bald cunt" is risking the wrath of the rock & roll mainstream, but Billy Idol of Generation ...

Generation X: Idol of the Generation

Interview by Robin Katz, Jackie, 15 July 1978

A Jackie Pop Special On Generation X ...

The Clash: Clash On Tour

Report and Interview by Chris Salewicz, New Musical Express, 15 July 1978

IT'S AS IF THE Clash's 'Police And Thieves' stage backdrop has suddenly transmogrified into moving 3-D. ...

The Prefects, The Subway Sect: The Prefects, Subway Sect: A Tale Of Two Bands

Profile by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 15 July 1978

TWO GROUPS, both of whom have to some extent followed their instincts. Prefects have always been aware of the area they were aiming for; Subway ...

Ronnie Biggs, Sex Pistols: The Sex Pistols: Biggsy

Interview by Tim Lott, Record Mirror, 15 July 1978

Ronald Biggs, one of the Great Train Robbers, speaks to TIM LOTT from Rio. Biggs under his new guise as punk poet talks about his ...

Siouxsie & The Banshees: Banshees Make The Breakthrough: Roundhouse, London

Live Review by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 29 July 1978

IF PUNKS ARE currently being brushed off by "official sources" as a speedily-becoming-extinct species, why then is it damn near impossible to find a comfortable ...

Stiff Little Fingers: The Harp Bar, Belfast

Live Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 29 July 1978

THE HARP Bar is packed for the return of Ulster's most popular and notorious modern rock band, Stiff Little Fingers. ...

The Clash, Suicide: Music Machine, London

Live Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 29 July 1978

NO TWO ways about it. All I can do is echo and re-emphasise Chris Brazier's sentiments in MM of two issues ago: the Clash are ...

Malcolm McLaren, The Sex Pistols: The Great Pistols Movies Fiasco

Report and Interview by Vivien Goldman, Sounds, 29 July 1978

VIVIEN GOLDMAN ON THE 'OFFICIAL' MOVIE WHICH STILL ISN'T FINISHED — AND THE BRILLIANT ONE MALCOLM WONT LET YOU SEE ...

Generation X: Why Generation X Are The Best Group In The World

Interview by Jeremy Gluck, The Pig Paper, August 1978

KEEP THE Sex Pistols (someone is going to have to now), keep The Clash and someone take The Stranglers, please. I've got a group on ...

Sham 69: Pursey's Down The Dogtrack

Report and Interview by Danny Baker, New Musical Express, 5 August 1978

Sham 69's leader blows his wages, ponders his role, and has a few larfs. DANNY BAKER goes to see an old mate about a dog. ...

The Adverts: The Marquee, London

Live Review by Miles, New Musical Express, 5 August 1978

Gobba Gobba On Gaye ...

The Clash, Suicide: The Music Machine, London

Live Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 5 August 1978

TIME HAS come today. Third of four Music Machine gigs and – surprise! – the ritual bottling of Suicide appears to have been omitted for ...

The Sex Pistols Interview: The Life & Crimes Of Two Simpleton Workin' Class Tossers

Interview by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 19 August 1978

THE SCENE: A modern four roomed flat situated somewhere near the Edgware Road. Its two inhabitants, Messrs Paul Cook and Steve Jones, are holding forth ...

Siouxsie & The Banshees: Bansheed! What's In An Image?

Profile and Interview by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 26 August 1978

JOHN MCKAY, the Banshees' guitarist, has a pale, ashen look constantly playing about his features and talks in measured, serious tones. ...

New Wave Goodbye? Some Thoughts On The Economic State Of The New Wave Industry In America

Overview by Greg Shaw, New York Rocker, September 1978

LET ME BEGIN by saying that I’ve written many articles on New Wave, most of which have dealt with the exciting possibilities of making permanent ...

Buzzcocks: The Buzzcocks

Report and Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, September 1978

LOVE BITES can be: The vice-like heart-grasp of new love: Embarrassing marks on the neck; Romance with a sting in the tail; THE NEW BUZZCOCKS ...

Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers: Max's Kansas City, New York NY

Live Review by Susin Shapiro, The Village Voice, 4 September 1978

Johnny Thunders: D.O.A., L.A.M.F. ...

John Cooper Clarke: Just Another Ex-Gravedigger Poet Into Dada and the TV

Interview by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 9 September 1978

GARRY BUSHELL GOES PUNK-SURREAL ...

The Stranglers: Really Nice Guys

Report and Interview by Chris Salewicz, New Musical Express, 9 September 1978

So why are they banned from Top of the Pops? ...

Blondie, Debbie Harry: Blondie's Debbie Harry (1978) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Ian Ravendale, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 12 September 1978

This is a transcript of Ian's interview with Debbie. Listen to the audio of this interview.  ...

Stiff Little Fingers: Electric Ballroom, London

Live Review by Peter Silverton, Sounds, 16 September 1978

Let's give the Fingers a big hand ...

Buzzcocks: Love Bites

Review by Jon Savage, Sounds, 23 September 1978

VULNERABILITY MEANS never having to say you're sorry... ...

The Ramones: Ramones Go Depresso

Interview by Lester Bangs, New Musical Express, 23 September 1978

Hanging out on Second Avenue Eating chicken vindaloo Hanging out all by myself Cause I don't want to be with anybody else I just want ...

The Ramones (1978)

Interview by Ian Ravendale, Rock's Backpages audio, 28 September 1978

Johnny, Joey, Tommy and Dee Dee talk about what got them together; making records; being "Ramones"; playing live, and the true meaning of Gabba Gabba Hey!

File format: mp3; file size: 11.9mb, interview length: 12' 58" sound quality: *****

The Undertones: 'Teenage Kicks' Is The Undertones' EP

Interview by Dave McCullough, Sounds, 30 September 1978

DAVE McCULLOUGH FINDS PURE PUNK IN DARKEST DERRY ...

Buzzcocks: The Buzzcocks: Pete Shelley is a Sensitive Artist... and Buzzcocks Have no Guilt

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 30 September 1978

Every successful new wave band experiences a backlash, and Buzzcockes are no exception. HARRY DOHERTY sympathises ...

Buzzcocks: The Buzzcocks: Love Bites

Review by Simon Frith, Melody Maker, 30 September 1978

UMMMMM, ON THE cover of their new album the Buzzcocks look yummy enough to wrap up and take home. Love Bites, it's called, but no ...

The Ramones: Ulster Hall, Belfast

Live Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 30 September 1978

IT WAS A TRICKY confrontation. John Ramone stepped out of the hotel lift and after a brief moptop nod of recognition dived into the obvious ...

Generation X: Generation X (Chrysalis)

Review by Stephen Demorest, Rock Scene, October 1978

ALL THE girls love blond Billy Idol (he pouts like Brando), and Generation X seem to have the right attitude. "No Session Musicians" it says ...

The Ramones: Ramones: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by David Hancock, Evening News, London, 3 October 1978

Pow! It's the punk kings. ...

The Slits: Girl Trouble with The Slits

Profile and Interview by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 7 October 1978

NICK KENT on the wildest waifs in town ...

Stiff Little Fingers

Profile and Interview by Peter Silverton, Sounds, 7 October 1978

IF MY FIRST sight of Jake Burns had been while keeping myself occupied on a bus by speculating on the lives of the other passengers, ...

The Skids: No Comedy, No Intellect, No Politics, No Punk

Report and Interview by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 7 October 1978

GARRY BUSHELL INTERVIEWS THE SKIDS AND GETS CONFUSED (AGAIN). AN EVERYDAY STORY OF SCOTTISH LADS IN A POP GROUP. ...

999: Separates

Review by Ian Penman, New Musical Express, 14 October 1978

AND YES, this unfortunately is where it separates. 999's second album – always a fateful thing – and the illusory packaging hides a regression. ...

Penetration: Moving Targets (Virgin)

Review by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 14 October 1978

THIS YEAR A LINE formed. At one end Penetration, and from there through Joy Division, The Mekons, The Slits, The Fall, The Passage, The Pop ...

Penetration: Moving Targets (Virgin)****

Review by Jon Savage, Sounds, 14 October 1978

WE'RE NOT the same, you're not the same, they're not the same. ...

Sid Vicious: Max's Kansas City, NYC

Live Review by Ira Robbins, New Musical Express, 14 October 1978

ON AN unusually busy New York rock night, the attraction of an ex-Pistol was apparently sufficient to pack Max's out for a couple of sets ...

Siouxsie & The Banshees: The Scream

Review by Peter Silverton, Sounds, 14 October 1978

NO MATTER what anyone may say or think, the success of 'Hong Kong Garden' was neither predicted nor predictable. Despite its obvious instantness (primarily, of ...

Wayne County & The Electric Chairs: Music Machine, Camden Town, London

Live Review by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 14 October 1978

OCTOBER SEES the inevitable recognition of two of the greatest rock'n'roll performers of all time — Bette Midler and Wayne County who, even before Wayne ...

Johnny Thunders: Nothing Is Forever

Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 21 October 1978

Maybe you sneered at the New York Dolls; so maybe you missed a Distant Early Warning of the new wave. Johnny Thunders is back in ...

The Sex Pistols, Sid Vicious: Sid and Nancy: Life In The Vicious Circle

Report by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 21 October 1978

SID VICIOUS (born John Simon Ritchie — though his mother's remarried name is Mrs. Ann Beverley) may hold the all-time record for building up an ...

Buzzcocks: The Buzzcocks: Top Rank, Shefield

Live Review by Andy Gill, New Musical Express, 21 October 1978

Who, exactly, is gobbing on whom? ...

The Clash: Queens University, Belfast

Live Review by Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 21 October 1978

THE LAST time The Clash tried to play The Ulster Hall a combination of big business insurance moguls and local bureaucratic bullshit caused the gig ...

John Cooper Clarke: Disguise In Love (CBS 83132)

Review by Tim Lott, Record Mirror, 28 October 1978

Disguise in sane ...

The Sex Pistols: Sex Pistols Bootlegs

Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 28 October 1978

Sex Pistols: Indecent Exposure (It's A Dirty Business) (Rotten Records – bootleg album)'Anarchy In The U.S.A.'/'Belsen Was A Gas' (Rotten Role – bootleg single). ...

The Lurkers: Strange Daze In Sheffield (Or Maybe Halifax)

Report and Interview by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 28 October 1978

SOMEONE MUST have been spreading lies about me, for without doing anything wrong I was told to write a feature about The Lurkers. The Man ...

The Rich Kids: Music Machine, London

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 28 October 1978

UNTIL THE RICH KIDS get a few things into perspective – the rather misbegotten and amusing attitude, for instance, that their music goes above the ...

Siouxsie & The Banshees, Siouxsie: Siouxsie & The Banshees (1978)

Interview by Ian Ravendale, Rock's Backpages audio, 30 October 1978

Messrs Severin, Morris, McKay and Soux slag off their contemporaries, whinge about their record company, dismiss half their fans and generally have a good old moan.

File format: mp3; file size: 14.7mb, interview length: 16' 04" sound quality: *****

Devo, The Only Ones, The Ramones, Talking Heads: Don't Step On My Gray Canvas Shoes: New Albums from Talking Heads, Ramones, Devo et al

Review by Howard Wuelfing, Unicorn Times, November 1978

IN EXAMINING Talking Heads' latest release, More Songs About Buildings and Food (Sire, SRK 6058), we encounter a disturbing new twist upon several crucial new ...

John Cale, Robert Gordon, Mickey Jupp, The Sex Pistols, Chris Spedding, The Vibrators: Have Guitar, Will Travel: Chris Spedding

Interview by Richard Grabel, New York Rocker, November 1978

CHRIS SPEDDING — the name that launched a thousand session credits. He's played guitar for everyone from John Cale to the Wombles, including Bryan Ferry, ...

Crime: Prime Time for Crime

Profile and Interview by Michael Goldberg, New York Rocker, November 1978

SAN FRANCISCO – The girl in the black leather jacket with the safety pin through the collar, the tight black jeans, silver pumps, crewcut, and ...

Siouxsie & The Banshees: Siouxsie and the Banshees: The Scream

Review by Kris Needs, ZigZag, November 1978

FIRST DAY I got it I stunned a full room with this magnificent record...and you should have seen me three hours and four more plays ...

Plastic Bertrand: Ça Plane Pour Moi (Sire)

Review by Ariel Swartley, Rolling Stone, 2 November 1978

LIKE A pair of French jeans, Ça Plane Pour Moi is nonchalant and right as hell: an elegant and thorough misunderstanding better suited to the ...

Sham 69: That's Life

Review by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 4 November 1978

JIMMY PURSEY'S Ulysses – a day in the life of 'a working class kid'. A shrug of the shoulders. ...

The Clash: Black'n White Drop Outasite

Live Review by Ian Penman, New Musical Express, 4 November 1978

The Clash: Roxy Theatre, Harlesden ...

John Cooper Clarke: This Year's Esperanto

Profile and Interview by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 11 November 1978

JOHN COOPER-CLARKE, the poet who came in from the cold ...

Penetration

Report and Interview by Ian Penman, New Musical Express, 11 November 1978

"Every night before I go to sleep/Find a ticket, win a lottery/Scoop the pearls up from the sea/Cash them in and..." ...

The Clash: Give 'Em Enough Rope (CBS 82431)

Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, 11 November 1978

The Clash: War 'n' pizza ...

The Clash: Give 'Em Enough Rope (CBS)

Review by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 11 November 1978

White Punks On Rope ...

Boomtown Rats: This Feature Is Guaranteed Free From Bob Geldof

Interview by Peter Silverton, Sounds, 18 November 1978

...THAT'S THE PETE SILVERTON PLEDGE ...

X-Ray Spex: Maturity Is Next: X-Ray Spex: Germ Free Adolescents (EMI)

Review by Tim Lott, Record Mirror, 18 November 1978

SOUNDS FOR sophisticated head-bangers, noises for Nembuthal nights. X-Ray Spex carry the standard of 1977 (which reads fun) on the flagpole of 1979 (constructed from ...

The Cimarons, Sham 69: Sham 69 & The Cimarons: The West Country Invasion Starts Here

Report and Interview by Penny Reel, New Musical Express, 18 November 1978

IT WOULD appear that someone's got it in for Jimmy Pursey and Sham 69. You see they're planting stories in the press to the effect ...

The Sex Pistols: Bootleg Albums

Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, 18 November 1978

The Sex Pistols: Gun Control/Live at the Rodeo ...

X-Ray Spex: Germ Free Adolescents

Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, 18 November 1978

"I WANNA BE A FROZEN PEA!" Does Poly Styrene finally make it? Will she really dehydrate? Does she turn into a Teasmade? Will she... ...

X-Ray Spex: X-Ray-Spex: Germ Free Adolescents

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 18 November 1978

SMASH THE barriers and the truth shall make you free (as long as stocks last, anyway): barriers between humans and objects, between the natural (sic) ...

Pure Hell: Just Another Bunch Of Middle Class Kids With Silly Names And Spiky Haircuts: Pure Hell

Report and Interview by Chris Salewicz, New Musical Express, 25 November 1978

"H-E-E-EYY..." Pure Hell drummer Spider Blaze tousles his Rita Hayworth red crop and slaps his right palm down on mine, giving me one of those ...

Siouxsie & The Banshees: Siouxsie and the Banshees: The Most Elitist Band In The World

Report and Interview by Peter Silverton, Sounds, 25 November 1978

'A gig is often an exaggeration of what we feel every day and therefore it can probably seem a bit ridiculous at times maybe. It ...

The Clash: Town Hall, Middlesbrough

Live Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, 25 November 1978

PERSPECTIVE. THE Clash are heroes (but not mine). ...

Siouxsie & The Banshees

Report and Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, December 1978

AND YOU ALL thought, or have been led to believe, that Siouxsie and the Banshees were nothing but grim-faced, black-clad warriors of doom and disorder, ...

The Clash, The Slits: The Clash/The Slits: Village Bowl, Bournemouth

Live Review by Kris Needs, ZigZag, December 1978

IT'S 5.30 in the morning and for some reason I'm stuck on a ledge halfway down a several hundred foot cliff overhanging Bournemouth beach... And ...

The Clash: Give 'em Enough Rope (CBS 82431)

Review by Robin Banks, ZigZag, December 1978

A TRIUMPHANT roar of battles won. This album is a paean to victory than demands instant recognition and then leaves one gasping for breath, exhausted ...

The Clash: Clash

Report and Interview by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 2 December 1978

What, THEM again? Fraid so. No apologies... On The Road Fax by NICK KENT: Biro & Quiz ...

The Clash, Joe Strummer: The Clash's Joe Strummer (1978)

Interview by Ian Ravendale, Rock's Backpages audio, 2 December 1978

Backstage at Newcastle Polytechnic, the Clash's frontman on the problems surrounding that night's gig; becoming part of the "rock establishment" and selling out; the production of Give 'Em Enough Rope; and Sid Vicious and the coincidence of 'Drug Stabbing Time'.

File format: mp3; file size: 5.8mb, interview length: 14' 27" sound quality: *****

The Clash's Joe Strummer (1978) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Ian Ravendale, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 2 December 1978

This is a transcription of Ian's audio interview with Joe. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

The Subway Sect: The Northern Soul of Vic Godard

Interview by Dave McCullough, Sounds, 2 December 1978

A SUBWAY SECT INTERVIEW concerning John Travolta, Françoise Hardy, Les Dawson, Zola, Nosmo King, Abba and other street heroes. By DAVE McCULLOUGH ...

Public Image Ltd: Public Image (Virgin)

Review by Peter Silverton, Sounds, 9 December 1978

AND THE BOY looked at Johnny. And he shouted: "Look, ma, the Emperor's got no clothes." ...

John Cooper Clarke: The Salford Surrealist

Report and Interview by Brian Case, Melody Maker, 16 December 1978

A poet and his roots ...

The Clash: Give 'Em Enough Rope (Epic JE 35543)

Review by Don Snowden, Los Angeles Times, 17 December 1978

A PUNK BAND NOT TO BE SNEERED AT ...

Patti Smith (1978) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by John Tobler, Rock's Backpages transcripts, Spring 1978

This is a transcript of John's interview with Patti. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Sex Pistols, Sid Vicious: Sid Vicious (1978)

Interview by John Tobler, Rock's Backpages audio, Spring 1978

The former Pistols "bass player" (one uses the term advisedly) talks about his version of 'My Way'; the break up of the band; The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle film; Ronald Biggs; planning a band with Johnny Thunders; being managed by girlfriend Nancy Spungen, and keeping his name.

File format: mp3; file size: 12.6mb, interview length: 13' 05" sound quality: *****

Sex Pistols, Sid Vicious: Sid Vicious (1978) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by John Tobler, Rock's Backpages transcripts, Spring 1978

This is a transcription of John's audio interview with Sid. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Snatch Says: "Morons Are Running The Media!"

Interview by Jon Savage, Search & Destroy, Spring 1978

JON SAVAGE interviewed PAT PALLADIN in London a while ago... ...

Angry Samoans, Vom: The Metal Mike Saunders Interview

Interview by Gary Sperrazza!, Big Star, Spring 1978

In the early '70s, Mike Saunders was one of the leading and best writers around, especially when he was writing about the topics most near ...

The Cramps

Profile and Interview by Joe Sasfy, Unicorn Times, 1979

CONFIDENTIAL REPORT BY JOE SASFY ...

Devo: Where the Rubber met the Road

Report by Byron Coley, New York Rocker, January 1979

"Louis bided his time, isolating Spain diplomatically, and acquainting his fellow rulers with the term devolution." — Encyclopedia Britannica Vol. VI, p. 1093 ...

Penetration: Moving Targets (Virgin V 2109)

Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, January 1979

IT'S ONLY slightly difficult to take a record pressed on glow-in-the-dark plastic seriously, but such is the level of total foolishness that the British record ...

Sid Vicious on Trial

Report by Larry Jaffee, Imagine, January 1979

SID VICIOUS, bass player for the now-defunct, notorious punk rock band, the Sex Pistols, pleaded not guilty on November 21; at his arraignment to the ...

The Clash: Give 'Em Enough Rope

Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, January 1979

THE CLASH HAVE been through a lot since they last released an album, almost 19 months ago, and so has the scene that they emerged ...

The Clash: Give 'Em Enough Rope (Epic)

Review by Alan Betrock, New York Rocker, January 1979

OKAY, SO I'M supposed to write this treatise on the new, long-delayed, Clash album — a task I'm quite looking forward to since I reckon ...

The Clash, The Slits: Music Machine, London

Live Review by Dave McCullough, Sounds, 6 January 1979

A love that burns ...

The Clash: Music Machine, London

Live Review by Chris Salewicz, New Musical Express, 6 January 1979

LIKE THE few other rock bands that occasionally verge on genius – such at The Rolling Stones and the original Roxy Music – The Clash ...

The Ruts: support your local punk band

Profile and Interview by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 6 January 1979

FOR EXAMPLE, TAKE THE RUTS. PLEASE. (OI, I'LL DO THE JOKES — G. BUSHELL) ...

Generation X: All The Young Dudes

Interview by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 13 January 1979

GLEAN WHAT you will from the shapes of things that came to pass during 1978, but one commodity that was rejected with an almighty vengeance ...

Richard Hell: The Return Of The Bug-Eyed Monster

Interview by Giovanni Dadomo, Sounds, 13 January 1979

RICHARD HELL AND GIOVANNI DADOMO VISIT THE BOAT SHOW ...

Crass: The Spirit of '76 is Alive and Well and Living in Ongar (in a Commune)

Profile by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 20 January 1979

"YES THAT'S right, punk is dead/it's just another cheap product for the consumer's head/bubblegum rock on plastic transistors/schoolboy sedition backed by bigtime promoters/CBS promote the ...

The Alley Cats, The Screamers, X, The Zippers: L.A. Bands: Rocking Or Reeling?

Report by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 21 January 1979

A YEAR AGO, Pasadena's Van Halen was just a promising band on the L.A. scene. Its most stellar dates were in Glendora, Redondo Beach and ...

Buzzcocks, Fast Cars, V2: Buzzcocks, V2, Fast Cars: Manchester Polytechnic

Live Review by Mick Middles, Sounds, 27 January 1979

Still friends of mine ...

The Dead Boys: Dead Boys Tell No Tales (Under An Hour, That Is)

Report and Interview by Richard Riegel, Creem, February 1979

FIVE MINUTES into my first-ever meeting with the Dead Boys, and already I have an angle, a metaphorical hook for my story on the band: ...

Generation X: Valley Of The Dolls (Chrysalis CHR 1193)

Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 3 February 1979

Style into junk ...

Sex Pistols, Sid Vicious: Sid Vicious Dies of Overdose

Report by Wayne Robins, Newsday, 3 February 1979

NEW YORK — Sid Vicious joined his girlfriend Nancy in death yesterday. ...

Sham 69: I Quit

Report by Kris Needs, New Musical Express, 10 February 1979

ON WEDNESDAY, January 31, Sham 69 played their last ever gig. ...

Stiff Little Fingers: Inflammable Material (Rough Trade)

Review by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 10 February 1979

I WAS HARDLY expecting it but...even more so than Never Mind The Bollocks – which turned out to be comedy – much more so than ...

Stiff Little Fingers: Inflammable Material (Rough Trade)*****

Review by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 10 February 1979

POOR OLD Stiff Little Fingers. They stormed across the Irish Sea last year and confused most people by talking loudly about being Ulster Boys without ...

The Dickies: The Incredible Shrinking Dickies

Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 10 February 1979

IN ESSENCE, The Dickies make silly music for silly people. Whereas other punk groups have slavishly copied the three-chord assault of The Ramones with deadpan ...

Sex Pistols, Sid Vicious: Sid Vicious: A Rocky Lifestyle Played Out to Its Extreme End

Obituary by Joel Selvin, San Francisco Chronicle, 18 February 1979

EPITAPH FOR a punk: Even before his somehow not too surprising drug overdose death at age 21, Sid Vicious already scrawled his name indelibly in ...

Generation X: Just A Pretty Buncha Posers? Or is there more to Generation X?

Profile by David Hepworth, Smash Hits, 22 February 1979

MOST BANDS would waste no time in setting the dogs on you if you dared call them posers. Generation X, on the other hand, have ...

999, the Members: Lyceum, London

Live Review by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 24 February 1979

A state of emergency ...

John Lydon, Malcolm McLaren, Public Image Ltd, The Sex Pistols: Rotten v. McLaren: No Winner

Report by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 24 February 1979

AS JOHNNY Rotten savours his first victory in the Lydon-Glitterbest case, Public Image Ltd. prepare to record a second album with a new drummer, the ...

The Sex Pistols: The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle

Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, 24 February 1979

"WHAT NEEDS UNDERSTANDING is the state of paralysis everyone is in..." ...

The Stranglers: The Stranglers Live (X Cert)

Review by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 24 February 1979

A CHILL WIND blows down the grimy alley, hidden in shadows and overpacked with freshly stinking mounds of rotting vegetation left over from the neighbouring ...

The Clash

Report and Interview by Jim Sullivan, Sweet Potato, March 1979

"I don't understand every lyric on the album, I doubt that Mick or Topper or Paul understands what every single word is. But if you ...

The Clash: Give 'Em Enough Rope (Epic)

Review by Richard Riegel, Creem, March 1979

FUTURE SHOCK NOW (If You Want It) ...

Vic Godard, The Subway Sect: Vic Godard: Down the Road on a Stick

Interview by Robin Banks, ZigZag, March 1979

ON THE 'WHITE Riot' tour of early '77, Vic Godard and his band the Subway Sect ('cos they always were his band) confronted the great ...

Alternative TV: Vibing Up The Senile Man (Deptford Fun City Records)

Review by Ian Birch, Melody Maker, 3 March 1979

WHEN MARK Perry gave up editing Sniffin' Glue, he started a band that has turned out to be a logical extension of the famous punkzine. ...

Generation X: Lyceum, London

Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 3 March 1979

MEDALS FOR bravery should be struck for Billy Idol and his mates in Generation X. Would you, dear reader, like to stand on a stage, ...

Crass: The Feeding Of The Five Thousand (Small Wonder, Weeny 2) **

Review by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 24 March 1979

Obscene oaths do not the revolution make ...

The Clash, Bo Diddley, Pearl Harbour & The Explosions: The Clash, Bo Diddley,Pearl Harbor & The Explosions: Community Theater, Berkeley CA

Live Review by Howie Klein, New York Rocker, April 1979

EXCEPT FOR the fact that they're probably the best performing band around, there's something almost superfluous to Clashness about the band's shows. Wait a minute ...

The Clash, Bo Diddley: The Palladium, New York NY

Live Review by Roy Trakin, New York Rocker, April 1979

DON'T EXPECT the back-Clash to start here. Since the Clash's smashingly successful Palladium debut, I have had some second thoughts, but none of these contradict ...

The Clash: The Fillmore, San Francisco

Live Review by Howie Klein, New York Rocker, April 1979

EXCEPT FOR THE fact that they're probably the best performing band around, there's something almost superfluous to Clashness about the band's shows. Wait a minute ...

The Slits

Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, April 1979

THE SLITS AND me in an Interview Situation, eh? Well, hardly. We just chat away (it was better when the cassette was off but I ...

Crass, Poison Girls, The Wall: Acklam Hall, London

Live Review by Jon Savage, Melody Maker, 7 April 1979

A SPARSELY attended benefit for the Anarchist Black Cross Cienfuegos Press; a slow night — both the cause and its supporting groups (safely) out of ...

Sham 69: Jimmy Pursey: The People's Champ

Interview by John Pidgeon, Melody Maker, 7 April 1979

JIM POPS down the betting shop to bung twenty quid on a 10-1 shot in the 3.10 at Newbury, so I give his records the ...

Siouxsie & the Banshees: (Stair) Case History

Interview by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 7 April 1979

BUSHELL'S BRIEF BANSHEES BANTER ...

Buzzcocks: The Buzzcocks: Inside The Hit Factory

Report and Interview by Peter Silverton, Sounds, 7 April 1979

"It's really amazing. I can just sit there and go dee-da-dee-da-dee, da-dee-da-dee, put some words to it, teach the other three how to play it, ...

Buzzcocks: The Buzzcocks: Inside the Hit Factory

Report and Interview by Peter Silverton, Sounds, 7 April 1979

(PETE SHELLEY'S BACK PARLOUR IN GOSPORT, ACTUALLY, REVEALS PETE SILVERTON) ...

The Members: At The Chelsea Nightclub (Virgin)*****

Review by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 7 April 1979

BEFORE WE start let something be said: if lesser papers want to slag off Sounds they're quite welcome to try, but per-lease don't use the ...

Angelic Upstarts: Gonna Be A Prison Break-In

Report by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 21 April 1979

THE BAND THE POLICE LOVE TO HATE INVITED TO DO A PRISON GIG? ...

The Damned, The Specials, UK Subs: The Damned/UK Subs/The Specials: The Lyceum, London

Live Review by Peter Silverton, Sounds, 21 April 1979

WITH ENOUGH police grouped manacingly outside in coaches, in squad cars and standing around to supervise a couple of Manchester United away fixtures, I suppose ...

Generation X: Valley Of The Dolls (Chrysalis)

Review by Don Snowden, Los Angeles Times, 29 April 1979

MOST NEW-WAVE bands decry the jet-set life styles of established rock stars, but it's a safe bet to assume many were attracted to rock by ...

Generation X: Valley of the Dolls (Chrysalis CHR 1193)

Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, May 1979

THIS, GEN X's second outing, is not very good compared to their first, but it does serve a useful function by pointing out two phenomena ...

Sid Vicious: Sid 1957-1979

Report by uncredited writer, Creem, May 1979

IT MIGHT seem that just about everything's been said about Sid's death on February 2, of a heroin overdose. The newspapers reported every detail with ...

Buzzcocks: The Buzzcocks: The Other One Speaks!

Interview by Michael Gray, ZigZag, May 1979

WHEN YOU GO and see Buzzcocks, there are four of them. Up at the back, as high on his rostrum as an Old Bailey judge, ...

The Clash On Tour

Report and Interview by Stephen Demorest, Creem, May 1979

DURING THE ten days between February 7 and 17, 1979, the people of Iran toppled the Shah; the American ambassador was assassinated in Afghanistan; President ...

Penetration: Mountford Hall, Liverpool

Live Review by Penny Kiley, Melody Maker, 5 May 1979

Pauline in the safety zone ...

Penetration: Movement Is The Message

Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, 5 May 1979

THE PENETRATION EXPLANATION BY PHIL SUTCLIFFE ...

The Undertones: The Undertones (Sire SRK 6070)*****

Review by Dave McCullough, Sounds, 5 May 1979

Teenage dreamland ...

The Ramones: Joey finally gets the girl

Report by Ira Robbins, New Musical Express, 12 May 1979

The Ramones' first feature film, Rock'n'Roll High School, had its world premier last week at a Texas drive-in. Will a touching tale of teen romance ...

Wayne County & the Electric Chairs: Things Your Mother Never Told You (Safari GOOD 2) *****

Review by Peter Silverton, Sounds, 12 May 1979

More songs about toilets and marines ...

Penetration in Five Easy Stages

Interview by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 19 May 1979

ONCE UPON a time there was an impetuous eight-year-old girl living in a dark Durham corner and influenced greatly by the fashionable doings of a ...

Nips, The (aka The Nipple Erectors): The Nips: Death To Art Rock!

Interview by Dave McCullough, Sounds, 19 May 1979

DAVE McCULLOUGH GETS HIP TO THE NIPS ...

The Undertones: The Reluctant Debutantes

Report and Interview by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 26 May 1979

"When the group first started I suppose it's like a phase, y'know, ye want to be a fireman or ye want to be a policeman. ...

The Boy Looked At Johnny by Tony Parsons and Julie Burchill (Pluto Press)

Book Review by Byron Coley, New York Rocker, June 1979

 "Hell hath no snapping fury like an angry chipmunk." —Jesus The Good Book "I live on hate more than noodles." —Louis Ferdinand Celine Castle To Castle ...

999: Feelin' Alright With the Crew

Profile and Interview by Jon Young, Trouser Press, June 1979

ANYONE WHO SEES more than one rock show a year knows that a lot of the glitter wears off after the first few times. Which ...

The Lurkers, The Wall: Wirrina, Peterborough

Live Review by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 2 June 1979

Lurkers out in the dark ...

The Members: Members Only

Report and Interview by Peter Silverton, Sounds, 9 June 1979

THE PARTY was catered for two hundred or so guests. You could tell no expense had been spared — there were real bits of shell ...

Judy Nylon, Penetration: Penetration, Judy Nylon: Hurrah, New York NY

Live Review by Richard Grabel, New Musical Express, 9 June 1979

PAULINE KEEPS having her sentences completed for her. She'll say, "This is our current single in England, it's called..." and someone in the audience will ...

Stiff Little Fingers: Apollo, Manchester

Live Review by Mick Middles, Sounds, 9 June 1979

STIFF LITTLE Fingers are all about movement, aggression, passion and action. All these qualities lie in the band's lyrics and the way in which these ...

Iggy Pop, UK Subs: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Chris Bohn, Melody Maker, 16 June 1979

GIVE IGGY Pop a sense of occasion and he'll rise to it — magnificently. The difference between Friday's concert and the first London appearance of ...

Ronnie Biggs, Malcolm McLaren, New York Dolls, Sex Pistols: The Rise And Fall Of Malcolm McLaren Part One: Tin Pan Alley Meets An Idea Whose Time Has Come...

Retrospective and Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 16 June 1979

The Man Who Sold The World ...

The Ruts Bleed For You

Interview by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 16 June 1979

IT WAS ALL going so well too, that was the point. So everyone assumed it was part of the act. I must admit I was ...

Malcolm McLaren, The Sex Pistols: The Rise And Fall of Malcolm McLaren Part Two: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse Go Riding...

Retrospective and Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 23 June 1979

EARLY IN July, 1978, the office of Glitterbest Ltd. at 90/98 Shaftesbury Avenue, which is the centre of London's Theatreland, received the following letter. ...

Punk Attack: 'The Obituary of Rock and Roll'

Book Review by Dave Marsh, Rolling Stone, 28 June 1979

Julie Burchill and Tony Parsons: The Boy Looked at Johnny (Pluto Press) ...

The Clash: Yes It's Strummer In The City

Interview by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 30 June 1979

HOT TOWN! Strummer in the city: walks into the Kings Road pub that serves as his temporary local while he's staying in Fulham dead on ...

John Lydon, Malcolm McLaren, Public Image Ltd, The Sex Pistols, Sid Vicious: The Rise And Fall Of Malcolm McLaren Part Three: Last Tango In Paris — 'Je Ne Regrette Rien...'

Retrospective and Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 30 June 1979

WHEN HE WAS LYING, HE WAS MORE INTERESTING THAN MANY MEN TELLING A STORY TRULY. ...

Penetration

Interview by Richard Grabel, New York Rocker, July 1979

AS I SET out to cover Penetration, the omens were auspicious. ...

Stiff Little Fingers: (F)Ireland Rockers

Interview by Garry Bushell, Trouser Press, July 1979

"TAKE A LOOK where you're living/You got the army on your street/ And the RUC dog of repression is barking at your feet..." Jake Burns ...

The Sex Pistols, Sham 69: Goodbye Sham 69

Report and Interview by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 7 July 1979

"WE WANT SHUM! WE WANT SHUM! WE WANT SHUM!" Friday night in Glasgow The Apollo is packed to capacity and if you want understatements the ...

Penetration: The Whisky, Los Angeles

Live Review by Sylvie Simmons, Sounds, 7 July 1979

I'D SEEN the name around several times, but I'd never seen the band until tonight. Strange how your luck can change. ...

Sham 69, the Valves: Apollo, Glasgow

Live Review by Ronnie Gurr, Record Mirror, 7 July 1979

The Cockney Cowboys ride again ...

The Ramones: Rock'n'Roll High School (Sire Import) ****

Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 7 July 1979

THE ERA of the compilation is upon us, and this soundtrack album of smarties and arties is another rapid fire job, featuring the next best ...

Devo: In the Terminal Zone

Report and Interview by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 14 July 1979

IT'S OUT of the blue and into the black. A place is left somewhere behind where the front pages of the daily newspapers comment hysterically ...

The Clash, The Mo-dettes, Tenpole Tudor: The Clash

Report and Interview by Garry Bushell, Dave McCullough, Sounds, 14 July 1979

"Punk was about change. We don't want to belong to any tradition... we don't walk around with green hair and bondage trousers anymore. We just ...

The Sex Pistols: Sex Pistols: Some Product: Carri On Sex Pistols (Virgin)

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 28 July 1979

THIS IS getting silly. ...

Cockney Rejects and the Rise of New Punk

Interview by Garry Bushell, Dave McCullough, Sounds, 4 August 1979

'I WANNA go back to where it all began/I wanna do a gig in my back garden/I wanna have a laugh before the press get ...

Angelic Upstarts: Teenage Warning

Review by Dave McCullough, Sounds, 11 August 1979

HOW MANY p's in oppression? Aww, what can you say? Contrary no doubt to opinions expressed elsewhere on the subject, Teenage Warning is not an ...

Angelic Upstarts: Teenage Warning (Warner Brothers)

Review by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 11 August 1979

NEWCASTLE'S Upstarts are already, for obvious and not so obvious reasons, being prepared by the vulture voyeurs as the successors to Sham. I'm not sure ...

Angelic Upstarts: Someone Else's Fight

Report and Interview by Chris Bohn, Melody Maker, 18 August 1979

INTOLERANCE FALLS like a heavy pall over the Angelic Upstarts – only they won't lie still and let it settle. Follow them round for a ...

Angelic Upstarts: The Nashville, London

Live Review by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 18 August 1979

THE MUSIC Press is a middle class toy, perpetually pampered, easily bored, easily bought off. It's too easy to sit pretty in your safe mortgaged ...

UK Subs: No Change For UK Subs

Interview by Chris Bohn, Melody Maker, 18 August 1979

Finding that tribal punk is still alive...and kicking ...

Siouxsie & the Banshees: The Scream (Polydor)

Review by Richard Riegel, Creem, September 1979

SIOUXSIE OF the Banshees was a tantalizing pledge of the coming New Wave Millennium, when her photo began appearing in U.S. fanzines in early 1977. ...

The Dead Boys, Stiv Bators: The Resurrection of Stiv Bators

Report and Interview by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, September 1979

STIV BATORS is just about the easiest interviewee I've ever met. Just push "Record" and he'll talk for hours about anything that might make good ...

The Slits: One Day, All Girls Will Be Made This Way: The Slits: Cut (Island) *****

Review by Giovanni Dadomo, Sounds, 1 September 1979

SLACK JAW, warm hearts: Cuts is astoundingly good. ...

Siouxsie & The Banshees: Siouxsie And The Banshees: Join Hands

Review by Peter Silverton, Sounds, 1 September 1979

WHADDA YA MEAN, is it extreme? Can you honestly imagine the Banshees doing anything —whether it be throwing shapes for a camera, getting dressed for ...

The Ruts: Marquee, London

Live Review by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 1 September 1979

AHH, EXCUSE me a modicum of nostalgia but I still remember as if they were only last year, those chaotic '78 Ruts days, and thankfully ...

Siouxsie & The Banshees, The Slits: The Slits: Cut (Island); Siouxsie & The Banshees: Join Hands (Polydor)

Review by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 1 September 1979

AS THE Slits sing-song: don't take it seriously. ...

Buzzcocks, Gang of Four: Buzzcocks/Gang Of Four: Club 57, New York, NY

Live Review by Van Gosse, Melody Maker, 8 September 1979

THIS IS the year that the New Wave, or at least its more retrograde element, has finally hit the U.S. charts. Everybody English and short-haired, ...

Sham 69: The Adventures Of Hersham Boys (Polydor)***

Review by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 8 September 1979

WHAT DID Sham mean to you? I don't really give a monkey's cos to me and a lot of my mates they were the business. ...

UK Subs: Another Kind Of Blues (Gem)*****

Review by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 8 September 1979

THIS REVIEW lasts 180 seconds and reads 1-2-3-4. It starts with a loud guitar burst, then bass and drums explode and your voice roars 'GARAGELAND' ...

Siouxsie & The Banshees: In Aberdeen...No-one Can Hear You Scream

Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, 15 September 1979

THE GEEZER standing next to me in the urinal said "Hey, have you heard the rumour? Two of the Banshees have run off. They're not ...

The Alley Cats, The Bags, Black Randy & The Metrosquad, The Controllers (LA punk), The Germs, The Mau-Mau's, The Plugz, The Screamers, Suburban Lawns, X: L.A. Punk: Pogo-ing On The Fault Line

Overview by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, 20 September 1979

If Los Angeles is the future, how come its bands all sound so backdated? MARK WILLIAMS puts the case for the defence ...

Penetration: Coming Up For Air (Virgin) ****

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, 22 September 1979

UP! THAT'S what Penetration are. Such stimulation. A Japanese masseuse on speciality-of-the-house rates could hardly have tickled more of a tingle into every nerve-end from ...

Siouxsie & The Banshees: There Was I Waiting At The Church

Interview by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 22 September 1979

NICK KENT feels the wrath of Siouxsie Sioux and Steve Severin ...

Slaughter and the Dogs: The Boot Boys Are Back In Town

Profile and Interview by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 22 September 1979

"PUNK IS BACK, PUNK IS BACK, WO-AH, WO-AH!" ...

Buzzcocks, Gang of Four: The Buzzcocks, Gang of Four: Club 57, New York NY

Live Review by Richard Grabel, New Musical Express, 22 September 1979

THIS IS AN interesting juxtaposition: Buzzcocks work on a high energy formula, a formula that works; Gang Of Four work away from formula – they ...

The Clash, Sam and Dave, the Undertones: Orpheum Theater, Boston

Live Review by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 22 September 1979

Clash makes the sparks fly. ...

The Slits: Awkward in Interviews, Awkward in Life

Report and Interview by Dave McCullough, Sounds, 22 September 1979

DAVE McCULLOUGH CONFRONTS THE SLITS ...

Patti Smith: Walking Down The Kings Road With Lenny Kaye...

Report and Interview by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 22 September 1979

...can be a disagreeable experience. Sandy Robertson gives the Patti Smith Group the elbow. ...

Siouxsie & The Banshees: "Humourless? Us?" - Siouxsie & the Banshees

Report and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, 29 September 1979

"...Thy Kingdom come / They will be done / In Earth as it is in Heaven / Amen... Knock, knocking on Heaven’s door / Let ...

John Cooper Clarke: Cool for Catholics

Interview by Peter Silverton, Sounds, 29 September 1979

John Cooper Clarke makes a good confession to Pete Silverton (lapsed) ...

Penetration (1979)

Interview by Ian Ravendale, Rock's Backpages audio, October 1979

Pauline Murray and Robert Blamire announce the band's split, and the reasons behind it: the relentless pressures of touring and recording and consequent internal tensions.

File format: mp3; file size: 23.9mb, interview length: 26' 03" sound quality: *****

Siouxsie & the Banshees (1979)

Interview by Ian Ravendale, Rock's Backpages audio, October 1979

With Siouxsie just back from hospital with what transpired to be hepatitis, Steve Severin and stand-in drummer Budgie talk about the hasty departure of drummer Kenny Morris, and guitarist John McKay. Budgie talks about leaving the Slits, and depping for Morris in the Banshees. Severin talks about the stand-in guitarist, the Cure's Robert Smith, then talks about the German version of ‘Metal Postcard’ single, and use of Nazi imagery.

File format: mp3 File size: 7.9mb Interview length: 08' 14" Sound quality: ****

The Clash, Screamin' Jay Hawkins: Ritchie Coliseum, College Park MD

Live Review by Joe Sasfy, The Washington Post, 1 October 1979

ENGLAND'S CLASH brought their version of rock's civil war to Ritchie Coliseum Saturday night. By the time they ended their second encore, a hypersonic invitation ...

Buzzcocks: Hey Mac Are You Some Kind Of Limey Pop Star?

Report and Interview by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 6 October 1979

SAT RANDOMLY around a small table are four young men each with dark hair. When they grin, their faces show they see things differently. ...

The Clash: Clash in NYC - Waiting for Ivan

Report and Interview by Mary Harron, Melody Maker, 6 October 1979

ACCORDING TO reports, it was a hot, dead, airless summer in New York City. With nothing much happening on the local music scene, excitement centred ...

Buzzcocks: Sex, Fast Cars and a Different Kind of Buzzcock

Interview by Dave McCullough, Sounds, 6 October 1979

The spiritual awakening of Steve Diggle. ...

Buzzcocks: The Buzzcocks: City Hall, Newcastle

Live Review by Ian Ravendale, Sounds, 13 October 1979

Same old rubbish in a different theatre ...

The Stranglers: No poofters

Report and Interview by Dave McCullough, Sounds, 13 October 1979

Dave McCullough hits the Sardine trail to the Portuguese outback for a knees-up with the Stranglers ...

The Freshies, The Undertones: The Undertones, The Freshies: Apollo, Manchester

Live Review by Mick Middles, Sounds, 13 October 1979

CASUALLY, NERVOUSLY, Manchester's newest wonderpoppers, The Freshies, hobble onto their first major venue stage. Chris Sievey tries hard to appear relaxed as he attempts to ...

Penetration: Coitus Interruptus

Report and Interview by Ian Ravendale, Sounds, 20 October 1979

THE DREAM is over. Penetration are breaking up. From the stage of the City Hail in Newcastle, the town where they played their first gig, ...

Richard Hell & the Voidoids: CBGBs, New York NY

Live Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 20 October 1979

THEY SAY that Richard Hell is damaged, and it doesn't surprise me. After quitting the spartan discipline of Television, fans of rock's elite expected the ...

Sham 69: The Gab

Interview by Giovanni Dadomo, Sounds, 20 October 1979

JIMMY PURSEY talks about sex, Mod, the Pope, Christmas, Scum and stuff like that... GIOVANNI DADOMO listens and listens and listens and ...

The Germs: (GI) (Slash 103)

Review by Phast Phreddie Patterson, L.A. Weekly, 26 October 1979

TWO YEARS ago, when the Germs first hit the struggling L.A. punk circuit, this writer figured they would soon give up and return to the ...

The Jam: The Revolution Will Start When Paul Weller Has Supped His Pint

Interview by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 3 November 1979

"I WOULDN'T say I'm a very articulate person, but I seem to be able to articulate when I write lyrics..." ...

The Undertones: Smash Hits Dept. of Gritty Realism presents: If This Is Tuesday, It Must Be Blackburn

Report by David Hepworth, Smash Hits, 15 November 1979

David Hepworth goes on the road with THE UNDERTONES ...

Poison Girls: Old People Can Be Rebels Too: Poison Girls

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, 24 November 1979

LOOK AT Poison Girls on stage and you see a straight line of straight faces, clothes all red and black in front of a red ...

The Clash: London Calling (Epic)

Review by Kris Needs, New York Rocker, December 1979

A DOUBLE album from the Clash, two discs for the price of one — but that's not the only surprise. Because the speed-rush buzzsaw roar ...

Adam & The Ants: Adam and the Ants: Dirk Wears White Sox (Do-It RIDE 3)**

Review by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 8 December 1979

DIRK MAY well wear white sox but the berk, aka Adam the Grade 'A' ham, wears his pretentions on his sleeve with his hand in ...

The Clash: London Calling (CBS) **

Review by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 15 December 1979

Give 'em enough rope... and watch 'em turn into the Rolling Stones ...

Iggy Pop

Interview by Cynthia Rose, Viz, 1980

Some Facts About Madness, Rape, Zombies, And Other Intense Human Behaviour ...

Chelsea, The Dickies: The Dickies, Chelsea: City Hall, Newcastle

Live Review by Ian Ravendale, Sounds, 5 January 1980

Dickie Chavvy ...

The Ramones: End Of The Century (Sire)

Review by Max Bell, New Musical Express, 5 January 1980

1-9-9-9 Phil 'N' Da Brudders Do Just Fine ...

Adam & The Ants: Ants Out Of Bondage

Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 12 January 1980

In which Adam and the Ants reconcile their apparent predilection for S/M with their desire to succeed as musicians without grovelling. PAULO HEWITT passes judgement. ...

Dead Kennedys, Sham 69: Sham 69, Dead Kennedys: Whisky a Go Go, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Sylvie Simmons, Sounds, 12 January 1980

SOME PEOPLE join a band to get out of the crowd. Jello Biafra, I'm convinced, joined the Dead Kennedys to guarantee a space in the ...

The Clash: London Calling (Epic Records)

Review by Michael Goldberg, San Francisco Chronicle, 13 January 1980

SINCE THIS English foursome first emerged in London in 1976, they have been at the very forefront of rock and roll. Their debut album, The ...

Crass are crass

Comment by Dave McCullough, Sounds, 2 February 1980

IT SEEMS, at the present at any rate, there's no escaping The Crass Phenomenon. The "alternative charts" (the accurate few at that!) see them emerging ...

Splodgenessabounds: Help Stamp Out Splodgeness!

Profile by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 2 February 1980

MANY DISTRESSED Sounds readers have written to us about the alarming outbreaks of 'Splodgenessabounds' currently sweeping through lower class areas of South East London. This ...

Nips, The (aka The Nipple Erectors): The Nips: Ain't That a Shane?

Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 2 February 1980

"ROCK 'N' ROLL is just a load of boring old rubbish. The people who play it think it's so fucking important and it's not. it ...

The Sex Pistols: The Very Best Of

Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 2 February 1980

THE PERFECT contradiction: The Japs offer such fine pressings, this album'll cost you about £9 if you want it…and I'm reviewing it as usual on ...

The Ramones: Wanchewfreefor!!!

Interview by David Hepworth, Smash Hits, 7 February 1980

David Hepworth catches up with Da Ramones, y'know? ...

The Sex Pistols: Flogging A Dead Horse (Virgin V2142)

Review by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 9 February 1980

THIS RECORD gets no stars at all 'cos it's totally worthless, all the tracks included are still readily available elsewhere, Pistols fans will have them ...

Iggy Pop: I Can't Stand to be Alone

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, 23 February 1980

TO OPEN A DOOR and find Iggy Pop behind it is like opening a well shaken-up can of lager unawares. ...

Siouxsie & The Banshees: Siouxsie And The Bitter Pill

Interview by Rosalind Russell, Record Mirror, 23 February 1980

Siouxsie isn't just concerned about being a rock musician, she has strong feelings on other matters as well. Interview by ROSALIND RUSSELL ...

UK Subs: Live Kicks (Stiff) **

Review by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 23 February 1980

POGO? I thought I'd never start. ...

Public Image Ltd, The Sex Pistols, Sid Vicious: Public Image Ltd.: Metal Box (Virgin import); Sid Vicious: Sid Sings! (Virgin import)

Review by Roy Trakin, New York Rocker, March 1980

PIL'S METAL BOX: THE TIN CAN HAS A HEART ...

The Clash: Six Days On The Road And 16 Tons Of Fun…

Report by Kris Needs, ZigZag, March 1980

THE QUEST GOES ON, HIT THE DECK! ...

Cockney Rejects: Greatest Hits Vol 1

Review by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 1 March 1980

WHEN I first met Micky Geggus and Stinky Turner and heard their tape I knew there was something about it and them that said they ...

Stiff Little Fingers: The Voice Squad

Interview by Mick Middles, Sounds, 1 March 1980

'WE'RE GONNA BLOW UP IN THEIR FACE' ...

The Vibrators live in Newcastle

Live Review by Ian Ravendale, Sounds, 15 March 1980

BACK WHEN the world was young, punk was an expression of individuality, rather than a life style followed by those who feel so insecure that ...

Penetration: Coming Up for Air (Virgin International)

Review by Laura Fissinger, Rolling Stone, 20 March 1980

HEY, THE echo switch has been rediscovered! Not to mention other stuff within reach of a bargain-basement studio console. Producer Steve Lillywhite seems to have ...

The Clash: Rude Boy: Directed by Jack Hazan; Starring Ray Gange and The Clash; Cert X

Film/DVD/TV Review by Robin Banks, ZigZag, April 1980

RUDE BOY CAN FAIL ...

8-Eyed Spy, Albert Ayler, James Chance & the Contortions, Miles Davis: Free Jazz/Punk Rock

Essay by Lester Bangs, Musician, April 1980

IN A New York City nightclub, a skinny little Caucasian whose waterfall hairstyle and set of snout and lips make him look like a sullen ...

Penetration: Going Underground

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, 5 April 1980

SO YOU'RE learning to write music, Pauline – how's it done then? ...

Slaughter and the Dogs: Slaughter: Get Ready To Do Ruck Steady

Report and Interview by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 5 April 1980

THREE MONTHS into the weighty Eighties and pop paper medics decide it's time for Slaughter's funeral. ...

UK Subs: Brand New Age (GEM)*****

Review by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 5 April 1980

WHEN I was at school we used to have a big fat Scottish Geography teacher who was forever clotting you round the head and saying ...

The Slits: Y3 (Y3)

Review by Barry Cain, Record Mirror, 12 April 1980

Slits hit the pits ...

The Dickies: Dickiemania: Threat or Menace?

Profile and Interview by Davin Seay, BAM, 18 April 1980

LOS ANGELES — That's right America; pretend it doesn't exist and maybe it will go away. When will you ever learn? Wake up before it's ...

Fatal Microbes, Honey Bane: Fatal Microbes: Femme Fatale

Interview by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 19 April 1980

A BOOZER IN beautiful down-town Stepney is the rendezvous and despite London Transport I manage to arrive at the right time on the right day ...

The Members: 1980 — The Choice Is Yours (Virgin)****

Review by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 19 April 1980

Members 'not has-beens' debate ...

Sham 69: Jimmy Pursey: People Try To Put Me Down...

Interview by Mike Stand, The Face, May 1980

"PEOPLE PUT me down as a loudmouth. Well, I've got a lot to talk about," said Jimmy Pursey and proved it at once by descending ...

The Dils Disband

Report by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, May 1980

THE DILS, ONE of California's premier new wave bands, have broken up for keeps after three years together. ...

The Ramones: An Interview With Joey Ramone — A Teenage Lobotomy Speaks His Mind

Interview by Bill Holdship, Michigan State News, 9 May 1980

THE RAMONES have become something of an American rock 'n roll institution. The band formed in 1974, and became part of an underground East Coast ...

The Clash Clamp Down on Detroit

Report and Interview by Susan Whitall, Creem, June 1980

Or: Give 'Em Enough Wisniowka ...

Club 9:30 — A New Wave of Night Life

Report by Richard Harrington, The Washington Post, 1 June 1980

FIRST CAME the artists, then the galleries. Now the rejuvenated area around the 900 block of F Street NW is about to welcome its first ...

UK Subs: Subsistence Level

Report and Interview by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 7 June 1980

NO DISRESPECT to Dave 'half-a-shandy' McCullough but, myself, I get no pleasure from records that sound like tin baths falling down coal chutes. Witless soul ...

UK Subs: The Masters Of Pure Pogomatic Power Pound On (Part 86).

Report and Interview by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 7 June 1980

NO DISRESPECT to Dave 'half-a-shandy' McCullough but, myself, I get no pleasure from records that sound like tin baths falling down coal chutes. Witless soul ...

Angry Samoans: Comers: Angry Samoans

Profile by Mark Leviton, L.A. Weekly, 13 June 1980

PEOPLE GET upset by the Angry Samoans. It's not just that this feisty five-piece group trashes every cherished ideal of the middle class in language ...

The Clash, Holly & the Italians: Hammersmith Palais, London

Live Review by Chris Bohn, New Musical Express, 28 June 1980

Myth Man In The Hammersmith Palais ...

X: Beyond the Valley of the Doors

Profile and Interview by Sylvie Simmons, Sounds, 28 June 1980

HOLLYWOOD PUNK. Sounds about as real and desirable as cocktail-lounge muzak. If there's anything genuine or worthwhile in there it certainly isn't easy to find. ...

The Clash, Tymon Dogg: Clash At The Crossroads

Interview by Richard Grabel, New York Rocker, July 1980

OUTSIDE ON Eighth Street, among the pizza parlors and shoe stores, it's early evening. Inside Electric Lady studios, the house that Jimi built, it could ...

Cockney Rejects: Have They Bitten Off More Than They Can Chew?

Report and Interview by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 5 July 1980

"THIS IS A once in a generation band. The sort of band who'll either be massive in eighteen months or dead or both." ...

Peter and the Test Tube Babies: Peter & the Test Tube Babies: Beano Bop Beano Bop Beano Bop

Interview by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 5 July 1980

The inexorable tide of Punk Pathetique sweeps GARRY 'Beano Boy' BUSHELL to Brighton, home of Peter And The Test Tube Babies... ...

The Exploited: I Still Believe In Anarchy

Profile and Interview by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 9 August 1980

SOMETIMES I wish my mind and body were under the same management. Anyone with half an eye on the dictates of fashion and media double-think ...

Tenpole Tudor: Pole Axed

Profile and Interview by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 16 August 1980

AT THE risk of getting into a this week's big thing situation, I've got this feeling in my bones that Tenpole Tudor are gonna be ...

The Professionals: Diary Of A Man Who Likes To Stay In

Profile and Interview by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 16 August 1980

THE PROFESSIONALS' debut single 'Just Another Dream' is about twenty bus stops down the road from 'Anarchy In The UK' if you're using words like ...

X in New York

Interview by Andy Schwartz, New York Rocker, September 1980

EN ROUTE to London, X stopped over in New York in June for a round of interviews and two live performances, at the '80s and ...

Dead Kennedys, UK Subs: Dead Kennedys: Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables; UK Subs: Crash Course

Review by Andy Gill, New Musical Express, 27 September 1980

SPOT THE DIFFERENCEStudy these two pictures carefully. At first sight they may seem identical, but there are at least twelve small but significant differences between ...

Dead Kennedys: The Dead Kennedys: Anarchy American Style

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 27 September 1980

On the eve of the Dead Kennedys British tour MARK COOPER talks to Jello Biafra who says: "Our live shows are basically ways of torturing ...

The Undertones

Interview by Howard Wuelfing, New York Rocker, October 1980

SINCE THEIR performing debut here last year supporting the Clash, the Undertones have cleared a whole mess of professional and personal hurdles. ...

Buzzcocks: A problem in communication

Interview by Penny Kiley, Melody Maker, 4 October 1980

PENNY KILEY talks to the Buzzcocks ...

The Ruts: Ruts: Grin And Bear It (Virgin)

Review by Chris Bohn, New Musical Express, 11 October 1980

AT THEIR best The Ruts embodied the virtues of second division punk without resorting to the Bash Street antics of third generation comics like the ...

The Stranglers: "We're kind of out of context here," admit Stranglers

Report and Interview by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 16 October 1980

"WE'RE KIND OF out of context here," admits Stranglers' bassist Jean Jacques Burnel. "We write the things that we know and we don't really know ...

The Clash: Rude Boy Produced and directed by Jack Hazan and David Mingay (Atlantic Releasing Corp.)

Film/DVD/TV Review by Toby Goldstein, Creem, November 1980

Booed, Rude And Tattooed ...

Slash: Sitting In Limbo

Report by Don Snowden, New York Rocker, November 1980

LOS ANGELES — Rumors have been running rampant about the imminent demise of Slash magazine. A forthcoming issue may indeed be its swansong... but then ...

John Cooper Clarke, Linton Kwesi Johnson: Linton Kwesi Johnson: Bass Culture (Island import); John Cooper Clarke: Snap, Crackle & Bop (Epic import)

Review by Don Waller, New York Rocker, November 1980

THIS IS The Rap on The Rap, Part I: On the day you're born the doctor smacks your butt, then you start to rappin' and ...

Public Image Ltd: Image Publique S.A.: Paris Au Printemps (Virgin)

Review by Vivien Goldman, New Musical Express, 15 November 1980

Lydon says he hates live albums. Paris Au Printemps – PAP – the best of two nights recorded in Paris this spring, is a consumer ...

The Plasmatics: Rock's Smashing Success: The Plasmatics & Their New Wave of Destruction

Interview by Richard Harrington, The Washington Post, 22 November 1980

WHEN THE Plasmatics say "Dynamite," they're not talking about their music. ...

Angelic Upstarts, Jimmy Pursey: Jimmy Pursey: The Cockney Kid Is Innocent

Report and Interview by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 6 December 1980

So who are you gonna be today then, Jim? The new Messiah or the little boy lost? Robespierre or the Urban Spaceman? An all-round good ...

Dead Kennedys: A Talent To Annoy

Profile and Interview by Deanne Pearson, Smash Hits, 11 December 1980

"I JUST couldn't believe it. I just kinda stood there with a blank stare on my face, thinking oh God — it really happened!" ...

The Clash: Joe Strummer Answers The Call-Up

Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 13 December 1980

WORKING ON THE theory that if you give him enough rope he'll either hang or save himself, the following pages are left basically for the ...

The Clash: Sandinista! (CBS)

Review by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 13 December 1980

OK, OK, they're a jolly prolific bunch always about to give their audience more than their money's worth, but – Christ, let's not mince words ...

The Clash: Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

Interview by David Hepworth, Smash Hits, 25 December 1980

Joe Strummer don't. Neither do The Clash. They just wanna make triple albums. David Hepworth raps (ouch!)   ...

Dead Kennedys: Punk Rot Is Here To Stay

Interview by Deanne Pearson, The Face, January 1981

THIS IS THE hardcore faction. Spiked hair, leather jackets, the backs emblazoned with the logos of Crass, UK Subs, Adam & The Ants. Hordes of ...

Vivienne Westwood: Rich pickings at the World's End

Interview by Jon Savage, The Face, January 1981

Let It Rock, Sex, Seditionaries...Anarchy t-shirts and bondage straps. VIVIENNE WESTWOOD’S new collection is called World’s End. She talked about it to JON SAVAGE. ...

The Stranglers: Well They Said Anything Could Happen...

Profile and Interview by Sylvie Simmons, Sounds, 10 January 1981

Duff equipment, Close Encounters and bog-wall poetry… The Stranglers in America ...

The Clash: Sandinista!

Review by Van Gosse, The Village Voice, 14 January 1981

CONFRONTING THE Clash's epic monstrosity Sandinista! is like being a teacher (which I once was) and having one of your favorite little buggers show up ...

The Adolescents, Circle Jerks: The Adolescents/Circle Jerks: The Starwood, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Mark Leviton, BAM, 16 January 1981

A PACKED house and a dance floor that demanded knee pads and crash helmets provided the Black Hole of Calcutta ambiance for an evening of ...

Generation X: Gen X: Kiss Me Deadly (Chrysalis CHR 1327) ****

Review by Betty Page, Sounds, 17 January 1981

A young girl's fancy ...

Angelic Upstarts, Criminal Class, Infa-Riot: Infa-Riot, Angelic Upstarts, Criminal Class: Alan Pullenger Centre, Southgate

Live Review by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 17 January 1981

Let there be ruck ...

The 4-Skins, Angela Rippon's Bum, Angelic Upstarts, Cockney Rejects, Criminal Class, The Gonads, Infa-Riot, Splodgenessabounds, UK Subs: Oi! The Debate

Interview by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 24 January 1981

...once again we bring together the finest minds of our generation. This week: New Punk/Skin music. Refereed by GARRY BUSHELL ...

Splodgenessabounds: Woolwich Tramshed, London

Live Review by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 31 January 1981

The Splodge is dead, long live the Splodge ...

The Clash: Home On The Range

Report and Interview by Chris Salewicz, The Face, February 1981

PAUL SIMONON lives in a modest two-room Notting Hill basement flat just north of Ladbroke Grove tube station. ...

The Dictators: Back From The Bronx

Report by Gary Sperrazza!, New York Rocker, February 1981

NEW YORK– "You know how Teddy Pendergrass only lets women into his concerts? Next time we play here, we're only gonna allow 300 Ib. men ...

Infa-Riot: Tiffanys, Bradford

Live Review by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 14 February 1981

A LOT OF people rabbit on about a punk "legacy" but they just don't seem capable of realising that Punk ain't and could never be ...

Anti-Establishment, The 4-Skins, Vice Squad: 4-Skins, Vice Squad, Anti-Establishment: Bridge House, Canning Town, London

Live Review by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 28 February 1981

Chaos is the rule ...

Cockney Rejects: Have the Rejects dumped Oi for HM?

Interview by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 28 February 1981

Garry Bushell in the troubled waters of London's punk/metal crossover ...

Circle Jerks: Group Sex (Frontier)

Review by Byron Coley, New York Rocker, March 1981

ONE OF THE real top great beauties of Anglo punk, the early, was that there was never a lyric sheet. Singers sang breakneck as they ...

The Jam: Sound Affects (Polydor)

Review by Don Snowden, New York Rocker, March 1981

SOUND AFFECTS finds the Jam stretching out, once again successfully staying off the (seemingly) inherent limitations of a three-piece lineup. ...

X’s Exene

Interview by Danny (Shredder) Weizmann, Rag In Chains, April 1981

Shredder: Tell me what it’s like being the number one band around. ...

Angry Samoans: Gazzarri's, Hollywood CA

Live Review by Mark Leviton, Music Connection, 3 April 1981

The Players: Todd Homer, bass; Billy Vockeroth, drums; Gregg Turner, guitar & vocals; Mike Saunders, guitar & vocals; P.J. Gallaghan, guitar. ...

Black Flag, Circle Jerks, The Germs, X: LA Punk

Report by Mick Farren, New Musical Express, 11 April 1981

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA is always preceded by its own legend. There is no way you can avoid that legend if you grew up with the price ...

Dead Kennedys: The Channel, Boston MA

Live Review by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 13 April 1981

Exhilarating, disturbing... ...

The Clash: Heart & Mind: The Paul Simonon Interview

Interview by Iman Lababedi, Creem, May 1981

WHATEVER YOU think of the Clash — and I haven't much cared for them since 'White Man In Hammersmith Palais' — a couple of things ...

Bow Wow Wow, Malcolm McLaren, The Sex Pistols: Malcolm McLaren... the True Poison!

Interview by Chris Salewicz, The Face, May 1981

You're dealing with a very low level of creativity in the music business. The man who sits in his office marketing records is not a ...

Stiff Little Fingers

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 2 May 1981

'We've got to get out and we've got to fight back' is still the message from SLF and their commitment hasn't evaporated since the heady ...

Honey Bane

Interview by Peter Silverton, Smash Hits, 14 May 1981

SHE CHOSE the name... "Because there is a very sweet side to me – Honey – and there's a really horrible side to me – ...

Tenpole Tudor: A King Without A Clown

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 23 May 1981

Tenpole Tudor march into the heartland of England (well, Sheffield actually) carrying their proud banner of scruffy English eccentricity. MARK COOPER watches the march of ...

Dead Kennedys: Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables (IRS SP70014)

Review by Jon Young, Trouser Press, June 1981

CHANCES ARE you have an opinion about the Dead Kennedys even if you've never heard their music. Provocation is the name of the game; a ...

The Clash: Safe in a European home

Report and Interview by Paolo Hewitt, Melody Maker, 6 June 1981

STANDING BY the toilet door, the kid recognised him instantly. The hair piled up in a scraggy mess. The white leather jacket. The beautiful punkette ...

Tenpole Tudor: Men of a Thousand Swords

Report and Interview by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 13 June 1981

Tenpole Tudor stun Colin Irwin. ...

Annie Anxiety, Crass, Flux of Pink Indians, Poison Girls: Crass, Poison Girls, Annie Anxiety, Flux Of Pink Indians: 100 Club, London

Live Review by Edwin Pouncey, Sounds, 20 June 1981

Tea and Anarchy: Edwin Pouncey sees Crass in action ...

Crass, Poison Girls: 100 Club, London

Live Review by Chris Bohn, New Musical Express, 20 June 1981

JUST CRASS ...

The Clash: How The Clash Fed The Wonderbread Generation, Made The Mountain Come to Mohammed - And Other Miracles

Report and Interview by Mick Farren, New Musical Express, 20 June 1981

The winner of NME's Flatter The Clash competition checks out the ramifications when an English band's world is at Bonds. ...

The Clash, Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, The Mo-dettes: The Clash: The Foul-Up

Report and Interview by Julie Panebianco, Boston Rock, 25 June 1981

THE LIGHTS dimmed. Dramatic Spanish bolero music from Clint Eastwood's For a Few Dollars More came on over the speakers, and the spotlights roamed from ...

X: Wild Gift (Slash)

Review by Roy Trakin, New York Rocker, July 1981

"Got a hole in my heart/Size of my heart/Is my fist" — 'The Once Over Twice' ...

The Adolescents, Black Flag, Circle Jerks, The Crowd, The Minutemen, T.S.O.L.: Southland Punk Discs: A Primer

Overview by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 5 July 1981

BESIDES MAKING names for themselves in local rock clubs and in the hearts of the police and the media, the Southland's hard-core punk bands have ...

Government Issue, Minor Threat, Youth Brigade: Minor Threat, Youth Brigade, G.I.: 9:30 Club, Washington DC

Live Review by Richard Harrington, The Washington Post, 17 July 1981

The Sounds and the Slamdance ...

Black Flag, Minor Threat, Henry Rollins, State of Alert: Slamdancing in the Big City

Report and Interview by Richard Harrington, The Washington Post, 19 July 1981

THE PIT is ferocious and frightening: Young men's bodies slam into each other, arms and elbows out, fist flailing, like razor-edged Mexican jumping beans popping ...

The Clash: The Return of Native Paranoia

Report by Chris Salewicz, The Face, August 1981

IN HOT humid New York City, the eight Clash dates at Bonds discotheque had their number doubled following a first night raid by the Fire ...

The Ramones: Pleasant Dreams (Sire SRK 3571)

Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 8 August 1981

ANOTHER PIONEERING punk band that's broadened its base will be in town next weekend — the Ramones. The New York quartet also has a new ...

X Marks a New Rock Spot at the Greek Theater

Report and Interview by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 8 August 1981

X AT THE Greek Theater? ...

Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Germs, X: The Decline of Western Civilization (Dir. Penelope Spheeris)

Film/DVD/TV Review by Don Waller, New York Rocker, September 1981

THE DECLINE of Western Civilization, Penelope Spheeris's documentary of the L.A. punk scene circa late '79/early '80, is by turns funny, provocative, pretentious, inspiring, boring, ...

Suicide: The Sound of NYC

Sleeve notes by Lester Bangs, ROIR Records, September 1981

OVER THE LAST few years there've been a whole lot of catch phrases bandied about to describe what folks kept insisting was "new" music unlike anything ...

The Germs: Germicide (Mohawk/Bomp)

Review by Byron Coley, New York Rocker, September 1981

THIS ALBUM'S a real pisser. If you've got a nose for noise and don't buy this slab, you're up Hell Creek without an asbestos wiener. ...

The Ramones Pump Iron: So This Is What They Call HARD ROCK

Interview by Toby Goldstein, Creem, September 1981

JOEY RAMONE is not my brother. For six years, people have been approaching me at Ramones gigs, giving my uncontrollable wavy hair, pale skin and ...

The Flesh Eaters, X: X: Wild Gift (Slash SR-107); The Flesh Eaters: A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die (Ruby JRR-101)

Review by Jon Young, Trouser Press, September 1981

THERE'S A BIG difference between playing crudely out of necessity and harnessing primitivism to say things that can't be said any other way. Rock thrives ...

Dead Kennedys' Jello Biafra and Klaus Flouride (1981)

Interview by John Tobler, Rock's Backpages audio, October 1981

Messrs. Biafra and Flouride discuss the differences between punk and new wave; talk about fellow Californians Flipper, D.O.A. and Black Flag; decry Nazi punks; talk about friend and ally Christian Lunch, as well as about Hüsker Dü and the Residents; mock the Plasmatics and Adam & the Ants... and declare their mission to civilize America.

File format: mp3; file size: 20.5mb, interview length: 21' 18" sound quality: *****

Everybody Needs Somebody To Hate: A History Of L.A. Punk Rock

Overview by Gene Sculatti, Creem, October 1981

"For God's sake, is that all you people in L.A. want to hear: aggressive lyrics and a raging guitar?!"– Chris Stein ...

The Boys, The Members: The Members, the Boys: Privates, New York NY

Live Review by Jim Green, Trouser Press, October 1981

MANAGERIAL problems, identity crises, record companies' loss of faith — not a pretty picture, but that's what both the Members and the Boys have faced ...

Punk Five Years On. A Pogo Down Memory Lane...

Overview by Jon Savage, The Face, November 1981

Sept 20/21, 1976: The two-day Punk Festival at London's 100 Club showcases the Sex Pistols, the Clash, the Damned, Buzzcocks, Subway Sect, and the debut ...

The Slits: Return Of The Giant Slits

Interview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, November 1981

  IN 1977 THE Slits were a noisy, thrashing pupa, slashing at complacent sitcom existences and establishing themselves as an anarchistic, table-turning force. ...

In the Punk of the Night: Penelope Spheeris and the Underground of Shock

Interview by Richard Harrington, The Washington Post, 10 November 1981

  WALKING ALONG Hollywood Boulevard one night in 1979, Los Angeles filmmaker Penelope Spheeris was drawn underground into a tawdry punk club called the Masque. What ...

The Slits: Return Of The Giant Slits (CBS 85269)

Review by Chas de Whalley, Record Mirror, 14 November 1981

LONG TERM Slits fans can relax. Just because the girls' latest album appears on the CBS label doesn't mean they've sold out, gone soft or ...

The Outcasts: Culture Shock Rock!

Report and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, New Musical Express, 28 November 1981

Barney Hoskyns and survives a night in Belfast with the town's longest surviving punk band, the Outcasts. ...

The Flesh Eaters: Flesh Eaters' Chris D.'s Carnal Knowledge

Essay by Byron Coley, New York Rocker, December 1981

IN MY OPINE, Chris Desjardins is the best goddamn singer/songwriter ('r "S/S" in classic Creemspeak) that's e'er poked his pate above the stiflin' smog that covers ...

Dead Kennedys: Let Them Eat Jello Beings

Interview by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 5 December 1981

Garry Bushell exhumes a living Dead Kennedy ...

Black Flag: Me No Popeye

Interview by Mick Sinclair, Sounds, 19 December 1981

Hot on the heels of the Dead Kennedys come L.A. punx Black Flag. ...

Fear: The Record

Review by Barney Hoskyns, New Musical Express, 1982

QUITE WHY Fear have created such a stir on the L.A. punk scene is far from apparent from this Record. Smarter they may be than ...

Hüsker Dü: Land Speed Record (New Alliance)

Review by Byron Coley, New York Rocker, 1982

FRENCH REVOLUTIONARIES of the 19th century had an interestin' way of equippin' their "human bombs." ...

The Damned, UK Subs: Dreaming Of A Punk Christmas

Report by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 2 January 1982

"COME HERE," cried an excited Captain Sensible from the corner of the backstage lounge. "I've just discovered what this is like! It's like the Generation ...

The Subway Sect: Subway Sect: Vic the Vague

Interview by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 9 January 1982

A PIECE ON VIC GODARD BY PAUL MORLEY SAUCILY ENTITLED VIC THE VAGUE. Paul says: "I wish to be referred to at the heading of this ...

Blitz, The Business, Peter and the Test Tube Babies: The Business, Peter And The Test Tube Babies, Blitz: Mayflower, Manchester

Live Review by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 23 January 1982

The grim face of reality (punk) ...

Black Flag: Damaged (SST Import)*****

Review by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 30 January 1982

Hardcore heaven ...

The 4-Skins: Danson Youth Centre, Bexleyheath, London

Live Review by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 30 January 1982

Hard as diamonds ...

Bow Wow Wow, Malcolm McLaren, The Sex Pistols: Malcolm McLaren

Interview by Johnny Black, unpublished, February 1982

This is the full transcript of the interview, a small (1500-word) version of which appeared in Over 21 magazine in May 1982. ...

Angry Samoans: The Angry Samoans: Back From Samoa (Bad Trip Records)

Review by Mark Leviton, Music Connection, 3 February 1982

THIS VENOMOUS collection of thirteen originals plus a nutty cover of 'Time Has Come Today' displays all the fury and sick humor of the band's ...

Demob: Demob Rules

Profile and Interview by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 20 February 1982

'Five years on and you've still got nothing' ...

The Business: Minding Their Own

Interview by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 27 February 1982

'The winter of discontent is nearing/Thatcher's got trouble with her hearing/The voices of millions are going unheard/I'd try to laugh if it wasn't so absurd/This ...

Poison Girls, Rubella Ballet: Rubella Ballet: Pop! Go the measles

Interview by Mick Sinclair, Sounds, 13 March 1982

MICK SINCLAIR accepts a dinner date from Rubella Ballet ...

GBH: The Dustbin Men

Interview by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 20 March 1982

"Oi has spoilt punk. I really hate the idea of the Oi thing even if some of the music's alright...if Oi and punk are the ...

Chelsea: Spring Time for October

Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 3 April 1982

I DON'T know why it had to happen to Chelsea. Clawed by the press, mauled by the dim-witted forces of fashion, the four-man disaster team ...

Angelic Upstarts: Still From The Heart (Zono)

Review by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 10 April 1982

EXTRAORDINARY. Quite extraordinary. This has got to be the most astonishing thing I've heard in months; a shock so devastating that I'm shaking still. ...

Chron Gen: Chronic Generation (Secret)

Review by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 10 April 1982

WELCOME TO the chronic generation, and a glimpse into the past, present and future of Chron-Gen on their debut album. ...

Anti-Nowhere League: We Are…The League (WXYZ)*****

Review by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 1 May 1982

ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT, I give in. Let's face it, this just ain't the sort of music (?) to lend itself to sensitive in-depth philosophical probings. ...

Angelic Upstarts: Mensi's Marauders

Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 8 May 1982

"COME HERE you!" bellowed Mensi across a crowded and quite respectable lounge bar. The reverberations thundered over the heads of the lunchtime clientele, their salads ...

Anti-Nowhere League: We Are…The League

Review by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 8 May 1982

THERE'S ONLY one League in my life. It's not the Human League, for sure. It's not the Ivy League either, or the League of Gentlemen. ...

Vice Squad: Stand Strong, Stand Proud (EMI/Riot City ZEM 104)****

Review by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 8 May 1982

THIS ISN'T a great album but it is a very good one. For Vice Squad it's a crucial show of strength because their first album ...

Flipper: Album Generic Flipper (Subterranean)

Review by Barney Hoskyns, New Musical Express, 15 May 1982

DOLPHINS IN ROCK (PART 6) ...

The Clash: Combat Rock (CBS FMLN 2) *****

Review by Dave McCullough, Sounds, 15 May 1982

Fight to the finish ...

The Clash: Combat Rock (CBS) ***

Review by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 15 May 1982

Gonna write a Clashic ...

8-Eyed Spy, Bad Brains, James Chance & the Contortions, The Dictators, The Germs, New York Dolls, The Stimulators, Suicide: Traditional Discs: Is It R.I.P. FOR R.P.M.?

Report and Interview by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 15 May 1982

IS THE phonograph record on its deathbed? Neil Cooper, who runs a record company that doesn't sell records, thinks so. "Within five years, vinyl will ...

The Clash: Up The Hill Backwards

Interview by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 29 May 1982

HALF PAST ONE on Portobello Road. Past the chippy, opposite the bookshop, within earshot of a man with an amplified mouth-harp honking and scything through ...

Minor Threat: 9:30 Club, Washington DC

Live Review by Howard Wuelfing, Unicorn Times, June 1982

THEY RAGED; they soared; they conquered. In fact, the reformed Minor Threat very nearly surpassed the grotesquely high expectations everybody held for them on this, ...

X's Wild Los Angeles Gift: Sign On The Dotted Line, Please!

Interview by Richard Grabel, Creem, June 1982

X ARE FINALLY getting some respect. Their first album, Los Angeles, released in 1980 on the independent Slash label, sold some 80,000 copies, not bad ...

The Clash: Combat Rock (Epic FE 37689)

Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 6 June 1982

CLASH ON THE BATTLEFIELD ...

Circle Jerks: Wild In The Streets (Faulty Products)

Review by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 19 June 1982

LOOK, here they come now, swaggering round the corner: mouthfuls of curses; knuckledusters; leathers scraped with the scars of street battle; chains in the pockets; ...

Cockney Rejects: The Wild Ones (NEMS pre-release)****

Review by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 19 June 1982

Flairs and riffers ...

Peter and the Test Tube Babies: More Bottle Than Brains

Report and Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 19 June 1982

Carol Clerk cracks a tube with PETER AND THE TEST TUBE BABIES ...

The Business: Heaven Can Wait

Profile and Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 26 June 1982

IT SEEMED like a good idea at the time. Meet The Business, knock back a pint or two, set off on a disco crawl...and find ...

The Exploited: Troops Of Tomorrow

Review by Barney Hoskyns, New Musical Express, 26 June 1982

APART FROM its marvellous cover, which depicts "an Escape From New York vision of a desolated city where punk can express its essential nature of ...

Fear: Not Just Another L.A. Send-up: the Flying of Fear

Report and Interview by J. Kordosh, Creem, July 1982

LIKE MOST people, I'm afraid of lots of things. High on my care-list are new Rush albums, pointy sticks, and my kids growing up to ...

The Clash: Highways To Hell: Clash Clampdown U.S.A.

Report by Julie Panebianco, Boston Rock, 7 July 1982

IT'S SUMMER and the Clash are back, not on Broadway but on the radio. 'Rock the Casbah' is blaring out of car windows not just ...

The Lurkers: The Lurk Of Love

Interview by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 10 July 1982

THE BLOKE who spends his life writing things like 'Let's Lurk' and 'Lewisham Lurkers' over every available wall on my estate, and who's probably single-handedly ...

The Flesh Eaters: Chris D. On The Ways Of Flesh (And Spirit)

Interview by Don Waller, L.A. Weekly, 22 July 1982

"THE FLESH Eaters?... It's not some gory, horror-movie-title thing. The spirit is what's eating the flesh." ...

Erazerhead: Teenagers In Lust

Profile and Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 24 July 1982

IT WAS in the winter of 1978 that vocalist Lee Drury had his first traumatic encounter with the cruel forces of fate. At the time, ...

The Clash: Doubt and desperation on the edge of town

Interview by Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, 24 July 1982

From Garageland to hell with Joe Strummer of the Clash ...

The Clash: Combat Rock (Epic)

Review by Roy Trakin, Musician, August 1982

IF YOU THOUGHT Sandinistal's epic sprawl would be edited down to a solid, filler-free album this time, guess again. Combat Rock reflects that triple-record set's ...

Circle Jerks, Flipper, The Germs, The Stimulators: The Germs, The Stimulators, Circle Jerks, Flipper: Albums Reviewed

Review by Jon Young, Trouser Press, August 1982

The Germs: Germicide (ROIR A108 cassette) Stimulators: Loud Fast Rules! (ROIR A109 cassette) Circle Jerks: Wild in the Streets (Faulty Products COPE3) Flipper: ...

The Fits

Profile and Interview by Carol Clerk, Melody Maker, 21 August 1982

Carol Clerk collars confident Blackpool punksters The Fits in a fact-packed foray ...

Flipper: "Hello children. Our name is Flipper and we'd like you to try some of our MANIC DISRUPTION — we think it'll do you good."

Profile and Interview by Richard Grabel, New Musical Express, 28 August 1982

I'D JUST been thinking about Haircut 100 — lovely boys, polite as can be — making cheerful, playful music. But I'd had enough of candy, ...

The Damned: Strawberries (Polydor)

Review by Leyla Sanai, New Musical Express, September 1982

YOU DIDN'T really think they'd gone, did you? After all, it's only four years since their 'farewell' gig, and looking at Jimmy Pursey's Hams 69 ...

The Clash: Still Scruffy, But Now Rock Heroes

Profile by Geoffrey Himes, Baltimore Sun, 5 September 1982

NEW YORK — Four musicians sauntered onto New York's Pier 84 Tuesday. Tall, gangly, ragtag and scarred, they looked like the scruffy street fighters they ...

Coming Blood: Blood Samples

Interview by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 18 September 1982

THE VERY concept of a band like Coming Blood is about as shock-horror near-the-knuckle punky as you can get. Their name alone is a verbal ...

X: The Maturing of a Punk Band

Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 30 September 1982

SAN FRANCISCO — a few minutes before doing a live interview at the University of San Francisco radio station, John Doe of X picked up a ...

Circle Jerks: Love The One You're With...

Interview by Sylvie Simmons, Creem, October 1982

THERE'S PEOPLE diving off the sides. A somersault – look! a bellyflop! – a couple of thrilling jack-knives. The one wearing the bathing cap – ...

Stiv Bators, The Dead Boys: Old Dead Boys Never Die, They Just Get Spayed Away

Report by Richard Riegel, Creem, October 1982

LONDON/NEW YORK — One-time Dead Boy vocalist/ scartissue-monger Stiv Bators married his beloved, one Anastasia, on May 1st in London, thus breaking the dog-collared hearts ...

X: Under The Big Black Sun (Elektra)

Review by Laura Fissinger, Creem, October 1982

X'S ALL-AMERICAN ANGST ...

Attak: Shock Taktics

Interview by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 9 October 1982

SLOPING OFF the Inter-City at Manchester Piccadilly, I was suddenly overcome by a torrid tinge of terror. ...

Blitz: Voice Of A Generation (No Future) *****

Review by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 16 October 1982

THIS REALLY is the big one, final proof if any were needed that the punk renewal of the last two years is more than just ...

The Violators: Like Clockwork

Interview by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 16 October 1982

Garry Bushell comes to the Orange-aid of Peak District punksters The Violators ...

Richard Hell: Bottom Line, New York NY

Live Review by Toby Goldstein, Musician, November 1982

DURING NEW York City's early punk era. Richard Hell & the Voidoids were extremists bobbing on a sea of originals. Hell's agonized vocals whined his ...

Angelic Upstarts, Cockney Rejects, Splodgenessabounds, UK Subs: Oi! and Skinheads: Coming a Cropper

Comment by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 6 November 1982

A passionate defence of skinhead culture by GARRY BUSHELL. ...

Richard Hell: Rock poet Richard Hell finds some solace

Interview by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 6 November 1982

ELVIS PRESLEY, Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis defined the classic rock 'n' roll position — stake a claim for living life outside society's mainstream, ...

UK Subs, Urban Dogs, The Vibrators: Urban Dogs: Doggie Doings

Interview by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 13 November 1982

CHARLIE HARPER is late, Charlie's always late. Me and Knox sit in the office cracking the usual jokes about it being his pension day. Not ...

Cock Sparrer: Strictly For The Birds

Interview by Garry Bushell, Sounds, 20 November 1982

COCK SPARRER'S come-back couldn't have been better timed. Just as the street rock scene was getting staler than a Marie Celeste bread roll, the original ...

The Clash: Revolution Rock

Profile and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Downbeat, December 1982

IT'S AN UGLY voice. Gruff, guttural, uncouth, barbaric at times. Joe Strummer can't sing, not like an Al Jarreau or a Joni Mitchell, anyway. Lyrics ...

The Clash: Revolutionary Rock

Profile and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Downbeat, December 1982

IT'S AN ugly voice. Gruff, guttural, uncouth, barbaric at times. Joe Strummer can't sing, not like an Al Jarreau or a Joni Mitchell, anyway. Lyrics ...

Dead Kennedys, Millions Of Dead Cops, Serious Drinking: Millions Of Dead Flops: Dead Kennedys/Serious Drinking/Millions Of Dead Cops: Central London Polytechnic

Live Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 4 December 1982

IT'S AMUSING TO SEE just how much Oi/punk inevitably rides the rails of the trad rock curve on its way to hell and bucks. This ...

Anarchy in the UK

Retrospective by Chris Salewicz, The History of Rock, 1983

A nation watched aghast as punk reared its spiky head ...

The Clash: Combat Rockers

Profile by Penny Valentine, The History of Rock, 1983

IF THERE WAS one band that successfully rose above punk’s swift and premature decline, it was the Clash. Although historically the Sex Pistols remain the ...

L.A. Punk

Book Excerpt by Danny (Shredder) Weizmann, 'Hardcore California', 1983

IN 1978 THE suburbs of Los Angeles (Anaheim, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Redondo Beach etc.) were still a home for Disneyland, Movieland Wax Museum ...

The Clash, The Sex Pistols: Punk: 1977 - Two Sevens Clash

Essay by Chris Salewicz, The History of Rock, 1983

AS A REBEL MUSIC, punk rock had close affinities with reggae. When the punk movement found a focal point and place of worship in the ...

Sex Gang Children, Southern Death Cult: Positive Punk: Blood And Roses

Overview by Richard North, New Musical Express, 19 February 1983

PART ONE "Don't dream it, be it." — Rocky Horror Show ...

Angry Samoans: Back From Samoa (Bad Trip — US import)

Review by Chris Bohn, New Musical Express, 26 February 1983

SPLUTTER, SPLATTER SEX SHOCK HORROR ...

The Minutemen: Minutemen: What Makes A Man Start Fires? (SST)

Review by Mat Snow, New Musical Express, 26 February 1983

GETTING BETTER BY THE MINUTE ...

The Minutemen: Through Time With The Minutemen

Profile by Byron Coley, L.A. Weekly, 25 March 1983

OFTEN THE mention of a band will bring a visual and/or sonic image to the tip of one's lobe. The words 'Mau Mau' are spake ...

Black Flag: Everything Went Black (SST)

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 26 March 1983

HERE WE GO GATHERING NUTS IN L.A. ...

The Lords Of The New Church: I Just Wanna Testify

Report by Richard Riegel, Creem, April 1983

IT'S LIKE a scene from a Lisa Robinson rock novel, here at Swingo's Hotel in downtown Cleveland. The lobby's a baroque mishmash of fake 18th-century ...

Flipper: The Channel, Boston

Live Review by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 29 April 1983

FLIPPER SUCCEEDS WITH EXCESS; WITH WILD STARES AND PANIXQUAD AT THE CHANNEL; WEDNESDAY NIGHT. ...

The Members: Members of Punk-Reggae Wedding Claim Not Always Bridesmaids

Profile and Interview by Richard Riegel, Creem, May 1983

WE'RE DOWN in Bogart's new dressing room, a concrete-block bunker beneath the stage, and as I retrieve a Budweiser from the tub on the amenities ...

Richard Hell on Smithereens

Review and Interview by Vernon Gibbs, Creem, May 1983

Smithereens: directed by Susan Seidelman (New Line Cinema) ...

The Clash, Allen Ginsberg: Ginsberg Finds Poetry in Punk

Interview by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 2 May 1983

WHEN THE Clash decided it wanted "the voice of God" in its last album, the group turned to Allen Ginsberg. The 56-year-old poet with the ...

Black Flag Hangs At Half-Mast

Report and Interview by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 11 June 1983

MOST ROCK bands send out photos and press clippings with their records. But inside the new album Everything Went Black is a copy of a ...

Buzzcocks, Pete Shelley: Peter Shelley

Interview by Jim Green, Trouser Press, August 1983

Back when the much-saluted bywords of British punk were "rebellion," "relevance" and "gritty realism," Manchester's Buzzcocks brought something fresh, pithy and even humorous to their ...

Black Flag: The Truth about Black Flag

Profile and Interview by Mark Leviton, BAM, 12 August 1983

LET'S FACE IT – much of what passes for music in our country is, in fact, nothing more than product, the worthless, soulless result of ...

Bad Brains: Rock For Light (Abstract)

Review by Richard Cook, New Musical Express, 20 August 1983

BAD BRAINS are an idea bursting full-tilt from a terminally fevered cortex. Rock For Light is the attempted rationalising of the notion, and it so ...

The Big Boys, Minor Threat, Trouble Funk: Trouble Funk, Minor Threat, the Big Boys: Lansburgh Cultural Center, Washington DC

Live Review by Howard Wuelfing, The Washington Post, 26 September 1983

Punk & Funk ...

Bonnie Hayes, Journey, The Mutants, Romeo Void, Sylvester, Translator, Wire Train: San Francisco Rocks Again

Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 13 October 1983

Sixteen years after the Summer of Love, the bands that made the Fillmore famous are as mainstream as Tony Bennett. Meanwhile, a new generation of ...

Minor Threat: Hardcore Happiness

Profile and Interview by RJ Smith, Musician, November 1983

THE MUSIC of Minor Threat has great humor, an ultra-physical beat, and the pace of a ride in the front seat of a roller coaster. ...

The Cramps: Cramps Rocks 'N' Rolls Out Of An Early Grave

Interview by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 16 November 1983

A DISPUTE with their label kept them from releasing a record for more than two years. ...

Husker Du, Omega Tribe: Omega Tribe: No Love Lost (Corpus Cristi)/Hüsker Dü: Metal Circus (SST)

Review by Mat Snow, New Musical Express, 17 December 1983

"People talk about anarchy / and taking up a fight / Well I'm afraid of hings like that / I lock my doors at night" ...

Husker Dü

Interview by Blake Gumprecht, Alternative America, Winter 1983

FORMED IN MINNEAPOLIS in the Summer of 1979, Husker Dü ("Do you remember" in Danish) released their first 45, 'Statues', in 1980. After their extensive ...

Bob Segarini, The Diodes, Teenage Head: Teenage Head, Diodes, Segarini: Toronto Punk Albums

Review by Gary Sperrazza!, New York Rocker, January 1984

Teenage Head: Frantic CityDiodes: Action/Reaction Segarini: On The Radio ...

Hüsker Dü: Iron Tamers: Hüsker Dü send out distress signals

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, New Musical Express, 14 January 1984

HÜSKER DÜ, signed to Black Flag’s SST label, are one of America’s mightiest hardcore trios. From Minneapolis, aching heart of the Midwest, they’ve sent out ...

X: Leader Of The Pack

Interview by Cynthia Rose, New Musical Express, 14 January 1984

IT'S ALMOST like standing with my stilettoes planted on the very threshold of Club Yes. ...

The Clash: Long Beach Arena, Long Beach CA

Live Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 26 January 1984

CLASH LEAVES A LOT OF QUESTIONS UNANSWERED ...

X Spots the Mark: Raw Chemicals With a Spoon

Interview by Richard Riegel, Creem, February 1984

AS I ENTER Billy Zoom's Cincinnati motel room, I glance at the usual rockband-on-tour pile of black leather jackets, but I also take note of ...

The Blasters, Fear, The Germs, Rank and File, Violent Femmes, X: Slash: L.A.'s Maverick Label Meets the Majors

Interview by Mark Leviton, BAM, 10 February 1984

LOS ANGELES —"Music is a vehicle for ideas, and if the ideas suck and the music's good, it's still pretty bad music." The man at ...

The Clash: A Fired-up Joe Strummer Brings his New Clash to America

Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 1 March 1984

Group gets back to its punk roots ...

The Clash: The Brixton Academy, London

Live Review by Lynden Barber, Melody Maker, 17 March 1984

ONCE UPON a time when we were a little more naive than we like to admit, The Clash seemed pretty important, like they were the ...

X: Marquee, London

Live Review by Mat Snow, New Musical Express, 17 March 1984

XXX ...

Black Flag: My War (SST)

Review by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 31 March 1984

TO SAY that Black Flag's Damaged was the punk LP of 1981, is tantamount to (if I may be allowed to lapse for a moment ...

Johnny Thunders, Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers, Patti Palladin : The Heartbreakers, Patti Palladin: Lyceum, London

Live Review by Cynthia Rose, New Musical Express, 31 March 1984

Smacked Bottoms ...

The Minutemen: Buzz Or Howl Under The Influence Of Heat (SST)

Review by RJ Smith, Creem, April 1984

CIVIL DEFENSE QUIZ: ARE YOU PREPARED?What should you do in case of a sudden dropping of a nuclear weapon on your neighborhood? A) Grab ...

X: Guitars Against The Golden State

Profile and Interview by Robin Eggar, The Face, April 1984

They've been called The Last American Rock Band. It's a tag they hate. ...

The Clash: I Call On Joe Strummer — And Live to Tell About It!

Interview by Jon Young, Boston Rock, 16 April 1984

WHAT BECOMES a legend most? In the case of the Clash, overcoming the obstacles and carrying on, head held high. If you've followed their inconstant ...

Shredder: Teen Scene from Belly of the Beast

Interview by Don Waller, Los Angeles Times, 13 May 1984

Now flip that teen coin and meet a breed of kiddies who are not going to dance clubs, who are not listening to floaty romantic ...

Black Flag: Wheel Me Out Flagging!: Black Flag: Marquee, London

Live Review by Mat Snow, New Musical Express, 26 May 1984

"SEARCH AND DESTROY" is the tattoo emblazoned across the sweat-rivuleted, hawser-taut shoulders of Henry Rollins. ...

Black Flag: My War

Review by Roy Trakin, Creem, July 1984

WHAT HAPPENS to hardcore bands when they get old? They turn into Hawkwinds, that's what. Redondo Beach's finest have let their skinheads grow out and ...

Black Flag: The Flag Is Up For Henry Rollins

Interview by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 20 July 1984

SUNDAY AFTERNOON, Henry Rollins will work himself into a frenzy as he leads L.A. punk kingpins Black Flag in a special matinee performance at West ...

The Membranes: 1 in 12 Club, Bradford

Live Review by Susan Williams, New Musical Express, 11 August 1984

BULLSHIT DETECTOR! ...

Black Flag: Heart of Darkness

Interview by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 15 September 1984

RUN! THIS can't be happening! The headlights of the car bearing down on Greg Ginn and Bill Stevenson capture two slack-jawed faces, stark with astonishment, ...

The Minutemen: Double Nickels On The Dime (SST double — US import)

Review by Richard Grabel, New Musical Express, 29 September 1984

60 SECONDS THAT EMOTION ...

Alternative TV: Mark Perry: After The Storm

Interview by Richard Kick, ZigZag, October 1984

ONE SOMETIMES wonders what ever happened to the original punk rock generation of 1976? Obviously those who have managed to hold onto the limelight we ...

Joneses, The (punk), The Minutemen: The Minutemen, the Joneses: Music Machine, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 8 October 1984

Minutemen Surpass the Joneses With Engaging Mix of Rock, Jazz, Folk ...

The Stranglers: The Menin Straits

Interview by Richard North, ZigZag, November 1984

A BAND who, in 1977, I jumped up onstage with at the Queensway Hall Dunstable/I was drunk/I sobered up very quickly/ ...

Richard Hell: RIP (Rior)****

Review by Bill Black, Sounds, 22 December 1984

"RICHARD HELL HAS been the most emotionally compelling, brilliant, innovative and influential rock 'n' roll performer of the past ten years. Unfortunately, these qualities are ...

The Ramones: Joey Ramone (1985)

Interview by Larry Jaffee, Rock's Backpages audio, 1985

Da Brudda gives us his Desert Island Discs and raps about record labels, producers and the musically and politically sterile 1980s.

File format: mp3; file size: 52.2mb, interview length: 57' 02" sound quality: ***

The Ramones (1985)

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Mat Snow, Rock's Backpages audio, February 1985

Joey and Dee Dee talk about life for da brudders is the mid-'80s; Hardcore; chart success (or not); drugs; playing fast; New York City, and where they come from musically.

File format: mp3; file size: 45.3mb, interview length: 1h 02' 53" sound quality: ***

Gene Loves Jezebel, The Ramones: The Ramones/Gene Love Jezebel/Restless: Lyceum, London

Live Review by David Quantick, New Musical Express, 2 March 1985

HALF OF WESTERN CIVILISATION is here tonight; there are men in the toilet talking about Black Sabbath, there are Gary Holton and Rat Scabies and ...

Black Flag's Private War

Interview by Mark Leviton, BAM, 29 March 1985

LOS ANGELES — Henry Rollins simply will not look at me. The Black Flag vocalist has been described as everything from Jim Morrison with Charlie ...

Hüsker Dü: Maxwell's, Hoboken, N.J.

Live Review by Jeff Tamarkin, Billboard, 8 June 1985

VERY RARELY does Maxwell's, the small club that has become something of a local mecca for the new roots-oriented American bands, sell out in advance. ...

Generation X, Billy Idol: Billy Idol: I was the clean punk

Interview by Graham K. Smith, Record Mirror, 6 July 1985

So pleads Billy Idol, latest bad boy of yank rock. Graham K. Smith listens to the curled lip and reckons the man is sincere ...

Black Flag, Flipper, Husker Du, Meat Puppets, The Minutemen, The Replacements: Punk Lives: The Minutemen, Meat Puppets and SST Records

Report and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 18 July 1985

They don't sound like the Ramones, and they don't look like the Sex Pistols, but bands like Hüsker Dü, the Minutemen and the Meat Puppets ...

Black Flag: 9.30 Club, Washington DC

Live Review by Simon Witter, New Musical Express, 27 July 1985

THE INTENSE energy with which they maliciously rioted across the grooves of Damaged inevitably doomed them to an early burn out, and tonight's show was ...

The Lords of the New Church: Lords of the New Church: Hammersmith Palais, London

Live Review by David Sinclair, The Times, 13 August 1985

NEARLY TEN years after the punk rock "revolution", the genre is slipping into a quiet middle age. In common with heavy metal, punk is now ...

The Membranes: Gift Of Life (Creation)

Review by Paul Mathur, Melody Maker, 14 September 1985

MORE SPUNKY misdemeanours from the oddest thing to have come out of Blackpool since the road to Morecambe. Newly signed to Creation, this trio seem ...

The Nightingales, The Prefects: Anti-Pop Songbirds: The Nightingales

Report and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Spin, October 1985

THE NIGHTINGALES ARE seasoned figures on the English independent scene, epitomizing the doggedly patient and uncompromising outsider. Five years old, they still play tiny clubs-above-pubs ...

Black Flag: Damaged (SST 007) ****/In My Head (SST 045) *****

Review by Neil Perry, Sounds, 16 November 1985

THE ELECTRIC box in the corner is getting as tedious as the night is getting chilly. Cold comfort indeed, and time to slip on something ...

Buzzcocks, The Clash, The Damned, Generation X, Public Image Ltd, Sex Pistols, Siouxsie & The Banshees, The Slits: Punk: Rogues Gallery

Overview by Kris Needs, ZigZag, January 1986

TO PUT EVERYTHING INTO PERSPECTIVE, AS TO WHERE THE ORIGINALS FROM '76 HAVE GONE; BE IT A WAYSIDE DITCH OR A MAJOR RECORD COMPANY WATER ...

Big Audio Dynamite, The Clash: The Clash: Cut The Crap (Epic); Big Audio Dynamite: This Is Big Audio Dynamite (Columbia)

Review by Jon Young, Musician, January 1986

OUT OF THE ASHES: JOE STRUMMER ROCKS, MICK JONES SWINGS ...

Circle Jerks, Dead Kennedys: Circle Jerks: Wonderful (Combat Core)/Dead Kennedys: Frankenchrist (Alternative Tentacles)

Review by Byron Coley, Spin, February 1986

THE Circle Jerks and Dead Kennedys are two of a handfulla bands surviving in name and form from the first three waves of California-style pre-hardcore ...

Punk: I Fought The Biz And The Biz Won (How We Got Here From There)

Overview by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 1 February 1986

PUNK: IT MADE OUR DAY...It's been ten bleak winters since...well, we look back in hunger at the years youth reclaimed rock and for a while ...

Punk and Reggae: Rip Bam Bam Bye Yeah

Retrospective by Sean O'Hagan, New Musical Express, 8 February 1986

"Black and white, unite and fight" was the call; The Clash sang of 'Police And Thieves', Johnny Rotten found he was 'Born For A Purpose'. ...

Simply Red: Punk in Manchester: Oh, How We Laughed

Essay by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 15 February 1986

BE OFF with you! Little Red, it is said, is not happy at the hollow allegations that suggest he has 'sold out' by leaping from ...

Siouxsie & The Banshees: Siouxsie and the Banshees: The Howling

Retrospective by Don Watson, New Musical Express, 22 February 1986

SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES: "a great whirlpool of noise, pulling the future down." Many moons later DON WATSON recalls the dawn of the great Sioux ...

Husker Dü: Powerhouse, Birmingham

Live Review by Simon Frith, The Observer, 30 March 1986

The critics' choice: SIMON FRITH watches Husker Dü in Birmingham ...

John Lydon, Malcolm McLaren, The Sex Pistols: Lydon vs McLaren: The End of the Affair

Report by Jon Savage, Spin, April 1986

EARLY IN 1976, the Sex Pistols were a good idea trying to get started, gate-crashing other people's concerts — with instruments allegedly stolen from rich ...

The Minutemen: 3-Way Tie (For Last) (SST)

Review by Byron Coley, Spin, April 1986

FATE SUCKS. And this this is not meant to be read in the Bob Christgau suck-is-good meaning of the word either. ...

Black Flag: My War (Continued)

Report and Interview by Richard Grabel, New Musical Express, 12 July 1986

FRIDAY NIGHT at New York's Irving Plaza, filled to the rafters with punks letting their freak flags fly. Tattered, dazed and confused kids line the ...

Sex Pistols, Sid Vicious: Sid And Nancy (Dir. Alex Cox; Palace Pictures, 18, 92 minutes)

Film/DVD/TV Review by Sylvia Patterson, Smash Hits, 30 July 1986

ALEX COX, film director: "In 1980 I tried to write a screenplay called 'Too Kool To Die'. It was about an English rock 'n' roll ...

The Sex Pistols, Sid Vicious: Sid Vicious: Scum Also Rises

Retrospective by Nick Kent, The Face, August 1986

SID LIVES ON T-SHIRTS AND IN A NEW FILM, BUT MOSTLY HE JUST LIVES ON IN INFAMY ...

Big Black's Incendiary Devices

Profile by Byron Coley, L.A. Weekly, 15 August 1986

  THERE ARE any number of questions that people ask about Big Black: Why does Steve Albini cut his hair with a saber saw? How do ...

Black Flag: SST Records: Working Muscles, Packaged Wallop

Report and Interview by Danny (Shredder) Weizmann, L.A. Weekly, 5 September 1986

YOU COULD SAY this is the darkest Dark Age the music world has seen yet, what with commercial radio more dead than death itself and ...

Suicide: CBGB, New York

Live Review by Abby Weissman, East Coast Rocker, 10 September 1986

THE JURY IS still out on the music of the '70s, but the smoke is starting to clear. It's easier to see who was truly ...

GG Allin: Cat Club, New York City

Live Review by RJ Smith, The Village Voice, 21 October 1986

ILLIN' ON 24 oz. Jolt October 6 only made it worse. G.G. Allin, this New Hampshire loser, appeared at the Cat Club, wearing only a ...

Crass: a Militant Tendency?

Interview by Hugh Fielder, Neil Perry, Sounds, 25 October 1986

Two years ago CRASS couldn't decide whether to blow up the country or grow cabbages — fortunately for the Tory Tyrants, they chose the latter. ...

The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, Sid Vicious: "Poor Sid — You were a good guy, but..."

Interview by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 7 November 1986

SID AND Nancy, Alex Cox's film about the life and death of the Sex Pistols' bassist, Sid Vicious, and his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen, is a ...

The Ramones: The Ritz, New York

Live Review by Abby Weissman, East Coast Rocker, 26 November 1986

TEN YEARS AND 10 blocks north of CBGB's – the bar on the Bowery which first unleashed them onto an unsuspecting world – the Ramones ...

Black Flag, Gone, SWA: Ex-Black Flag Rockers Battle The Mainstream

Interview by Don Waller, Los Angeles Times, 27 November 1986

"WE WEREN'T a band that came out and played a lot of our old songs," reflects Black Flag founder/guitarist Greg Ginn in the wake of ...

The Sex Pistols, Sid Vicious: Sid And Nancy (Dir. Alex Cox; Samuel Goldwyn Co.)

Film/DVD/TV Review by Kris Needs, Creem, December 1986

LOVE IS A ROSE ...

The Meatmen: War Of The Superbikes (Homestead)

Review by Byron Coley, Forced Exposure, Winter 1986

TESCO VEE is a sick yake. ...

The Membranes: Love and Fury for Export

Report and Interview by The Legend!, New Musical Express, 10 January 1987

With the multinational dross-spreaders and the candyfloss radio stations celebrating another year with their boot-heel on the throat of popular music, THE MEMBRANES — godfathers ...

The Stupids: Stupidity Maketh The Men

Interview by Cynthia Rose, New Musical Express, 9 May 1987

Not dumb, maybe a little deaf by now...UK thrash stylists The Stupids step off their skatin’ wheels and entertain Cynthia Rose with tales of ordinary ...

Bad Brains, The Bambi Slam, The Stupids: Bad Brains/Bambi Slam/The Stupids: Clarendon, Hammersmith, London

Live Review by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 16 May 1987

SLAM DANCE ...

Chumbawamba, Class War, Conflict, Crass, Flux of Pink Indians: Anarcho-Punk: Veg Wedge

Report by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 23 May 1987

With Crass, Poison Girls and Flux in either retirement or a state of change, and Conflict in trouble, the anarcho-punk movement is in tatters. STEVEN ...

fIREHOSE, The Minutemen: Minutemen: Ballot Result (SST); fIREHOSE: Ragin', Full-On (SST)

Review by Chuck Eddy, Creem, June 1987

MINUTE MADE ...

Husker Du: Why Aren’t They Massive?

Interview by Simon Reynolds, Melody Maker, 27 June 1987

IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA, the Replacements play me a tape of Husker Du’s live appearance on The Joan Rivers Show. It’s more than a little mindblowing. ...

Big Black, Head of David: Big Black: You Got It All, Dad! We're Gonna Hit! (Sound Of Impact) (Brace NOT 2 BUT I)*****; Head of David: Ultramont (Brace NOT 3)***

Review by Jack Barron, Sounds, 18 July 1987

THE 'OFFICIAL bootleg' is an interesting development in deception. Several have already sneaked out from beneath the Mute umbrella but this pair, including Head Of ...

Suicidal Tendencies: Clarendon, London

Live Review by Roy Wilkinson, Sounds, 18 July 1987

IN FOR THE KILL ...

GG Allin: Underground: GG Allin

Guide by Byron Coley, Spin, August 1987

FIRST things first. Just as 1986 was the Year of the 'Steen, 1987 is gonna be the Year of GG Allin. ...

Billy Idol: I Am Still the Greatest Says Billy Idol

Interview by Chris Bourke, Rip It Up (New Zealand), September 1987

"At the age of 14, Johnny Angelo was a heartthrob. He had three-inch sideboards and he wore his hair swept high in a golden quiff. ...

Dancing Hoods, House of Freaks, Little Kings, The Pandoras, Redd Kross, Sea Hags, T.S.O.L., The Unforgiven: Redd Kross et al: Hollywood Hills Rock Festival, John Anson Ford Theater, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Gerrie Lim, L.A. Weekly, 11 September 1987

IN A BUCOLIC canyon were the faithful gathered, the black-garbed and the henna-haired and the anorexic trendoids baring their nightclub tans, all earnest supplicants at ...

Big Black: Songs About F****** (Blast First BFFP 19/CD)*****

Review by Neil Perry, Sounds, 12 September 1987

INTO THE BLACK HOLE ...

The Stranglers: Fey Bikers On Azur

Report and Interview by Simon Witter, New Musical Express, 17 October 1987

THE PHONE RANG. It was the chief. "Be at the airport tomorrow morning. The Stranglers. Marseilles. Bikers' convention. JJ Burnel burning up the track on ...

Angry Samoans: The Angry Samoans: Samoa, Ho!

Profile and Interview by Chuck Eddy, Creem, December 1987

"THE PURPOSE of music as a reflection of the ever-changing nature of the world is to make everything you like seem silly five years later, ...

Bad Brains: An Interview with HR

Interview by Al Quint, Suburban Voice, Winter 1987

PROBABLY THE MOST unusual interview I've ever encountered in my 4 years of doing this 'zine. In a haze of marijuana smoke, surrounded by several ...

Meat Puppets: Call of the Wild: Meat Puppets

Profile and Interview by Mark Dery, Option, January 1988

IT AIN'T THE MEAT, as they say, it's the motion, and believe me, nothing beats a handful of animated hamburger racing around on your plate ...

Butthole Surfers, Sonic Youth: Honey of the 'Core: Ten Years After... and it's Almost Independents Day

Interview by Ralph Traitor, Sounds, 16 January 1988

During 1987 the US indie underground began surfacing in much the same way as it had here a full decade earlier. BYRON COLEY, co-editor of ...

The Clash, Joe Strummer: Joe Strummer (1988)

Interview by Adam Sweeting, Rock's Backpages audio, February 1988

The former Clash front-man on recording the soundtrack to Permanent Record; his musical and acting participation in Walker and Straight to Hell; on the Clash compilation Story of the Clash Vol. 1; how touring with the Who led to the end of the Clash; playing with the Pogues, and his hatred of being spat at onstage; on Reagan and Thatcher; his (now) dislike of drugs; on his diplomat father; forming the 101ers, and the Rude Boy movie.

File format: mp3; file size: 83.8mb, interview length: 1h 27' 20" sound quality: *** (background noise)

fIREHOSE, Jerry Lee Lewis, X: X, Jerry Lee Lewis, fIREHOSE: Universal Ampitheatre, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Bill Holdship, Creem, April 1988

"WE GOT THE BULLS BY THE HORN..." ...

Penelope Spheeris: Last of the Mohawkans

Interview by Michele Kirsch, New Musical Express, 7 May 1988

PENELOPE SPHEERIS is the West Coast punk auteur whose movies have traced the decline and fall of hard core culture. Dudes completes her trilogy of ...

X: Live at the Whisky A Go Go on the Fabulous Sunset Strip

Review by Don Snowden, The Boston Phoenix, 27 May 1988

FOR ALL THE national accolades heaped on X throughout the '80s, the group never stopped viewing itself as an LA band stepped in the nitty-gritty ...

The 101'ers, The Clash, Sex Pistols, Joe Strummer: Joe Strummer

Interview by Jon Savage, unpublished, 30 May 1988

This interview was for Jon Savage's classic punk book England's Dreaming, and is published here in its entirity for the first time. ...

The Dickies, Metal MC, Pigmy Love Circus: Scream, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Danny (Shredder) Weizmann, L.A. Weekly, 29 July 1988

TEN YEARS of anything is a lot... usually too much. When I was younger, I worshiped the Dickies as the overlords of my conscience, wrote ...

Hüsker Dü, Bob Mould: Bob Mould's Quiet Life After Husker Du

Report and Interview by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 19 August 1988

FOR THE BETTER part of the 1980s, Husker Du was the leading light of the American rock 'n' roll underground. The Minneapolis-based trio came crashing ...

Patti Smith Resurfaces

Profile and Interview by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 27 August 1988

DETROIT – "I'm still shaky from this," says Patti Smith, who's been driven by her husband, Fred Smith, through a hellish rainstorm and rush-hour traffic ...

The Ramones: Ramonesland: An Interview with the First Family of Punk

Interview by Abby Weissman, East Coast Rocker, 21 September 1988

IT'S NOT uncommon for strangers to come up to the Ramones to thank them for existing and to pay their respects. Sometimes it's just kids ...

Harry Crews: Wrecking Crews

Interview by David Stubbs, Melody Maker, 1 October 1988

Harry Crews are an all-woman band featuring Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth and Lydia Lunch. They're destined to "combust after the next three days". But ...

Henry Rollins: Mean Fiddler, London

Live Review by Edwin Pouncey, New Musical Express, 1 October 1988

THE GRAND old illustrated man of US hardcore grips the stage with his toes and hangs ten. Henry Rollins has just rolled into town again ...

Suicidal Tendencies: Calling the shots

Interview by Ira Robbins, Rolling Stone, 3 November 1988

Punks prove their metal ...

Jonathan Richman: Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers

Review by Robert Sandall, Q, 1989

BESERKLEY HAVE re-issued their entire catalogue of Jonathan Richman albums but they should have stopped with this one, a brilliant piece of East Coast proto-punk ...

Malcolm McLaren (1989) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by John Tobler, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 1989

This is a transcript of John's audio interview with Malcolm. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Wipers: Turning the Sage: Boston says goodbye to the Wipers

Live Review by Tim Riley, The Boston Phoenix, 27 January 1989

THE WIPERS, a seasoned punk trio from Portland, Oregon, are headed up by singer/songwriter/guitarist Greg Sage, an electronics wizard offering yet more proof that techies ...

The Clash: Clash: The Clash; Give 'Em Enough Rope; London Calling; Sandinista!; Combat Rock; Cut The Crap

Review by Mat Snow, Q, June 1989

UNLIKE THE Sex Pistols, the other great London punk-rock group had ambitions beyond delivering the short, sharp shock to the system suggested by the sudden ...

Greil Marcus

Interview by Jon Wilde, Melody Maker, 8 July 1989

IN 1977, GREIL MARCUS PUBLISHED MYSTERY TRAIN, ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL BOOKS OF ROCK CRITICISM EVER WRITTEN. HIS NEW BOOK, LIPSTICK TRACES: A SECRET ...

Malcolm McLaren, The Sex Pistols: Malcolm McLaren: Pernicious? Moi?

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, August 1989

IN THE "PIANO BAR" of a Mayfair hotel, portion of club sandwich in one hand, glass of fine red wine in the other, Malcolm McLaren ...

The Pogues: Peace & Love

Review by Mark Cooper, Q, August 1989

BY RIGHTS, The Pogues should surely be dead by now, overcome by the drink or the enthusiasm of their fans. Yet somehow they've survived the ...

Jayne County: The Duchess Of York, Leeds

Live Review by Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, 2 September 1989

FLASHBACK TO 1977. Punk rock sets England ablaze and in a sweaty club somewhere near you a transvestite called Wayne County shrieks "If you don't ...

Buzzcocks: The Buzzcocks (1989)

Interview by Ira Robbins, Rock's Backpages audio, 11 November 1989

The punk pioneers discuss their reunion; talk about their previous solo activities; on why the band broke up originally; relearning the songs, and playing them slower; the coincidental release of box set Product; other punk bands reuniting; the Fine Young Cannibals' version of 'Ever Fallen In Love', and changes in music over the previous decade.

File format: mp3; file size: 46.7mb, interview length: 48' 41" sound quality: ***

Buzzcocks: The Buzzcocks: Product

Review by Martin Aston, Q, December 1989

LIKE MOST punk escapades, Buzzcocks started with Johnny Rotten, whose "We're not into music, we're into chaos" motto drew Bolton students Peter Shelley and Howard ...

Fugazi: A Tension Spans

Profile and Interview by Push, Melody Maker, 2 December 1989

"THIS IS TOTALLY weird," says drummer Brendan Canty, pointing to a photograph of himself that appeared in Melody Maker the last time Washington DC's Fugazi ...

Lydia Lunch (1989) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Martin Aston, Rock's Backpages transcripts, Winter 1989

This is a transcript of Martin's interview with Lydia. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Die Kreuzen: Islington Powerhaus, London

Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 27 January 1990

PERHAPS IF more people knew about Die Kreuzen they wouldn't undergo such sweeping stylistic changes. From hardcore freaks to metal maniacs, from purveyors of soft ...

Fugazi: Repeater (Dischord)

Review by Push, Melody Maker, 31 March 1990

IMPURITY AND impatience are two of the most obviously immediate characteristics of Repeater, Fugazi's third LP. Words drip with spit and guitar notes collide, the ...

Angry Anderson, Rose Tattoo: Angry Anderson

Interview by Steve Mascord, Hot Metal, July 1990

ANGRY ANDERSON is intently thumbing through an English heavy metal magazine. It's the one which  described him, following the release of soppy 1988 Neighbours hit ...

24-7 Spyz, Primus: Hollywood Live, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Don Waller, Los Angeles Times, 27 July 1990

24-7 Spyz: A Blend of Idealism, Stage-Diving ...

John Lydon, Public Image Ltd, Sex Pistols: John Lydon (1990)

Interview by Steven Daly, Rock's Backpages audio, September 1990

John Lydon, eco-warrior, talks about — among many things — rap, NWA, and the Moral Majority; Malcolm McLaren and Bernie Rhodes; ex-bandmate Steve Jones; living in Los Angeles; punks becoming the new establishment; football and his beloved Arsenal; his take on fashion; liking Pink Floyd's Dave Gilmour and offending Joni Mitchell; the current PiL and the band's previous members; on being involved in film... and being very rude about the Clash.

File format: mp3; file size: 104mb, interview length: 1h 48' 20" sound quality: ***

Napalm Death: The Wailing Ultimate

Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 8 September 1990

Despite years off personnel traumas and line-up changes, NAPALM DEATH are still the same extreme noise terrorists they were in the mid-'80s. With their third, ...

Crass: Re-issues

Review by Martin Aston, Q, October 1990

IF ANY GROUP seem wholly inappropriate for CD repackaging, then Crass are it, being eight admitted non-musicians who used snarl-toothed punk music as a vehicle ...

Crass: Where Are They Now?

Profile by Martin Aston, Q, October 1990

CRASS WERE BRITAIN'S seminal anarcho-punk band, whose communal life and own Crass label epitomised the movement's DIY ethic. Handling everything from mail order, promoting gigs ...

Blondie, The Ramones, Talking Heads: Meet The Family: Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads

Report and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, October 1990

There's Debbie, and there's Tina and, let's see, there's little Joey, hasn't he grown? Then there's and Chris and, uh, Chris... From the shadowy depths ...

L7: Smell The Magic (Glitterhouse)***½

Review by Roy Wilkinson, Sounds, 6 October 1990

THE FOXCORE tag may have been coined with tongues in cheeks but L7 prove the NWOAB (New Wave Of American Babes) has substance. Their second ...

Celebrity Skin: Rock 'n' Roll Disgrace

Profile and Interview by Bill Holdship, Spin, December 1990

ONLY LOS Angeles could produce a band like Celebrity Skin. In a city where celeb­rity is both religion and life-style, this group is a decadent ...

The Meatmen: Meatmen, The: Crippled Children Suck (Touch & Go)

Review by Byron Coley, Forced Exposure, 1991

…IT WOULD BE safe to say that the material on this LP (a reprise of the band's second EP + a variety of live seepage ...

John Lydon

Interview by Steven Daly, Interview, January 1991

RESPLENDENT IN a California combo of fluorescent shorts and suntan, and crowned by a thatch of blond hair, the former Johnny Rotten answers the door ...

Lunachicks: Mammary Weer All Crazee Now!

Interview by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 5 January 1991

Yowza! It's ladeeez night every night in the weird 'n' wunnerful world of American underground rock 'n' roll, with the totally outrageous LUNACHICKS leading a ...

Nine Inch Nails: Pretty Hate Machine (Island)

Review by Neil Perry, Select, March 1991

TWO YEARS ago, Trent Reznor locked himself in a studio and took a long, hard digitally-sequenced look into his soul. Pretty Hate Machine was the ...

New York Dolls, Johnny Thunders, Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers: Johnny Thunders: Punk and Drugs and Warhol

Obituary by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 30 April 1991

JOHNNY THUNDERS had long been a by-word for self-destruction through drugs and hard living. In 1981, Trouser Press magazine cynically declared Thunders "legally dead" alongside a cartoon ...

Sham 69: Where Are They Now?

Profile by Martin Aston, Q, May 1991

FAMOUS – OR SHOULD that be infamous? – for their punk-era, terrace-anthem hits 'If The Kids Were United (They Would Never be Divided)' and 'Hurry ...

The Dead Boys: No Compromise, No Regrets

Obituary by Nina Antonia, Spiral Scratch, 11 June 1991

STIV BATORS, a man whose name read like an anagram, managed the rare feat of creative reincarnation, within the span of what was to be ...

Babes in Toyland: Mean Fiddler, London

Live Review by Keith Cameron, New Musical Express, 22 June 1991

AS YET ANOTHER lame-brain shuffles nervously before taking the plunge, the anti-stage-diving lobby have a point for once. In the context of Babes In Toyland's ...

Bob Mould, Jello Biafra: Bob Mould and Jello Biafra: Two Faces of Punk

Interview by Mark Kemp, Option, July 1991

CLAWING THEIR WAY INTO THE '90S, BOB MOULD & JELLO BIAFRA EXPLORE THE PERSONAL & THE POLITICAL ...

Beat Happening, Fugazi, Thee Headcoats, L7: The Alternative Underground

Report by Ira Robbins, Rolling Stone, 17 October 1991

Bands on the real cutting edge turn out for six-day Washington festival. ...

The Adverts, The Clash, Sex Pistols, X-Ray Spex: Jon Savage: "I Remember Punk Rock..."

Interview by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 26 October 1991

He was a bored public schoolboy, then JON SAVAGE heard the Pistols and the Clash and the strings of his heart went ping. He's now ...

Hole, L7, Nirvana, Sister Double Happiness: Nirvana, Sister Double Happiness, L7, Hole: Palace Theater, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 28 October 1991

A Potent 'Rock for Choice' at Palace ...

The Sex Pistols: Jon Savage: England's Dreaming

Book Review by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, November 1991

EVEN THOUGH 15 YEARS have passed since the release of 'Anarchy In The UK', there has never been a book which has satisfactorily documented Britain's ...

Black Flag: SST's Greg Ginn (1991)

Interview by Mark Sinker, Rock's Backpages audio, Spring 1991

The hardcore label boss talks about setting up SST in order to release Black Flag's recordings; about learning how to run a label and the importance of independent distribution; the perception of SST and its subsidiary labels New Alliance and Cruise; SST's audience(s), the reactionary fanzine scene, and the challenge of selling "out-there" non-rock music.

File format: mp3; file size: 28.4mb, interview length: 29' 38" sound quality: ***

The Pogues, Joe Strummer: The Pogues and Joe Strummer: Town & Country Club, London

Live Review by David Quantick, New Musical Express, 4 January 1992

THE EVENING starts, bizarrely enough. In a pub which is not only playing the whole of The Best of The Pogues but whose bar is ...

Johnny Thunders: Go, Johnny, Go: Thunders' So Alone

Sleeve notes by Ira Robbins, Sire Records, February 1992

AMONG THE LIFETIME residents of abyssville are those rock'n'rollers whose faith in the liberating rebellion of mangy guitar music gets crossed up into a personal ...

The Damned

Retrospective by Dave Thompson, Goldmine, 7 February 1992

NO ONE could ever have predicted it, but the Damned are the great survivors of punk. ...

John Lydon, The Sex Pistols: John Lydon

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, March 1992

THE MAN IN THE ETHNIC-TEA-COSY-STYLED headwear and the unsightly puce satin ski pants lies back on my sofa, swigs lustily from a bottle of strong ...

Bad Religion, Dag Nasty: Bad Religion: Generator (Epitaph); Dag Nasty: Four on the Floor (Epitaph)

Review by Chuck Eddy, L.A. Weekly, 12 March 1992

HARDCORE PUNK happened more than 10 years ago, meant less than it wanted to then, and means less than nothing now. Bad Religion and Dag ...

L7: Astoria, London

Live Review by Everett True, Melody Maker, May 1992

L'S BELLES ...

Green Day: If Today Is Yesterday’s Tomorrow, Is Green Day Today’s Beatles?

Comment by Metal Mike Saunders, BAM, 15 May 1992

IF YOU BUY one album this coming year buy this one: Green Day’s Kerplunk! ...

Fugazi: Brixton Academy, London

Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 23 May 1992

LIVE AND LET DIET! ...

Fugazi: The Ritz, New York NY

Live Review by Michael Azerrad, Rolling Stone, 25 June 1992

ONE OF this country's few truly underground bands, Fugazi refuses to join a major label and adamantly avoids any promotion. The band members won't even ...

The Ramones: Mondo Bizarro

Review by Dave Thompson, Alternative Press, October 1992

Dear Mrs Ramone, Just a quick note to let you know how the boys are, these days. ...

The Sex Pistols: Kiss This

Review by Mat Snow, Q, November 1992

NEARLY 15 YEARS after John Lydon quit the Sex Pistols, effectively ending them bar a few final pranks, his subsequent band, PiL, find themselves no ...

The Beastie Boys, Henry Rollins: The Beastie Boys, Rollins Band: Roseland Ballroom New York NY

Live Review by Michael Azerrad, Rolling Stone, 21 January 1993

THIS PAIRING wasn't as odd as it seemed, because the Beastie Boys have created ― or at least mobilized ― a new kind of fan. ...

Superchunk: On The Mouth (City Slang)

Review by David Bennun, Melody Maker, 30 January 1993

KISS THIS ...

The Stranglers: Leeds University

Live Review by Simon Warner, The Guardian, 8 February 1993

IN THE SUB-CULTURAL flow, punk rushed headlong in a bid to create the spontaneous, ephemeral and disposable. Some irony then, that 15 years on, the ...

Butthole Surfers: Independent Worm Saloon (Capitol)

Review by Keith Cameron, Vox, April 1993

WITH THEIR last album, 1991's half-hearted Pioughd, the Butthole Surfers appeared to be relying on a well-cultivated knack for elaborate in-jokes, almost to the exclusion ...

Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, Chia Pet, Tsunami: Who are the Riot Grrrls?

Report by Susan Corrigan, i-D, April 1993

Riot Grrrl is an American network of feminist punk bands, angry, personal fanzines and women's discussion groups dedicated to 'girl-positive' action. We visited Riot Grrrls ...

Primus: Pork Soda (Interscope 7567922572) KKK

Review by Neil Perry, Kerrang!, 1 May 1993

THREE Ks, BUT a warning; hardened fans of what we shall call Traditional Metal would rather feed their family pets to Glen Benton than sit ...

Elvis Presley, Sex Pistols: Greil Marcus: A Surfer on the Zeitgeist

Profile and Interview by Andy Beckett, The Independent, 23 May 1993

This isn't exactly life on the edge: Greil Marcus is married, nearly 50, and lives in a nice big house in northern California. But he ...

The Beatles, Sex Pistols: Pointing Pistols at the throne

Essay by Jon Savage, The Guardian, 2 June 1993

There is something Rotten in the state of England. Republicanism is emerging as an option even for Tory meritocrats — thanks to the punk's subversiveness ...

The Undertones: Sounding Out Stroke City

Interview by Sean O'Hagan, The Observer, 11 July 1993

The pop star's tale: Michael Bradley has lived most of his life in the thick of the Troubles — but he has not let them ...

Huggy Bear: Taking The Rough With The Smooch (Wiiija/All formats)

Review by John Harris, New Musical Express, 18 September 1993

PUCKER LIPS NOW ...

Penelope Spheeris: See You at the Bank, Dude!

Profile and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Vogue, December 1993

Like the subjects of
 her forthcoming film The Beverly
 Hillbillies, she went 
from a poor Southern 
background to 
become a Hollywood
 hotshot. Barney
 Hoskyns meets ...

Siouxsie & The Banshees: Siouxsie and the Banshees: A Kiss in the DreamHouse

Book Excerpt by Lucy O'Brien, 'Love is the Drug' (Penguin), 1994

ALTHOUGH SHE'D been one of punk's founding fathers, as it were, Siouxsie Sioux never really looked like she could last the distance. She's still here ...

Green Day Rising

Review and Interview by Metal Mike Saunders, BAM, 28 January 1994

Popcore Ascending? Or Is That Just The First Phase Of 'The Greatest Band In America'? ...

Henry Rollins: Rollins Band: Weight (Imago)

Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 10 April 1994

Rollins Finds a New Voice in Weight ...

Black Flag, Henry Rollins: Henry Rollins (1994)

Interview by Andy Gill, Rock's Backpages audio, May 1994

Henry reflects on Kurt Cobain's recent death; Black Flag's influence on the new bands; his disapproval of slackers and his ascetic lifestyle; his disciplinarian father; violence in America; what he likes and loathes about England; his youthful fondness for Ted Nugent, and '70s hard rock in general; the difference between Black Flag and his Rollins Band; music vs. spoken word; his literary influences, including Nietzsche; his mother's record collection; being knocked out by punk rock; his gym work... and his relationship with his fans.

File format: mp3; file size: 79.5mb, interview length: 1h 22' 46" sound quality: ****

Henry Rollins (1994) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Andy Gill, Rock's Backpages transcripts, May 1994

This is a transcript of Andy's audio interview with Henry. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Green Day: Dookie (WEA 9362-45529-2 14 tks/40 mins/FP)

Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 28 May 1994

LIKE A hardcore Hailey's Comet, Green Day have a habit of popping up every couple of summers with an LP stuffed with blazing guitars, bright ...

The Clash: Clash on Broadway (Legacy)

Review by Tom Hibbert, Q, June 1994

DID YOU know that The Clash's song, 'Career Opportunities', was written whilst the band feasted on potato croquettes from Kentucky Fried Chicken? ...

John Lydon, The Sex Pistols: Who the Hell Does John Lydon Think He Is?

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, June 1994

THE INTERVIEW, Q vs Lydon, should have taken place several months ago but when I turned up on his Fulham doorstep and rang his bell, ...

Green Day: Young, Loud, and Snotty

Interview by Eric Weisbard, Spin, September 1994

GREEN DAY's unexpected rise from Gilman Street punk urchins to MTV poster children has not come without a price. Eric Weisbard wonders if they can ...

Green Day: The Dookies Of Hazards

Interview by Paul Moody, New Musical Express, 3 September 1994

Smothered in mud, wrestling with bouncers, GREEN DAY are The Monkees, The Kinks, The Banana Splits and The Ramones in one handy million-selling punk rock ...

The Clash: Clash/Subway Sect/Slits/Prefects: Chancellor Hall, Chelmsford

Retrospective by Ian Fortnam, New Musical Express, October 1994

BORED TEENAGERS – SUBURBAN HICKS with soap-stiffened Sid Vicious barnets and bleeding earlobes gape in awestruck, whey-faced wonder. Chelmsford, anonymous epicentre of NOWHERE is playing ...

Green Day: Astoria, London

Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 24 October 1994

US band Green Day sing of misery and hatred but, live at the Astoria, it's just one big party ...

Green Day: Astoria, London

Live Review by Paul Sexton, The Times, 26 October 1994

Let's go scurfin' USA — Punk strikes a power pop chord ...

Green Day: "It's the Drugs"

Report and Interview by Lisa Verrico, Vox, December 1994

Californian group Green Day have sped through the past year, with more than a little help from their friends Billy Whizz and Bob Hope. And ...

Offspring: Go Ahead, Skate Punk…

Interview by Neil Perry, Vox, December 1994

A post-Grunge street revolution or just a flash in the pan? Either way, Offspring are the kids' choice... ...

Angry Samoans, Bad Brains, The Big Boys, Black Flag, JFA, Minor Threat, The Minutemen, The Necros, Suicidal Tendencies: An Oral History of Hardcore Punk

Retrospective and Interview by Pat Blashill, unpublished, 1995

NOTE: I conducted these interviews and more for a magazine story that never ran. What follows is a rough, incomplete edit of the piece. I ...

Green Day: Nassau Coliseum, Long Island, NY

Live Review by Carol Cooper, Newsday, 1995

BY MATCHING the cheeky insouciance of the early Beatles with the amphetamine hooks of the Ramones in the late ‘80s, Green Day graduated rock and ...

Chic, Rattle and Roll

Overview by Lucy O'Brien, Vox, April 1995

From models to mods, designer girlfriends to X Girl, it's a fine thread between fashion and rock 'n' roll. VOX explores the world of pop ...

Fugazi: Red Medicine (Dischord DIS90CD 13 tks/44 mins/FP)

Review by John Robb, Melody Maker, 6 May 1995

FUGAZI are the unsung heroes of the American underground, busting out of the Washington projects on a white hot punk rock tip in a straight ...

Bound for Glory, Rahowa, Skrewdriver: Hate, Rattle & Roll

Report by William Shaw, Details, July 1995

For years, skinhead rock has remained safely in the lunatic fringe. But now, white-power outfits like Resistance Records are using the music to rally the ...

Adam & The Ants, The Clash, The Damned, Generation X, The Jam, The Sex Pistols, Siouxsie & The Banshees, The Stranglers, X-Ray Spex: Punk Venues: London Calling

Retrospective by Johnny Black, Q, July 1995

Summer, 1976. Punk, live punk, is about to explode in the capital. Tap rooms, Poly bars and sweaty clubs will host its unwashed greats. Johnny Black looks ...

Fugazi: Red Medicine (Dischord) ***½

Review by Mark Kemp, Rolling Stone, 13 July 1995

FUGAZI HAVE never been quite as one-dimensional as their critics would have it. On their first full-length album, 1990's Repeater, the D.C. quartet reinvented the ...

Bad Brains: Lame Brains

Report and Interview by Richard Harrington, The Washington Post, 30 July 1995

IN THE LATE '70s, Washington's Bad Brains pioneered a style of speedy hard-core punk that is now a commercial juggernaut for young bands such as ...

Green Day (1995)

Interview by Roy Trakin, Rock's Backpages audio, 9 August 1995

The young pups of punk nouveau phone in about their humungous success, vast wealth, and what it means to be a punk, twenty years after the fact.

File format: mp3 File size: 33.3mb Interview length: 36 minutes 24 seconds Sound quality: **

The Sex Pistols: Never Mind the TV Bollocks

Report by Jon Savage, The Guardian, 11 August 1995

Jon Savage mulls over the four-year struggle to put his definitive study of Punk, England's Dreaming, on television ...

Jayne County, Wayne County & The Electric Chairs: Man Enough To Be A Woman, Jayne County (Serpent's Tail. £11.99)

Book Review by Fred Dellar, Vox, September 1995

County crows ...

Anti-Nowhere League: Mama Kin, Boston

Live Review by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 26 September 1995

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, for your listening and slam-dancing pleasure: Anti-Nowhere League, a scurrilous pack of London-based louts who began Sunday's show at Mama Kin with ...

The Sex Pistols Sign To A&M Records

Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Q, October 1995

Early 1977, and following the inevitable bust-up with EMI, the Sex Pistols are about to release 'God Save The Queen' and embark on their shortest ...

Green Day: Insomniac (WEA/All formats)

Review by Paul Moody, New Musical Express, 7 October 1995

SLEEPY JOE ...

Green Day: Brixton Academy, London

Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 7 October 1995

THEATRE OF MATES ...

Green Day: Everybody Verts

Interview by Andrew Mueller, Melody Maker, 16 December 1995

Green Day's major label debut LP sold more than Nevermind, Vitalogy, Monster and Zooropa. Their new one isn't doing too badly, either. Andrew Mueller meets ...

Green Day, Operation Ivy, Rancid: Green Day and Rancid: Maximum Rock'n'Roll!

Report by Susan Corrigan, i-D, January 1996

With their technicolour mohicans and tattoos, Green Day and Rancid are bringing teen spirit to a generation of Americans who weren't even born when the ...

Rancid: What's In A Mohawk?

Report and Interview by RJ Smith, The New York Times, 28 January 1996

EVEN FOR A break-all-the-rules punk rock band, some rules still apply. It's 10 minutes to stage, and the members of Rancid are sitting in their ...

Joe Carducci's Rock and the Pop Narcotic

Retrospective by Simon Reynolds, Artforum, February 1996

WHEN Rock And The Pop Narcotic was first published in 1990, it incited a fair bit of controversy, startling many by the sheer aggression with ...

The Ramones: Gabba Gabba Sniffle: The Ramones at Brixton Academy, London

Live Review by Barney Hoskyns, The Independent, 9 February 1996

PUNK MAY not be dead, but the Ramones, it would seem, have finally bitten the dust – like the spaghetti western mercenaries to whom they ...

The Ramones' Last Tour: Rocket To Retirement

Interview by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 10 February 1996

"I THINK we're leaving an historical legacy," says Joey Ramone. "We really changed rock 'n' roll. When we came out in '74, rock 'n' roll ...

Rage Against The Machine: Evil Empire (Epic)

Review by Richard Cromelin, Los Angeles Times, 14 April 1996

RAGE AGAINST the Machine's second album barges into an alternative rock world where discontent is routinely channeled into introverted abstraction and metaphor rather than a ...

Presidents of the United States of America: The Presidents of the USA: Astoria, London

Live Review by David Sinclair, The Times, 17 April 1996

Monster raving loony party ...

Rancid: Rank Account

Interview by John Robb, Melody Maker, 25 May 1996

The American ska-punk noise of RANCID is more intelligent than your average dumb thrash racket ...

Slayer: Confessions of a Teenage Punk Rocker

Interview by Steffan Chirazi, Kerrang!, 25 May 1996

He dumped a cheerleader for punk rock, and he spent his teens boozing, brawling and smashing up cars. He's Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman, and he's ...

Rancid: Blast of the Mohicans

Profile and Interview by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 8 June 1996

Punk's not dead, kids! Not real stinking-mohawk-gobbing punk rock anyway, because that's alive and spitting with RANCID, America's coolest (and richest) revolutionaries. So stuff yer ...

The Sex Pistols: Taking Another Shot

Interview by Joel Selvin, San Francisco Chronicle, 9 June 1996

Prototypical punks the Sex Pistols are back together — so take cover ...

The Clash, Sex Pistols, Sid Vicious: Sid Vicious: Disgusting of Tunbridge Wells

Essay by Peter Silverton, The Observer, 23 June 1996

Pete Silverton was busy celebrating his 21st with aunties and uncles, and the promise of a pewter mug. Then who should turn up but Sid ...

Iggy Pop, Sex Pistols: Last of the Mohicans

Report by Susan Corrigan, The Guardian, 26 June 1996

On Sunday, the punks were rocking again. But what on earth were they wearing? ...

Dog Eat Dog (punk and rap): Dog Eat Dog: Astoria, London

Live Review by Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 27 July 1996

WHO DO you think is more punk rock? The committed mohawk who lives on a steady diet of superfast hardcore tunes and fronts a troupe ...

The Sultans of Ping FC: Le Zenith, Paris

Live Review by Paul Moody, New Musical Express, 27 July 1996

EEK! FOUR years from the end of the millennium and there's still hundreds of scrawny, scrag-haired boys in trouser-sized pipecleaner jeans wanting to be The ...

The Sex Pistols: A Seance in Finsbury Park: The Sex Pistols Reunite

Live Review by Jon Savage, Spin, August 1996

JUST BEFORE the Sex Pistols take the stage in the waning light, a curious hush falls on the boisterous punk crowd. A myth is to ...

The Sex Pistols: Never Mind Their Principles, Here's The Sex Pistols

Report and Interview by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 9 August 1996

FAIRFAX, Va. — Johnny Rotten is up to his old tricks. He's baiting the crowd — calling those seated in the loge "sissies" — and ...

Ruth Ruth: The Little Death (Epitaph/Deep Elm EP)

Review by Chuck Eddy, L.A. Weekly, 12 September 1996

Uninvited: Revenge rock in re Ruth Ruth ...

The Sex Pistols: Filthy Lucre Live ***½

Review by Ira Robbins, Rolling Stone, 19 September 1996

PERRY FARRELL once titled a Jane's Addiction album Nothing's Shocking. He has since spent his entire career trying to prove otherwise. John Lydon — once ...

Rage Against the Machine: Red, Hot and Bothered

Report and Interview by RJ Smith, Spin, October 1996

Rage Against the Machine have scorched America with their Molotov cocktail or hip-hop, hardcore, and extreme politics. But are they too rad for Russia? RJ Smith ...

Fluffy: Cheek and Destroy

Report by Paul Elliott, Kerrang!, 26 October 1996

Used tampons, crap beer and blokes' naked arses. That'll be FLUFFY on the road, then. A debauched and filthy tale of backstage scuzz and stinking ...

The Queers: They're Here, They're the Queers and they're not what you think

Profile and Interview by Ira Robbins, Rolling Stone, 14 November 1996

ONE OF the golden rules in the punk handbook is to confuse and irritate people at every opportunity. So naming a band of straight boys ...

Buzzcocks, The Clash, The Damned, Malcolm McLaren, Sex Pistols, Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers: The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Damned, The Heartbreakers, The Buzzcocks: Destination Nowhere

Retrospective by Johnny Black, MOJO, December 1996

Twenty years ago this month, the Sex Pistols, Clash, Damned, Heartbreakers and Buzzcocks embarked upon the Anarchy Tour. What followed more than lived up to ...

Crass' Penny Rimbaud

Interview by Richie Unterberger, Perfect Sound Forever, 28 December 1996

THE SPIN Alternative Record Guide wrote that Crass were "probably the first rock band whose liner notes are not only indispensable, but often better reading ...

Crass: G Sus of Crass

Interview by Richie Unterberger, Perfect Sound Forever, 28 December 1996

THE SPIN Alternative Record Guide wrote that Crass were "probably the first rock band whose liner notes are not only indispensable, but often better reading ...

Talking Heads: 77

Review by Barney Hoskyns, unpublished, 1997

NEXT TO CBGBS peers like the Ramones and the Voidoids, Talking Heads barely sounded like a punk band. After the startlingly non-conformist ‘Love Building on ...

Presidents of the United States of America, Weezer: Presidents of the United States of America: II (Columbia); Weezer: Pinkerton (Geffen)

Review by Chuck Eddy, L.A. Weekly, 2 January 1997

Teen Machines ...

Symposium: Pogo! Discs

Interview by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 11 January 1997

Feisty teen poppers SYMPOSIUM may've pelted NME with snowballs in the past, but we forgave them. Hey, we're professionals (stop sniggering!). So professional that we've ...

Offspring: The Offspring: Ixnay on the Hombre (Columbia)

Review by RJ Smith, Spin, February 1997

OF COURSE The Offspring hail from Orange County. They have to be from Orange County. Frontman Dexter Holland was a high school punk rocker who ...

Offspring: The Offspring: Ixnay on the Hombre (Columbia) ***½

Review by Chuck Eddy, Rolling Stone, 6 February 1997

Primitive radio gods? ...

Manic Street Preachers: Richey Edwards: Missing street preacher

Retrospective by Andy Beckett, The Independent, 2 March 1997

LATE LAST MONDAY night, near the weary end of the televised blare called the Brits Awards, three dressed-down Welshmen — two small, one awkwardly tall ...

Iggy Pop: Iggy And The Stooges: Raw Power

Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, June 1997

LOOK OUT, honey, cos they're using technology. Or rather, remixer Iggy Pop is.  ...

The Offspring: The Yob Rules

Interview by Paul Elliott, Kerrang!, 2 August 1997

Punks in the '90s are supposed to be straight-edge, ultra-PC and humour-free. Evidently, no one told THE OFFSPRING'S meat-eating, beer-drinking, scary chick-loving top geezer, Dexter ...

The Adverts: Bored Teenagers

Retrospective and Interview by Dave Thompson, Goldmine, September 1997

ANYONE PAYING attention to the British music scene in recent years cannot help but have noticed T.V. Smith. Across three superlative albums, 1991's RIP: Everything ...

Green Day: Stick 'Em Up, Punks!

Interview by Ben Myers, Melody Maker, 4 October 1997

Those loveable American punk rockers GREEN DAY are back. We join them in Milan to find out if they're still punk at heart. Guess what? ...

Richard Hell, Robert Quine: Robert Quine

Interview by Jason Gross, Perfect Sound Forever, November 1997

WHO IS ROBERT Quine? According to him, he 'remains one of the most compelling, appalling and universally hated figures in music history.' ...

Green Day: Nimrod (Reprise)

Review by Don Waller, L.A. Weekly, 4 December 1997

Green Day is maturing, like cheese ...

Green Day: Hero Of the Bay

Interview by Neil Perry, Kerrang!, 24 January 1998

These days, when Billie Joe Armstrong's band do a hometown show, it's a triumphant, equipment-trashing affair for which all of San Francisco and its dog ...

The Sex Pistols: Sod Awf! The Sex Pistols And Other Pleasantries Of Punk

Retrospective by David Dalton, Gadfly, February 1998

A Short History of the NOW! ROCK EXISTS in the humming; now, an all-enveloping bubble of sound, energy and ecstasy. Like being at the flashpoint ...

Atari Teenage Riot: What's the Frequency, Alec?

Interview by RJ Smith, Spin, March 1998

The revolution is nigh, heralds radical German dude/Atari Teenage Rioter Alec Empire. RJ Smith learns it will all be in the mid-range. ...

Rancid: Plotting a Punky Reggae Party

Interview by Chuck Eddy, Spin, May 1998

TIM ARMSTRONG once sang about punk-rock squats and dirt-cheap crash pads. Now the Rancid singer/guitarist is giving the grand tour of his Los Angeles dream ...

Suicide: Darkness Visible

Interview by David Stubbs, Uncut, May 1998

Before the Chemical Brothers, before Ministry, before even Soft Cell, there was SUICIDE, the original electro-duo. DAVID STUBBS meets the synth-terrorists whose noise still provokes ...

The Dictators grow up

Interview by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 1 May 1998

Still fast and loud, the proto-punks play it straighter and harder ...

The Plasmatics: Wendy O. Williams — Punk Dominatrix

Obituary by Sylvie Simmons, MOJO, June 1998

"I LIKE THE sound of a gun, Wendy O. Williams once said. "It terrifies me. It makes the experience a little more intense." The gunshot ...

Fugazi: End Hits (Dischord SIS 110V)

Review by Paul Elliott, Q, July 1998

Fifth album of uneasy listening from right-on hardcore men. Not a compilation. ...

Absolute Kristal: CBGB's new punk rock label

Report and Interview by Ted Drozdowski, The Boston Phoenix, 6 July 1998

HILLY KRISTAL'S MAD AS HELL and he's not gonna take it anymore. Okay, that's a slight exaggeration. But the 66-year-old hipster who owns the New ...

The Sex Pistols: Nils Stevenson

Interview by Dave Thompson, Alternative Press, 1999

YOU'VE PROBABLY heard this before, but this time it's true. The best Punk book yet has just hit the streets, written by someone who were ...

Buzzcocks: The Buzzcocks

Interview by Ian Fortnam, music365.com, 1999

SINCE THEIR initial formation, way back in 1976, Manchester’s Buzzcocks have attained a genuinely legendary status in the hearts and minds of both aficionados of ...

The Sex Pistols

Retrospective by Philip Norman, Daily Mail, 1999

ON DECEMBER 1, 1976, Londoners tuned in to Thames TV's Today show, expecting the usual bland mix of metropolitan news and views appropriate for a ...

Green Day, Offspring: California Über Alles: US '90s Punk part1

Retrospective and Interview by Ian Fortnam, Kerrang!, 30 January 1999

In 1994, GREEN DAY and THE OFFSPRING released two albums which changed the face of American music. From Dookie and Smash to 'Pretty Fly (For ...

Green Day, Offspring, Rancid: California Über Alles: US '90s Punk part 2

Retrospective and Interview by Ian Fortnam, Kerrang!, 6 February 1999

After the huge success of GREEN DAY, THE OFFSPRING and RANCID came the inevitable wave of copy-cat bands and the backlash. Here, US punk's movers ...

Crass: Shibboleth: My Revolting Life by Penny Rimbaud aka J.J. Ratter (AK Press £6.95)

Book Review by Nick Hasted, Independent on Sunday, 21 March 1999

Incoherent, angry, incompetent and Crass ...

Sleater-Kinney: The Roxy, Los Angeles

Live Review by Marc Weingarten, Rolling Stone, 15 April 1999

THE THRIFT-shop slummers and the baby-T cutie-pies who crammed the Roxy for Sleater-Kinney's L.A. performance only drove home what's become painfully obvious: This Olympia, Washington, ...

The Donnas: Hot Style: The Donnas

Interview by Ben Myers, Kerrang!, 29 May 1999

ALL THE best bands look great. Whether it was the Sex Pistols in their safety pins or Kurt Cobain throwing on a plaid shirt and ...

The Clash, Joe Strummer: Joe Strummer (1999)

Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages audio, 20 June 1999

From Tony Bennett to Tony Adams: Gavin Martin chats with the Mighty Strummer amidst liggers and drunken Finns about The Clash, The Mescaleros, Greil Marcus and why he hates Suede and the Manic Street Preachers.

File format: mp3; file sizes: 111.5mb, interview length: 1h 56' 09" sound quality: **

Iggy Pop (1999)

Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages audio, 24 June 1999

File format: MP3 ; File size: 20.9mb; Interview length: 45 minutes; Sound quality: ***

The Offspring: Come Out & Spray

Report and Interview by Ben Myers, Kerrang!, 31 July 1999

July 1999, Orange County, California — THE OFFSPRING are about to play the two biggest gigs of their career in front of 14,000 rabid fans. ...

Johnny Thunders: Forewarned: Johnny Thunders

Book Excerpt by Nina Antonia, Cherry Red Books, August 1999

JOHNNY THUNDERS didn’t just flirt with death, he courted it. Even so, his eventual demise in New Orleans on 23rd April 1991 still came as ...

The Clash, Joe Strummer: Joe Strummer: Definitely Not Admitting Defeat Yet

Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, 24 September 1999

"I THINK GOOD manners will come back. In America, kids saw punk rock as a licence to be as rude as possible. I didn't like ...

Idlewild: Where the Idlewild Things Are

Interview by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 2 October 1999

And where are Idlewild? In the bleedin' Orkneys, as far away from the cynical London music biz as possible, honing their new 'acoustic' direction in ...

Blink 182: The Toilet Boys

Report and Interview by Ian Fortnam, Kerrang!, 9 October 1999

When it comes to smut, filth and all-round seedy behaviour, no one can touch San Diego oiks BLINK 182. This is, after all, a band ...

The Clash: From Here to Eternity

Review by Ira Robbins, salon.com, 19 October 1999

ON PAPER, the October 1982 pairing of the Clash and the Who at Shea Stadium in New York should have been historic. And maybe it ...

Blink 182: Potty By Nature

Interview by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, 24 November 1999

Skate-punkers BLINK 182 come clean on snot, boobies and why they're not the bad boys of rock ...

Richard Hell: The Richard Hell Interview

Interview by Ian Fortnam, music365.com, 2000

RICHARD MEYERS, AKA Richard Hell, has more than made his mark on many areas of the media. Musically, he formed Television with Tom Verlaine, the ...

Chelsea

Retrospective and Interview by Kieron Tyler, Record Collector, March 2000

KIERON TYLER UNCOVERS THE STORY OF A PUNK BAND AT THE HEART OF THE KING'S ROAD EXPLOSION ...

Wire: Flies in the ointment

Interview by Ian Penman, The Wire, March 2000

23 years after their art attack first outpaced punk audiences, Wire have sprung back into action. Ian Penman meets the group in rehearsal and finds ...

Richard Hell & The Voidoids: Blank Generation

Review and Interview by Johnny Black, MOJO, April 2000

New York punk classic originally released in 1977, now released with extra tracks. ...

L7: Manchester University

Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 13 April 2000

Bad grrls live forever ...

Buzzcocks, Howard Devoto: Howard Devoto talks about Punk's Year Zero

Retrospective and Interview by Kieron Tyler, Record Collector, May 2000

"I'M TIRED OF noise and short of breath. I'm sick of having to address people out of breath and under my breath." That was how ...

The Sex Pistols: Sex Pistols: The Filth, The Fury, The Fun!

Report and Interview by Mark Paytress, Record Collector, May 2000

Director Julien Temple discusses the new Pistols film with Mark Paytress. ...

Sex Pistols: Sophie Richmond: Sid, Johnny,
 Malcolm & me

Retrospective and Interview by Robert Webb, The Independent, 10 May 2000

She paid Johnny Rotten his weekly wages, clashed with Sid Vicious and was arrested alter the Jubilee cruise gig. Sophie Richmond, Malcolm McLaren's former PA, ...

The Sex Pistols: 10 Reasons Why the Sex Pistols Didn't (or Couldn't) Save Rock 'n' Roll: In honor of Julien Temple's The Filth And The Fury

Retrospective by Gary Pig Gold, Cosmik Debris, June 2000

1. MALCOLM McLAREN Never before in the long and illustrious annals of popular music history has a man been handed so much raw talent atop a ...

John Lydon, The Sex Pistols: Johnny Rotten on the Sex Pistols' 20 Wildest Moments

Interview by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, June 2000

With The Filth & The Fury coming your way, John Lydon AKA Johnny Rotten, recalls how the Sex Pistols became the most exciting band ever ...

John Lydon: Psychobabble: John Lydon

Interview by Neil Mason, Melody Maker, June 2000

NOTE: When the Filth and the Fury film was released in 2000, Lydon agreed to do three press interviews, of which Melody Maker, for some ...

The Sex Pistols: Anarchy In The UK

Retrospective and Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, June 2000

THE EARLY SEVENTIES have been a golden age for the homegrown British pop single. The pan-stick and yob fraternity, which includes T-Rex, Sweet, Slade, Mott ...

Sleater-Kinney: Cockpit, Leeds

Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 26 July 2000

IT’S HARD ENOUGH being a 21st-century, radical feminist post-punk band, but Sleater-Kinney have a further enemy in the sound system. "This is our fourth member," ...

Richard Meltzer: An Interview

Interview by Jason Gross, Perfect Sound Forever, August 2000

AS ONE OF the first people who decided that rock and roll was something that could and should be something that could be seriously written ...

Jean-Jacques Burnel: Manchester University

Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 11 December 2000

JEAN-JACQUES BURNEL is one of rock's most notorious characters. In the Stranglers' authorised biography, No Mercy, 20 pages tackle the subject of "Burnel, violence". ...

The Middle Class, The Negative Trend, The Weirdos: America’s Dreaming: California Punk, 1978

Book Excerpt by Jon Savage, England's Dreaming, 2001

25.8.78: This is my first visit to the U.S., let alone the West Coast, and I know that I’m on another planet, especially when, at ...

Black Flag, The Dils, The Germs, The Weirdos: Marc Spitz with Brendan Mullen: We Got the Neutron Bomb - The Untold Story of L.A. Punk

Book Review by Barney Hoskyns, The Village Voice, 2001

IT'S KINDA IRONIC that the untold story of the Los Angeles punk scene should be officially told (tolled?) at a time when New York City ...

The Sex Pistols: Sex Pistols: History Is Punk

Retrospective and Interview by Philip Norman, The Sunday Times, 2001

More than 20 years after they committed high treason during the Queen's silver jubilee, the Sex Pistols are still the kings of rock rebellion. As ...

The Dictators: Go Girl Crazy

Review by Jeremy Gluck, MOJO, 2001

THESE OLD-SCHOOL rockers put punk on the musical map, opening the way, for better or worse, for two decades of divergent tunes and dissonant noise. ...

Alternative TV: The iJamming! Chat: Mark Perry

Interview by Tony Fletcher, iJamming.net, January 2001

AS THE FIRST sentence of my mission statement makes clear, Mark Perry was a major factor in my deciding to write about music – though, ...

The Slits: Cutting Edge

Retrospective and Interview by Paul Morley, Uncut, February 2001

I AM A LITTLE nervous as I approach Viv Albertine's house. She was a Slit. For anybody of a certain age who has a penis ...

The Electric Eels, The Mirrors, The Styrenes: Electric City

Retrospective and Interview by Kieron Tyler, Record Collector, March 2001

The Cleveland punk scene exposed — starring the Electric Eels, the Styrenes and the Mirrors. ...

The Ramones: Joey Ramone, 1951-2001

Obituary by David Dalton, Gadfly, 19 April 2001

LAST SUNDAY Joey Ramone, lead singer of the Ramones, died of lymphoma, and so passed one of the originators of punk, the longest running fuck-you ...

The Ramones: In-a-Gadda-da-Gabba-Gabba-Hey: Remembering the Ramones

Obituary by Phast Phreddie Patterson, Rock's Backpages, 21 April 2001

The former leader of Thee Precisions and editor of Back Door Man pays personal tribute... ...

The Ramones: Joey Ramone's 50th Birthday Bash: Hammerstein Ballroom, New York

Live Review by Michael Azerrad, The Boston Phoenix, 31 May 2001

IT'S FUNNY HOW memorials often take on the character of the person they honor. The sold-out "Life's a Gas – Joey Ramone's 50th Birthday Bash" ...

The Ramones: Joey Ramone: Hey Ho, Let's Go!

Retrospective and Interview by Carol Clerk, Classic Rock, July 2001

Long hair, shades, ripped denim — the Ramones were the epitome of early punk, and singer Joey the epitome of the Ramones. From his school ...

The Dead Boys, The Germs: The Germs: Germicide/The Dead Boys: All This And More/Various: What? Stuff (Bomp! Records)

Review by Gary Pig Gold, In Music We Trust, July 2001

OK CLASS, READY? It's time to remember exactly WHAT (real) Punk Rock is (was). ...

Destroy All Monsters, John Sinclair: Destroy All Monsters: Backyard Monster Tube and Pig/Various: Music Is Revolution (Book Beat)

Review by Edwin Pouncey, The Wire, September 2001

THE RESURGENCE of Destroy All Monsters, the Detroit artists' collective group made up of founder members Mike Kelley, Jim Shaw and Cary Loren, owes much ...

Le Tigre: Feminist Sweepstakes (Mr. Lady)

Review by Eric Weisbard, Spin, November 2001

OFTEN RADICALS get so entrenched they even distrust their own sense of pleasure. But Kathleen Hanna is such a great rocker that at the very ...

Television: Lightning Strikes

Retrospective by Rob Hughes, Uncut, November 2001

Lightning strikes with Marquee Moon, Television opened the door to post-punk ...

The Nomads: The Garage, London

Review by Ian Fortnam, Kerrang!, 24 November 2001

Scandinavian garage rock legends make rare UK assault Saturday, November 3 Support: The X-Rays ...

Eater: The Article

Retrospective and Interview by Kieron Tyler, Ugly Things, 2002

ALTHOUGH EATER were at the centre of the great British punk rock storm of 1976, they've never been treated with the cap-doffing respect granted to ...

The Ramones, The Smiths: Everett True: Hey Ho Let's Go – The Story Of The Ramones/Simon Goddard: The Smiths – Songs That Saved Your Life

Book Review by Tim Footman, Tangents, 2002

THERE'S MORE THAN one way to string a Strat, and there are several ways to tell the story of a band. The most obvious is ...

Green Day: The Biggest Punk Rock Band in the World: Green Day

Retrospective by Ian Fortnam, unpublished, 2002

THE FACTS speak for themselves. With worldwide album sales currently in excess of 23 million, their Grammy Award winning, multi-platinum Dookie debut boasting an almost ...

Richard Hell: What Fresh Hell Is This?

Interview by David Dalton, Gadfly, 2002

RICHARD HELL was the primal Punk, the ur-Punk: the spiky-haired one. The torn t-shirts, the safety pins, the era-defining ‘Blank Generation’–much of the ...

Bad Religion: The Process of Belief

Review by Ian Winwood, Kerrang!, 19 January 2002

Bad Religion reform for belief-affirming 12th album ...

Bad Religion, Black Flag, The Offspring, Social Distortion, X: The violence. The drugs. The death. From Black Flag and Social Distortion to Bad Religion and The Offspring, this is the story of 20 years of LA punk.

Retrospective by Ian Winwood, Kerrang!, 19 January 2002

On the long, straight drive from Los Angeles airport, down a curving freeway, past oil wells and gas stations, diners and office supply stores, onto ...

Randy: Combat Rock

Profile and Interview by Ian Winwood, Kerrang!, 26 January 2002

Four men from northern Sweden are giving The Hives a run for their money in the incendiary rock 'n' roll stakes. But selling records is ...

Buzzcocks, The Clash, New York Dolls, Sex Pistols, The Undertones: Various Artists: Cash From Chaos: The Complete Punk Collection

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, February 2002

Perverse selection – from New York Dolls to Gonads, Buzzcocks to Toy Dolls — misses chance to be definitive summary ...

Alien Ant Farm: Manchester Academy

Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 4 February 2002

EVERY POP movement worth its salt needs a bunch of pranksters. The hippies had Neil Innes's satirists the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, punk boasted the ...

Fugazi, Minor Threat: Ian MacKaye: Inventing Hardcore

Profile and Interview by Ben Myers, Careless Talk Costs Lives, March 2002

"These are our demands: we want control of our bodies. decisions will now be ours. you can carry out your noble actions, we will carry ...

Richard Hell: Hell Is Other People

Interview by Ben Myers, Careless Talk Costs Lives, March 2002

IN HOT And Cold, Richard Hell's new collection of three decades of writing, there's a photo of a young obscure poet called Theresa Stern. She ...

Buzzcocks: Part-time Punks: The Buzzcocks

Retrospective and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 1 March 2002

The Buzzcocks were one of punk's most influential bands. Now, 25 years on, Pete Shelley and Howard Devoto are recording together again. Paul Lester meets ...

Husker Du, Bob Mould: The Real Godfather of Grunge: Bob Mould's Modulate

Review by Geoffrey Himes, Baltimore City Paper, 20 March 2002

KURT COBAIN WAS a wonderful musician, but the combination of a best-selling record, a tabloid marriage and a lurid suicide inflated his reputation all out ...

Desaparecidos: Youth of Today

Interview by Ben Myers, Kerrang!, 20 April 2002

Conor Oberst began his musical career as a 14-year-old singer-songwriter. Seven years later, he has formed the fiery Desaparecidos. His mission: to open America's eyes… ...

Richard Hell: Time

Review by Devon Powers, PopMatters, 30 April 2002

RICHARD HELL can walk down the street in New York City's East Village without being recognized. ...

The Creatures, Siouxsie & The Banshees: Siouxsie Sioux: An Interview

Interview by Paul Mathur, This is not Retro, May 2002

I GUESS THE OBVIOUS QUESTION IS WHY ARE THE BANSHEES BACK, AND HOW DID THAT COME ABOUT? ...

The Clash's 'Train in Vain'

Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Blender, May 2002

Song title: 'Train In Vain' Artist: The Clash Label: CBS Performers: Mick Jones – guitar/vocals Joe Strummer – guitar Paul Simenon – bass Topper ...

God save the toddlers

Report and Interview by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 3 June 2002

Why would anyone want to turn punk classics like 'Pretty Vacant' and 'White Riot' into kids' lullabies? Dave Simpson reports ...

The Ramones: Dee Dee Ramone

Obituary by Gary Pig Gold, fufkin.com, July 2002

WITH THE DEATH of yet another Ramone, perhaps little really needs to be added at this point on how Dee Dee and his honorary brethren ...

Green Day: Get in the van

Interview by Ian Winwood, Kerrang!, 13 July 2002

For the past nine weeks, Green Day have been blasting across America on the Pop Disaster tour… Their mission: "To reclaim our throne as the most ...

Siouxsie & The Banshees: Siouxsie and the Banshees: Shepherds Bush Empire, London

Live Review by Simon Price, Independent on Sunday, 13 July 2002

IN 1975, POP'S womankind was still meekly 'Loving You' (it's easy, cos you're beautiful) and 'Standing By Your Man' (and showing the world you love ...

The Stranglers: Come and Join the Unruly Escapades

Retrospective and Interview by Keith Cameron, MOJO, August 2002

HANS WARMLING was fed up of life in the ice cream van. He'd come to England from his homeland of Sweden to play guitar and ...

The Sex Pistols: Crystal Palace Sports Centre, London

Live Review by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 6 August 2002

We Might As Well Be Proud Of Them ...

The Germs: St. Anger: Darby Crash

Retrospective by Chris Campion, Dazed & Confused, November 2002

HE WAS Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious rolled into one. A befuddled punk prophet with a brilliant mind whose rise was as shocking as his ...

Sum 41: Does This Look Infected?

Review by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 22 November 2002

EAGERLY AWAITED by fans of infant metal, Does This Look Infected? is custom-built to cash in on the success of its predecessor, All Killer No ...

The Clash, Joe Strummer: Less Rotten Than Reasonable: Joe Strummer and My Punk Damascus

Memoir by Simon Warner, PopMatters, 27 December 2002

ALTHOUGH I saw Joe Strummer in action many times, I only met him once and, embarrassingly, confused him with someone else. ...

The Clash, Joe Strummer: Up In Heaven: Joe Strummer, 1952-2002

Obituary by Fred Mills, Seattle Weekly, 8 January 2003

Why should we assume people get worse [with age]? I think you should just get on with it. Look at Paul Newman. And the Sufis ...

The Clash, Joe Strummer: Joe Strummer: Comrade, Goodbye

Memoir by Charles Shaar Murray, MOJO, March 2003

SOMETIME IN 1979, I WAS interviewing Joe Strummer for the NME in the Worlds End pub on the King's Road. As well as giving me ...

The Clash, Joe Strummer: Joe Strummer: Tougher Than Tough

Obituary by Vivien Goldman, Spin, April 2003

Joe Strummer was the soul-rebel idealist who gave punk a cause ...

Rancid: Apollo, Manchester

Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 16 September 2003

ALTHOUGH PUNK ROCK is still reeling from the death of Clash icon Joe Strummer, the movement is probably in its healthiest commercial state for 25 ...

Good Charlotte: American Candyass, or: Why Good Charlotte Must Die

Comment by Metal Mike Saunders, Rock's Backpages, 22 September 2003

ARE YOU PEOPLE not understanding? Doesn't anyone learn anything from the lessons of the past? The tail end of poof metal's monstrous commercial ...

Television: Marquee Moon (Expanded); Adventure (Expanded) (Rhino)

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, November 2003

BEFORE THE Sex Pistols there was New York's Lower East Side: trash aesthetes with short hair, kinky vixens in B-movie stilettos. Kids with minor drug ...

The Saints: I’m Stranded: Ed Kuepper on the Making of the Saints’ Classic Debut

Interview by Joe Matera, Australian Guitar, 2004

JM: You actually did two sessions for I’m Stranded. Did you use the same gear for both sessions? ...

Anti Social Workers and Me

Book Excerpt by Paul Wellings, 'I'm A Journalist...Get Me Out Of Here', 2004

UNLIKE MOST music journalists, I didn't want to be in a band. I'd signed a record deal a year before through the legendary dub producer ...

The Sex Pistols, Sid Vicious: Sid Vicious: Threw a Glass Darkly

Book Excerpt by Mark Paytress, 'Vicious: The Art of Dying Young', Sanctuary Books, 2004

SID did it. Didn’t he? ...

The Capri-Collared Shirt: King's Road and the birth of British punk in the late '70s

Memoir by Paul Gorman, 3ammagazine.com, 2004

IN 1973 ONE of my older brothers, Timothy, started work at a shop called Domidium in the Kings Road, just ahead of the curve of ...

Nirvana, Sid Vicious: Kurt Cobain and Sid Vicious: Death and Glory

Essay by Sean O'Hagan, The Observer, 1 February 2004

"Thank you all from the pit of my burning nauseous stomach." – Extract from Kurt Cobain's suicide note ...

John Holmstrom: Floating in a bottle of formaldehyde 

Interview by Jeffrey Morgan, Detroit Metro Times, 4 February 2004

EVER SINCE R. F. Outcault's irreverent creation, The Yellow Kid, first appeared as an incidental character in Joseph Pulitzer's New York World on Feb. 16, ...

The Stranglers' Jean-Jacques Burnel

Report and Interview by Carol Clerk, Uncut, March 2004

BEST REMEMBERED for the harpsichord heroin eulogy 'Golden Brown' (which reached No 2 in the UK singles chart in January 1982), the Stranglers and their ...

The Alley Cats, The Bags, Black Flag, The Dickies, The Germs, The Go-Go's, The Nerves, The Plugz, The Screamers, The Weirdos, X: L.A. Punk: California Screamin'

Retrospective by Don Waller, MOJO, July 2004

Ignored by the major labels, hounded by cops, fuelled by booze and drugs, L.A. punk was born in a concrete basement in Hollywood known as ...

Métal Urbain: Vive Le Punk!

Retrospective by Kieron Tyler, MOJO, July 2004

Unearthed! The French punk bands that gave The Damned a run for their money. Kieron Tyler offers a belated "Salut!" ...

Patti Smith: The MOJO Interview: Patti Smith

Interview by Ben Edmonds, MOJO, July 2004

Working in a piss factory, breaking her neck on stage,
the "horror" of her armpit
hair. All this plus punk poetry,
tragedy and "gentleman"
Bill Burroughs in the amazing ...

New York Dolls: Royal Festival Hall, London

Live Review by Ian Fortnam, Classic Rock, September 2004

The best advice to bands that delight in near-mythic status is "let it lie". Can the reformed Lipstick Killers disprove the rule? ...

Patti Smith

Interview by Jaan Uhelszki, Harp, September 2004

BY FRONTING her own rock band – issuing lyrical missives from the depths of her fertile unconscious that rivalled anything that Bob Dylan ever scribbled ...

The Clash: London Calling (25th Anniversary Legacy Edition)

Review by Pat Blashill, Rolling Stone, 22 September 2004

IN 1979, London Calling was sold with a sticker declaring that the Clash were the only band that matters, and they acted as if they ...

The Clash: Band at their Best: The Clash's London Calling

Retrospective and Interview by James Medd, Esquire, October 2004

In 1979, with punk reeling from the death of Sid Vicious, the Clash holed up in a small London studio under pressure to reignite the ...

The Clash: Going overground — The Clash: London Calling 25th Anniversary Edition

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, MOJO, October 2004

Last album of the '70s or first album of the '80s? The Clash's meisterwerk still sounds scarily fresh, says Charles Shaar Murray ...

The Clash: London Calling 25th Anniversary

Retrospective by Ben Myers, Record Collector, October 2004

BY EARLY 1979, to the outside world The Clash were coasting. In their three short years of existence they had signed to Sony for a ...

The Clash: The iJamming! Interview: Mick Jones

Interview by Tony Fletcher, iJamming.net, October 2004

I'VE SAID IT before and I'll say it again: I don't like doing phone interviews. But often times, it's the choice between talking long distance ...

Green Day: Irving Plaza, New York

Live Review by Pat Blashill, Rolling Stone, 28 October 2004

GREEN DAY'S New York show, one of four small venue dates the band played before its fall arena tour, felt like it was shot out ...

The Ramones: Johnny Ramone: Johnny's Last Stand

Interview by Jaan Uhelszki, MOJO, November 2004

The taciturn, stony-faced dictator behind the Ramones' three-chord punk masterplan, in one of his last-ever interviews, Johnny Ramone emerged as a man at peace with ...

The Clash: Paul Simonon: London's Most Handsome Man

Interview by Ben Myers, 3ammagazine.com, November 2004

IT'S ALL ABOUT poise. If you don't have poise – definition "balance; a dignified and self-assured manner" – in rock 'n' roll, you're nothing. Paul ...

The Ramones Live For Ever

Retrospective by Charles Shaar Murray, MOJO, November 2004

Johnny Ramone's death on September 15 marked the true passing of The Ramones. Charles Shaar Murray, recalls his landmark 1975 encounter with Da Brudders. ...

The Saints: It Came From Down Under

Retrospective by Kieron Tyler, MOJO, November 2004

The Saints were punk before punk, four Australian rebels with a paint-peeling sound and the ultimate screw-you attitude. Kieron Tyler charts their short, sharp startling ...

The Ramones: Ramones: We're Outta Here!

Film/DVD/TV Review by Terry Staunton, Record Collector, December 2004

RAMONES GIGS were always exciting rather than accomplished affairs, and if this disc featured only their shambolic 1996 Los Angeles swansong there would be little ...

The Ramones: Bruvvas In Arms

Report and Interview by James Medd, Esquire, December 2004

The Ramones mixed pop cuteness with garage-band crudity and came up with punk. You'd think nothing could be more fun. You'd be wrong – very ...

The Damned, Sex Pistols: Citizen Punk

Retrospective by Jonh Ingham, Q, 2005

APRIL 1976: For me it began at the El Paradise strip club, where the Sex Pistols filled a tiny room with three-chord beat and Rotten ...

The Clash: Flogging A Dead Horse: The Clash's Cut the Crap

Retrospective by Kieron Tyler, MOJO Collectors' Series, 2005

Mick and Topper are gone. Bernie Rhodes is producing and penning songs. This was never going to be the sign-off the Clash deserved. ...

The 101'ers, The Clash, Joe Strummer: Joe Strummer: The Man Who Would Be King

Retrospective and Interview by Kieron Tyler, MOJO, 2005

The 101'ers were about to hit the big time. But then Joe Strummer found punk.  ...

The Sex Pistols: Sex Pistol Glen Matlock (2005)

Interview by Nina Antonia, Rock's Backpages audio, January 2005

From shop boy to Sex Pistol: the Pistols' key songwriter talks about the genesis of the band, the role of McLaren, goin' down the Roxy and the 100 Club Punk Festival

File format: mp3; file size: 44.4meg, interview length: 46' 15" sound quality: **

The Blood Brothers: Crimes

Review by Yancey Strickler, Spin, January 2005

Seattle shriekers rage against the fleshbots ...

The Roxy London WC2 — A Live Punk Box Set

Sleeve notes by Kieron Tyler, Sanctuary Records, February 2005

Every musical movement has a club at its heart. Merseybeat had The Cavern. Mods gravitated towards The Scene and The Flamingo. British psychedelia will always ...

Sid Vicious: "Nothing can hurt him anymore"

Retrospective by Jon Savage, MOJO, February 2005

Sid's mother Anne Beverley died of a heroin overdose in 1996, but not before sharing her side of Sid's story. As told to Jon Savage. ...

The Sex Pistols, Sid Vicious: Sid Vicious: A Star Is Born!

Retrospective by David Dalton, MOJO, February 2005

When Sid Vicious joined the Sex Pistols in 1977 it was the end of the band and the beginning of his metamorphosis into mythic rock ...

Lydia Lunch: The Bottom Line: Everett True meets Lydia Lunch

Interview by Everett True, Plan B, February 2005

"I ALWAYS BRING my prophylactic along on touragainst other people's germs — the mic cover. If you smell mics, you know why. They're raunchy. When ...

The Slits: The Distaff Side of Punk - The Slits Re-Released at Last

Retrospective by Mac Randall, New York Observer, 14 February 2005

IF YOU ASK PEOPLE to name the most influential punk-rock bands of all time – even people who boast scarily high levels of pop-culture awareness ...

The Chantays, Dick Dale, Kathy Marshall, Social Distortion, T.S.O.L.: Orange County: Upon this rock, a scene was built

Retrospective and Interview by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 17 February 2005

O.C. was the birthplace of surf music and the fabled, amped-up Fender guitar. So take that, L.A. ...

Johnny Thunders, Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers, New York Dolls: The First Punk: Johnny Thunders

Retrospective by Nina Antonia, MOJO, March 2005

FOR THE GENERATION of kids who became punks, the New York Dolls' appearance on The Old Grey Whistle Test in November 1973 was an epiphany. ...

The Prodigy: Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), March 2005

AFTER A SEVEN year wait for the follow up to 1997's The Fat of the Land and more than a decade on from the career-transforming ...

The Slits: Girls Together Outrageously

Interview by Fred Mills, Harp, March 2005

"You haven't said yet how good I look on my Web site!" ...

Turbonegro: Clowns Of Evil Go on the Rampage

Report and Interview by Chris Campion, Observer Music Monthly, May 2005

THE STREETS OF Hamburg are awash with piss and broken bottles and cock-eyed sailor boys with queer intentions. A two thousand-strong army of Turbonegro fans ...

The 101'ers: The 101ers: The Key to Joe's Art

Retrospective and Interview by Terry Staunton, Record Collector, June 2005

Punk pioneers the 101ers gave us Joe Strummer's earliest recordings. The band's drummer Richard Dudanski reminisces with Terry Staunton. ...

Richard Hell (2005)

Interview by Richard Cabut, Rock's Backpages audio, 23 June 2005

The former Voidoid talks at length about his latest novel, Godlike: the provocative nature of the material; the politics of identity and political correctness, poetry. He also reflects on his '70s self; why he left music, and how his new compilation CD, Spurts: the Richard Hell Story, draws a line under his life as a musician.

File format: mp3; file size: 43.2mb, interview length: 47' 13" sound quality: ** (phoner)

Patti Smith's Horses at Meltdown: Royal Festival Hall, London

Live Review by Tim Cooper, The Independent, 27 June 2005

PATTI SMITH IS standing alone on the stage reciting the poem that describes her teenage dream to escape a blue-collar production line ("Inspecting pipe, 40 ...

Foo Fighters, Nirvana: Dave Grohl

Interview by Stevie Chick, MOJO, July 2005

Grooving on Led Zep, dossing with mud-wrestlers, he joined the "fucking dark" world of Nirvana a goofy naif and left it a rock star. "I ...

The Ramones, Patti Smith, Talking Heads, Television: Heaven or Las Vegas: CBGBs closes down

Report by Laura Barton, The Guardian, 8 July 2005

Laura Barton on what the closure of the world's most famous punk-rock club, CBGB's, says about the state of New York's live music scene. ...

The Sex Pistols: Ten Reasons Why The Sex Pistols Didn't (or Couldn't) Save Rock And Roll

Comment by Gary Pig Gold, In Music We Trust, August 2005

In honor of Julien Temple's great new film The Filth And The Fury Gary Pig Gold humbly submits to both punks and non-punks, old and ...

The Ramones: Weird Tales Of The Ramones

Review by Jon Savage, MOJO, August 2005

NOTHING CAN recapture the impact of how The Ramones sounded in spring 1976. Listening to it now, it sounds slow, formal, almost sedate: the Superpop ...

Iggy Pop, The Stooges: The Stooges: Raw Power Revisited

Interview by Fred Mills, Detroit Metro Times, 10 August 2005

Warning: The following article does not constitute an endorsement of current phonographic products. – Editor ...

From The Velvets To The Voidoids: Clinton Heylin's The Birth Of American Punk Rock

Book Review by Terry Staunton, Record Collector, September 2005

Updated reprint of a highly regarded new wave dossier ...

Patti Smith: Dome, Brighton

Live Review by Everett True, Plan B, October 2005

HOW COOL IS this intoxication? She struts onstage dressed like a goddamn old-fashioned rock'n'roll star in her man's jacket and dirty boots. She pirouettes a ...

The Stooges: Heavy Liquid (Easy Action)

Review by Edwin Pouncey, The Wire, October 2005

ASSEMBLED FROM a back catalogue of previously released sessions, rehearsals and various recording ephemera circa (1972–74) from what many believed to be The Stooges' last ...

Rachid Taha: Raucous rocking in the casbah

Live Review by Robert Sandall, Daily Telegraph, 29 November 2005

SIGHTINGS OF BRIAN Eno playing music in public in Britain have been rare enough these past 30 years, and as for jigging excitedly around the ...

The Flamin' Groovies: Flame On

Retrospective and Interview by Fred Mills, Harp, December 2005

July 4, 1976: America is knee-deep in Bicentennial festivities, but across the pond in London a celebration of a different sort is underway. ...

The Members: At The Chelsea Nightclub

Sleeve notes by Alex Ogg, Captain Oi Records, December 2005

THE MEMBERS were punk's misfits, a little too lacking in personality disorders and raw ego to sit comfortably with the punk firestarters, a little too ...

The Clash, Sex Pistols: We're the daddies: Ladies and Gentlemen, We're the Fabulous Stains

Retrospective by Kieron Tyler, MOJO, Spring 2005

Anyone remember the legendary "lost" film featuring the Clash, Pistols and, erm, Ray Winstone? ...

Devo: We're The Pits, or Punk Comes to LA

Retrospective by John Mendelsohn, MOJO, Spring 2005

THREE YEARS AFTER my group Christopher Milk -- signed to Warner Bros. and produced, rather poorly, by a famous English producer -- agreed that we'd ...

Ian Rilen, Rose Tattoo, X (Australia): Ian Rilen, 1947-2006

Obituary by Clinton Walker, Rolling Stone (Australia), 2006

I play rock'n'roll for a livin', I ain't doin' all that well, I play rock'n'roll for a livin', as if you couldn't tell. I'm a ...

Slaughter and the Dogs: Leper Messiahs

Retrospective and Interview by Kieron Tyler, Q Classic, 2006

Formed by two young Bowie fans, Slaughter & the Dogs' bark was worse than their bite. But, as Kieron Tyler reveals, that was before they ...

The Prefects: Live 1978: The Co-Op Suite, Birmingham

Sleeve notes by Jon Savage, Caroline True Records, 2006

This recollection of a March 1978 concert was revived nearly 30 years after the event for Caroline True's issue of a full Prefects live show ...

Richard Hell: CBGB: The Venue from Hell

Retrospective and Interview by Jenny Valentish, Inpress, January 2006

It seems like every other prepubescent has a CBGB T-shirt these days, but over in New York, the old guard are fighting a losing battle ...

Gogol Bordello: Careful with that act, Eugene

Interview by Pete Paphides, The Times, 10 March 2006

The name of Eugene Hütz's band is only part of his Ukrainian whimsy, Pete Paphides discovers ...

John Robb: Punk Rock – An Oral History (Ebury Press)

Book Review by Robert Sandall, The Sunday Times, 19 March 2006

WHAT IS THERE still to say, really, about the British punk rock movement? As this year marks the 30th anniversary of its uproarious debut in ...

Paul Weller

Retrospective by Chas de Whalley, Record Collector, April 2006

As Paul Weller polishes his award for his Outstanding Contribution to British Music at this year's Brits, Chas de Whalley looks back at the days ...

The Clash, Joe Strummer: Chris Salewicz: Redemption Song – the Definitive Biography of Joe Strummer (Harper Collins)

Book Review by Nick Coleman, Independent on Sunday, May 2006

IN 1980 – following the triumphant release of the London Calling album and during the recording of what would become Sandinista! – the Clash had ...

999: Footnote Archives: 999

Retrospective by Dave Thompson, Goldmine, 17 May 2006

THE ODD thing about the history of punk is, it's very easy to forget some of its best progenitors. ...

Johnny Thunders: In Cold Blood: The Death of Johnny Thunders

Retrospective by Kris Needs, MOJO, June 2006

How much do we know about the death of Johnny Thunders? That it was murder, says Kris Needs. ...

The Clash, The Damned, Sex Pistols, The Vibrators: Punk File #1: The First Anarchic Year

Retrospective and Interview by Kieron Tyler, MOJO, June 2006

'76 WAS PRETTY hairy. The anniversary headlines might read "1976, The Year Of Punk", but for most kids flares and long hair (still a sign ...

Peaches: Impeach My Bush

Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 7 July 2006

MIX THE rudest bits of Madonna, Goldfrapp, Pink, Lil’ Kim and Princess Superstar and — arguably — you get Peaches. ...

Fun-Da-Mental: Angry in the UK: Fun-da-mental

Interview by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 4 August 2006

Fun-Da-Mental's new album gives voice to Muslim rage, says its creator Aki Nawaz ...

Iggy Pop: Where the Debris Meets the Sea: Iggy Pop and James Williamson in Kill City

Retrospective by Barney Hoskyns, eMusic.com, September 2006

IGGY POP remains rock’s ultimate protopunk – the "world’s forgotten boy" who took the menace of the MC5 and the demonic danger of the Rolling ...

Anohni (Antony & the Johnsons), The Fall, Galaxie 500, The Libertines, The Raincoats, Scritti Politti, The Smiths, Stiff Little Fingers, The Strokes, Young Marble Giants: How to buy: Rough Trade Records

Guide by Kieron Tyler, MOJO, December 2006

The revolutionary, still-smokin' independent. ...

Buzzcocks, Pete Shelley: The Buzzcocks' Pete Shelley (2007)

Interview by Mark Petracca, Rock's Backpages audio, 2007

The Buzzcocks' frontman looks back at the formation of the band with Howard Devoto, and at Devoto's subsequent exit; talks about himself as a songwriter and looks at his subsequent solo career.

File format: mp3; file size: 41.2mb, interview length: 44' 52" sound quality: *****

Buzzcocks, Pete Shelley: The Buzzcocks' Pete Shelley (2007) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Mark Petracca, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 2007

This is a transcript of Mark's interview with Pete. Listen to the audio of the interview. ...

John Lydon: An Interview with John Lydon

Profile and Interview by Jon Wilde, Mail On Sunday, January 2007

JOHN LYDON CERTAINLY knows how to make an entrance. Within ten seconds of being introduced, he's already demonstrated his full armoury of trademark gestures. ...

Patti Smith Group: Radio Ethiopia

Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, January 2007

SURE, HORSES was one tough act to follow. Smith's 1975 debut — one of the great, breathtaking, burn-it-down debuts — tore such a hole in ...

Blackpool Rocks!

Essay by Steve Redhead, Rock's Backpages, March 2007

BACKPOOL ROX II, issue 9, price £2, came out at the end of last year. You won't find it referred to in Babylon's Burning, the ...

The Clash: Clash member will be the last white man in Hammersmith Palais

Retrospective by Chris Salewicz, The Evening Standard, 30 March 2007

A look back at the history of a London landmark, as a bandmate of Joe Strummer prepares for the final concert there before the bulldozers ...

Enter Shikari: Take to the Skies

Review by Mike Diver, Drowned in Sound, 2 April 2007

IT BEGINS with a shrill "SHIT!" and a choir of screams, but the thrill doesn't last: like riding even the most knuckle-whitening of rollercoasters, Enter ...

Wayne Kramer, MC5, John Sinclair: MC5: The making of Kick Out The Jams

Interview by Jaan Uhelszki, Uncut, May 2007

How Wayne Kramer and his Detroit proto punks turned a stage heckle into a battle cry to herald the death of the hippy dream ...

Joe Strummer

Retrospective and Interview by Stephen Dalton, Uncut, June 2007

JOE STRUMMER was a fascinating bunch of guys. The former Clash frontman was both romantic idealist and career opportunist, anarchist rebel and proud patriot, hippie ...

How I Took On The New York Dolls

Memoir by Mark Hudson, Daily Telegraph, 2 June 2007

As a new exhibition marks the 30th anniversary of punk, Mark Hudson, lead singer in a college band, recalls the once-in-a-lifetime feeling of the summer ...

The Boys Next Door, Radio Birdman, The Saints, The Scientists: Come the Revolution: Oz punk

Retrospective and Interview by Keith Cameron, The Guardian, 20 July 2007

You thought punks in the UK had things to be angry about? Over in Australia, bands had a real fight on their hands, says Keith ...

LiLiPUT: Defunct punk

Essay by John Harris, The Guardian, 20 July 2007

With lyrics like "Hotch-potch, hugger-mugger, bow-wow, hari-kiri, hoo-poo", how could anyone forget late '70s punk outfit LiLiPUT? ...

The Clash, Tom Robinson Band, Steel Pulse, X-Ray Spex: Punks, Nazis, Skins and the Clash's Finest Hour

Retrospective and Interview by Ian Fortnam, Classic Rock, August 2007

Rock Against Racism: Tom Robinson thinks of it as "the punk Woodstock" and it was the moment that punk went overground and people's band the ...

Elvis Costello: True Stories

Retrospective and Interview by Terry Staunton, Record Collector, September 2007

Thirty years after the release of My Aim Is True, Elvis Costello is set to revisit his classic debut. Terry Staunton looks back at the ...

The Go-Go's, Jane Wiedlin: Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Go's

Interview by Carl Wiser, Songfacts, 22 October 2007

THE GO-GO'S emerged from the late '70s Los Angeles punk/New Wave scene to become pop sensations and MTV darlings. They write their own songs, which ...

Siouxsie & The Banshees: 20 Minutes To 20 Years: The Banshees' Tale

Retrospective by Kris Needs, Record Collector, November 2007

As editor of legendary fanzine Zigzag, Kris Needs had a front row seat for the explosive rise of Siouxsie & the Banshees. ...

Carbon/Silicon: The Last Post

Review by Paul Moody, Uncut, November 2007

Punk Veterans Unite To Unleash Raw, Roaring, Back-To-Basics Debut. ...

Jane Aire & The Belvederes, Elvis Costello, The Damned, Nick Lowe, Rachel Sweet, The Yachts: Various Artists: The Big Stiff Box Set

Review by Stuart Maconie, The Word, December 2007

THE '70S BEGAN and ended in turmoil, with strikes, crises, terrorism, class war and new political orthodoxies on the march. ...

Black Flag and All That: Joe Carducci's Enter Naomi

Memoir by Barney Hoskyns, eMusic.com, Winter 2007

THE RECENT PUBLICATION of Joe Carducci's moving and fascinating Enter Naomi: SST, L.A. and All That... (Wyoming: Redoubt Press) takes me back 25 years to ...

Buzzcocks: Ageless Punk Rockers And The AARP

Interview by Jim Sullivan, Christian Science Monitor, 3 Fall 2007

I WAS WORKING in the home office the other day, and all of a sudden I heard the bright melody and chorus of a favorite ...

Meat Puppets: Meat Puppets II

Retrospective by Joe Carducci, The New Vulgate, 2008

Author's note: All Tomorrow's Parties had the Meat Puppets playing their second album in 2008, and I was asked to write about that album for ...

Pre-Punk Rock

Retrospective by Jon Savage, Ugly Things, February 2008

NOTE: This was written as an introduction to a brilliant Ugly Things article by Johan Kugelberg called "No More Jubilees: Punk Before Punk", which aimed ...

Buzzcocks: The Making of 'Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)'

Retrospective and Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, March 2008

Treasured by John Peel, the 1978 powerpop perennial by Manchester's melodic punks ...

Siouxsie & The Banshees: The Making of 'Hong Kong Garden'

Retrospective and Interview by Carol Clerk, Uncut, May 2008

The oddly light debut smash that shoved punk's dark primitives out of the shadows ...

X-Ray Spex: Germfree Adolescents (Deluxe Edition)

Sleeve notes by Kieron Tyler, Sanctuary Records, August 2008

ALTHOUGH X-RAY Spex split up close to thirty years ago, their music remains timeless and vividly fresh. The band might have been birthed during 1977's ...

Alejandro Escovedo, The Nuns: Alejandro Escovedo

Profile and Interview by Gavin Martin, Uncut, October 2008

The cowpunk who survived Sid Vicious and Hepatitis C to duet with Springsteen, and become a legend of Americana. ...

Suicide: How the Godfathers of Punk Kept The Faith

Interview by Paul Lester, Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, 10 October 2008

New Yorkers Alan Vega and Marty Rev were punks before punk was invented, known in the '70s for their violent gigs and raging synth rock. ...

The Undertones: Teenage Dreams, So Hard To Beat

Retrospective and Interview by Mick Houghton, Uncut, November 2008

For the Undertones, living the rock'n'roll dream meant visits to church and McDonald's, and adopting pigeons when they could've been partying with the Clash. But ...

John Foxx, Ultravox: John Foxx: The Quiet Man Speaks

Interview by Alex Ogg, The Quietus, 7 November 2008

John Foxx is perhaps one of the UK's most undersung musicians. Here he talks to Alex Ogg about Ultravox!, synth pop and nearly being in ...

The Stooges: "Come on, Ronnie, tell em' how I feel!"

Special Feature by Bill Holdship, Detroit Metro Times, 14 January 2009

IT WASN'T always this way. Years ago, TV commercials and film soundtracks didn't feature the guitar sound Ron Asheton pioneered with the Stooges. Even in ...

Beirut Slump, Teenage Jesus & the Jerks: Teenage Jesus and the Jerks/Beirut Slump: Shut Up And Bleed (Cherry Red)

Review by Edwin Pouncey, The Wire, February 2009

THIS COMPREHENSIVE collection of Teenage Jesus And The Jerks recordings features 'Orphans' and 'Less Of Me', both sides of their debut single for Charles Ball’s ...

Chrissie Hynde, The Pretenders: The Pretenders: Orpheum, Boston

Live Review by Jim Sullivan, Boston Herald, 6 February 2009

Pretenders the real deal ...

Captain Sensible, The Damned: The Damned's Captain Sensible

Interview by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Phoenix, 3 March 2009

THE Sex Pistols, the Clash, the Jam — they get punk rock respect more than three decades down the pike, but their contemporaries the Damned ...

Green Day: 21st Century Breakdown

Review by Mike Diver, Clash, 23 April 2009

SKIPPING TO THE conclusion before the qualifying: 21st Century Breakdown is an abject failure, a hollow-sounding shadow of the zeitgeist-riding, multi-platinum American Idiot. ...

The Slits: A Thousand Nights Of Confusion

Comment by Zoë Street Howe, Alex Ogg, Rock's Backpages, June 2009

Zoë Street Howe's new biography of punk's original bad girls, The Slits, is released in July through Omnibus. Alex Ogg tried to find out more about ...

Jello Biafra Of The Dead Kennedys Interview

Interview by Alex Ogg, The Quietus, 20 August 2009

Biafra's back — and this time he's packing a "real" band. The former Dead Kennedys frontman is re-energised by fronting a new group, The Guantanamo ...

Death Becomes Them: The World's First Black Punk Band Killed Naysayers With Power Chords

Retrospective and Interview by Bill Holdship, Detroit Metro Times, 23 September 2009

THE HISTORY of rock 'n' roll is littered with dozens of such stories — great bands discovered years after their initial obscurity has faded into ...

Dr. Feelgood: Dr Feelgood: Oil City Rockers

Retrospective and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, October 2009

A fierce, gritty riposte to early-'7Os excess, Dr Feelgood weren't just trailblazers for punk but, fleetingly, the biggest band in England. With a new Julien ...

Imperial Dogs: They Wanna Get Their Poodles In Your Noodles: Imperial Dogs

Retrospective and Interview by Dave Laing (Australia), Rock's Backpages, November 2009

IN RECENT YEARS, as I've hit an age where time fucking flies by, and an entire decade has passed by in what feels like ...

Brendan Mullen Obituary

Obituary by Jon Savage, The Guardian, 2 November 2009

Nightclub owner who acted as a catalyst for the LA punk scene ...

The Clash: Spotlight On The Clash — London Calling

Memoir by Kris Needs, Clash, December 2009

IT DOESN'T seem 30 years since that night at Wessex Studios when The Clash were putting the finishing touches on London Calling. We'd been sitting ...

Patti Smith, Television: The Mapplethorpe Effect: Patti, Polaroids and Punk

Retrospective by Simon Warner, Rock's Backpages, 15 January 2010

IT WOULD NOT BE outrageous to propose that the two greatest albums of the punk tsunami featured cover images by arguably the most important post-war ...

John Lydon, Public Image Ltd, The Sex Pistols: John Lydon

Interview by John Doran, The Stool Pigeon, March 2010

IN CALIFORNIA WE MEET a traveller from an antique land. On two scrawny legs – KFC issue – he stands. He has a shattered look. ...

The Descendents: Frank Navetta and The Descendents

Retrospective by Joe Carducci, The New Vulgate, 17 March 2010

IN 1980 I wasn't aware of the first 45 by the Descendents, 'Ride the Wild'/'lt's a Hectic World' (Orca 001). It was recorded by Spot ...

The Runaways: Wild Thing — How Sandy West Was Lost

Retrospective by Evelyn McDonnell, L.A. Weekly, 18 March 2010

ON A SUMMER day in 1975, a 16-year-old girl carrying a Silvertone guitar took four public buses from Canoga Park to a two-story house in ...

The Runaways: Neon Angels

Retrospective by Don Waller, Detroit Metro Times, 7 April 2010

ON AUGUST 12th, 1975, the Runaways played their first gig — at Back Door Man fanzine founder Phast Phreddie Patterson's parents' house in north Torrance, ...

Malcolm McLaren 1946-2010

Obituary by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 9 April 2010

THE IMPRESARIO and iconoclast Malcolm McLaren, who has died aged 64 from the cancer mesothelioma, was one of the pivotal, yet most divisive influences on ...

Public Image Ltd: Dear John: Public Image Ltd

Interview by Ken Scrudato, Filter, May 2010

WAY BACK in 20th Century England, a gang of four insurrectionist-minded punk motherfuckers were to be found causing such an anarchic, subversive uproar as to ...

Thurston Moore, Sonic Youth: Byron Coley: An Interview

Interview by Jason Gross, Perfect Sound Forever, June 2010

SITTING ON A back porch in bucolic Western Massachusetts on a gorgeous summer's day, my friend’s adorable little daughter coyly asked, "Wanna see a picture ...

Iggy Pop, The Stooges: Iggy and the Stooges: Raw Power

Review and Interview by David Quantick, Jaan Uhelszki, Uncut, June 2010

Fine 3-CD reissue with live bootleg and much more ...

The Stranglers: The Making of 'No More Heroes'

Retrospective and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, July 2010

The "punk" outcasts' abrasive '77 classic: "Totally on the button for now, and it always has been," says former frontman Hugh Cornwell. ...

James Chance & the Contortions: James Chance: Twist Your Soul – The Definitive Collection

Review by Stevie Chick, bbc.co.uk, August 2010

Two-disc retrospective of scabrous No Wave figure’s searing jazz-punk contortions. ...

The Sex Pistols: When the Pistols Came to Memphis

Memoir by Tom Graves, Guerilla Monster Films, August 2010

WHEN THE SEX Pistols blitzed into Memphis on a very cold Friday night in January (the 6th) 1978, probably not one in ten people in ...

At Large in the Black Hole of Punk L.A.

Sleeve notes by Jon Savage, 'Black Hole' (Domino Records), November 2010

NOTE: Adapted from Strange Things # 1, published spring 1988, this forms the first part of the liner notes for Black Hole: Jon Savage Presents ...

GG Allin: Pigshit: GPG on GG

Film/DVD/TV Review by Gary Pig Gold, Rock and Roll Report, 21 January 2011

A FULL DISCLOSURE right up front, one and all: Way back in the 1980 hey!day of my fanzine, The Pig Paper, a certain Kevin Michael ...

David Bowie, The Clash, Sex Pistols: Kate Simon: An Interview

Interview by Paul Gorman, Paul Gorman Is, 18 February 2011

THERE IS A portrait of David Bowie taken by Kate Simon at Olympic recording studios in Barnes, west London, on January 14, 1974. The photograph ...

Jello Biafra, Peter Hammill: Peter Hammill and Jello Biafra: Prog vs. Punk – Who Won?

Interview by Jim Irvin, The Word, March 2011

One was uncool but enduring, the other hip but short-lived. Two pioneers, Peter Hammill and Jello Biafra, fight their respective corners. ...

Poly Styrene, X-Ray Spex: Poly Styrene

Obituary by Chris Salewicz, The Independent, 27 April 2011

Singer who blazed a trail for punk's feminist revolutionaries ...

The Clash: Vinyl Icon: The Clash

Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Hi-Fi News & Record Review, May 2011

UNUSUALLY, FOR AN ALBUM awarded Vinyl Icon status, the "fi" of The Clash's eponymous debut is not of the highest. It is, however, an album ...

Death Grips: Exmilitary

Review by John Calvert, The Quietus, 24 May 2011

"And every proton and neutron in every atom . . . swollen and throbbing, off-color, sick, with just no chance of throwing up to relieve ...

Bad Brains, Minor Threat: Ian Mackaye meets Bad Brains and invents hardcore

Retrospective by Stevie Chick, The Guardian, 14 June 2011

NO MERE THREE-CHORD punk dullards, Washington DC's Bad Brains had chops to spare. They'd started as jazz-fusion quintet Mind Power, worshipping at the altar of ...

Poly Styrene, X-Ray Spex: Poly Styrene: A Life In Day-Glo

Obituary by Kris Needs, MOJO, July 2011

PUNK UNIQUE POLY STYRENE OF X-RAY SPEX DIED ON APRIL 25. KRIS NEEDS PAYS TRIBUTE TO AN UNFORGETTABLE TALENT ...

Dead Kennedys: How I named "the Dead Kennedys"

Memoir by Mark Bliesener, Westword, 21 July 2011

IN MAY OF 1976, I quit my job in L.A. playing drums with ? and the Mysterians, and "retired" to Berthoud. The scheme was to ...

Chrissie Hynde, The Slits, X-Ray Spex: Lasses of the Mohicans

Retrospective by Vivien Goldman, New Statesman, 31 October 2011

Vivien Goldman charts the history of Britain’s rebellious female punks. ...

The Minutemen: An Econo History Of The Minutemen

Retrospective by John Calvert, The Quietus, 11 January 2012

John Calvert throws open the doors onto the strange and frightening world of the Minutemen. ...

Stiff Little Fingers — The Making Of 'Alternative Ulster'

Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, March 2012

The sound of young Northern Ireland in '78 — a punk clarion call for peace in Belfast that led to death threats for the band. "THE ...

Death Grips: The Money Store

Review by John Calvert, The Quietus, 26 April 2012

THERE’S HIGH comedy afoot on the old web-machine these days. Press attempts to answer the question "What are Death Grips?" have taken a turn for ...

Pussy Riot: The Riot Girls' Style

Comment by Vivien Goldman, New York Times magazine blogs, 8 August 2012

IT HAS BEEN a shock to see the bravely smiling faces of three girls from the Russian punk collective Pussy Riot locked in a glass ...

Joe Strummer at 60

Memoir by Jeff Slate, Examiner.com, 21 August 2012

JOE STRUMMER, the frontman of The Clash and all around "spokesman for a generation", would have been 60 today. He died tragically nearly 10 years ...

The Avengers: Avengers Summer

Retrospective by Don Snowden, Rock's Backpages, September 2012

GOD, THE AVENGERS were a great little band. And I say little band only because time and geography conspired against any possibility of them being ...

Green Day: Uno!

Review by Ian Gittins, Virgin Media Music, September 2012

A FULL QUARTER of a century into their career, the Californian pop-punks should really be churning out tired, formulaic albums or, more likely, contemplating splitting. ...

Death Grips: Pleasure in suffering? The problem with Death Grips live

Live Review by John Calvert, The Quietus, 13 November 2012

A scholar of Death Grips, John Calvert expected to prostrate himself before the menace of MC Ride and Zach Hill. But is this the punk ...

Pussy Riot: Activists, not Pin-ups

Comment by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, 20 December 2012

Clever, committed and courageous, Pussy Riot are the only band that mattered in 2012. They have used their year in the spotlight to expose injustice. ...

Eddie & The Hot Rods: Eddie and the Hot Rods: Do Anything You Wanna Do – The Best Of

Sleeve notes by Daryl Easlea, Spectrum Records, Fall 2012

A personal recollection by Barrie Masters of Rochford, England, talking on 10th September, 2012,to Daryl Easlea… also of Rochford, England.   ...

NOFX: 30th Anniversary Box Set

Review by Ben Myers, bbc.co.uk, 2013

Satirical Californian punks display cockroach-like endurance. ...

Band of Susans, Big Black, Butthole Surfers, Sonic Youth: Sonic Youth and the Blast First axis

Retrospective by David Stubbs, The Wire, February 2013

A previously unpublished essay by David Stubbs, on Paul Smith's Blast First label and Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon's Sonic Youth. ...

The Damned: Fun! Fun! Fun?

Retrospective and Interview by Mark Paytress, MOJO, February 2013

Armed with "a license to cause mayhem", they created an "'orrible" speedball of a debut album. Before losing control…. Thirty five years on, all four founder ...

The Origins Of The Tits Tee

Retrospective by Paul Gorman, Rock's Backpages, February 2013

MALCOLM MCLAREN'S adaptation of the infamous Tits t-shirt is one of punk's most familiar designs, as applied by he and Vivienne Westwood to shirts sold ...

Iceage: You're Nothing

Review by Ben Myers, bbc.co.uk, 19 February 2013

Young Danish punks create a beautiful noise for the worldwide disaffected. ...

Savages: Electric Ballroom, London

Live Review by Luke Turner, The Quietus, 22 February 2013

SO JUST A YEAR after their first gig down in a manky former theatre in Brighton, Savages are here in the Electric Ballroom for an NME awards ...

Bad Religion: No Assumption Safe with Punk Vets

Report and Interview by Geoffrey Himes, The Washington Post, 22 March 2013

THE TITLE OF the first single from Bad Religion's new album, True North, is unprintable in this newspaper, but the two-word expletive advises one to ...

Iggy Pop, The Stooges: Iggy and the Stooges: Ready To Die

Review by John Lewis, Metro, 26 April 2013

ONE MIGHT mock Iggy Pop for advertising car insurance, but the truth is that being a rock legend doesn't come with a guaranteed stipend: his ...

The Riot Grrrl Collection by Lisa Darms (The Feminist Press)

Book Review by Evelyn McDonnell, Los Angeles Times, 6 June 2013

The Riot Grrrl Collection spreads girl germs of the '90s movement ...

Mick Farren: You Say You Want A Revolution: Mick Farren Looks Back

Book Excerpt by Paul Moody, 'Search For The Lost Chord', July 2013

RBP contributor Paul Moody interviewed Mick earlier this year while researching his new book Search For The Lost Chord: Looking For The Spirit Of Rock'n'Roll. We're ...

The Clash, Joe Strummer: Don Letts on the legacy of the Clash and the girl Joe Strummer Stole Away

Interview by Bob Ruggiero, Houston Press, 29 August 2013

FILM AND VIDEO director Don Letts has a lengthy and varied resumé, but is most associated with the Clash. The new all-compassing band box set, ...

The Clash: Sound System

Review by Jamie Atkins, Record Collector, October 2013

WITH A WHIFF of revisionism about it, Sound System collects the Clash's output up tothe departure of guitarist Mick Jones,ignoring 1985's Cut The Crap but ...

Neneh Cherry Talks Her Weird Punk-Pop-Jazz Trajectory, and the New Blank Project

Interview by Richard Gehr, Spin, 24 February 2014

A JAZZ EXPERIMENTALIST in her teens and a pop star in her twenties, Neneh Cherry has enjoyed a career unlike any other singer of her ...

Sex & Drugs & Herring rolls: Punk's Jewish Roots Revealed

Retrospective by Nick Hasted, The Independent, 26 February 2014

PUNK ROCK'S transatlantic fuse was lit when Malcolm McLaren saw Richard Hell in New York in 1975. McLaren, whose Jewish family background was in the ...

The Clash, Vivien Goldman, Sex Pistols: Never mind the swastikas: the secret history of the UK's "punky Jews"

Retrospective by Vivien Goldman, The Guardian, 27 February 2014

Punk Svengalis Malcolm McLaren and Bernie Rhodes were Jewish, and the faith had an influence on UK labels and journalists. For Jewish kids, meanwhile, the ...

Jean-Jacques Burnel, The Stranglers: Mr Dojo Rising: JJ Burnel of The Stranglers interviewed

Interview by Julian Marszalek, The Quietus, 4 March 2014

Julian Marszalek looks beyond the ugliness, violence and "intellectual thuggery" to find punk's genuine outsiders.  ...

The Stranglers on 40 years of fights, drugs, UFOs and "doing all the wrong things"

Retrospective and Interview by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 12 March 2014

Legend has it the Stranglers started a fight with the Clash, took heroin for a year, exploited strippers on stage, and incited a riot in ...

Viv Albertine, The Slits: The Creative Life of Viv Albertine

Interview by Sheryl Garratt, Daily Telegraph, 11 May 2014

She hung out with Sid Vicious, trashed hotel rooms and her album was blacklisted. So what's changed for the former punk Viv Albertine – apart ...

The Ramones: Touchstone Tommy Ramone

Comment by Don Snowden, Rock's Backpages, July 2014

MAKE NO MISTAKE, Tommy Ramone was the touchstone for all things Ramone. ...

The Ramones: "Tommy Ramone's rock'n'roll legacy should not be underestimated"

Comment by Nick Hasted, The Independent, 14 July 2014

TOMMY RAMONE'S contribution to rock'n'roll was as brief and as fundamentally potent as his band's songs. Three albums, released over 17 months, were the sum ...

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, New Order, X: The Persistence of Punk: X, Nick Cave and New Order live in L.A.

Live Review by Roy Trakin, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 July 2014

IT WILL BE 40 years in December, 2015, since the release of Patti Smith's Horses, on Clive Davis' Arista label, arguably the beginning of the ...

Bad Brains, Fishbone, Living Colour: Afropunk Before Afropunk

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 29 August 2014

LAST WEEK, for the first time in years, I missed the Afropunk festival. The musical movement began as an extension of a 2003 documentary of ...

Sleaford Mods: Hairy Dog, Derby

Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 1 September 2014

A BRACING BREATH of foul air from the rumbling guts of the East Midlands music scene, Sleaford Mods have graduated from obscure cult act to ...

The Ramones: Marky Ramone Gabba Gabbas Away in New Memoir

Report and Interview by Bob Ruggiero, Houston Press, 22 January 2015

IN HIS BAND of Bruddahs, Marky Ramone's primary role was that of drummer, the pounding heartbeat and engine of so many of the legendary punk-rock ...

Dead Kennedys: Highway to Hell: My Life on the Road with the Dead Kennedys

Memoir by Amy Linden, Cuepoint, 3 February 2015

IN 1981, I MOVED back to New York City after spending four years in San Francisco. I was 22, and a childhood friend and I ...

Richard Hell: Hell on wheels

Retrospective and Interview by Paul Gorman, GQ, March 2015

BEHIND THE BROWN columnar façade of the New York University archives on Washington Square South in Greenwich Village resides The Fales Library, repository of the ...

Parquet Courts: Live at Third Man Records

Review by Will Hermes, Rolling Stone, 9 April 2015

Brooklyn rockers rip through a ferocious concert album ...

Suicide: Requiem For A Scream: Suicide's 'Punk Mass'

Live Review by John Calvert, The Quietus, 16 July 2015

IN HIS PRE-SHOW ADDRESS, frothy punk minotaur Henry Rollins is telling a story, which of course he's pretty good at. A formidable, not to mention ...

The Decline of Western Civilization: Parts I–III (dir. Penelophe Spheeris)

Film/DVD/TV Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, 4 August 2015

Lauded LA trilogy finally gets its own boxset ...

Devo: Epiphanies: Devo

Retrospective by Jon Savage, The Wire, November 2015

The outsider electronics of Devo broke the Ramonic template of 1977 punk, says Jon Savage ...

The Dictators Play Paris

Report by Paul Rambali, Rock's Backpages, 19 November 2015

THE DICTATORS played in central Paris on Wednesday night and Handsome Dick Manitoba was in exhilarating Noo Yoik form. ...

Sex Pistols: "Don't look over your shoulder, but the Sex Pistols are coming": 40th Anniversary of their first review.

Retrospective by Paul Gorman, Paul Gorman Is, 12 February 2016

TODAY IS THE 40th anniversary of the gig at central London venue The Marquee by the Sex Pistols which generated their first substantial media coverage, ...

The Ramones: The enduring appeal of the Ramones

Retrospective by Andrew Stafford, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 21 April 2016

MY FAVOURITE QUOTE about the Ramones comes from Richard Hell, the New York provocateur who, along with Tom Verlaine, formed the art-punk band Television in ...

The Sex Pistols, Patti Smith: Provincial Gains: Sex Pistols in the Early Summer of '76

Book Excerpt by Clinton Heylin, 'Anarchy in the Year Zero' (Route Books), May 2016

"The sound is a mean cacophony, not unreminiscent of Bowie's early Spiders, the material a mixture of Anglo-American teen punk classics – the Stooges' 'No ...

Sniffin' Glue: A fanzine that epitomized punk

Retrospective and Interview by Peter Silverton, The Independent, 10 May 2016

It's UK punk's 40th anniversary year – sort of – and among the work being celebrated is Sniffin' Glue, the photocopied publication that embodied the ...

Iggy Pop: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Julian Marszalek, The Quietus, 16 May 2016

Iggy Pop is bloodied but unbowed when he leaves the stage of the RAH says Julian Marszalek. ...

Suicide, Alan Vega: A King Has Passed: Alan Vega Remembered

Retrospective by Tim Cooper, The Quietus, 18 July 2016

BY THE SUMMER of 1978, punk rock had lost the power to shock. The revolution that had shot an amphetamine rush into a moribund music ...

Suicide, Alan Vega: Alan Vega, 1938-2016

Obituary by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 18 July 2016

Co-founder and frontman of the confrontational electronic band Suicide ...

Alan Vega: Infinity Punk: A Career-Spanning Interview With Suicide's Alan Vega

Interview by Simon Reynolds, Pitchfork, 19 July 2016

Following the musical iconoclast's death at age 78 – an in-depth conversation from 2002 that includes tales of dangerous old New York, what it meant ...

Angry Samoans: An Interview with Gregg Turner

Interview by Jason Gross, Perfect Sound Forever, August 2016

PSF: WHAT WAS the local scene like before the group started? ...

Aluk Todolo, Bobby Beausoleil & The Freedom Orchestra , Black Widow, Blue Öyster Cult, Graham Bond, Coven, Jimmy Page, Rudimentary Peni, Skullflower, John Zorn: The Primer: Occult rock

Guide by Edwin Pouncey, The Wire, August 2016

Channelling the magick of Aleister Crowley and the neo-paganism of witchcraft, occult rock is the sound of rock 'n' roll's secret society. Edwin Pouncey reads ...

Johnny Marr, The Sex Pistols: Steve Jones – Lonely Boy; Johnny Marr – Set The Boy Free

Book Review by Jude Rogers, The Observer, 20 November 2016

Contrasting memoirs of life in the Sex Pistols and the Smiths from two charismatic working-class guitarists. ...

Henry Rollins: Why Vinyl Matters: Henry Rollins

Book Excerpt by Jennifer Otter Bickerdike, 'Why Vinyl Matters' (ACC Editions), 2017

HENRY ROLLINS WAS barely out of his teens when he joined the legendary punk band Black Flag. Since parting with the band in 1986, Rollins ...

NOFX: Why Vinyl Matters: Fat Mike

Book Excerpt by Jennifer Otter Bickerdike, 'Why Vinyl Matters' (ACC Editions), January 2017

FAT MIKE, BORN Mike Burkett, is an American musician and producer. He is the bassist and lead vocalist for the punk rock band NOFX and ...

Andrew Czezowski and Susan Carrington: The Roxy, 14 December 1976 – 23 April 1977, Our Story

Book Review by Chris Charlesworth, Just Backdated, March 2017

ON DECEMBER 14, 1976, after a brief stint as the first in an endless stream of optimists who tried to manage the Damned, Andrew Czezowski, ...

John Lydon: Mr Rotten and the Weaponry of Words

Interview by Julian Marszalek, Gigwise, 6 March 2017

John Lydon opens up about 40 years of lyric writing ...

PWR BTTM: Rock BTTM: Why PWR BTTM Were Dropped So Fast

Comment by Pip Williams, Hiskind, 16 May 2017

Content warning: assault This Friday, rising queer punk duo PWR BTTM released their sophomore album, Pageant. What looked set to be a celebration of non-conformity and ...

Ed Kuepper, Laughing Clowns, The Saints: Saint Ed Kuepper to be honoured with renamed Brisbane park

Report and Interview by Andrew Stafford, The Guardian, 9 July 2017

Push for Brisbane to further celebrate its second seminal band as Ed Kuepper Park named in city's south-west. ...

The Fall: The 100 Club, London

Live Review by Julian Marszalek, Gigwise, 27 July 2017

Less wonderful and more frightening than ever before ...

Bad Religion: O2 Academy, Bristol

Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 4 August 2017

BAD RELIGION are living proof of the old adage that punk rockers never die, they just turn into greying, balding, bespectacled Vince Cable lookalikes. ...

Insane Clown Posse: Riverside, Newcastle

Live Review by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 15 November 2017

CONTROVERSY SEEMS to follow Insane Clown Posse around. The Detroit "horrorcore" duo have seen albums pulled from shelves and their army of fans, the Juggalos, ...

The Clash: Casbah Rock: A Death Threat against the Clash

Book Excerpt by Stuart Bailie, 'Trouble Songs' (Bloomfield), May 2018

Excerpted from Trouble Songs: Music and Conflict in Northern Ireland ...

The Mighty Shamrocks: 'The Troubles' with Mickey: Local Singer Revisits the Wasteground of His Northern Ireland Youth

Retrospective and Interview by Mark Kemp, Creative Loafing, 16 May 2018

THE SINGER AND guitarist for the Mighty Shamrocks was packing up his gear one night after an early-'80s pub gig in the Bogside neighborhood of ...

X: Los Angeles' Wild Gift

Retrospective by Erik Himmelsbach, Journal of Alta California, 28 May 2018

LIKE ITS New York counterpart the Velvet Underground, whose props as a fundamental rock and roll influence came only after years in oblivion, Los Angeles's ...

Toyah Willcox: Toyah: Forever Free

Retrospective and Interview by David Burke, Classic Pop, September 2018

1977 and all that may have come and gone, but Toyah brought the punk aesthetic into '80s pop music with her radical sense of style ...

Iggy Pop: Sydney Opera House

Live Review by Andrew Stafford, The Guardian, 16 April 2019

Sydney Opera House: That supple physique can't move quite like it used to, but 71-year-old's voice is in unbelievably good shape ...

Blondie, Debbie Harry: Debbie Harry: Face It

Book Review by Chris Charlesworth, Just Backdated, October 2019

IT IS A popular misconception that – once they have tasted chart success and seen their faces in magazines – music stars like Debbie Harry ...

Sex Pistols, The Stranglers: The true punk confessions of Stuart Pearce

Retrospective and Interview by Ian Winwood, Daily Telegraph, 6 November 2019

ON THE MORNING of the 23rd of June 1996, Stuart Pearce was the most famous person in the country. The previous afternoon, England had beaten ...

The Big Boys, Butthole Surfers, Scratch Acid: Someday All the Adults Will Die!

Book Excerpt by Pat Blashill, 'Texas is the Reason' (Bazillion Points), February 2020

THE MISFITS had never been to Texas. They were just four lunkheads from Lodi, New Jersey, who had heard about punk. They had black leather ...

Nick Kent, Malcolm McLaren, Sex Pistols, Midge Ure: I Was (Almost) a Teenage Sex Pistol: David Harrison

Book Excerpt by Paul Gorman, 'The Life & Times of Malcolm McLaren' (Constable), April 2020

IN 1975, THE regular customers at Sex – the fetish boutique operated at 430 King’s Road by Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood – included David ...

Discharge, GBH: 'They made Sex Pistols sound like Take That': the fury of Midlands punk

Profile and Interview by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, 21 April 2020

Discharge, GBH and other scrappy bands rose up out of a scene where gigs were like wars. Clay Records' leading lights recall how technique came ...

AC/DC, The Band, James Brown, Kate Bush, Johnny Cash, Cheap Trick, Elvis Costello, Bob Dylan, Peter Frampton, Aretha Franklin, Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bob Marley & the Wailers, MC5, Metallica, Joni Mitchell, Motörhead, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, The Ramones, Simon & Garfunkel, Bruce Springsteen, Supertramp, Talking Heads, Thin Lizzy, U2, The Who, Wilco, Bill Withers: The 30 best live concert albums of all time

Guide by Ian Winwood, Daily Telegraph, 22 April 2020

LAST WEEK, A STORY appeared in the New York Times that predicted that live music would not return to the world's stages until the autumn ...

The Flamin' Groovies, Kim Fowley, The Stooges: Farewell to Marc Zermati

Memoir by Nick Kent, unpublished, 15 June 2020

IT'S BEEN FIVE hours now since I received the news that Marc Zermati died in his sleep and — as with all deaths of those ...

"It's All Rebel Music": How Janette Beckman Documented The Early Days Of Def Jam

Retrospective and Interview by Ben Merlis, uDiscoverMusic, 19 June 2020

In Def Jam's docu-series 'Through The Lens', photographer Janette Beckman talks documenting the early days of hip-hop. ...

Iggy Pop, The Stooges: Between Fun House & 'Funtime': Iggy Pop in the '70s

Retrospective by Simon Reynolds, TIDAL, 7 July 2020

Brilliantly out of step, the rock provocateur architected revolutionary sounds with the Stooges and Bowie. ...

John Doe, X: John Doe: How Antioch Prepared The X Co-Founder To Make Punk Rock History

Retrospective and Interview by Geoffrey Himes, Antioch Alumni Magazine, Fall 2020

WHEN THE California quartet X released its first album in 1980, it upended everyone's assumptions about punk rock. The twin lead vocals from a man ...

Various Artists: Jon Savage's 1972-1976 – All Our Times Have Come

Review by Kieron Tyler, The Arts Desk, 28 March 2021

Tracking the route to punk without stating the obvious ...

The Clash, Sex Pistols: Jon Savage: A Conversation about England's Dreaming

Interview by Irina Shtreis, Louder Than War, 14 July 2021

The new edition of England's Dreaming is out now via Faber & Faber and Rough Trade as part of the bundle including two other pivotal ...

The Descendents: The Return of the Descendents

Retrospective and Interview by Irina Shtreis, Louder Than War, 21 July 2021

Pioneers of Californian pop-punk revisit their early material on the upcoming 9th & Walnut album. ...

Amyl and the Sniffers: Comfort to Me

Review by Andrew Stafford, The Guardian, 10 September 2021

Frontwoman Amy Taylor crackles like a live wire with too much current in Melbourne punk band's electric second album. ...

Patti Smith: Lenny Kaye: "Boom! I saw the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show and everything changed"

Interview by Sean O'Hagan, The Observer, 14 November 2021

As guitarist in the Patti Smith Group and compiler of psychedelic touchstone Nuggets, his place in music history is secured. His new book charts the ...

Sex Pistols, Johnny Thunders: Two Johnnies Get a Lift: Christmas Eve 1976

Memoir by Ed Jones, Rock's Backpages, December 2021

IT WAS 11.30 pm on Christmas Eve, 1976, at the height of the punk explosion. To the dismay of the entire nation, I had temporarily ...

Buzzcocks: Howard Devoto and Steve Diggle of Buzzcocks on Spiral Scratch

Retrospective and Interview by Irina Shtreis, Louder Than War, 29 January 2022

45 years ago, Buzzcocks released Spiral Scratch, the first independent punk record in the UK. The original Buzzcocks frontman Howard Devoto and original bass player ...

Chris Bailey, The Saints: Chris Bailey of the Saints: the voice that tore across the world, and changed the face of Brisbane

Comment by Andrew Stafford, The Guardian, 11 April 2022

David Malouf said poetry could never occur in Brisbane in the '70s and '80s. The Saints proved otherwise – and revolutionised the music industry. ...

The Avengers: Watching the Avengers Absolutely Crush the Pistols

Book Excerpt by Michael Goldberg, 'Wicked Game' (HoZac Books), June 2022

NOTE: What follows is an excerpt from Michael Goldberg's new book Wicked Game: The True Story of Guitarist James Calvin Wilsey (HoZac Books). Goldberg is ...

Sex Pistols, X-Ray Spex: Oh Bondage! Up Yours

Retrospective by Paul Gorman, MacGuffin, August 2022

AS SIMULTANEOUS SYMBOLS of subjugation and liberation, chains were co-opted in the bricolage approaches to the hundreds, if not thousands, of individualistic identities — in ...

The Damned: Great Hall, Cardiff University

Live Review by Stephen Dalton, The Times, 3 April 2023

These punk pensioners need to loosen up ...

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