āI knew it was over for usā: the bands who got left behind when punk exploded
Fifty years ago this week, the Sex Pistols played their first Manchester gig ā and upended pop culture. But what was 1976 really like before
Fifty years ago this week, the Sex Pistols played their first Manchester gig ā and upended pop culture. But what was 1976 really like before punk arrived? From swing bands to āspaghetti rockā, we discover a lost history In January 1976, the cover of the NME didnāt feature an artist, but a photo of a room damaged by an IRA bomb: there had been a string of terrorist attacks in London the previous year.
The headline: āIs rockānāroll ready for 1976 ⦠Is 1976 ready for rockānāroll?ā In the accompanying feature, writer Mick Farren was to be found complaining vociferously about the state of music. Audiences are āprepared to tolerate just about anythingā. Rock has ālost its gutsā and āis on an unalterable course to a neo-Las Vegasā, because artists are ātotally insulated from the real worldā and thus making music that āseems so damned irrelevant to real lifeā.
Farren reiterated these points in June in a piece titled The Titanic Sails at Dawn, by which point it was obvious that some new artists
completely agreed with him. Continue reading...
