(Here’s Part Three from Che stalwart Paul Kaufman on how his young self was Dead Wrong on some major issues of our time.)
In the comments following Dave Rinck’s recent “This We Dug: The Sex Pistols” post, Dave Ellison perfectly nailed how I felt about hearing those records for the first time: “the Sex Pistols album made all the rock music, clothes, hairstyles, etc. that were around at the time seem completely outdated.” It’s hard to cast your mind back to fully capture how revolutionary it felt.
It was so clear in 1977. The Ramones and Patti Smith at CBGB, the Sex Pistols, Clash, Wire, X-Ray Spex, 999 and all the rest in England. So vibrant, making commercial radio (and San Diego was ALL commercial radio) taste like a mouthful of ashes. As a 13-year-old, I envisioned all the old boring stuff would be swept away in a tide of cultural and political enlightenment in the US. The UK was actually having records in the Top 10 that you didn’t have to leave the room for — why not in the US, too?
Well, everyone now counts those bands as culturally important — the Ramones have streets named after them in NYC, Richard Hell’s papers are museum pieces, et al.
But I wouldn’t be writing this if mainstream America hadn’t lamed out — rather than the big change I had hoped for, for most people the ’80s was a decade of hair-metal bands and Ronald Reagan. Although I was disappointed, at least I got to have a spell of unjaded optimism at the time.
Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?
— Paul Kaufman
More “Nostradamus, I’m not”:
“Mr. Gorbachev: Up against this wall, motherfucker!”
— Ronald “Sonic” Reagan, Berlin, June 12, 1987
>>Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?
Everytime I see myself naked.
Seriously. The exclusivity of being different than the “lamestream” was always very appealing to me. Like being a member of a special club. I enjoyed my rebellion thank you -- going against the grain was a way of testing the water, a rite of passage.
They can have their Huey Lewis and Bruce Springsteens. If mainstream culture was all about punk rock back then, I probably would have dug something else!
“hhhhhheres….shotgun tom kelly on B-100! bbbbbbrrrrrrrrrahhhhh!” I can’t imagine him announcing the sex pistols. just can’t.
Kristen: I believe the plural of “Huey Lewis” is actually “Huey Lewii.”
Kristen: I believe the plural of “Huey Lewis” is actually “Huey Lewii.”
I thought the plural of “Huey Lewis” is “We gotta Get Outta This Place”…
I thought the plural of “Huey Lewis” is “We gotta Get Outta This Place”…
Kristen- For my punk rock cognitive dissonance, I prefer the visual image of the KGB Chicken in front of a horde of kids on Mission Beach, giving away tickets to a Crass concert at the Sports Arena.
Kristen- For my punk rock cognitive dissonance, I prefer the visual image of the KGB Chicken in front of a horde of kids on Mission Beach, giving away tickets to a Crass concert at the Sports Arena.
>>the KGB Chicken in front of a horde of kids on Mission Beach, giving away tickets to a Crass concert at the Sports Arena.
Coffee just went up my nose, Paul!!
>>the KGB Chicken in front of a horde of kids on Mission Beach, giving away tickets to a Crass concert at the Sports Arena.
Coffee just went up my nose, Paul!!
Holy smokes! Did you know that Penny Rimbaud from Crass made what I assume was his television debut winning a Beatles poster contest on “Ready Steady Go”?
John Lennon calls him a “rocker.” 🙂
Holy smokes! Did you know that Penny Rimbaud from Crass made what I assume was his television debut winning a Beatles poster contest on “Ready Steady Go”?
John Lennon calls him a “rocker.” 🙂