In the NME of October 1st 1977 they featured an article by Rob Tyner of the seminal MVC5. They had whisked Rob over from the States and for 2 weeks he had looked at the state of UK music and given his thoughts. In that time he took in Generation X Boomtown Rats, Eddie & The Hot Rods and met Sid and a coupla other Pistols. While other luminaries of the time were fairly disparaging about Punk and new wave. Rob was both excited and positive about the sound, look and possibilities. And so he should have been...he'd been there before himself. Welcome to Punk Rock The crowd busted into full pogo and I was almost knocked over. I quickly caught myself and snapped into a semi-karate stance with my elbows sticking out samurai-style to ward off a future eruption. This wasn't an attack on me or anything...it was just punks in action at the Marquee. Groups of ten or twelve duded who looked like a cross between A Clockwork Orange and Night Of The Living Dead were leaping up and down with shaking heads and rolling eyes and crazy teeth. Generation X were up on the stand lashing and flailing and Billy Idol, their blond lead singer was exhorting the crowd. They responded by spitting on him. I could scarce believe my eyes... On the Pistols The tactics that the Pistols have used to promote their act have gotten them white hot, but they've backfired on them too. What good is it to be really hot when you can't play for an audience that wants you? But then it's historically perfect. The Stones were banned, the Troggs were banned, I was banned, everybody and their momma has been banned. It's part of the Social Backlash Syndrome that occurs when groups begin to stir up The Wrath Of The Authorities. But it's more than the cops against the Pistols, it's mums and dads. They're a more powerful pressure group than most bands can take on and beat. On Punks V Teds The levels of violence around here are weird and random...you can get smashed for any multitude of reasons (a) having long hair (b) having short hair or (c) not greasing your hair back in a pompadour... Seriously the animosity between Teds and punks and hippies totally mystifies me...[we've] more in common than with the rest of society and we've got the Big Beat in common...I believe the Teds are keeping alive a really important musical influence...but you can't cut it off at 1957 and violently oppose other rockers exploring new influences. On Punk & The US The old guard is still in control of the mass market, judging from the most recent charts and popularity polls. I believe that in some ways the politics of the New Wave are responsible for the lack of worldwide acceptance. In the Sates, punk is buzzing around the fringes of the industry like hornets, but they haven't found the way in yet. None of them, with the slight exception of Patti Smith, have made any inroad toward the mass audience, but the politics of Ameri-Punk are implicit in the stance and not really a blatant part of the lyrical content any more. But then we went through our heavy political period in the late 60s and 70s. Britain is on a serious No Future trajectory, and on that level, Rotten is dead on....The music of groups like the Pistols and the Clash draw an energetic electricity from the political environment...[but] while it's a smoking track. "Anarchy In The UK" doesn't have the potency in Omaha, Nebraska, that it enjoys in London. In Conclusion I know it's in vogue to say that the scene here is dead and decaying and you shoulda seen it last year, but that kind of talk doesn't phase me at all. I give Brit-Rock my seal of approval and a clean bill of health. The atmosphere is more exciting then I've ever seen it before and there is more possibility for hip action than there was when I came to this great city six years ago. The bans are hotter, the folks in the street seem happier and the pubs are rowdier. And if this is decadence and decay, where do I sign up and take my blood test?
With the Hot Rods While in the UK Rob caught Eddie & The Hot Rods. Thinking about it them and MC5 share quite a bit in common with the energetic lead singer and that clean hard hitting sound the MC5 had on Back In The USA as the following quote explains.
If we're honest it wasn't the greatest single; you could never hit those dizzy MC5 heights again. | |||||||||
