On This Date in 1978: The Clash released its fifth single, “(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais.” This song contains my very favorite Clash lyrics, ever: “Turning Rebellion Into Money.” If that isn’t a concise manifesto for Punk Rock – and Rock & Roll in general – I don’t know what is.
British punk rock pioneer Poly Styrene (born Marianne Elliott-Said) passed away Monday evening (April 25th) after a brief fight with Breast cancer. The distinctive vocalist, best known for fronting the seminal British Punk band X-Ray Spex, whose debut album, Germ Free Adolescents, came out in 1978, was 53 years old. Ironically, her latest album, Generation Indigo, is released just today in the US. Rip Poly.
On This Date, March 17th in 1978: Generation X, featuring lead vocalist Billy Idol, released its self-titled debut album, which contained the single, “Ready Steady Go” and featured the songs “Wild Youth, ” “Wild Dub,” “Your Generation” and a cover of John Lennon’s “Gimme Some Truth” – all of which got loads of airplay on Rodney Bingenheimer’s weekly, Sunday evening show, Rodney On The Roq on radio station KROQ in Los Angeles. Generation X is still one of my favorite albums of that era.
On This Date, November 26th, in 1976: The Sex Pistols released their debut single “Anarchy in the U.K.,” from the very excellent album, Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols. “Anarchy…” peaked at number 38 on the UK singles chart but did not chart in the US. In 2007, the band’s surviving members (not including Bassist Glen Matlock) re-recorded the song for the video game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock because the masters could not be found.
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