I was in the first punk band in Salt Lake City, Utah, The Chromers. I went on to play in a few NYC bands and engineered/produced many punk/noise/metal records in the 80's, C.O.C., Prong, Swans, Agnostic Front, to name a few.

I'm outta the loop lately. Still listen to old school stuff though....

Awesome Steven. Nice little resume! Old school stuff is what I cut my teath on in the early 80's. My old band toured with Agnostic Front for a few months a few years ago. There first few releases were amazing!

Digging the new UK Subs album....Work In Progress

Sister Ray off of White Light/White Heat.........1968!!!

This song is friggin' bananas, a precursor of so much yet to come.
So many have been trying to recreate this sound ever since...

Here's an 8 minute take:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDtqbS7DK2s

...while I'm youtubin' old videos and in the sharing mood...

Not quite "punk", but certainly in the neighborhood...

Joy Division: Transmission (great video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDdjT8_oLcA&feature=related

Okay if you guys like old punk you might like this new trend called folk punk which is kind of self explanatory. Mostly anarchist/crust type bands

Here are two tracks I love from Mischief Brew:
Thanks Bastards
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrJyvrNTFoM

and

Olde Tyme Mem'ry
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uziTOL4zOs

Craig, I Have three VU albums, and I am a huge Joy Division fan. They're punk!

Good stuff. Sounds like alot of Pogues influence. Great story telling lyrics. Thanks.

So long as we're straying a bit, Tim Barry needs to be added to this thread. Former lead singer of avail, so it relates a bit, doing his solo thing. A lot of his songs are about getting drunk in the forest and hopping trains. Because that's pretty well what he does. He may not be a backpacker but he has the right spirit. Keep it simple, do what you love. Perfect music for the bush.


Love this topic by the way. Glad I'm not the only one.

...of course Joy Division is punk, they epitomized the spirit of punk.

Socal punk playing shows in front of a bunch of teenage kids, ok, cool.

Fugazi killing it in freezing cold weather in front of the White House... punk.

Fugazi- "Turnover" Live in '91 in front of White House

Edited by Eugeneius on 01/28/2011 08:41:16 MST.

Fugazi easily makes my top 3 list of best live shows I've ever seen. Really amazing live energy and sound. Best I remember was at the Palladium in Hollywood in the early nineties. I lost my hat, shirt, shoes...and subsequently a toenail at that show from diving/floating so much. Never even noticed the toe till it was over!

Joy Division were never Punk. They are one of my favourite bands, but no way were they a punk band.
I suppose most folk know the basis of their name?
What was playing on the turntable when his wife found him hanging?
No Googling for the answer! :)

"Joy Division were never Punk. They are one of my favourite bands, but no way were they a punk band.

'Digital' comes to mind. Punk, post-punk, new wave, whatev, it still kills.

Yes on the basis of the name, doesn't everyone?

No on the details of his suicide, never cared to know.

Tim Barry did a great job with Avail. Too bad they broke up. Joe went on to play with some metal band, and BeauBeau pro'lly just stayed weird.

I not in love with Tim's solo stuff tho. Its way to "country" for my taste.

Edited by mikeinfhaz on 01/30/2011 09:35:20 MST.

"never cared to know"

But even his death was a statement.

I won't even touch who is and who isn't punk, but I do know there's a lot more to it than "four chords and a leather jacket." Sure Tim Barry plays country music now, Rollins is a motivational speaker, the remaining members of joy division inadvertantly became the forefathers of synth rock. Does this detract from their integrity or how "punk" they were or are. Of course not. Unfortunately we can't stay misunderstood, angry, idealistic teenagers forever.

Craig, I was at that show with a old girlfriend-"Back in the Day" One of the last true PUNK shows I would ever see. The next show I remember seeing was Soundgarden in Ventura. The last show I curently saw was A Perfect Circle.....Evolution of the Ear!

Joy Division were indeed a punk band in the truest sense. Just like The Buzzcocks, Slaughter And The Dogs, The Skids, The Clash, Pistols, etc. It is more of a state of mind with the idea that their are no boundaries in music. Between 1976-1979 there was a lot of amazing music that came out during that time. Boundaries were stretched, the invention of DIY (ie making you own fanzines, putting on shows, having a record label all come to mind).

Yes the idea of Joy Division as a punk band does exist. Maybe they were not ramalama punk rock like The Ramones or Pistols but they come from the exact same place. Listen to Warsaw which was a precurser to Joy Division, they were even more rough and ready than Joy Division. They had many of their songs that eventually became Joy Division songs.

As for the name. Yes, Strenght Through Joy Will Set You Free. Unfortunately that is from a hideous time and place in our world's history.

Hard to classify many artists. I usually find the best artists are the ones that are hard to classify.
Folk Punk has been around for a very long time, maybe longer than "The Stooges", Dictators" Ramones", "Velvet Undergound", ...
Same with what is considered "Hip Hop" and many other classifications.

It's "All Rock And Roll To Me", yuck:-(

Steve, too right with the "folk" punk thingy. Punk has always told a story. 53 & 3rd, Chinese Rocks, etc....Basically folk music was protest music of the 60's and punk in the late or erm mid 70's was more of the same. The Dolls, VU, MC5, Stooges and others were ahead of their time, but the term coined "punk" really was something that was being bandied about as early as 1975 when bands like Blondie, Television, Johnny Thunders and The Heartbreakers, Talking Heads, Dictators, and others started playing CB's. Folk and Punk have a lot in common, though the stories are a tad different. Cannot wait until my next NYC trip where I can visit places without being on a timeline of touring where I did not have the ability to enly NYC the way I should!