The rock press here has currently gone overboard about "punk rock." You find it mentioned once every column and usually concerning groups that can lay no
claim to the genre at all. NME and Sounds are the worst offenders (Sounds managed to apply it to Orleans in one review) with the MM as usual only just
discovering the phemomenon and inflating its importance out of al proportion. This press overkill led to lots of interest in the recent "Punk Rock Festival" at the 100
Club, which might have been good were it not for the shaky musical promise. The Sex Pistols and Clash [sic] played the first (and better) of two nights, followed by
the Damned, the Vibrators and Chris Spedding.
Clash, with Joe Strummer from the 101ers playing guitar, writing songs and singing, sound quite promising.
They have the required attack and energy but the content is too disparate at the moment and no clear identity
comes across; also they play mostly original songs which aren't as strong as they might be. Hopefully after a few
months' more gigging they will have gotten over this.
Most of the crowd at a Sex Pistols gig still seem more intent on dressing up and looking at each other than
on the music, which didn't help Clash. When the Pistols came on I was surprised to see everyone rush for the
stage and applaud as they are usually greeted with aloofness from their regular audience and curiosity from the
newcomers. They kicked off with "Anarchy in the UK," recently performed on a TV show and due to be the
first single, self-produced (the tapes with Spedding seem to have disappeared); no label name yet. The song will
sound very curious to foreign ears as it is about the more militant nationalist organizations here, the NPLA,
UDA, etc. and the chorus(?) is simply "I wanna see anarchy in the UK." If it gets around it should cause a few
scenes here. It was the best received song they did and will probably make a great single. They have lost a lot of
their cold, hard-edged feel and weren't as tight as they were before, probably because of the more sympathetic
audience they're getting now. They need a wider audience and Johnny Rotten shouldn't have to yell, "Stop
posing. You can dance." It must have made them try harder.
The second night was the real disappointment. The Damned,
formed by Nick Kent (who has since wisely disassociated
himself from them), are only good for a laugh. They display all
the trappings of the genre - leathers, dark glasses, 3-minute
songs - but have as much real energy and menace as a kitchen table. They're going to release a single on Stiff of
"Help" which should be quite entertaining. The Vibrators are an average bunch without even the comic element to
let them off the hook; totally forgettable.
You would think that someone in Chris Spedding's position could put a band together for one-off gig. He came
on at the end of the Vibrators' set, plugged his guitar in, played a godawful version of "Motor Bikin'" followed by
three unrecognizable rock 'n' roll songs and walked off, leaving the audience disappointed and annoyed at being
taken for a ride. A shame because he gave us a glimpse of how good he could have been when he played some
fluid, inventive guitar.
Talking about guitar players, I can't resist mentioning Steve Hillage's appearance at Hyde Park. I didn't get close
enough to see the group but what I heard was inpressive. Hillage sounds as if he has absorbed a lot of Todd
Rundgren's ideas, making his music even more stellar and ethereal. He did a great version of the Beatles' "It's All
Too Much," and was the perfect complement to a relaxed afternoon in Hyde Park. Virgin has since released his
Todd-produced solo album L.
Rambali, Paul. "English Ramblings." Trouser Press, Dec. 1976.