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Jockey Slut - June 2002
Much to the chagrin of the Daily Mail and octogenarian Tories, the Queen's Jubilee will always be remembered as much for the Sex Pistols and punk as it was street parties and commemorative mugs. Little wonder, the, that with Liz's big day upon us, the punk rock banner should be irrelevantly raised. For over the Golden Jubilee weekend, Play UK will be airing a 10-part series, 'The Punk Years'. Written and narrated by Manc motormouth, author and Gold Blade frontman John Robb, the series presents an exhaustive overview of punk's roots, developments and contemporary figureheads.
"It's the ultimate outsiders' music," declares Robb. "It's always been treated with complete disdain, but there's some fantastic intelligence that's gone into it as an art form. These programmes are a complete history of punk."
Rather than concentrate solely on McLaren, his Sex shop and Situationist texts, Robb traces punk's inaugural stirrings in the Stooges and MC5 to later stylistic developments such as glam and Bowie. By doing so, the programme's key strength is to challenge the standard orthodoxies of punk historians.
"Not that many people were into punk in 1977," says Robb. "The biggest acts then were Racey and David Soul. In fact, it was the second wave of acts such as UK Subs and The Ruts, that dominated the charts. Punk snobs say it was all over when it hit provinces; I say that's when it all began."
From there the series probes the Crass phenomenon, explodes the myths surrounding Oi! and examines '80s US hardcore influence on the likes of The Offspring and Rancid.
"Punk's like a broad church," says Robb, "but I'd say a band like The Offspring would have sounded amazing in 1977. And again, they're a band millions of kids get but broadsheet music journalists don't. For me, that's central to punk."
With an A-Z of punk luminaries holding forth, 'The Punk Years' are a vital alternative to the feudal celebrations going on elsewhere. But aren't punk rockers now as nostalgic as the Daily Mail?
"These programmes won't be," claims Robb, "because the spirit and music is alive today as it was 30 years ago."
Neil Davenport
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