In 1977, "punk" had a much broader set of parameters than the safety-pinned straitjacket it donned after the initial fact. The Ramones were punk, of course. In '77, Blondie was also punk. Talking Heads were punk. Elvis Costello was punk, and so were Eddie and the Hot Rods. Even Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were punk.
And a NYC combo called Television? Absolutely punk.
The lines of demarcation were moved over time. The definition of punk narrowed, referring only to the fast and the furious. The Ramones are still considered punk (though I recently read of someone wondering how the Ramones could ever have been called a punk band, since they were so obviously pop). The other acts listed above? Their labels morphed to new wave, alternative, even classic rock. Their old records didn't change. The classification did.
But I remember 1977. I was a senior in high school, and by the fall I was a freshman in college. I read about punk in Phonograph Record Magazine, heard punk on the radio, and started buying punk at the record store. The divergent styles under this buzz-word umbrella didn't matter. In 1977, punk was an attitude. I refuse to rewrite history and say these performers weren't punk.
Because they were.
This week, the passing of Television's Tom Verlaine inspired Dana and I to revisit some of our own punk and punk-periphery roots and mix 'em in with our other ongoing pop obsessions. We've seen the comments from some pundits (many of them savvy and knowledgable) who say Television was too musically accomplished to be called punk. We respect that POV, and concede it may even be true. But we disagree with it. I can only think back to what Television's debut album Marquee Moon meant to me when I was 17:
Vertigo.
For the disaffected and dissatisfied in 1977, no track expressed the feeling of rock music in dizzying free fall with greater menace and implied ennui as "Elevation" by Television.
A large part of growing up manifests in staking one's own claim on fresh vistas. We don't necessarily crave a complete break from the past, from the frontiers settled by older siblings or preceding generations. But we want some real estate to call our own.
From Television's debut album Marquee Moon, the track "Elevation" just fascinated me when I was 17. Fall of 1977, freshman in college, trying to finally hear all these punk or new wave or whaddayacallit bands I'd read so much about in the pages of Phonograph Record Magazine. I asked the campus radio station for help, and was rewarded with the sounds of the Ramones, Blondie, the Dictators, the Adverts, the Jam, Willie Alexander and the Boom Boom Band, the Runaways, and oh yeah!, Television. I could never get enough of this jagged, loping, serpentine noise, so mesmerizing, so different, so gratifyingly dizzying in its willful application of elevation going to my head. And staying there. Marquee Moon was among my earliest LP purchases in this broad category of NEW MUSIC circa '77 and '78. It would not be the last.
Oh, no. Not even close to the last....
Rest in peace, Tom Verlaine. This is what rock 'n' roll radio sounded like on another Sunday night in Syracuse this week.
This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, and via the TuneIn Radio and Radio Garden apps as Westcott Radio.
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TIRnRR # 1167: 2/5/2023
TIRnRR FRESH SPINS! Tracks we think we ain't played before are listed in bold
TELEVISION: Marquee Moon (Elektra, Marquee Moon)
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TELEVISION: Days (Elektra, Adventure)
KILLING JOKE: Eighties (Demon, VA: 100 Hits Punk & New Wave)
BLONDIE: Little Girl Lies (Chrysalis, Blondie)
GANG OF FOUR: Damaged Goods (Demon, VA: 100 Hits Punk & New Wave)
THE RAMONES: Now I Wanna Be A Good Boy (Rhino, Leave Home)
THE BUZZCOCKS: Everybody's Happy Nowadays (IRS, Singles Going Steady)
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28IF: Hold Tight (single)
TOM ROBINSON BAND: Up Against The Wall (Demon, VA: 100 Hits Punk & New Wave)
BARRETT STRONG: Money (That's What I Want) (Motown, VA: Hitsville USA)
THE EXCITERS: Blowing Up My Mind (Kent Soul, Soul Motion)
TALKING HEADS: I Wish You Wouldn't Say That (Rhino, Talking Heads [deluxe edition])
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BARRETT STRONG: Somethings Better Than Nothing (Blarritt, Stronghold 2)
THE EXCITERS: Number One (Kent Soul, Soul Motion)
LOU REED: Ooohhh Baby (RCA, Coney Island Baby)
THE SHIRTS: They Say The Sun Shines (Cema Special Products, The Shirts)
PUBLIC IMAGE LTD.: Public Image (Virgin, The Greatest Hits, So Far)
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THE PLUS 4: You Look Right Through Me (single) THE MONKEES: I Won't Be The Same Without Her (Rhino, Instant Replay)
RICHARD HELL & THE VOIDOIDS: Love Comes In Spurts (Sire, Blank Generation)
MICHAEL CARPENTER: That's Alright By Me (Not Lame, VA: Full Circle)
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THE CYNZ: Tell That Girl To Shut Up (Jem, single) NIKKI & THE CORVETTES: He's A Mover (Bomp, Nikki and the Corvettes)
MIKE BROWNING: Blood Of Oblivion (single) ELVIS COSTELLO & THE ATTRACTIONS: You Belong To Me (Rykodisc, This Year's Model)
STYX: Kiss Your Ass Goodbye (A & M, Cyclorama)
THEE HEADCOATEES: Money (Damaged Goods, The Kids Are All Square--This Is Hip + Girlsville)
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THE POSIES: I'm Looking Through You (Mojo, VA: Beatlemania/Volume 1)
THE BEATLES: Not A Second Time (Capitol, Meet The Beatles!)
MAJOR LANCE: You Don't Want Me No More (Epic, Everybody Loves A Good Time!)
THE FLASHCUBES: You Really Got Me [live] (unreleased)
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GRAHAM PARKER & THE RUMOUR: Mercury Poisoning (Spectrum, The Very Best Of Graham Parker and the Rumour)
TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS: Anything That's Rock 'n Roll (MCA, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)
WRECKLESS ERIC & AMY RIGBY: Do You Remember That (Southern Domestic, A Working Museum)
JUNIPER: Baby Doll (Confidential, She Steals Candy)
EDDIE & THE HOT RODS: Hard Drivin' Man (Captain Oi, The Singles Collection)
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TELEVISION: See No Evil (Elektra, Marquee Moon)
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND: Sweet Jane (Polydor, Peel Slowly And See)
THE NEW YORK DOLLS: Personality Crisis (Mercury, New York Dolls)
PATTI SMITH: Glitter In Their Eyes (Arista, Land)
JOHNNY THUNDERS & THE HEARTBREAKERS: I Love You (Jungle, L.A.M.F.)
THE DICTATORS: Baby Let's Twist (Dictators, Bloodbrothers)
THE RAMONES: Sheena Is A Punk Rocker (Rhino, Rocket To Russia)
TUFF DARTS: All For The Love Of Rock 'n' Roll (Atlantic, VA: Live At CBGB's)
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