Today, the world mourns the passing of Jet Black, drummer for the legendary English punk rock group The Stranglers. He passed away peacefully at his home on December 6th, 2022. Jet, whose real name was Brian Duffy, was born in London in 1947. Jet was a key member of The Stranglers, who were one of […]
First Wave Punk
Garbo’s Celluloid Heroes – Only Death Is Fatal
I love discovering obscure punk rock gems that are actually good enough to warrant repeated listens, and “Only Death is Fatal” by Garbo’s Celluloid Heroes fits that description perfectly. This song is, among other things, the quintessential punk rock “diamond in the rough”. I first heard it back in the early 1990’s. The song appeared […]
Buzzcocks – History, Members, Songs & Fun Facts
Origin Bolton, Greater Manchester (Lancashire), England Genres Pop-punk, punk rock, new wave, power-pop Years active 1976-1981, 1989-present Labels I.R.S., Cooking Vinyl, ROIR, EMI, United Artists Members Steve DiggleDanny FarrantMani PerazzoliChris Remington Past Members Pete ShelleyHoward DevotoGarth SmithJohn MaherSteve GarveyMike JoyceTony BarberPhil BarkerMick SingletonBarry Adamson Influences Beatles, Velvet Underground, Can, The Stooges, The Who, Ramones Website […]
Were The Police a Punk Band?
Are spiky hair and guitars necessary or sufficient conditions to qualify as “punk rock”? While it may be hard to imagine that a group that has over 1 billion plays on Spotify was ever considered a “punk” band, the sentiment that The Police were a punk band that somehow had all of the “right stuff” […]
A Beginner’s Guide to Punk Rock
The first wave of punk is said to have lasted a mere two years before imploding in 1979. Yet in that short amount of time it left an indelible mark on fashion, music, and popular culture.
Punk rock emerged as a reaction to the corporate music industry, and the bloated “dinosaur rock” of the 1970’s, a sound characterized by long, self-indulgent soloing and slickly produced albums that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and sometimes years to record.