[kj] OT: "Punk's Not Dead" documentary

[Leigh Newton]

Hahah, that's awesome. Redd Kross in their heyday (Neurotica, Third Eye, Phaseshifter) were totally great. 


----- Original Message ----
From: Alexander Smith <vassifer at earthlink.net>
To: A list about all things Killing Joke (the band!) <gathering at misera.net>
Sent: Friday, August 10, 2007 1:21:28 PM
Subject: Re: [kj] OT: "Punk's Not Dead" documentary


Not sure why, but this kind've reminds me of an interview I conducted  
with Steve and Jeff McDonald of the band, REDD KROSS back in 1993. At  
this stage in their career, the band were still neck deep in a  
kitschy obsession with the 1970s that had started at least a good  
five years earlier (I remember seeing them open for DOA and the  
Cirlce Jerks in 1985, and they came out looking like Grand Funk  
Railroad and played a purposely slow medley of Kiss tunes- 
interspersed with songs from "Jesus Christ Superstar" -- suffice to  
say, the hardcore orthodoxy present were NOT amused, but I laughed my  
ass off). In any case, Jeff and Steve -- in 1993 -- were all pissed  
off because a more mainstream retro-nostalgic 70's vibe was starting  
to sweep the nation and they were aghast at the revisionism and  
inaccuracy going on. These guys used to dig for vintage 70's wear in  
thrift shops "as if it were buried treasure," and suddenly, you were  
seeing bell-bottoms (read: flares) and platform soles as readily  
available knock-offs in mainstream shops. They were hugely bummed.

I too bristle with Oliver when I see people who have CLEARLY NEVER  
BEEN to CBGB's (let alone recognize the former significance of)  
wearing CB's shirts or "vintage" pre-faded Ramones shirts. I just  
makes me want to run up and quiz them about the band --- name five  
songs by them!!!! DON'T FLY THE COLORS UNLESS YOU'RE REALLY A FUCKING  
FAN!!!

Thing is, I'm not sure who said it earlier, but "scenes" and "genres"  
and such can be awfully confining. Despite harboring an unfaltering  
adoration for bands like the Sex Pistols, the Ramones, 999,  
Generation X, Black Flag, the Circle Jerks, X, TSOL, Kraut, etc.  
etc., I'd never have referred to myself as a "punk" or "punk rocker"  
or "punker" (I always thought this latter term seemed rather  
dismissive) as I also loved albums by bands like Kiss and Iron Maiden  
and Pink Floyd. I always characterized myself (and still do) as  
simply a zealous music fan. But the sheer fact I was championing  
artists that the majority of kids in my high school weren't aware of  
(god forbid you stray from the norm), I was dubbed a weirdo.

Whatevs.

Ale xin NYC







On Aug 10, 2007, at 12:57 PM, B. Oliver Sheppard wrote:


> Yes, at the upper level of middle schools and into junior high (US  

> school system thing, for the Brits; actually in Texas it goes:  

> elementary school, middle school, then junior high, then senior  

> high, a system that is different from many other parts of the US)  

> it was very much a girly thing to be into new wave and I guess post- 

> punk while the boys, what few there were, who could find the stuff,  

> were into thrash, hardcore, etc. What was big at the time was  

> crossover. Post-punk was punk rock for the girls. (Hey, I didn't  

> make the rules.) This meant the 5 or 6 gothy girls Leigh refers  

> to,  I remember them as being into Front 242, The Mission UK,  

> Sisters of Mercy, The Cure, Depeche Mode, Siouxsie, mayybe Erasure,  

> stuff that gets into almost dance club-y type stuff, like the  

> horrible Brighter Than a Thousand Suns album, actually. Chances are  

> those girls had boyfriends that liked Minor Threat and DRI. That's  

> how it worked! Nut all said that was like 10% of the school  

> population AT MOST.

>

> And Alex is also right about stuff like Fall Out Boy, My Chemical  

> Romance, etc., being shuttled into the "punk" umbrella now so that  

> basically pretty much every kid on at least middle school likes a  

> couple of bands that could be called punk, and also kids will buy  

> Ramones and CBGB's shirt without really even knowing anything about  

> them; they're like clothing labels like Abercrombie & Fith to them.  

> That is the exact opposite of the way it used to be, though younger  

> ids may think "punk was what everyone loved in the eighties," etc.  

> No. Look at the Billboard charts for the 80s. They're horrible. No  

> one liked it.

>

> -Oliver

>

>

>

> Leigh Newton wrote:

>> I went through the same thing in high school, but for me it was  

>> metal instead of punk.

>> In junior high, i was one of maybe 3 or 4 people in the whole 8th  

>> grade who was into metal. For everyone else it was either New Kids  

>> On The Block or Bobby Brown or Milli Vanilli and then maybe 5 or 6  

>> gothy girls who loved the Cure. People thought I was nuts and  

>> asked me on a daily basis if I worshipped Satan. I was never an  

>> outcast though, more just like "the weird guy".

>>

>>

>

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