The ASV Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Winner And New Category:
PunkoRama
This was a tough one. Queen came close and Kiss had a lot of defenders, but in the end, it was the cannon that did it. Don't ever doubt that. FIRE! You can see testimonials here and here.
And now, we go for our first punk rock inductee into this Hall of Fame. TC has come up with the category:
Best Old School Punk Band/Artist - '76-86.
This would include punk bands and post punk bands/artists, but NOT new wave bands, as they will have their own categories sooner or later. If you need me to identify the difference between punk and new wave, then you don't deserve to be voting in this particular category. Capice? (And this is why I have two rounds of voting on each category, to sort of weed out the lame nominations). Also, keep in mind that there will be hundreds of categories and if your favorite punk band doesn't get in on this round, they may get in on, say, the "most vicious stage show" or "best band to wear make-up" categories.
Get nominating. Include a short testimonial, please.
IMPORTANT UPDATE:
I am going to take the BEST off the awards and just put bands in under categories without the BEST qualifier. This way, down the road we can induct bands and artists who didn't make the first cut in the same category. So there can be more rock anthems and more punk bands and more bands that write songs about monsters and whose name starts with M and ends in Isfits. So if your punk band doesn't make it this time, I'll open the vote again in the weeks ahead and induct maybe three or four bands at a time.
Comments
The Dead Kennedys, if only for anticipating the irony of mainstream "punk" today. How often do you see idiots sing along to "too drunk to fuck" with pride rather than Jello's sarcasm? Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables is a classic album.
Posted by: awb | September 29, 2005 10:43 AM
Tough call,it would have to come down to a battle between
The Clash
Tha Ramones
The Sex Pistols
Posted by: mbruce | September 29, 2005 10:44 AM
Dead Kennedy's because we all have to proove we're adults now. We're all suffering from School Damage.
If you need something more, then how about the honest realization that no matter what government does, they will fuck it up.
Want proof? Against Communism/Socialism with "Holiday in Cambodia" and against Capitalist Democracy with "California Uber Alles or We've got a bigger problem now".
Posted by: David Earney | September 29, 2005 10:46 AM
Never mind all that bollocks... it's gotta be the Sex Pistols, without whom there would be no punk.
Posted by: Alex Knapp | September 29, 2005 10:49 AM
The Clash - They've influenced a lot of later punk bands, plus they had a few songs that were a little funkier, which I think many later bands absorbed.
Was Less Than Jake around in 86? I dunno. probably not.
Posted by: shank | September 29, 2005 10:50 AM
I second mbruce's nominations.
I'd add X to the list.They were the most influential LA Punk band. "Los Angeles" and "Wild Gift" are classic albums by any measure.
Throw in Black Flag for leading the hardcore movement.
Posted by: Zarba | September 29, 2005 10:51 AM
Want proof? Against Communism/Socialism with "Holiday in Cambodia" and against Capitalist Democracy with "California Uber Alles or We've got a bigger problem now".
You forgot their early ode against MTV: "MTV Get off the Air" - eerily prescient.
Still, I'm not sure I'm going to nominate them. I'd have to go with either the clash or the sex pistols, perhaps even the Ramones, because the Kennedys, while a mainstay, didn't have near the exposure these other bands did.
Tough call.
I'm going to go with the Clash, although the DKs, Sex Pistols and Ramones would be in my second selection.
Posted by: bryan | September 29, 2005 10:54 AM
LTJ started in 1992, and they can look forward to a nomination in one of the many modern punk/pop punk/ska categories that will come our way.
Posted by: michele | September 29, 2005 10:54 AM
I'm probably going to vote for the Ramones, but I think Iggy Pop deserves a nomination.
Posted by: Eric J | September 29, 2005 10:55 AM
Final vote has got to be The Ramones.
Posted by: Zarba | September 29, 2005 10:57 AM
I have to go with the Ramones. A large percentage of later bands cite the Ramones as one of their major influences. I don't recall seeing as large a percentage citing the Sex Pistols, and certainly not the DKs. Maybe the Clash. But I have a fondness for the Ramones. I so would have done Joey.
Plus, the Ramones might have only had 3 chords, but they were 3 damn fine chords!
Posted by: Lesley | September 29, 2005 11:01 AM
Stooges
Sex Pistols
Siouxie and the Banshees
Buzzcocks
Circle Jerks
TSOL
The Damned
X
Dead Milkmen
I wish I could add the Distillers, but they're too new.
Among those, I think the Sex Pistols get my nomination.
Testimonial will follow after coffee.
Posted by: Mark | September 29, 2005 11:05 AM
Look, all you Clash and Pistol-whippied should just shut up.
The Ramones, The Dead Boys, and Johnny Thunders. Runnerup awards go to Circle Jerks, Bad Brains, and the Misfits.
FUCK the English bands! NME might try to rewrite it, but we--USA--invented this shit.
Posted by: TC@LeatherPenguin | September 29, 2005 11:12 AM
And we vote Jello for freakin' mayor in Ess Eff.
(that would teach 'em)
Posted by: TC@LeatherPenguin | September 29, 2005 11:14 AM
It's clearly Ramones.
I mean- they started it.
And, as much as I dig "Never Mind the Bollocks," to say that there would be no punk without the Sex Pistols?
Well, there already WAS.
Posted by: Adam | September 29, 2005 11:22 AM
Ooo...the misfits that's a good one.
Posted by: shank | September 29, 2005 11:23 AM
Were the Plasmatics too "metal" to be true punk? As far as stage presence and "bleeding-edge" tunes, W.O.W. and the Plasmatics reigned supreme. That, and I'm a lot more fond of "punk-metal" than "classic punk." I guess it's the best of both extremes to me.
(reminding self to crank up "The Damned" on the way home from work)
For purity's sake--the embodiment of punk culture, generally forsaking the influences of other genres, I guess my vote would go to the Ramones, but the Pistols come in a close second. The Misfits deserve mention, too, as they've kept the hard edge against the bubblegum influences currently running rampant in the industry--not quite as original as others, but likely stronger because of circumstance.
Posted by: BoDiddly | September 29, 2005 11:24 AM
Bo:
The Plasmats was someone who wanted to be Larry Flynt on a a stage.
NO SOUP!
Posted by: TC@LeatherPenguin | September 29, 2005 11:31 AM
Hands down the Ramones... honorable mention,
The Queers.
Posted by: Heath Dobbler | September 29, 2005 11:35 AM
X
The Blasters
Suburban Lawns
Buzzcocks
TSOL
The Germs
The Clash
Dead Kennedys
Sex Pistols, of course!
Posted by: Pat Patterson | September 29, 2005 11:42 AM
It better damned well be the Ramones.
Otherwise I want a new catagory: "Best Band Of People With The Same Last Name That Isn't The Osmans"
Posted by: spd rdr | September 29, 2005 11:50 AM
Penguin:
If I hear you dis the Sex Pistols again, I'll safety pin your beak to your webbed feet!
Now why didn't anyone nominate PIL? Ok, I'll do it now:
Public Image, Ltd.
Posted by: Mark | September 29, 2005 11:52 AM
Adam:
You're right, punk existed before the Sex Pistols.
It also existed 6 years before the Ramones were formed in 1974.
Just ask Iggy Pop what he and the Stooges were doing in 1968.
Posted by: Mark | September 29, 2005 11:55 AM
And...
What about Patti Smith?
And Candy Slice?
Posted by: Mark | September 29, 2005 11:56 AM
Were it not for the existence of The Clash and The Ramones, I wouldn't hesitate to nominate the Circle Jerks.
However, if forced to pick within that date range, and as much as I love Joey and company, I have to go with The Clash.
Posted by: Matt | September 29, 2005 12:11 PM
The Ramones, first and foremost.
After them...
The Clash
The Blasters
X
The Misfits
Several great bands - The Queers, Screeching Weasel and MTX come to mind - were just getting started at the end of this time period. They'd probably fit more logically in a subsequent era.
Posted by: MikeR | September 29, 2005 12:13 PM
The Ramones are getting the same votes that AC/DC got, because they basically have the same three chords.
At least the Clash had some interesting melodies. They also helped bring in the reggae/world beat influence, which was not a staple of the ramones ouvre.
I'd ditto what was said earlier about who "invented" punk. It certainly wasn't the Ramones. One could argue for the Fugs, the Velvet Underground, MC5 or Iggy Pop and the Stooges could be credited before the Ramones. None of these folks will be nominated, however.
I stick with the Clash.
Posted by: bryan | September 29, 2005 12:15 PM
Ramones - Aside from the reasons already mentioned, no other punk band ever conjured up so much somber feeling when one of their members died. Remember how you felt when you heard Joey Ramone was dead? "Damn. That sucks, man."
Posted by: hockeypuck | September 29, 2005 12:38 PM
The Clash is great; the Ramones are cool.
But for me, it's the Sex Pistols!
Why? Anarchy in the UK!
How can anyone ask why? Shit, just LOOK at them! Johnny Rotten, Sid Vicious! Everyone but Sid was a great musician. Every song on Nevermind the Bollocks is great! Their live shows were insane. And they're still at it! I saw them a couple years ago (the original pre-Sid lineup) and they were truly awsome.
Nothing oozes punk like the Sex Pistols.
And, who else had a great movie like Sid & Nancy made after them?
Posted by: Mark | September 29, 2005 12:46 PM
Iggy and the Stooges are a great nominee,too.Never saw the Stooges,but met him and the Sales brothers(Soupy's kids) backstage in Madison Wi in about '76 I think,they were bad ass boys,completely entertaining ,dragging babes into their dressing room in pairs,totally out of control.I was so jealous....
Met the Ramones,too on a couple of occasions,first when they did an in-store at 1812 Overture (so damned cool) and later in '86 when they were playing at the Metro in Chicago while my theater company was filming our play "Sick Fun" in the Joz theater right above,having the Ramones tunes in the backround was pure bonus!
Posted by: mbruce | September 29, 2005 12:50 PM
Sick Fun? You're not really Alice's Michael Bruce, are you?
Posted by: Mark | September 29, 2005 01:10 PM
The Ramones
The Clash
Posted by: Timmer | September 29, 2005 01:11 PM
No,Mark,I am just another of the many MBs out there.
Posted by: mbruce | September 29, 2005 01:11 PM
Gotta be the Ramones. Although, with post-punk also eligible, Joy Division comes close.
Posted by: Jeff R. | September 29, 2005 01:12 PM
Oh...and mbruce, how's Dennis Zacek these days? Is he still prowling Lincoln Ave in that ol' El Camino?
Posted by: Timmer | September 29, 2005 01:16 PM
The Ramones. Period. Defined the genre for all that followed.
Posted by: cadrys | September 29, 2005 01:30 PM
>>If I hear you dis the Sex Pistols again, I'll safety pin your beak to your webbed feet!SONIC REDUCER, I AIN'T NO LOSER.
I don't need anyone...
Posted by: TC@LeatherPenguin | September 29, 2005 01:34 PM
AARRGGH!
Sonic Reducer, I ain't no loser...
Posted by: TC@LeatherPenguin | September 29, 2005 01:36 PM
There can be no credibility to this category if Black Flag and Hüsker Dü aren't given a shot at the title...period. Berate me, yell at me, belittle me...I don't give a shit...I'll stand my ground on this anytime, anywhere.
Posted by: Darth Punkybone | September 29, 2005 01:46 PM
Fuck McClaren's crew....
He screwed the Dolls!
Posted by: TC@LeatherPenguin | September 29, 2005 01:48 PM
Ok, people: I am going to take the BEST off the awards and just put bands in under categories without the BEST qualifier. This way down the road, we can induct bands and artists who didn't make the first cut in the same category.
Posted by: michele | September 29, 2005 01:52 PM
There may need to be separate UK and US wings here. Til then, Clash wins my coin toss.
Posted by: Greg | September 29, 2005 02:00 PM
No separation of punk and state. I say it's an international award. No sense in breaking it down into littler and littler peices just so people don't whine. That's the whole point of getting the award - you're awesomer than all the other people.
Posted by: shank | September 29, 2005 02:04 PM
Yeah, but Buster Poindexter really was a red leather commie.
Posted by: Mark | September 29, 2005 02:09 PM
I'm nominating The Clash for two reasons--one of which might not be very legitimate. The legitimate reason is that The Clash was just fantastic and, frankly, there was a great variety to their music, as well. That helped keep it much more interesting than many of their peers. The Sex Pistols may have kicked things off, but I'll listen to The Clash over them any day of the week. The Clash was just more interesting music.
My less legitimate reason is that I just loved the hell out of all the music Joe Strummer went on to do, particularly his stuff as Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros. Just fantastic.
Posted by: Joel Caris | September 29, 2005 02:10 PM
Black Flag and The Misfits
honorable mention to The Damned, Sex Pistols and UK Subs.
forget about so-called "post-punk".
Posted by: Jim S | September 29, 2005 02:15 PM
shit! I forgot The Birthday Party... they deserve a mention. Or The Stooges. Find me an album as packed with jams as FunHouse....
Posted by: Jim S | September 29, 2005 02:22 PM
Yeah, but Buster Poindexter really was a red leather commie.
"Okay, let's go!" (tosses gloves on the floor)
"You English tea-supping ween! C'MON!"
Posted by: TC@LeatherPenguin | September 29, 2005 02:30 PM
I'm surprised I haven't seen any mention of Minor Threat, although they do get a bit preachy. Social Distortion came from that era as well, and at least deserves a mention. Although I think my vote in the end would go to the Clash.
Posted by: Josh | September 29, 2005 02:42 PM
Look folks. I know you don't care, but I'm gonna spew my opinion all over you, and I'm gonna do it as though it were objectively verifiable FACT.
The Clash is a great, very important, straight ahead rock and roll band. I love them. But they ain't punk in my book. They're no more punk than The Who was in 1965 when My Generation was released. Although I used to argue that The Who were the original punks, I have taken that back. Along with them, I've pulled the Clash out of punk. They're rockers. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. For today at least.
As for the Ramones, they were just too damn fugly to be anything BUT punk.
Posted by: Mark | September 29, 2005 02:53 PM
My head says I should vote for The Ramones but my heart tells me I should vote for The Misfits, so I will vote for...
The Misfits.
For scary, evil, yet not to be taken too seriously lyrics, fast, driving riffs that sucked you right in and most of all for Danzig's howling vocals that seem to reach down inside and grab you by the soul. Demon I AM.
Posted by: mrbandw | September 29, 2005 03:01 PM
"I live on Planet Ramone, spinning tightly around the twin suns Joey and Johnny, with that gravity defying Comet Dee Dee holding some sway, too…it’s up to you to figure out my crap, jack, if you wanna guess which way I’ll ever go."
Me thinketh the southern fowl scored some rancid herring and drifted into orbit.
Posted by: Mark | September 29, 2005 03:06 PM
You have to ask?
Ramones!!
Posted by: Solonor | September 29, 2005 03:10 PM
From their allmusic.com bio:
"The Ramones are the first punk rock band. Other bands, such as the Stooges and the New York Dolls, came before them and set the stage and aesthetic for punk, and bands that immediately followed, such as the Sex Pistols, made the latent violence of the music more explicit, but the Ramones crystallized the musical ideals of the genre."
Posted by: Solonor | September 29, 2005 03:16 PM
Hah! What a piece of propaganda!
The most inportant persona in punk was...
CANDY SLICE!
(RIP, Gilda)
Posted by: Mark | September 29, 2005 03:19 PM
First, I think we need a category for hardcore bands, judging by the relatively few mentions of Black Flag, Bad Brains, and Minor Threat (how is it that only 1 person has mentioned them so far!!!).
If we give hXc its own category, I vote for The Ramones, based purely on how far-reaching their influence is/was. If we include hardcore bands, I am going with Black Flag and Minor Threat.
Posted by: Chris | September 29, 2005 03:27 PM
The Ramones. Because it was to the Brothers Ramone that the Sex Pistols, Clash, Dead Boys, and the lot looked to for inspiration.
Posted by: Courtney | September 29, 2005 03:35 PM
RAMONES!!!! and Dead milkmen
Posted by: carol | September 29, 2005 03:46 PM
Ya know what John Lydon sang when he auditioned for the Sex Pistols? Alice Cooper's I'm Eighteen.
There must be some relevance to that, but it escapes me now.
Posted by: Mark | September 29, 2005 03:47 PM
Hey, Mark?
When the modem blows...and then I take your electrical system out...
You sit there playing "God Save the Queen."
Really.
Posted by: TC@LeatherPenguin | September 29, 2005 03:48 PM
Finally! Someone else mentioned the Dead Milkmen!
However, I think I'll save them for "Best Blues Band," if you know what I mean.
Posted by: Mark | September 29, 2005 03:49 PM
Courtney is working her way into my will.
FACTS. BEAT THE BRATS WITH FACTS.
Posted by: TC@LeatherPenguin | September 29, 2005 03:50 PM
Maybe the next category should be Bands That Make You Laugh.
Posted by: michele | September 29, 2005 03:51 PM
Oh..I forgot this one...
"Hey Solly? How's the second slot work for you, Rube?"
Hadda do it.
Posted by: TC@LeatherPenguin | September 29, 2005 03:53 PM
Tucks Man,
What are ya gonna do? --hurl an iceberg at me?
Posted by: Mark | September 29, 2005 03:53 PM
hey...I like the Ramones, too...but let's not gloss over the fact they drew inspiration from Bubblegum rock and had an unhealthy fascination with the Bay City Rollers...
Posted by: Darth Punkybone | September 29, 2005 04:35 PM
First choice: The Ramones
Very close runner up: The Clash
if it weren't for the above two bands, The Sex Pistols would be my front runner.
Posted by: diamond dave | September 29, 2005 04:48 PM
Alright, my girlfreind chimed in with these (in addition to my nominees from this morning):
Dead Kennedys
The Germs
Dead Boys
Velvet Underground
Dropkick Murphys
PIL
The Nipple Erectors(The Nips)
Transvision Vamp
Alien Sex Fiend
No time for testimonials.
Posted by: Mark | September 29, 2005 05:09 PM
bands that make me laugh?
oooh, either Root Boy Slim and the Sex Change Band
or Mojo Nixon. But I get ahead of myself.
I'm having a hard time with the lack of attention to Patti Smith on thisone,perhaps some of you historians can place her properly in the punk pantheon for me?
Posted by: mbruce | September 29, 2005 05:23 PM
Ho Ho Ho!
OK enough people have mentioned our friends from Queens. Well and good.
But the Clash? Give me a break. If you want real British Punk then it's got to be the Rezillos - "Somebody's Gonna Get His Head Kicked In TONIGHT!" Their sound was so much better than anything else in the late 70s and frankly was better than most of the stuff in the 80s. "Top of the Pops" and "Destination Venus" and "No" are still kickass! And the "X Ray Specs" ("Oh Bondage Up Yours") make the Class look like a bunch of "poofs."
Here in the States, the Dead Kennedys were awesome, but you're totally remiss to ignore the Adolescents who had far more mojo than Biafra could ever muster. And the first Agent Orange album was a definition of surf punk (Steve Soto from the Adolescents was with them first on that album).
Posted by: Ian | September 29, 2005 05:25 PM
I'm going to put in a vote for the X-Ray Spex. I love that band. It's so much fun to drive down the street, screaming along to "I am a poseur and I don't care! I like to make people stare!" in a faux Brit accent.
Plus "Oh Bondage, Up Yours!" and "Highly Inflammable" are just rad songs. Poly Styrene is awesome.
Posted by: Megan | September 29, 2005 05:42 PM
Yeah, I expected more Patti Smith support.
For those who think the first on the scene are somehow best, Patti beat the Ramones to her first recording contract. 1975's Gloria and the flipside, My Generation, were great--as were the other songs from Horse and subsequent albums. And how could we forget "Because the Night?"
But my favorite thing about Patti Smith? Gilda Radner's character, Candy Slice.
I'm glad somebody mentioned the Adolescents finally! I wasn't really into them back in the day, but I saw them a couple years ago and they kicked ass!
Posted by: Mark | September 29, 2005 05:46 PM
"Holidays in the Sun" is the best punk song of all time, and the Sex Pistols deserve this. Screaming lyrics about the Berlin Wall and the Belsen death camp; non-Phil Spector wall of sound guitars that crash on your head every second; despite the moral stupidity of the manager and bassist the otherwise incomprehensible lyrics display seething contempt for both Nazism and Communism, which shouldn't be tough but is actually beyond the capability of most musicians, actors, and celebrities; did I mention the noise and the guitars? -- I mean this song STARTS at 11 and ends with the collapse of the world; "There's too many closets?" wtf does that mean???
I nominate the Sex Pistols
Posted by: MG2 | September 29, 2005 06:07 PM
If I can only list one, it has to be the Ramones - they have to be first in my book.
Posted by: Tim | September 29, 2005 06:57 PM
My fifteen year old daughter, who is a big Ramones fan, cast her vote for the Sex Pistols. Her ad lib testimonial was perfect, and I'll try to get her to repeat it. She nailed it on the head.
Posted by: Mark | September 29, 2005 07:36 PM
Got to put my two cents in. FEAR!
Best punk band ever. I love Living in the City.
Posted by: Emily | September 29, 2005 08:00 PM
Why the hell do I have to choose between the Clash and the Ramones anyway?
Screw rockmocracy. Both go up.
Posted by: spd rdr | September 29, 2005 08:39 PM
Although The Ramones will probably win this particular poll, my vote is for Iggy Pop and the Stooges. They are about as old school as you can get and were punk before there was such a thing. Period Dot
Posted by: Crazy Horse | September 29, 2005 08:43 PM