70s crap

[Sherwood, Harrison]

>From: 	LBernier at tribune.com

>Andrew sez:
>     
>     Anyway, I really liked lots of the lousy musician stuff. Even 
>     Sham 69 sounded quite good live. You really really had to be 
>     there. I don't think I have met anyone of my generation from the 
>     US who has understood how much the whole thing was wrapped up 
>     with British culture.
>     
>Yeah, us stupid yanks, couldn't even come up with our own rebellion, eh, Mr. 
>Dinn?

Woah, switchblades down, kiddo, that's not really what he said,
there....

Actually, I've always thought it fairly glaringly obvious how much
British punk was wrapped up with the class system and Thatcherism and
the Decline of Empire, and a quick skim of John Lydon's book "No Irish,
No Blacks, No Dogs" should clear up any remaining ambiguities toot
sweet. 

Enough critical ink has been spilled over the difference between the
American and Brit flavors of punk (two utterly different beasts) that we
don't really need to go into it, but it would be an interesting
anthropological study to compare just how _much_ "the whole thing"
reflected the differences in our respective cultures.

Clinton Heydlin's "From the Velvets to the Voidoids: A Pre-Punk History
for a Post-Punk World" despite its horrid title a not-bad presentation
of the roots of American punk with a toothsome dollop of primary-source
stuff, makes a few feints in that direction.

It's got to do with the unwise combination of art school, vastly
improved guitar compressors, and Heroin Chic, 's my theory.

Harrison

>