The Punk Road to Damascus

[JohnS]

I'm belatedly chipping in here - I've been lurking for a while but not posting, partly due to rushing round sorting out Christmas stuff, partly cos I've been away from my laptop for 2 weeks and I prefer posting on there to using my phone (holed up at my Mum's where I was on a pre-Xmas visit and I tested positive for the Plague and had to sit tight for 10 days!)

Anyway, I was 12/13 when punk broke, not really into music at all - I had no elder siblings or cousins to be a gateway. While I knew of punk cos it was very high profile in the media, me and my schoolfriends just found it a joke with its crazy fashions and easy-to-mimic mannerisms. Like the rest of the UK's kids I watched Top of the Pops on TV, listened to the chart run-down on sunday night, liked the odd record now and again but nothing really grabbed me.

But as the music scene evolved punk records became easier to hear, cos there were more bands catching on and getting airplay. I remember hearing Pretty Vacant and thinking this isn't as 'bad' a record as it should be, if it's the Pistols - it is a very well produced and catchy power-pop single really. The sneering vocals and attitude weren't too off-putting. Other bands like The Stranglers, X Ray Spex and the Jam began to chart and you'd hear on the radio a lot, or see on TOTP. I liked them and could tell it was cut from a different musical cloth to the bulk of mainstream chart stuff.

But I didn't become a keen record buyer til about 1979, when a classmate (who always had the coolest musical taste) lent me the then-new Clash 'Cost of Living' EP - this sounds too good to be true, but it is - and I was absolutely bowled over. knocked for six and other phrases to baffle non-cricketing readers! I was so enthused he also lent me 'Give em Enough Rope' and I was off...

I did buy the Sex Pistols 'Silly Thing' single and played it to death. Not really the Pistols, not really punk, but I loved it, although the B-side and the whole mystique about the Rock & Roll Swindle film confused me. Not long after I got the Pretty Vacant single, since I'd always liked it.

People say 'Anarchy in the UK" was the most astonishing, captivating thing they'd ever heard, but for me, nothing was as jaw-droppingly shocking as 'No Fun' on the B-side of Pretty Vacant. I thought this, finally, is the ultimate Punk Rock record and performance, the sound of a human absolutely at the end of their tether caught on tape. And it was just... relentless. 6 minutes of Rotten unravelling, pushing on and on, perhaps the longest track I'd ever heard (well, it certainly felt like it!) and the perfect cut-off ending, like a security door being slammed shut, just as the band really dissolves into total mayhem. Now, THAT was Anarchy, for me.

[Marky Dread]

I'm belatedly chipping in here - I've been lurking for a while but not posting, partly due to rushing round sorting out Christmas stuff, partly cos I've been away from my laptop for 2 weeks and I prefer posting on there to using my phone (holed up at my Mum's where I was on a pre-Xmas visit and I tested positive for the Plague and had to sit tight for 10 days!)

Anyway, I was 12/13 when punk broke, not really into music at all - I had no elder siblings or cousins to be a gateway. While I knew of punk cos it was very high profile in the media, me and my schoolfriends just found it a joke with its crazy fashions and easy-to-mimic mannerisms. Like the rest of the UK's kids I watched Top of the Pops on TV, listened to the chart run-down on sunday night, liked the odd record now and again but nothing really grabbed me.

But as the music scene evolved punk records became easier to hear, cos there were more bands catching on and getting airplay. I remember hearing Pretty Vacant and thinking this isn't as 'bad' a record as it should be, if it's the Pistols - it is a very well produced and catchy power-pop single really. The sneering vocals and attitude weren't too off-putting. Other bands like The Stranglers, X Ray Spex and the Jam began to chart and you'd hear on the radio a lot, or see on TOTP. I liked them and could tell it was cut from a different musical cloth to the bulk of mainstream chart stuff.

But I didn't become a keen record buyer til about 1979, when a classmate (who always had the coolest musical taste) lent me the then-new Clash 'Cost of Living' EP - this sounds too good to be true, but it is - and I was absolutely bowled over. knocked for six and other phrases to baffle non-cricketing readers! I was so enthused he also lent me 'Give em Enough Rope' and I was off...

I did buy the Sex Pistols 'Silly Thing' single and played it to death. Not really the Pistols, not really punk, but I loved it, although the B-side and the whole mystique about the Rock & Roll Swindle film confused me. Not long after I got the Pretty Vacant single, since I'd always liked it.

People say 'Anarchy in the UK" was the most astonishing, captivating thing they'd ever heard, but for me, nothing was as jaw-droppingly shocking as 'No Fun' on the B-side of Pretty Vacant. I thought this, finally, is the ultimate Punk Rock record and performance, the sound of a human absolutely at the end of their tether caught on tape. And it was just... relentless. 6 minutes of Rotten unravelling, pushing on and on, perhaps the longest track I'd ever heard (well, it certainly felt like it!) and the perfect cut-off ending, like a security door being slammed shut, just as the band really dissolves into total mayhem. Now, THAT was Anarchy, for me.

I love Rotten's intro of "Sociology lecture" etc. Must've made it up on the spot as it was never used live.

[matedog]

What is the No Fun b-side? Their catalog is such a mess. I see a 7 minute version on spotify, 4:45, and 5 minute as well.

[Marky Dread]

What is the No Fun b-side? Their catalog is such a mess. I see a 7 minute version on spotify, 4:45, and 5 minute as well.

It was the B-side to "Pretty Vacant". The B-side run time was 6min 22secs. Edited down from almost 7mins to fit on the 7" vinyl. No Fun was an outtake from the "Anarchy in the U.K." recording sessions at Wessex Sound Studio, October 1976.

[matedog]

What is the No Fun b-side? Their catalog is such a mess. I see a 7 minute version on spotify, 4:45, and 5 minute as well.

It was the B-side to "Pretty Vacant". The B-side run time was 6min 22secs. Edited down from almost 7mins to fit on the 7" vinyl. No Fun was an outtake from the "Anarchy in the U.K." recording sessions at Wessex Sound Studio, October 1976.

Great, "none of the above." I guess the 7 minute version I'm finding on Spunk will suffice.

[Dr. Medulla]

Best version of "No Fun" is from Winterland, anyway. Even apart from the sublime parting words, Lydon's voice runs the gamut of his inflections.

[Marky Dread]

What is the No Fun b-side? Their catalog is such a mess. I see a 7 minute version on spotify, 4:45, and 5 minute as well.

It was the B-side to "Pretty Vacant". The B-side run time was 6min 22secs. Edited down from almost 7mins to fit on the 7" vinyl. No Fun was an outtake from the "Anarchy in the U.K." recording sessions at Wessex Sound Studio, October 1976.

Great, "none of the above." I guess the 7 minute version I'm finding on Spunk will suffice.

Yeah same track. Problem with Spunk is that all the demos/sessions of that bootleg comp run too slow and that goes for all it's various releases.

[matedog]

Best version of "No Fun" is from Winterland, anyway. Even apart from the sublime parting words, Lydon's voice runs the gamut of his inflections.

Just gave the 7 or so minute version a spin and really really enjoyed it. I'm very well familiar with the Winterland version, but it's fun to one with the nice studio sheen.

[Dr. Medulla]

Best version of "No Fun" is from Winterland, anyway. Even apart from the sublime parting words, Lydon's voice runs the gamut of his inflections.

Just gave the 7 or so minute version a spin and really really enjoyed it. I'm very well familiar with the Winterland version, but it's fun to one with the nice studio sheen.

I remember, back in the heady days of new punk obsession and needing to hear everything, I bought a pricey (for a teenager, anyway) copy of Flogging a Dead Horse because that was the only place I could find the studio version of "No Fun." I had everything else on the record, so I paid, like, $25 for one song. I've always been a victim of the consumerist drug/myth that *this* is the thing that's going to answer all the questions, scratch all the itches, etc.

[Marky Dread]

Best version of "No Fun" is from Winterland, anyway. Even apart from the sublime parting words, Lydon's voice runs the gamut of his inflections.

Just gave the 7 or so minute version a spin and really really enjoyed it. I'm very well familiar with the Winterland version, but it's fun to one with the nice studio sheen.

I remember, back in the heady days of new punk obsession and needing to hear everything, I bought a pricey (for a teenager, anyway) copy of Flogging a Dead Horse because that was the only place I could find the studio version of "No Fun." I had everything else on the record, so I paid, like, $25 for one song. I've always been a victim of the consumerist drug/myth that *this* is the thing that's going to answer all the questions, scratch all the itches, etc.

$25 for an incomplete track is expensive.

[matedog]

Best version of "No Fun" is from Winterland, anyway. Even apart from the sublime parting words, Lydon's voice runs the gamut of his inflections.

Just gave the 7 or so minute version a spin and really really enjoyed it. I'm very well familiar with the Winterland version, but it's fun to one with the nice studio sheen.

I remember, back in the heady days of new punk obsession and needing to hear everything, I bought a pricey (for a teenager, anyway) copy of Flogging a Dead Horse because that was the only place I could find the studio version of "No Fun." I had everything else on the record, so I paid, like, $25 for one song. I've always been a victim of the consumerist drug/myth that *this* is the thing that's going to answer all the questions, scratch all the itches, etc.

That looks like a real release (vs. all the quasi grey market stuff that continues to confound me). The record industry didn't really garner a lot of sympathy during the file sharing craze with shit like this.

[Marky Dread]

Best version of "No Fun" is from Winterland, anyway. Even apart from the sublime parting words, Lydon's voice runs the gamut of his inflections.

Just gave the 7 or so minute version a spin and really really enjoyed it. I'm very well familiar with the Winterland version, but it's fun to one with the nice studio sheen.

I remember, back in the heady days of new punk obsession and needing to hear everything, I bought a pricey (for a teenager, anyway) copy of Flogging a Dead Horse because that was the only place I could find the studio version of "No Fun." I had everything else on the record, so I paid, like, $25 for one song. I've always been a victim of the consumerist drug/myth that *this* is the thing that's going to answer all the questions, scratch all the itches, etc.

That looks like a real release (vs. all the quasi grey market stuff that continues to confound me). The record industry didn't really garner a lot of sympathy during the file sharing craze with shit like this.

Yeah "FaDH" was an official Virgin records release basically a round up of the bands singles and a few of the B-sides. It was a real cash-in at the time hence the album title. It features the non single version of "Silly Thing". By the time of this release no one gave a damn and the Sex Pistols were just a cash cow for Virgin. This release is even more unscrupulous than some of the bootlegs / semi official releases as it was released without any consent from the group itself.

[Dr. Medulla]

Best version of "No Fun" is from Winterland, anyway. Even apart from the sublime parting words, Lydon's voice runs the gamut of his inflections.

Just gave the 7 or so minute version a spin and really really enjoyed it. I'm very well familiar with the Winterland version, but it's fun to one with the nice studio sheen.

I remember, back in the heady days of new punk obsession and needing to hear everything, I bought a pricey (for a teenager, anyway) copy of Flogging a Dead Horse because that was the only place I could find the studio version of "No Fun." I had everything else on the record, so I paid, like, $25 for one song. I've always been a victim of the consumerist drug/myth that *this* is the thing that's going to answer all the questions, scratch all the itches, etc.

That looks like a real release (vs. all the quasi grey market stuff that continues to confound me). The record industry didn't really garner a lot of sympathy during the file sharing craze with shit like this.

Yeah "FaDH" was an official Virgin records release basically a round up of the bands singles and a few of the B-sides. It was a real cash-in at the time hence the album title. It features the non single version of "Silly Thing". By the time of this release no one gave a damn and the Sex Pistols were just a cash cow for Virgin. This release is even more unscrupulous than some of the bootlegs / semi official releases as it was released without any consent from the group itself.

But, thanks to McLaren's swindle narrative, there was always (thin) intellectual cover to the endless repackaging. The Pistols never got dinged for crass commercialism because of that, I think, whereas the Clash always get the tired "turning rebellion into money" jeers. Neat trick, winking while you lift the mark's wallet.

[Marky Dread]

Just gave the 7 or so minute version a spin and really really enjoyed it. I'm very well familiar with the Winterland version, but it's fun to one with the nice studio sheen.

I remember, back in the heady days of new punk obsession and needing to hear everything, I bought a pricey (for a teenager, anyway) copy of Flogging a Dead Horse because that was the only place I could find the studio version of "No Fun." I had everything else on the record, so I paid, like, $25 for one song. I've always been a victim of the consumerist drug/myth that *this* is the thing that's going to answer all the questions, scratch all the itches, etc.

That looks like a real release (vs. all the quasi grey market stuff that continues to confound me). The record industry didn't really garner a lot of sympathy during the file sharing craze with shit like this.

Yeah "FaDH" was an official Virgin records release basically a round up of the bands singles and a few of the B-sides. It was a real cash-in at the time hence the album title. It features the non single version of "Silly Thing". By the time of this release no one gave a damn and the Sex Pistols were just a cash cow for Virgin. This release is even more unscrupulous than some of the bootlegs / semi official releases as it was released without any consent from the group itself.

But, thanks to McLaren's swindle narrative, there was always (thin) intellectual cover to the endless repackaging. The Pistols never got dinged for crass commercialism because of that, I think, whereas the Clash always get the tired "turning rebellion into money" jeers. Neat trick, winking while you lift the mark's wallet.

Yeah you can frame it like that and of course Virgin swallowed it all up. Releasing as many singles as possible from the Swindle album. As long as the product had something I never previously had then I would happily buy it. But by the time of FaDH I had enough. I was only interested in the demos and live albums with bits of soundbites. But they in turn were an unbelievable minefield and con. However some of those semi legit albums were a lifeline to certain band members.

[Dr. Medulla]

Yeah you can frame it like that and of course Virgin swallowed it all up. Releasing as many singles as possible from the Swindle album. As long as the product had something I never previously had then I would happily buy it. But by the time of FaDH I had enough. I was only interested in the demos and live albums with bits of soundbites. But they in turn were an unbelievable minefield and con. However some of those semi legit albums were a lifeline to certain band members.

It really was a different world pre-Internet / P2P piracy. The ends we would and had to go to fill in gaps and just scratch itches. Yes, there was a thrill of finding something I'd never heard before, but I don't think it was the satisfaction of the chase, it was just being ravenous back in those days. I'd have been as thrilled to gain those demos and boots as mp3's (and my wallet would have been fatter).