Strummer thoughts (1 Viewer)

Great writeup and summary of what The Clash and Joe Strummer were all about. I still give London Calling a regular play after all these years, one of the best albums of all time. It's relevance remains undiminished and Joe remains a hero of mine

Just last night i was telling this guy that Nirvana etal and the early 90's grunge thing was the America's version of punk although they missed the boat by 15 years and also missed the point, to a large degree
 
Just last night i was telling this guy that Nirvana etal and the early 90's grunge thing was the America's version of punk although they missed the boat by 15 years and also missed the point, to a large degree

America's version of punk happened in New York in 1977-79 and Los Angeles in 1978-80. The fashions were different from the UK (as they were between NY and LA) but the attitudes were similar.
 
Yeah adrian, history lesson: punk is American. You can trace it all the way back to the first Stooges album in 1969 (the song 1969 is pure punk in sound and attitude), or if your mind can't accept punk existing in the same year the Beatles broke up (ask your dad who they were), then you can go modern with the first Ramones album in 1976 (though actually, they were playing shows in 1975). No Ramones, no UK punk as you came to know and love it, period.

The only thing "punk" about Nirvana (and I loved Nirvana, don't get me wrong), was their rejection of 80's style. Musically there was not one iota of anything new there. But even established forms benefit from masterful interpretation, and Cobain was a master.

Oh look, someone poked the old man in his cage and he growled about "punk" again! Zzzzzzzz.

Carry on.
 
Yeah I understand that punk originated in the US (CBGB's etc) although the British grabbed it and brought it to the masses. Considering what was happening in the UK at the time it was what was severely needed and played an important role in giving a bit of hope to the growing number of underpriveleged kids that the government didn't give a shit about. In the US punk seemed to stay underground

The Nirvana reference and the conversation I had about grunge / punk last night, was more to do with predominently middleclass kids with not much to complain about, singing songs of woe etc etc. I often wonder how many of these kids went to grunge concerts and paid the taxi driver with a nice crisp $50
 

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