“You ain’t no Punk, you punk,” spits “Cramps” lead singer Lux Interior—but then again, maybe you are. What’s in a name, anyway? When it comes to the world of Punk, more than you might think. Understanding and defining Punk as a musical style(s), state of mind, and even a “dress code” is surprisingly complicated. So, what better way to explore the topic than to start at the very beginning? Truth be told, pinpointing Punk’s origins is just as difficult as defining it.
Today, many look back on The Sex Pistols' short but explosive run as Punk music's birth cry. Amid headlines over the filth and the fury surrounding the band, “Bullocks” arrived in record shops in the final weeks before 1978-with an incredible 125,000 advance copies sold. While the Pistols brought “Punk” to public awareness as a musical genre, others cite the major-label album and media frenzy around it as a commodification of the genre, marking the end of Punk’s original underground, DIY nature. However, the lone studio album from Punk Rock's most infamous band was neither the beginning nor the end of Punk Rock.
The essence of Punk has been around since the first time a frustrated guitarist cranked up his amp past its boiling point. The attitude, aggression, power, and humor were evident in some early examples of rock' n’ roll, glitter, surf, garage, and hard rock dating back to the 50s. Though nobody had a name for it yet, artists like Lou Reed, Iggy and the Stooges, Alice Cooper, and the NY Dolls pioneered a sound and style often indistinguishable from the Punk movement yet to come. Likewise, after punk rock's potent underground beginnings, New Wave, Psychobilly, Speed Metal, Deathrock, Hardcore, Horror, Art, Post, Pop, and Cow Punk (not to mention Emo and Screamo) emerged from its roots.
Outside a small but vibrant underground scene in NYC, the word “Punk” was reserved for youthful delinquency and other unsavory acts, better left undefined. In the short time after proto-punk offered a gritty counterpoint to the hippie era-and before the Sex Pistols simultaneously became both icons and the bane of respectable society- the term “punk" acquired a new application.
“The New York Dolls” (1973)
The New York Dolls (1973-1975)
The New York Dolls members are better described as wild, self-destructive street toughs from NYC’s outer boroughs than as accomplished musicians. The boys used their rudimentary musical skills to create music akin to a revved-up version of “Brill Building” era pop/Rock, served raw, edgy, and dangerous as a speeding 18-wheeler without any lug nuts.
In an era when complex progressive rock was on the rise, the NY Dolls' back-to-basics, 3-chord rock may have been a mixed bag for rock fans; it was nothing compared to the band's live performance spectacles. For stage costumes, the Dolls took inspiration from NYC’s vibrant, underground drag-queen community. While that might not be entirely shocking today, back in 1971 the Dolls' look generated everything from fear, repulsion, and curiosity to intense admiration.
The band's first show was, of all places, at a homeless shelter on Christmas Eve 1971. While not a choice gig, the band's outrageous, raunchy, gutter-chic aesthetics, cynical humor, and absolute indifference to approval rapidly generated a buzz that spread around NYC. By ’72, the Dolls’ reputation earned them regular gigs at NYC’s Mercer Arts Center and a short tour of the UK, supporting Rod Stewart, the Faces, and a nationwide appearance on BBC’s Old Grey Whistle Test. The exposure expanded the band's renown and put them in contact with notorious promoter/provocateur and future manager Malcolm McLaren. Unfortunately, Punk's first casualty also occurred during the tour, when founding Dolls drummer Billy Murcia died of an overdose.
Album: “The New York Dolls” (1973)
After returning to the US, the Dolls hired Jerry Nolan to play drums and secured a recording deal with Mercury Records. Their debut album arrived in the summer of 1973 and generated a polarizing response from critics, media, and fans. In urban centers (especially NY and London), the Dolls became instant cult figures. In less cosmopolitan areas (IE, everywhere else), the Dolls' ahead-of-its-time, campy “cock-rock” was difficult to grasp for some, and impossible to categorize. Although the band claimed heterosexual preferences, their trashy drag-style aesthetics generated a large degree of homophobia. Though disappointing, it was not a surprising reaction during a time when homosexuality was still highly stigmatized and largely illegal.
Knowing the band was going to be way outside the norm, Mercury Records promoted the Dolls as the “A Band You're Gonna Like, Whether You Like It Or Not", and "The Band You Love to Hate.” Despite songs like Personality Crisis, Trash, Jet Boy, and Frankenstein, which have since earned cult-status popularity, the album sold quite poorly outside urban centers. Still, the band and album were anything but ignored. The New York Dolls were voted both the best and the worst new band of 1973 in the same Cream Magazine readers' poll. The Dolls' follow-up release did absolutely nothing to change the band's status. The end came swiftly when the Dolls took on Malcolm McLaren as manager in 1975. Instead of capitalizing on the band's cult-like urban following, Malcome hoped to instigate controversy by booking the Dolls on a tour of the Carolinas and Florida. Midway through the disastrous tour, Arthur Kane, Jerry Nolan, and Johnny Thunders unceremoniously hopped on a bus back to NYC, marking the end of the NY Dolls.
Legacy
The bands, individual musicians, and characters who helped create a musical, cultural, and stylistic revolution are a surprisingly small, interconnected network. In fact, the link connecting the burgeoning NYC and London Punk movement traces directly back to one band. Although they imploded before the fledgling style began to solidify in clubs like CBGB, Max’s Kansas City, or 100 Club, and before anyone called it “punk,” the New York Dolls laid the foundation for the first (and future) waves of punk bands to build on.
Struggling with their own self-inflicted problems, and those created by future Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren, the NY Dolls released only two studio albums before imploding. However, near cultlike devotion to the short-lived but explosively influential band saw the release of over 30 more live, demo, and compilation albums between 1979 and 2008.
Founding Dolls members Johnny Thunders and Jerry Nolan went on to form the Heartbreakers; Sylvain Sylvain went on to form the Criminals; Arthur Kane collaborated with Sid Vicious, Blackie Lawless, and more. Most interestingly, singer David Johansen reinvented himself with more commercial success than the Dolls ever had, as the campy lounge singer, Buster Poindexter.
“The Ramones” (1976)
The Ramones
Founding/principal members: Vocals: Joey Ramone (Jeff Hyman), Guitar: Johnny Ramone (John Cummings), Bass: Dee Dee Ramone (Douglas Colvin), Drums: 74-78 Tommy Ramone (Thomas Erdelyi), 78-83 Marky Ramone (Marc Bell, formerly of Richard Hell and the Voidoids).
Along with Television, the Patti Smith Group, and the Dictators, the Ramones are among the very first acts to play CBGB, and the 1st generation of bands to be called “Punk.” Compared to Patti Smith's intense but more “arty,” poetry-infused style, or Television's intricate, sophisticated punk, the Ramones' approach was basic, primal, and explosive. Like the Dolls, the Ramones used basic skills to turn 3-chord '60s garage rock into a wall of power, with the speed of a freight train about to run off the rails. Visually, the band looked like a small, demented street gang, complete with matching MC jackets, jeans, and overgrown bowl-cut hairdos, adding a comical/criminally insane vibe.
Album: “The Ramones”(April 1976)
Released on Sire Records in spring 1976, the Ramones' first album features 14 tracks and runs only 29 minutes (about 2 minutes per song). Most songs have a hard, driving tempo that the band played even faster live. With a 1,2,3,4 count off, the Ramones could perform the entire album in 15 minutes. Guitarist Johnny Ramone’s super-simplified style used basic 2-note power chords, eliminating major and minor notes for a simple, powerful, hard-driving sound. This simplified approach helped define the Ramones' power and the “Punk approach” to guitar playing. Singles from the Album include the now-classic “Blitzkrieg Bop” released in advance of the LP, and “I wanna be your Boyfriend.” Despite dismal sales (the album briefly hit 114 on the US charts but sold only about 6,000 copies in 1976), everyone who bought the record started a band.
Legacy
Undoubtedly, the band most closely associated with the style most listeners identify as “Punk” today. Despite nearly nonexistent commercial success during their formative years. The Ramones' influence is immeasurable. Of all the bands from during the first wave of punk, the Ramones are one of the few that outlived punk's formative years. With an active career lasting nearly 30 years, the Ramones released 15 studio albums and contributed soundtrack music for the films Rock n Roll High School and Pet Cemetery.
Although the band never achieved commercial success, the Ramones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002, and received a “Lifetime Achievement Grammy” in 2011. In 2014, the band's debut reached 500,000 sold, finally earning the Ramones a Gold record.
L.A.M.F (1977)
“Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers” (1975-1980)
Founding/principal members: Vocals/guitar: Johnny Thunders, Drums: Jerry Nolan (both ex-Dolls), Vocals/Bass: Richard Hell (ex-Television), rhythm guitar/voice: Walter Lure. *Billy Rath took over on bass guitar when Richard Hell left to form the “Voidoids.”
From the ashes of the New York Dolls, the Heartbreakers formed just a few weeks after Johnny Thunders and Jerry Nolan quit midway through the Dolls tour and returned to NYC. Although not as famous today as the Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, and a few others, the Heartbreakers' influence is every bit as powerful. The band’s first gig at CBGB came on July 4, 1975, making them an integral part of the punk scene from the very beginning.
The Heartbreakers drew inspiration from 50s-style rock and R&B, stripped to its bare bones. They infused it with catchy melodies and gritty guitar riffs, served with punk attitude and power. After Richard Hell's early departure, new bassist Billy Rath and drummer Jerry Nolan gelled into a relentless and formidable rhythm section. Thunders had perfected his now-unmistakable style; with Richie Lure locked in with him, the Heartbreakers were the best-sounding live band on the punk scene. News of the Heartbreakers' outstanding songs and live show generated quite a buzz. Along with Max’s Kansas City music director Peter Crowley, a curious Mick Jagger went to see the Heartbreakers at NYC’s Village Gate. According to Crowley, the still-unsigned Heartbreakers' tight, rock-solid performance was so good it left Jagger a bit rattled. The Heartbreakers seemed to be on an unstoppable rise to the top. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be. The same bad “habits” associated with the Dolls lingered within the Heartbreakers. As a result, no US record company was willing to risk signing the notoriously self-destructive band, no matter how good they were.
ALBUM: The Heartbreakers L.A.M.F (October 1977)
The Heartbreakers' luck turned in late 1976, when Malcolm McLaren (former Dolls member and, at the time, Sex Pistols manager) invited the band to tour the UK with the Pistols. Like nearly everything McLaren was involved with, the tour rapidly disintegrated after the Pistols' drunken, profanity-laden live TV appearance on Bill Grundy's mid-day talk show. However, the few shows the Heartbreakers played generated enough interest to land the elusive recording contract the band had sought since 1975. Tracking for the Heartbreakers ' debut “L.A.M.F. " began in February 1977 and took the well-oiled band only 3 days to complete. LAMF is a treasure trove of great material, including Born to Lose, Chinese Rocks (written by Dee Dee Ramone, with help from Richard Hell), Pirate Love, One Track Mind, All by Myself, and more; there isn’t a weak track on the album. Without question, L.A.M.F. could have catapulted the Heartbreakers' career and introduced punk to the ears of the world nearly a year before The Sex Pistols' “Never mind the Bullocks” came out. Naturally, this was when the Heartbreakers' luck ran out.
In its first week of release, L.A.M.F. hit the UK charts at #55. An astonishing feat for an unknown American band that only played a few shows in the UK. So…why aren’t the Heartbreakers as talked about today as much as the Ramones and the Sex Pistols?
Although the album was completed in early ‘77, it wasn't released for almost a year because of disastrous post-production problems. Somehow, during mastering, the album's sound quality dipped from clear and powerful to a dull, muddy mess. Despite rave reviews of the material and performances, every press release notes the album's sub-broadcast-quality sound, and even its poor, casual-listening fidelity. After a promising first week, L.A.M.F. dropped off the charts like it never existed, and ended one of the most promising bands of punk's first wave.
Legacy
Like so many highly influential bands that emerged during Punk’s first wave of the mid-70s, The Heartbreakers left behind only one studio album to be remembered by. Despite the poor sound quality, the powerful songs and raw sound of LAMF left a resounding mark on punk rock. They lived the punk life, and their unglamorized take on urban life and even hard drug addiction set them apart from the pseudo-glam side of early punk. Beyond their immediate impact on the scene around them, the Heartbreakers' influence is clear in bands like Social Distortion, Alice in Chains, Guns N Roses, and more.
Demand for more Heartbreakers material led to the release of 8 live albums between 1979 and 2005, along with two remixed versions of LAMF. The Heartbreakers played several reunion concerts until Johnny Thunders' drug-related death in 1991.
“Marquee Moon” (February 1977)
Television (1973-1978)
Founding/principal members: Leader, vocalist, guitars and keys: Tom Verlaine; co-founder, vocalist, bass: Richard Hell (ex-Heartbreakers/ Voidoids founder), guitarist: Richard Lloyd; drummer: Billy Ficca, and bassist (after Richard Hell’s departure): Fred Smith
Television (“Tell a Vision ") was founded in 1973 by Tom Verlaine and Richard Meyers (aka Hell), who left their homes in Delaware to pursue the arts in NYC. Within a year, several record labels and producers, including the legendary Brian Eno, courted the band. Though enticing, Verlaine refused to sign any contract that didn't give him complete creative control, including studio production, which he had almost no experience with.
Television is often cited as the first “non-country” act to play at CBGB, paving the way and creating a home for the up-and-coming punk movement. The band soon began to draw enough people to justify a recurring Sunday night residency, becoming CBGB’s first official “house band.”
While unquestionably pioneering members of the punk scene, Television's style and sound were decidedly more complex lyrically and instrumentally than the 50s-inspired sound of the Dictators, Ramones, or even the Heartbreakers. In fact, younger fans unfamiliar with Television might categorize their style as alternative, art rock, or indie before “punk.” Of the two leaders, Verlaine was moving toward a more atmospheric sound, putting him at odds with Richard Hell, who pursued a far more aggressive style. Without room for opposing leadership and direction, the pair parted company in mid ’75, with Hell going off to form the Heartbreakers (then the Voidoids), leaving Verlaine at the helm of Television.
ALBUM: “Marquee Moon” (February 1977)
With a deal from Electra Records that allowed Verlaine the budget, freedom, and the ok to produce, the band began tracking with Rolling Stones engineer Andy Johns for technical guidance and support. Before even listening to the album, the liner notes hint at how different Marquee Moon is from Television's contemporaries. With a complete running time of 43 minutes and only 8 songs, Marquee Moon is far from the revved-up 3-chord sonic assault often associated with punk. The music is built up from the same kind of 60’s garage rock flavor, and the lyrics are inspired by similar themes of urban alienation- yet it all comes out sounding entirely different. Long instrumental segments, such as the tension-building guitar interplay on the 10-minute title track, present like a mind-altering experience, then the body-lifting rush of a power-chord-driven “speed trip.” At once lustful and calming, as well as jarring and punchy, Marquee Moon is a feast for the audiophile. Unburdened by heavy compression, Verlaine's guitar panned hard right, and Lloyd's panned hard left; the listener hears the complex interplay between the two as if hearing the band live.
Critics instantly hailed the album for its originality and creativity. Ultimately, Marquee Moon suffered the commercial fate of nearly every now-classic album of the early punk scene: It was too far ahead of its time, and too difficult to categorize. Although it briefly reached #24 on the UK charts, Marquee Moon failed to even chart in the USA. Television toured the US, followed by a more successful UK tour to support the album, though it did little good. By the time the band returned to the US, Electra had already stopped promoting Marquee Moon, writing off the pioneering punk masterwork as a commercial failure. In 1978, Television unceremoniously disbanded.
Legacy
Without question, Marquee Moon is one of the most ahead-of-its-time albums ever created. Although it went nearly unnoticed beyond the early punk scene, time slowly caught up with Television. Including Rolling Stone, AllMusic, Spin, and more, virtually every major music poll rates the album in the highest category of “essential listening for anyone interested in the genre.” On the subject of Genre, Marquee Moon represents another side of the NYC/CBGB early Punk styles that still defies category. Music writers and fans file it under Punk, along with yet-to-arrive styles such as Post Punk, New Wave, Alternative, Indy, and “in a class of its own.”
Legs McNiel called Television the greatest dual-guitar band that punk has seen, and he’s far from alone in his assessment. The dual-guitar interplay on Marquee Moon blatantly avoids power chords and rock clichés so prevalent in other forms of punk and is repeatedly cited as influential by an endless list of future luminaries- including R.E.M., Radiohead, The Edge, John Frusciante, and more.
“Blank Generation” (1977)
Richard Hell and the Voidoids
Members: Founder, writer, vocals, and bass: Richard Hell; guitars and backing vocals: Robert Quine and Ivan Julian; drums: Marc Bell (Ex-Wayne/Jane County)
If asked, most people today would probably name Sid Vicious the poster boy of Punk Rock. Though Sid Vicious may be the face most commonly associated with early Punk, the brains and brawn belong to Richard Hell. In tattered and torn, safety-pin-aided clothing and “right out of bed” spiked hair set the tone for Sid (and so many others') outward persona. Likewise, with his nihilistic lyrics and sneering vocal delivery set to a driving beat, Richard Hell helped write the sonic blueprints for punk rock on both sides of the Atlantic.
ALBUM: “Blank Generation” (August, 1977)
As a founding member of the Neon Boys, Television, and the Heartbreakers, before helming the Voidoids, not even Jonny Thunders can tout such a prolific impact on punk. Although an active collaborator from 1973 until forming the Voidoids around himself in 1976, it's hard to imagine him as anything but the leader and final shot caller in his own group.
Based on his notoriety in the Punk/Underground scene and the successful DIY 3-song EP Hell released in late ’76, Sire Records signed Richard Hell, paving the way for the classic “Blank Generation” LP.
Especially for fans of the style and era, Blank Generation is a desert-island disc full of great material, with a loose, raw edge that demands your attention. Although absolutely not a “concept album,” the songs belong together, both sonically and conceptually. This is even true for the title track, which has already been part of both Television's and the Heartbreakers' live setlists. The album features 10 tracks, including the anthem “Blank Generation, " the classic “Love Comes in Spurts,” and “Another World.
On Blank Generation, Hell draws inspiration from 50s “beat generation” poets and raw 60s garage rock, which Hell merged and mutated to reflect his life in the broken-down “Apple in decay” of 1970s NYC. Ironically, the recording process was interrupted by Manhattan's notorious blackout of ' 77- that brought the city that never sleeps to a standstill.
Legacy
Like nearly all early, first-wave Punk albums released before the Sex Pistols' “Never Mind The Bullocks,” Blank Generation was a commercial flop that failed to chart. On the other hand, its ongoing influence is “off the charts” (in the other direction). Critics hailed the album as “one of the greatest albums ever cut, the future of American rock, and proof that Punk is an original American art form.
Richard Hell’s lyrical content, Nihilistic persona, and just crawled-out-of-the-dumpster look had a strong and obvious effect on the London Punk scene. Blank Generation was re-released in 1990, and again in 2017, in its original form and as a deluxe boxed set.
Unfortunately, serious addiction prevented Richard Hell and the Voidoids from completing a follow-up album until 1982, after punk's first wave came to an end.
