I have FINALLY taken delivery of the LP boxset. It's only taken about three weeks and travelled almost the same distance as Apollo 13, but it has finally made it. To give you an idea of where it has travelled it started at Ann Arbor, then travelled to Detroit, South Bend, back to Detroit, Indianapolis, Chicago, back to Detroit again, London (?), back to Chicago, San Francisco, Sydney and finally Canberra. Because of how far it has travelled the outer box isn't in perfect condition, there are a few dents, but I've opened it up and had a look inside and everything looks okay. Hopefully I will see the CD boxset tomorrow or Saturday.
There's a VAST DIFFERENCE in what Punk is regarded and what it actually was. US punk is WAYYYYY different to UK punk. The 1st wave punk bands were just the first in the New Wave of bands (US) coming out at once. Seymore Stein at Sire records coined the term New Wave after he signed the ramones and I believe Richard hell and talking heads to categorize the movement away from the negative connotations. Punk is something the media created with those preconceived notions. Blondies attitude and live shows were very much in that vein. The gogos were considered a punk band too and guess who also produced their albums....Richard Gotterrher.
Who was behind the posting of this set (was it our old friends UPS - they do the Grateful Dead stuff - badly)?
Blondie can't be post punk when they were at the forefront of the initial (1st wave) punk bands. US Punk 1st wave UK Punk with Damned and Strangelers 1st wave (I don't count sex pistols as anything other than the monstrosity out together by Malcolm McLaren were they even a real band? ) Anyway, groups like the cure joy division bauhaus souixie souix are all post punk or "no wave". Put all of these together and you got the blanket term New Wave. That was what is now considered the Alternative back then. Labels are dumb anyways and as Clem Burke says, they're more like Pop Art.
got the 3 cd set and really like the sound quality! The material is great too but those Chris Stein mixes at the end could be cut in half and be stronger for it.
Debbie Harry said back in late 1975 the there these posters appearing all over town that read "Punk is Coming!" No one new what it was. It was Punk magazine started to chronicle the scenes that had started with the music at cbgb Max's and various others. It's possible this magazine helped create the moniker for the scene and the label just stuck as a blanket term for the whole scene. Everyone should just read "Please Kill Me" book. It explains the whole scene. How UK punk got started afterward and the scene then on great read.
Oh I loved and still love the Sex Pistols. They were a great band - saw them live in 76 - and the demos and records with John are all great. I cannot remember exactly when I first heard about Blondie. I did read Nick Kent's famous NME review of Marquee Moon ( early 1977) and wrote the details down for my dad to buy it at Virgin Marble Arch as I was at school and did not want to wait till the weekend. Anyone remember the first big mentions of Blondie in the UK music press? My early Blondie records bought back on release in the UK are on Private Stock. I absolutely agree that UK and the New York CBGBs "punk" scene were very different but the Pistols were doing No Fun in 1976. Mclaren certainly knew the New York scene from his time with The New York Dolls.
McClaren ripped off everything from America and brought it back there. Sex pistols have one album and self imploded. I really don't understand why everyone holds a band put together rather than formed organically in such high regard with just one album and their infamy. It's a great album but aside from controversy what did they really offer? Blondies 1st lp and x offender in the flesh single are private stock. Rip her to shreds single and all after are chrysalis in UK.
This is correct. But Punk magazine had a specific mission which was to push the loud/fast/dumb rules thing that Holmstrom and McNeil felt defined the scene. They missed the nuances and really dumbed things down. New York Rocker which started up a month later was a far better chronicler of the whole thing, understanding that it wasn't any one particular sound that defined what was happening.
One of my favourite records is the 12 inch Chrysalis Rip Her To Shreds with the distinctive cover art. 77 into the 80s was a good time for 12 inch singles. Denis then became a big hit here and certainly got lots of radio play and the world for Blondie changed in the UK. My old Private Stock Blondie album was played on my dreadful Alba stand alone record player (it had one speaker in the middle so everything was either mono or a mono fold from stereo - it had a stylus you could use to dig a ditch). I did when I got a hi fi buy quite a few records again and have the Chrysalis Blondie.
So, did anyone else order from Udiscover (UMG) and receive a damaged copy? I saw a few posts in which people received damaged copies, but can't remember if they stated where they were ordered from. I am having a heck of a time getting anywhere with them! My first email was almost 2 weeks ago, never had a reply. Sent another 4 days later, took them 4 days to repsond to that one. They asked for photos, photos sent, then another 2 days went by. Got another repsonse today, they are turning the issue over to a company called Route. Route contacted me and they are requesting more photos and are saying that they will only replace the damaged item. There is only one item in my order! The book is completely trashed, photos clearly show it, I don't see what the issue is or why this is even something that needs to be "further reviewed". Anyone else ever deal with these Route people, or with UMG and damages lately? Seems a bit over the top to me. Not liking how this is playing out, nor how long this is taking. If anyone has gone through this process with them, please fill me in here. Thanks.
As others have said, I realized much later that "punk" had a completely different meaning for Americans than it had for Europeans. As a European kid, I was very much exposed to British punk. The Sex Pistols made the evening news headlines, not the NYC scene (sorry). Actually, we (and when I say "we" from now on, I'm referring to the circle of my teenage friends, not speaking for everybody of course) we were totally oblivious to the American scene, even if it was happening in the same timeframe. And British punk was aggressive, raucous, an assault of guitar block chords and shouted vocals. It was the "anyone can play, anyone can start a band", meaning if you can't play, you were particularly welcome. It was the negation of everything that went on before, pop, skilled arrangements, well played and well produced records. If you were an accomplished musician, you'd better conceal it. If you were musically ambitious, and already looking beyond punk, like Mick Jones was, you'd better wait for awhile and go with the flow, because for that brief period in time punk (that kind of punk) was all that there was and all it was ok to be, the rest was granny music. So that's the kind of punk that's engraved in our DNA, that's our imprinting. Later on we discovered, and loved, Blondie, Talking Heads etc. But to this day, when I hear somebody referring to Blondie as "punk", it makes me jump. Then I realize, ok they must be American I'd like to elaborate more but that's the extent my English knowledge allows me to do. Very interesting thread
In retrospect that's true. Even Elvis Costello, at the time he showed up on Saturday Night Live, was considered punk by most Americans (though not by anybody who'd heard My Aim Is True). On the other hand, I'd say Ramones (really: no "the") were a legit punk band if there ever was one. But that doesn't mean they were only loud and fast and dumb. The songwriting gets none of the respect it deserves. Ramones spoke like nobody else to the complicated relationship between things that are so funny they hurt, and things that are so hurtful they're funny. It's true that Holmstrom and McNeil favored neo-garage over (for lack of a better term) the artiness of bands like Television or Talking Heads. But it's unfair to blame them for abusing the term "punk" when few were using it otherwise. They had as much claim to it as anybody who came along down the line.* * Full disclosure, I wrote an amped-up history of Punk to suit the comix anthology Weirdo.
You're right of course. To feel otherwise would be to fly in the face of the whole punk thing which is/was to make it up on your own and for yourself. I just feel that at the time it forced a vision of what the music was and helped narrow the dynamic of what was happening in, say, 1975. Less arty, more noise. But don't get me wrong, I love noise.
Mine finally arrived today. Pictures don't do it justice. What a beautiful set. Looking forward to spending some quality time reading the book. Stellar job
To be fair, The Sex Pistols brought a higher profile to Punk and encouraged other bands to start plus they also raised the profile of,other bands in the U.S. and U.K. Already doing the same thing because of their higher profile/controversy. Their album is a great album and all it takes is one great album to make a reputation. I don’t know how much more the final line up could offer. Johnny clearly had some terrific ideas that he brought to PiL some of which would not have worked with the Pistols. They may not have created Punk but they gave it an identity to the masses in America and in the U.K. Which reached people that might not otherwise have picked up a guitar. It doesn’t matter if a band comes together organically or are put together by someone outside-it’s about the noise they make after that.
What a beautiful set (I have the 8 CD version.) I've listened to the first five albums for years now, but I've finally heard The Hunter. I like it, there's a lot of the moody atmospheric music that I'm very fond of. Like some others, I was on the fence on getting the bigger set but glad I did.
I have just taken delivery of the 8 CD boxset, it was banged up a little because, like the LP boxset, it went on a world tour but the book and CD's are unharmed. Some have complained about the cardboard sleeves the CD's are kept in, but they seem okay to me, they don't offer great protection, but the book does that. I have listened to the first two LP's and to me they sound wonderful, but then again, I'm not an audiophile who can tell the difference between the originals, the 2001 remasters and these editions, so what whould I know.
Similar situation with Bob Marley or Nirvana. One act makes the massive breakthrough and is then mistaken by the majority of people for the whole thing. Instead of just one aspect of it.
I used some inner sleeves I purchased some time back for the CDs. I do think it would have been nice if the cardboard sleeves were a bit thicker though.
