Search - Various Artists :: No Thanks: 70s Punk Rebellion

Outstanding collection, but it isn't really all punk

Brian Sniatkowski | Morris County, NJ USA | 12/13/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"While I don't have this collection, I know every song on it and have most of them on other CDs or vinyl. To anybody who was into the alternative music scene in the 70's most of these songs would be familiar. That said, this not by any means a true punk music compilation. There are artists who influenced the punk movement like the NY Dolls, Iggy, Patti Smith and The Modern Lovers but who were never really a part of it. There are those that were considered to be part of the punk scene but their music is far too complex, their songs too long and their virtuosity too refined to be true punks such as Pere Ubu, Television and The Stranglers. There are post punk bands here like Magazine, Wire and Joy Division; new wave artists like Devo and The Motors and finally, a dose of artists who may have had their early roots in the punk scene but soon moved away from it (in most cases on to fame and fortune) such as The Pretenders, Joe Jackson, Elvis Costello and Blondie. This doesn't make it a bad collection by any measure, but its title can be misleading for someone who is looking for a definitive collection of 70's punk.



The collection starts off appropriately enough with the Ramone's "Blitzkreig Bop". This song, with its opening line "Hey-ho, let's go" is arguably the beginning of punk. The Ramones taught a generation of kids that they didn't need to be a wanna-be Jimmy Page to take up guitar and they didn't need to be a Ginger Baker to play the drums. Just pick up your instruments, go out there and make some noise and maybe some good music will come from it. Actually great music came out of it and a lot of it is here. The Jam, Dead Kennedys, X-Ray Spex, early Clash, X, Richard Hell, The Germs and The Damned are all good examples of the 70's punk sound. The inclusion of a rare Howard Devoto era Buzzcocks song is a real treat.



This collection covers a lot of ground. As previously mentioned it not only covers punk, but its precursors and the artists and genres that punk influenced. It also covers a variety of local music scenes including British punk (The Jam, The Damned and others), the NYC scene (Blondie, Talking Heads, Ramones, Television, Suicide, etc.) , California punk (X,Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, The Avengers and The Germs), Massachusetts Avenue (Modern Lovers) and Cleveland (Pere Ubu and Dead Boys).



There are some glaring omissions. How could a supposed compilation of 70's punk not include the Sex Pistols (I'm guessing they ran into licensing issues, because it would otherwise be inexcusable), Crass and the Bad Brains? Also considering that this collection delves into post punk and new wave, artists such as The Raincoats, Human Sexual Response, Swell Maps, The Feelies, Public Image Ltd., The Monochrome Set, Television Personalities, The Yachts and Gruppo Sportivo certainly deserved inclusion.



Some of the song selection is questionable. "Little Johnny Jewel" is far from Television's best work. "Marquee Moon", "Venus" or "Elevation" would have been much better choices. I'd like to see "Up Against the Wall" by TRB instead of "2-4-6-8 Motorway". "Roadrunner" or "She Cracked" would have been a better selection from the Modern Lovers than "Pablo Picasso" and what are The Boomtown Rats even doing on here at all?



Of course as with any compilation, nobody is ever completely satisfied and to include all deserving artists would probably have taken another 4 or 5 CDs. With that in mind, this is an outstanding overview of the alternative music scene of the mid to late 70's. It is a worthwhile acquisition for any teen or 20 something who is interested in alternative rock and wants to explore its roots, as well as those of a certain age who would like to take a trip down memory lane. Just don't call it a punk collection.

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