Punk rock was more than just a genre. It was a religion, a set of values and a way of life. Yet, to our generation it is nothing more than a hobby for bored kids indoctrinated by their father’s old record collection. I met up with Gold Blade front man John Robb to discuss why my generation is more interested in the Sugababes than the Sex Pistols.
It was somewhat ironic that at the time of this interview, the former Sex Pistols manager and self styled pied piper of punk, Malcolm McLaren, had died earlier that same week. John was quick to pay tribute: ‘without him there would be no punk rock – I would have had a really boring life.’ John Robb, like McLaren, was caught up in the punk revolution of the late 70s. His band The Membranes began life in the decaying city of Blackpool before rising to fame with quirky hits such as Spike Milligan’s Tape Recorder. Since then he has had a coveted media career as a music critic, author and as one the many floating heads on Channel 4’s Top 100 show. His current band, Gold Blade, are one of the last bastions of punk rock and have recently started a label with rappers Kid British.
John is quick to rubbish the claim that punk is dying. Rappers like Kid British may not be your typical mohawked anti-establishment punks but he insists that they still have ‘the punk spirit’. If anything punk has been made easier to access through the internet. The strange thing is, in my imagination I see the 70s as this melting pot of innovative music. John explained that the reality was quite different: ‘If you turned up at school with a guitar and wanted to write poetry, you’d get your head kicked in.’ Britain in the 1970s was decrepit and vacant. There was three channels on TV and ‘musicians were people that came from London and sang in choirs.’ Punk revolutionised music and gave everyday people like John a chance to ‘do it yourself’.
Two decades on and John is still flying the punk flag and touring all over Europe. His recent gig in Russia was delayed when armed police clashed with a frenzied crowd creating absolute pandemonium. The energy and cut-throat lyrics of Gold Blade are making them a massive hit with the underground punk scene. Yet unfortunately for punk it is never going to be accepted by mainstream radio. ‘Why is it that Girls Aloud can make soft porn singles about sex and get airtime whereas Punk bands cannot?’ John is clearly exasperated by the BBC’s fear of punk and in true DIY fashion he is planning to start his own multimedia website to use as his own personal radio station.
As John is eager to stress, punk rock was clearly a revolution. It revolutionised a music industry that was dominated by tiresome guitar solos and monotonous prog rock and in the process put two fingers up to a controlling establishment. Punk was an identity pioneered by McLaren and his theory that: ‘Punk was about the socks you wear’. The spirit of punk will never die and as long as people remain more interested in ‘making music’ than ‘making it’ then the mythical spirit of punk will remain.
Jamie Metcalfe
Loading ...