Post by justin anxiety on Nov 2, 2005 20:11:02 GMT -5
willtheplasticman said:
I don't know... I like SSD, but Negative FX massacre them.When it comes to DIY ethics in the 70's, very few punk bands actually had them early on. It definitely existed, but I don't think labels and DIY became an issue until bands like Black Flag in the US and Crass in England kind of created the punk underground as we know it. I credit those bands with creating that DIY, no bullshit sensibility on such a large scale, but I think that without the Ramones, the Clash, the Pistols and the big time bands, the sound would not be nearly as diverse or interesting.
The political/DIY thing came later. You can't really judge those bands by modern standards since the industry was so different back then. Black Flag basically found the underground network in the US, but they also played shows with the Ramones, and I think one with both Slayer and the Ramones. I think that if a major label had approached the Teen Idles, they would have gone for it. Black Flag only created SST because Bomp wanted to rip them off. I think Dischord only happened because there was no other way to get it out. Maybe later the ideology evolved into an anti-corporate thing, but when they were making my personal favorite records, they were releasing them because no one else would.
Times were different. I think people owe as much, if not more to the Damned, the Dead Boys, Ramones, etc. as they do to the second wave kids. They were the musical innovators, really.
True all the first wave bands contributed sounds and a general approach. But everything else came from the "second wave."
Crass are a huge exception though. A couple of them were much older, had been hippies and were already attuned to the anti-commericalism of that movement. They were talking shit in 77 about the sex pistols and clash for being "just another product" that could care less about seriously challenging the "system."
A friend of theirs put out the Feeding of the 5000 on his new upstart indie label (Small Wonder) in 78 and with the money from that they started their own label and put out everything else they did after that by themselves. They got offered a major label deal in 78 and told the label to eat it. The birth of the DIY ethos.
Your point about the Teen Idles might be true but by 1981 or so when Ian Mackeye met Crass while in England. He brought the DIY ethics back with Minor Threat in full force. It started pretty much right at the beginning with Dischord.
All of this isn't to say the "first wave" sucked or anything like that because some of those bands are great and I still listen to them often.
Just pointing out that the DIY ethic came early and was built by punk bands that get way too little credit when punk is written about. I mean how often does anyone talk about how Crass, Minor Threat and Black FLag (not to mention the tons of others) changed the meaning of punk?
That's all.
