The First Punk Rock Band

[Firth]

Preceding Ramones and Sex Pistols in 75, DEATH:

[moecurlythanu]

There were Punkish Garage Rock bands in the 1960s.

[the winter tree]

Wow, I have lived in Vermont my whole life and I have never heard of these guys until now. Fascinating documentary!

[JKL2000]

Iggy

[Firth]

There were Punkish Garage Rock bands in the 1960s.

The Stooges and Iggy Pop, come to mind. But these guys have that hyper evil/angry sound, not just hard.

[spacefreak]

The Sonics

[Zeuhlmate]

MC 5 !

[Zeuhlmate]

Regarding the attitude - The Who, but they were much more skilled musicians.

[Digital_Man]

Wow, I have lived in Vermont my whole life and I have never heard of these guys until now. Fascinating documentary!

They are from Detroit though. Apparently they moved to Vermont after changing names and adopting a different sound.

[Firth]

Regarding the attitude - The Who, but they were much more skilled musicians.

Being skilled musicians, disqualifies The Who from being punk rockers The Who didn’t invoke hyperdrive like these guys, and the other bands which have been recognized as the first punk bands. Some people call the Police punk, but again disqualified because they are too good as musicians. Key features of punk, cursing at the audience, cursing period and hyperspeed.

[progmatist]

....Some people call the Police punk, but again disqualified because they are too good as musicians.

Many people conflated punk with new wave. The Police were among the latter.

Key features of punk, cursing at the audience, cursing period and hyperspeed.

....and having to perform in a cage. So as to not be hit by bottles and such, thrown by the audience.

[mnprogger]

did Death ever cover Death?

[Digital_Man]

did Death ever cover Death?

You will have to ask the grim reaper to find out.

[Vic2012]

Good little documentary. I heard about this group about a year ago. Listening to the first album. Rock n Roll Victim kicks all kinds of ass. They're not the first punk band. They're just 70s heavy garage rock descended from The Stooges, The Who, New York Dolls.

[Firth]

Good little documentary. I heard about this group about a year ago. Listening to the first album. Rock n Roll Victim kicks all kinds of ass. They're not the first punk band. They're just 70s heavy garage rock descended from The Stooges, The Who, New York Dolls.

Yeh, just stimulating conversation

[Digital_Man]

Good little documentary. I heard about this group about a year ago. Listening to the first album. Rock n Roll Victim kicks all kinds of ass. They're not the first punk band. They're just 70s heavy garage rock descended from The Stooges, The Who, New York Dolls.

Then who were? The Ramones?

[Vic2012]

Then who were? The Ramones?

The Who.

It's like....who were the first Heavy Metal band, or jazz group, or Rockabilly group. Music evolves. Punk and Metal weren't created in a laboratory. Ya dig....

[Digital_Man]

The Who.

It's like....who were the first Heavy Metal band, or jazz group, or Rockabilly group. Music evolves. Punk and Metal weren't created in a laboratory. Ya dig....

I guess King Crimson weren't the first prog band then(no I'm not implying you said there were but a lot of
people seem to think so). I agree it can be difficult to pinpoint where ground zero is in any given genre and it's up to interpretation and is ultimately based on opinion.

[Vic2012]

I'm hearing Communication Breakdown by you know who, in a pub. Truth. As punk as any punk rock I've ever heard.

[Dana5140]

Zeulmate is right. The MC5. Even before the Stooges, the 5 were so potent and so violent and so punk and metal and free jazz. Few bands were ever mightier. And let me tell you, I saw the 5 and the Stooges on the same bill (opening for Blue Cheer) and the 5 blew everyone away.

[Firth]

Zeulmate is right. The MC5. Even before the Stooges, the 5 were so potent and so violent and so punk and metal and free jazz. Few bands were ever mightier. And let me tell you, I saw the 5 and the Stooges on the same bill (opening for Blue Cheer) and the 5 blew everyone away.

I certainly understand where you are coming from, but the industry labeled punk, just as it did prog, and those labels were lame attempts to cheaply describe the output of certain bands. The commonly agreed upon bands first called punk, didn’t really have blues or jazz characteristics, like you describe for these bands you picked which certainly had commonality with the bands labeled punk that were more single minded. Perhaps with RNR, bands became more specialized. The Ramones were more easily related to surf rock, than MC5 were, and they were not pure noise and distortion.

[Munster]

Zeulmate is right. The MC5. Even before the Stooges, the 5 were so potent and so violent and so punk and metal and free jazz. Few bands were ever mightier. And let me tell you, I saw the 5 and the Stooges on the same bill (opening for Blue Cheer) and the 5 blew everyone away.

Phew. Quite a line-up. You must have needed a lie down in a quiet room after that

[Firth]

Phew. Quite a line-up. You must have needed a lie down in a quiet room after that

Nothing like standing on tables in a underground bar in Raleigh NC, grooving to the Ramones singing “I wanna be sedated”.

[loshammeros]

How's about Prog turning into Punk ala Gnidrilog becoming The Pork Dukes

[Dana5140]

Phew. Quite a line-up. You must have needed a lie down in a quiet room after that

You have no idea! Cheer had come with a reputation as the world's loudest band. They had 6 double-stack Marshall amps, in the Grande Ballroom, which was not all that huge- and I was sitting just 20 feet from the stage. But- the MC5 apparently borrowed amps from other bands and came onstage before with so much power that the sound was physical. I've seen the Who, Hendrix, Magma, Mahavishnu and so many other bands in my life, and that concert dwarfed all of them in terms of volume. This is true- my ears rang for the next 5 days. Never in life did I ever experience that kind of volume again. Holy cow!