The first major American punk album to debut was the Smiths’ Horses, which was released in November 1975. This seemed to be the break-through year for American punk. Not only did the Smiths release their first album that year, but also the inaugural issue of 'Punk' appeared that December. In the beginning of 1976, Robert Hell left the Heartbreakers to form legendary punk group the Voidoids; who were called “one of the most harshly uncomprimising bands on the scene.” Just a few months later the Ramones’ debut self-titled album had dropped, which contained the hits: “Blitzkrieg Pop”, “Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue”, and “53rd & 3rd”. These string of events were some of the most detrimental times for American punk. Not to mention, that around this time the term punk was being used to refer to the New York scene in general; and not just the sound. The New York punk bands represented a huge variety of influences. Besides the Ramones, bands included in this statement were the Heartbreakers, the Dead Boys, and the Voidoids. All of them were establishing their distinct musical style. At one end of the New York spectrum was the Ramones, with their apparent guilelessness; and at the other was the Voidoids, backed by Robert Hell’s conscious craft. Every band in the spectrum had one thing in common: their abrasive attitude.
I’M LOST I DON’T HAVE A DIRECTION – Punk in Australia
Around the time that American punk was taking off the ground, a similar sub-culture was taking shape in parts of Australia. The Scene seemed to develop around Radio Birdman and Australia’s main concert venue; The Oxford Tavern, which later was renamed The Oxford Funhouse. In December 1975, Radio Birdman won the Rock Australia Magazine/Levi’s Punk Band Thriller competition. And by 1976, the legendary Australian punk group the Saints started hiring local halls in Brisbane as show venues. They also were playing at “Club 76”, a shared house deep in the inner suburb of Petrie Terrace. The Saints soon discovered that other bands across the world were exploring the same musical route. Ed Kuepper, co-founder of the Saints, later stated, “One thing I remember having had a really depressing effect on me was the first Ramones album. When I heard it in 1976, I mean it was a great record ... but I hated it because I knew we’d been doing this sort of stuff for years. There was even a chord progression on that album that we used ... and I thought, ‘Fuck. We’re going to be labeled as influenced by the Ramones,’ when nothing could have been further from the truth.” Meanwhile, in Perth (located on the other side of Australia) other bands were starting off. For instance, the Cheap Nasties formed in August. Then, in September, The Saints became the first international punk band to release a single. “(I’m) Stranded” was the name of this song. The song has a small impact on home soil, but was recognized as a groundbreaking record in the U.K. In October, Radio Birdman released their self-financed EP, Burn My Eye. Ian McCaleb, from the Trouser Press, described the album as “the archetype for the musical explosion that was about to occur.”
ANARCHY IN THE U.K. – Punk in the United Kingdom
The biggest influence in U.K. punk happened when former manager of the New York Dolls, Malcolm McLaren, returned to London. In May 1975, he opened up the “anti-fashion” clothing store named Sex. A band by the name of the Swankers visited Sex quite often. They began looking for a new lead singer in August. Johnny Rotten, another regular of Sex, tried out and got the gig. With the new addition, they adopted McLaren as their manager, as well as a new name. Thus, the birth of the Sex Pistols. Their first gig came about on November 5,1975 at the St. Martin’s School of Art. This is where they picked up a small following of devout fans. In February 1976, guitarist Steve Jones said that the Sex Pistols weren’t into music as much as they were into chaos; which lead to their first significant press coverage. They often provoked their crowds into near riots. Johnny Rotten even announced to one crowd, “I bet you don’t hate us as much as we hate you!” Jon Savage, critic, had said that the band members “embodied an attitude which McLaren fed a new set of references: late-sixties radical politics, sexual fetish material, pop history, and youth sociology.” Another key player in the birth of U.K. punk was Bernard Rhodes, a friend of the Sex Pistols. Rhodes was trying to make stars out of the band London SS, which later split up and formed two different groups: The Damned and The Clash. The Clash was joined by Joe Strummer, a former singer for the 101’ers. One of the most influential rock shows ever occurred on June 4, 1976. It took place at Manchester’s Lesser Free Trade Hall, where the Sex Pistols headlined. There were approximately forty people in the crowd; amongst them were three Manchester locals who had organized the show. Those three people soon began playing in a band known as the Buzzcocks. Other people in the crowd later went on to form Joy Division, the fall, and later the Smiths. The next month brought the Ramones across the Atlantic to play a couple shows in London. Those shows soon helped spark the UK punk scene. July 4 and 5 proved to be detrimental to the U.K. scene as (July 4) the Ramones and the Stranglers played a show in front of 2,000 people at the Roundhouse. July 5, The Damned opened up for the Sex Pistols, which also happened to be their first show. Over the next couple months, a lot of new bands formed under the punk genre, most of which were directly influenced by the Sex Pistols. Amongst these bands were: Siouxsie & the Banshees, X-Ray Spex, the Adverts, and the Slits (all of which featured female members, the Slits was an all female band, which I think is bad ass!). Other bands that spawned during this time included Subway Sect, Eater, the Subversives, Generation X, Sham 69, Penetration, and Stinky Toys. Needless to say, that the Sex Pistols were the driving force in the U.K. punk revolution, and inspired many great bands to come. The first punk group to release a single in the U.K. was The Damned, which released “New Rose” a romance-themed song. Next up were the Sex Pistols, with probably one of the most famous punk songs to date, “Anarchy in the U.K.”! On December 1, 1976 Steve Jones, guitarist of the Sex Pistols, got into a verbal altercation with Bill Grundy, host of Thames Today. Jones called Grundy a “dirty fucker” on live TV, which in turn caused a bit of media controversy. Because of this media controversy, a series of gigs during the Anarchy tour (which featured the Clash, the Damned, and the Heartbreakers) were cancelled by the venue owners. How punk rock of Steve Jones. This concludes the first wave of punk through out the world.
