at the weekend, I was sitting listening to my 8 year old daughter and 5 year old son talking about music and singing their favourite songs. One Direction and all the usual kid stuff came out. Then to my total surprise they started singing a tune. I'm sitting saying...I know that tune, what is it? Turns out it was 'Viva La Revolution' The Addicts. both have mp3 players and I put stuff on every now and again to make sure 'its never too early', haha. brilliant. Really made my weekend. A great introduction to punk rock i'm sure you'll agree???

In a coffin!

swt said:

How do you get out?

How do you get out?

And Maximum Rock'n'roll !!! My friend imported it to sell it all over italy, and I don t think he ever made a cent on it , but I had my fresh copy every month. Another friend also from my city, wrote the Italian column very often. I visited the headquarters and met Tim the owner later.. a sweetie!!

Ps... Ah, the ROIR catalogue✨

I was still in middle school, in Italy, and Bowie posters splattered my bed room walls.. Sunday lunchtime tv those days showed a cool music show, and that s where I saw all the first british punk invasion of '77. I saw the Sex Pistols... They made sense to me!!!!Weeks later I gave myself a spiky haircut.. that caused ongoing family fights..if I had gone out naked it would have caused less of a shock...people was rude and nasty.. then I bought the S Pistols lp at the local department store, ( true, you could get punk records easily then) and the Ramones.. Bowie has gathered dust ever since...a few years later there were 5 of us in the city, and a punk band, still active to this day.. I got a bass....as my punk mates started to lean towards new wave, I met up with new punks, and now it s 1984 I think, and hardcore is HUGE, and a punk club opens in the nearby city, and that s where I ended up hanging out all the time. Saw bands from all over the world in that epic place. And I was with likeminded friends at last. I saw DIY in action when it didn t have a name. I never found so much comraderie. We are still in touch. All of us. It s a strong and secret legacy,kinda feels as if we did fight at war together , and in a way we did. And it was magic, just being a part. I was the only deviant and then suddenly there are more, and we re a family, and I m not a deviant anymore, I'm a superhero. Punk is self empowering. There are great punk bands today that I know thanks to my younger friends. They are super heroes, too. Punk is good for them And beware, there could be an angry young punk behind any lovedoll, nerd, or mentally retarded looking type...

I didn't get into punk and new wave until '82 when I started jr. high school (or middle school as it's called now). As a kid that would get bored with "normal" and "mainstream" music, I was always on the lookout for different and unusual bands. Living in a culturally behind-the-times city like Roanoke (VA), finding anything cool was almost next to impossible. Only by catching "Video Jukebox" on HBO did I come across anything that came close, such as Devo, the Cars, the Police, etc. Sure, KISS were mega, but even by '82 they were considered passe, and NOBODY even really knew who the Ramones were (unless they did see "Rock 'N' Roll High School"). So it was '82 that I got my first exposure to punk culture, thanks to the rich kids, who were in tune to especially the British scene and what was going on in Southern California. These kids would wear pins, t-shirts, have cassettes that they would order from Thrasher Mag, and that's where I picked up on it all. I made mental notes on the bands they were into, and just started devouring everything I could at a local second-hand record shop. My first few purchases were Devo's "New Traditionalists", Black Flag's "Damaged" LP, the B-52's ("Wild Planet"), the Clash ("Combat Rock"), and Dead Kennedys ("Plastic Surgery Disasters"). I would pick up copies of Rolling Stone, Thrasher, and eventually Maximum Rock 'N' Roll, just to read about anybody and everybody that was making underground noise. I had one friend who would make me killer mix tapes of all the hardcore vinyl that he would special order, and by this time we had two record shops that was starting to cater to the growing punk scene here. It got a lot easier buying SST releases and Circle Jerks t-shirts for example. Plus, I was ordering tapes from the ROIR catalogues, and it pretty much didn't matter what I got from there, because I dug it all (Fleshtones, Scientific Americans, Germs, etc.) By this time, you'd be able to go to the mall's music shop and pick up the Sex Pistols' "Never Mind the Bollocks" or everything the Clash had ever put out, along with Elvis Costello, Killing Joke, etc. Mary Huff from Southern Culture On the Skids (who is from here) started honing her musical chops while playing in a local punk band that actually recorded a local commercial for a record shop back in '84. So, for me, I guess I jumped in head first...

Living in Bromley in the '70s it was a scene that just developed and while many of my friends went the heavy route rock, I and my closest friends connected with the anger, frustration and civil disturbances that were happening across the UK and music became a way of expressing that frustration and anger.

I remember seeing a news article about the pistols the same yr charlie chaplin died at christmas. I was curious. I already was kinda drawn to greasy sounding country and rawk and always liked hearing something new. I just listened to everything I could get my hands on. I had a paper route and could buy music whenever I wanted and I was 11. I lived next to an Indian reservation and some of the kids had been fostered in Winnipeg and a few came back all punked out.  When I was 13 in 79 I went away to summer camp and the worm turned. I went back to my little farm town on the prairies. New things were going on for me but not so much everyone else. I began an adventurous journey thru life that was strengthening and full of good friends and much love and passion. I took endless razzing and ghad alot of violence and abuse hurled my way by mindless redneck cunts. But I remained. I rocked. I am shaped by both the good and the bad that punk brought to me. 

I remember seeing a news article about the pistols the same yr charlie chaplin died at christmas. I was curious. I already was kinda drawn to greasy sounding country and rawk and always liked hearing something new. I just listened to everything I could get my hands on. I had a paper route and could buy music whenever I wanted and I was 11. I lived next to an Indian reservation and some of the kids had been fostered in Winnipeg and a few came back all punked out.  When I was 13 in 79 I went away to summer camp and the worm turned. I went back to my little farm town on the prairies. New things were going on for me but not so much everyone else. I began an adventurous journey thru life that was strengthening and full of good friends and much love and passion. I took endless razzing and ghad alot of violence and abuse hurled my way by mindless redneck cunts. But I remained. I rocked. I am shaped by both the good and the bad that punk brought to me. 

Yeah , like a throwback to The Monkees if they'd been doing HEROIN , instead of just The Frotis. Kidding aside , My beginnings  were similar , but , prior to '79 , there were also exploitation mags on Punk , I remember looking at them in the bookstore. But , what little Punk Rock I was hearing before 1980 was also on Dr. Demento's show , tho' I remember more stuff like The Flying Lizards than The Ramones or The Sex Pistols. ONCE , I HEARD A CLASH SONG ON THE RADIO , BEFORE THEY HAD A HIT. The Rock station played their version of "I Fought The Law" when it came out , here , in '79, in the afternoon , just to let their listeners hear what was going on with this Punk Rock stuff in The UK. They were NOT allowed to make it a habit. This was Dallas , we did'nt have a WXRT or a Rodney on The Roq , but , a rescue was in order in the form of DJ George Gimarc .

I CLICKED ON THE CONNECTION TO 50'S AND 60's Rock , too , when I was finally able to hear this stuff , in earnest (Though I'd read and heard of said connection.). The look was cooler , and more referential to those eras , as you could still get great old clothes (What "Vintage" used to be called.) in thrift stores and mostly affordable boutiques. The first local bands I was seeing (Telefones , Ft. Worth Cats , Ejectors , Chef Physique , Jetsons , Frenetics.)referred to the 60's Garage sound without being Retro 60's bands.
 
James Porter said:

I was twelve years old. For me, it was a combination of (a) reading Creem magazine, (b) listening to Dr. Demento's syndicated radio show, and (c) some of the more accessible "new wave" bands were starting to make minor inroads that year (1979).

I should also add that I was a fan of 50s and 60s rock, thanks to oldies radio. Punk and new wave, to me, sounded like a return to those bygone eras. Looked like those bygone eras, too. At a time when the typical rock star looked like THIS:


...the typical punk rocker looked like a throwback to the Monkees:

^^^This may appear to be standard rock star attire now, but for the mid-late 70s, hair this short looked almost stark.

I didn't get into punk....It got into me and has bin there ever since 'Vive le Difference!'

Dave wrote:
"the breakthrough for me was hearing the Nuggets collection that Fall at a friend's house (which was ultimately the more powerful argument for non-commercial sounds)."

Kinda ironic you'd say those sounds were non-commercial, since several of the songs on that album were AM radio hits.

I was twelve years old. For me, it was a combination of (a) reading Creem magazine, (b) listening to Dr. Demento's syndicated radio show, and (c) some of the more accessible "new wave" bands were starting to make minor inroads that year (1979).

I should also add that I was a fan of 50s and 60s rock, thanks to oldies radio. Punk and new wave, to me, sounded like a return to those bygone eras. Looked like those bygone eras, too. At a time when the typical rock star looked like THIS:


...the typical punk rocker looked like a throwback to the Monkees:

^^^This may appear to be standard rock star attire now, but for the mid-late 70s, hair this short looked almost stark.

I was 15 big into Mudhoney and the Screaming Tree's when I was in a record store and seen the cover to Social D's heaven and hell album was blown away and haven't looked back since!

By accident. In the early 70s I ran a wire from my radio to the roof with a homemade metal clothes hanger antenna and picked up some Houston stations 60-70 miles away. Fortunately before I discovered punk and hard rock it was blues, rock n roll, and garage my parents had on vinyl playing around the house constantly.

Like most of you, it was a relative that got me into punk. I had a cousin Stacey who went to London for the summer in 1988. I was just leaving 6th Grade and going into the 7th when she came to live with our family for a bit. 

She returned from London with long purple braids, a leather jacket, and some records. She made me tapes of some Clash and Sex Pistols, but a few months later when she gave me some tapes of the Misfits, The Circle Jerks, and Black Flag, did it really sink in. 

Despite getting mocked remorselessly through junior high and high school I always felt punk spoke for me and as a teen going to tens of dozens of shows in Providence I felt that the kids I met were more family than not. I owe all of my interests to the punk scene. 

I blame the Ramones. I was mostly into metal and it's various subgenres and I liked some of the hardcore I was exposed to but never gave punk any thought until I saw the video for Psychotherapy. So yeah, Psychotherapy really does work.

I was ambushed in my room by a sweaty guy and his friends.

Misfits.

Yep..right on! As Ray Davies put it so brilliantly in song, I'm not like everybody else.
Ghislaine Korb / THE PUSH-BACKS said:

i was born  punk.Honest.So the first time i heard a punk song it was like a shock it was so new yet so familiar!!

I'VE HEARD ABOUT SPECIAL AFFECT AND DV8.....SAW THE REFORMED EFFIGIES A COUPLE OF TIMES. I ACTUALLY FOLLOWED THEM , ONCE....TECHNICALLY. I WAS INVITED TO PLAY THE AFTER - PARTY TO THIS BIG 30 YEARS OF PUNK (IT WAS 2006. I WAS QUICK TO TELL THEM , IT'S BEEN FORTY YEARS SINCE PUNK BROKE.) FESTIVAL , MOSTLY BANDS I'VE NEVER HEARD OF. BUT , THE EFFIGIES CLOSED IT , THEY WERE GOOD , JUST TOO HUMORLESS , JUST LIKE WHEN I SAW THEM DO AN UNBILLED APPEARANCE AT A CHICAGO PUNK /NEW WAVE BANDS REUNION......THEN , THEY CALLED CURFEW , WHICH MEANT EVERYBODY UNDER 21 HAD TO LEAVE.  IT ALSO MEANT , THEY WENT FROM 300 TO 30 ATTENDEES BEFORE I HIT THE STAGE. BUT , I HIT THAT FUCKER , HARD.

Cool pics. Bo Diddley was also on the show with The Clash and The Undertones (Aragon Ballroom , Chicago.).
 
melissa scott said:

Mr. Rotten

I'm pretty sure this was the first photo I ever saw of Johnny Rotten. My friend Trixie came into homeroom and showed me a news article -- she'd clipped it to show me. Pretty sure I have the article plastered in a book somewhere. Around Dec '76 or Jan '77? I read the article, stared at the photo, then refused to give it back to her. Got told off by the teacher for wrestling over it. The rest of the school year was pretty much wasted on me.

She and I had already been hooked on old Who LP's -- and when the Ramones lp came out, we both went on an all-day mission to find our copies. Success!

So we were ready for The Pistols. There was an awesome newsagent in Evanston, IL who stocked PUNK. Seriously, the only one in town:

Wish I'd been the one to buy 'em. Read hers. :-(

I've checked my school diaries from '78-'81 and there are photos pasted in of The Clash on almost every other page for 2 years running. Wow. What an impression they made. I'm sure if I hadn't seen 'em live, I wouldn't have been so stuck on them for so long.

Funny, there aren't there any homework listings, but almost every show or gig I attended is marked in girlish handwriting. I love how many pictures I have of Blondie. And Mick Jones! I guess The Rose came out that year, huh?

Remember The Effigies? DV8? The Special Affect? Don't know why, but I had a habit of clipping the show ads from The Reader (Chicago) and pasting them in. At the time, it seemed like overkill, but now I'm glad I did it.

Thanks Dave for the trip down cloudy memory lane. Mel

My uncle played me a warped cassette of the Dead Boys - Young Loud and Snotty. Told me they were THE Cleveland punk band (I'm an Ohioan). A few weeks later, my best friend says his older sister gave him a burned CD of some awesome Cleveland band. It was the same Dead Boys album. I got a copy from him and to this day the Dead Boys remain a favorite of mine.

 

 I was led to the punk, garage music because it was the opposite of what I was told was acceptable. I was raised in a Pentecostal household where all I could listen to were spiritual songs. Everything else was from Satan himself and if I listened to it I would burn in Hell for all eternity.

 But FM radio, the Animals, and cream magazine changed that.  Cream led me to Blue Cheer , MC5, and the Stooges. It went quickly down hill from that point. I'm sure if they were right I have a special place in hell waiting for me.

I'll try and keep this simple:

I saw some tv show special about 'new music' around 1980, it had Blondie, Gary Numan, etc, but what stood out to me was the Devo, Adam and the Ants and Lene Lovich stuff, they were total weirdo's from outer space and I wanted more - hey I was 13 and from the 'burbs.

Around 1981/82 I saw RUDE BOY on cable and picked up The Clash's Give Them Enough Rope shortly after that.

Met a guy in high school that had the Sex Pistols and Generation X stuff around '83, we borrowed each others records and became friends.

Then came skateboarding/Blag Flag/Dead Kennedy/etc. various hardcore albums/comps/etc. and finally going to as many punk/hardcore shows as possible.