Ever since I've been on this tortured ball of mud (Since 1972), really good music has been underground and not mainstream, almost exclusively. Probably similar to the first generation of kids who have lived their entire lives in the shadow of the nuke. It's kool to hear stories of the days when TRUE rock was celebrated and encouraged to a certain extent, by the media. I'm glad Garage Rock ain't for everyone.  

Hmmmm...we all will need to run for the hills when an "idol" does a Pistols cover!!!

robert mendoza said:

robert mendoza said:

i agree to your comment "But the English scene developed distinct from the US/NY". as to the scene in LA circa 72 to 78 there was a distinct influence of Brit Glam and the 6t's Sunset Strip scene on LA Punk Rock. this was before the music become factionalized by supposed New Wave.

Peter Staben said:

You guys are probably right about all the timing of who met/saw who when, and yes of course McLaren managed the Dolls for a while and saw all the early NY scene and was inspired by it, and of course the Pistols sound evolved as they gelled as a band, taking in newer influences etc, but I still think that as an original influence, Glam was a major one, as was 60's garage (which was also one of the Ramones influences...). But the English scene developed distinct from the US/NY one, even though some of the same factors led to both... the English 'Winter(s) of Discontent' et al gave the UK a very political edge... it's hard to describe quite how bleak England had become by the mid-70s, the whole class system/dole/poverty issues which made punk such a liberating thing for so many of us, both as being musicians and just being young and poor/bored/restless/etc etc. And for a few years it changed everything for us... but then the old order reasserted itself, and despite a few other breakouts, is more consolidated today than ever... hello 'reality'/Xfactor/Idol-World (sigh!)

robert mendoza said:

i agree to your comment "But the English scene developed distinct from the US/NY". as to the scene in LA circa 72 to 78 there was a distinct influence of Brit Glam and the 6t's Sunset Strip scene on LA Punk Rock. this was before the music become factionalized by supposed New Wave.

Peter Staben said:

You guys are probably right about all the timing of who met/saw who when, and yes of course McLaren managed the Dolls for a while and saw all the early NY scene and was inspired by it, and of course the Pistols sound evolved as they gelled as a band, taking in newer influences etc, but I still think that as an original influence, Glam was a major one, as was 60's garage (which was also one of the Ramones influences...). But the English scene developed distinct from the US/NY one, even though some of the same factors led to both... the English 'Winter(s) of Discontent' et al gave the UK a very political edge... it's hard to describe quite how bleak England had become by the mid-70s, the whole class system/dole/poverty issues which made punk such a liberating thing for so many of us, both as being musicians and just being young and poor/bored/restless/etc etc. And for a few years it changed everything for us... but then the old order reasserted itself, and despite a few other breakouts, is more consolidated today than ever... hello 'reality'/Xfactor/Idol-World (sigh!)

As far as Steve Jones's influences, there's a part in that Filth & Fury doc where he laments being too much of a Johnny Thunders clone as far as riffs and his style of playing. (even though he was playing one of Sylvain's old guitars)

Bands are influenced by what they hear, and the Pistols would have heard the punchy, rocky side of glam coming from the radio, but the appearance of the Ramones could have suddenly made the idea click that the music didn't have to be highly polished to be effective. Glam was a highly stylised form of music, but the Ramones showed that you did't need to dress up, just get up and bang it out (although they'd put in a lot of work to get to that ability to bang it out).

Yes, I know this isn't "garagey," but I still like the Marvel comic books that starred KISS.  To my ten-year-old mind at the time, it was cool seeing them as super heroes battling the evil Dr. Doom.  It also laid the groundwork for the hilariously bad TV movie they made later on.

BTW, there was also an Archies' comic book that showed the Pipettes on the cover.  I'll post it here if I can find it.

Also, the Cynics released a 7" years ago that also showed them on an Archie comic book cover.  I thought it was very cool.

OK so there's Neal Hefit's "Batman Theme" which has been done-over by many from The Ventures to Link Wray to The Who.

The Clique penned "Superman" which was covered by R.E.M.

The Ramones did the "Spider-man" theme.

I can name a few other instances... but I wanna hear what other comic/music crossovers you might dig.

This sounds cool - I'll have to check it out!

I still kind of like the Quiet Riot cover, although now it's more of a guilty pleasure for me.  Having familiarized myself with the original versions of "Once Bitten, Twice Shy" and "Smoking in the Boys' Room," I can now definitely say the originals are far better.

John Carlucci said:

I was  (and I still am) a big fan of Slade. I saw them live when I was in High School. They were a great live band. I hated Quiet riot's cover of their song. I also couldn;t stand the other two you mentioned.
MikeL said:

For any glam rock fans who are old enough to remember this...how did you respond to Quiet Riot's cover of Slade's "Cum On Feel The Noize"?  When I first heard the Quiet Riot version, I thought it was the greatest song ever (keep in mind, I was 15 at the time).  I had never even heard of Slade at the time, so I had no idea it was a cover.

 

@ Axel..............Ughhh American Idol.  It's worse than the Gong Show! 

I was  (and I still am) a big fan of Slade. I saw them live when I was in High School. They were a great live band. I hated Quiet riot's cover of their song. I also couldn;t stand the other two you mentioned.
MikeL said:

For any glam rock fans who are old enough to remember this...how did you respond to Quiet Riot's cover of Slade's "Cum On Feel The Noize"?  When I first heard the Quiet Riot version, I thought it was the greatest song ever (keep in mind, I was 15 at the time).  I had never even heard of Slade at the time, so I had no idea it was a cover.

 

"...Great White's cover of Ian Hunter's "Once Bitten, Twice Shy... Motley Crue's version of Brownsville Station's 'Smoking in the Boys' Room."  Not that I was such a huge fan of either one but those covers killed me too.

MikeL said:

For any glam rock fans who are old enough to remember this...how did you respond to Quiet Riot's cover of Slade's "Cum On Feel The Noize"?  When I first heard the Quiet Riot version, I thought it was the greatest song ever (keep in mind, I was 15 at the time).  I had never even heard of Slade at the time, so I had no idea it was a cover.

 

Speaking of 80s hair metal bands covering glam songs, what did you think of Great White's cover of Ian Hunter's "Once Bitten, Twice Shy"?  Again, I didn't know it was a cover when I first heard it.  Another example is Motley Crue's version of Brownsville Station's "Smoking in the Boys' Room."  

He's the worst..

John Carlucci said:

It's okay. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. For the record, I hate Zak Wylde too! lol!

 

For any glam rock fans who are old enough to remember this...how did you respond to Quiet Riot's cover of Slade's "Cum On Feel The Noize"?  When I first heard the Quiet Riot version, I thought it was the greatest song ever (keep in mind, I was 15 at the time).  I had never even heard of Slade at the time, so I had no idea it was a cover.

Speaking of 80s hair metal bands covering glam songs, what did you think of Great White's cover of Ian Hunter's "Once Bitten, Twice Shy"?  Again, I didn't know it was a cover when I first heard it.  Another example is Motley Crue's version of Brownsville Station's "Smoking in the Boys' Room."  

Something about Chris (booker) finding Jesus and the music goes against his religious beliefs. He got permission from his pastor to do one last show but all the money goes to the church.

Do I have any friends in SF?

Why is this the final one?

Hot damn, I wanna go. 

Luke Greenwood said:

... but i'm not really a big fan of the raiders ha ha...

The Raiders had some great songs. The Revolutionary War outfits were always pretty lame however.

I went to a vintage car show recently in Glendale Ca & The Raiders were playing.... actually it was Paul Revere & a bunch of young guys wearing the outfits... though they did not quite get it right... they were wearing Redcoats. (The British wore Redcoats) So I thought that was a bit odd. No one else seemed to notice but me. I mean  The real Historical Paul Revere was definitely NOT British... (no matter what Sarah Palin says)! lol!....Anyway, to make matters worse, they did their own "hits" as medley's then they turned into a classic rock Cover band, doing stuff like Led Zepplin songs! It was really weird.

I saw a band last Saturday night called Biters at the 31st Street Pub here in Pittsburgh, PA.  They are a cool mix of glam and power pop, kind of like Cheap Trick meets the Sweet.  Too bad hardly anyone else showed up that night:(

Last week i saw some spanish bands free, in street concerts here close to Barcelona. 

First of all, Motorzombis, psychobilly from Barcelona:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyLlPcA2dlU&feature=related

2 days after, i saw The Nu Niles, rockabilly and classic r'n'r

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkaOBN1lw-M&feature=related

And saturday, Josele Santiago, the former singer of Los Enemigos, my heroes of adolescence. Now he plays alone and more quiet, but i loved the concert:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxC3Qx0QjZQ&feature=related

Not a bad week, huh?

I second that emotion. CHIRP is pretty good. I would also endorse my old station KWVA, Eugene, Oregon. The Doppler Effect is a great garage show, also streaming 24/7. This is a great thread when the indie station here in Boise sucks so hard on the punk/garage front.

WFMU is always good for underground/garage tunes. They're streaming online 24/7.

Gotta mention CHIRP Radio from my new hometown of Chicago as well. Awesome independent radio.

seen them two years ago at The Born Bad Festival in Paris ! it was a blast !!!

You should rip an MP3 of that live tape and post it here. I'd love to hear it.

whatwave dave said:

Only got to see The Neckbreakers once and it left a lasting impression on me...only about 10 people to see them and they killed all 10 of us with their balls to the wall rock'n'roll!!! It was like they were playing to 10000 people!! The people that i know that were at that show still talk about it to this day.

Made a live tape of that show and it still blows me away to this day!!