Punk music - and I use the term 'music' deliberately - a defiant stand against basically whatever you want to make a defiant stand about. And that is the beauty of it. Punk music was never about (and how many times have I read this) dressing up in a certain way, or bringing down governments or changing the world. For me, and just about any other punk I've ever talked to, it's basically about enjoying yourself now, here and now . If that means getting pissed out of your head and jumping around to loud music then great. If that means dressing up to shock/offend/amuse/irritate then fine. If that means getting hold of some instruments and banging away to produce an unholy cacophony then go right ahead.And that's the point - it doesn't really matter. It's whatever takes your fancy. But it does have to be one thing - exciting.
And that's where the problems start. Punk was never going to change the world. It may have succeeded in rattling a few cages within the music industry and provided a new influence for some bands and some fashions, but you'd struggle to argue that it really changed much else. But that didn't stop a whole host of bands from making the mistake of putting message over music. History has shown that it's the bands who produced real quality music who have really been remembered, and that the most memorable legacy of punk has been the classic songs.
Having said all that, I have come to realise over the past few years that more and more people appear to be collecting punk music records, especially from the 'original' period (1976-1984). I am not particularly worried about this, because it is all history now, and times change.
Anyway, have a browse since I'm interested to know if this is the most comprehensive 1976 - 1984 UK punk music album collection out there. I've met numerous people with huge singles collections, but album collections seem to be considerably less common, especially those that cover such a wide spectrum.
Oh, and if you're interested in any of the MP3 recordings I've made of my albums and singles drop me a line at mp3s@mypunkcollection.co.uk
Punk was never going to change the world, (well, not yet
anyway......). It may have succeeded in scaring a few people in
the music industry, (so they went out and bought the bands), and
provided a positive influence for hundreds of bands, but you'd
struggle to argue that it has really changed much else. But, to
borrow a well known phrase, so fucking what??? History has shown
that it's the bands who produced real quality music
who have really been remembered, and that the most memorable
legacy of punk has been the classic songs.
Moving on, I must admit I find it all a bit ironic that the
original DIY don't give a damn about tomorrow 'music revolution'
is now just another collectable commodity like stamps or
coins.How fucking depressed must all the bands like Crass be,
with all their 'Pay No More Than £2.99' good intentions, that
their albums are now changing hands for many times more than
that ????
Anyway, I've put this site together just in case anyone else is
interested in the fruits of one old punk's labours. When I
bought my first LP, (Cockney Rejects Greatest Hits Volume One as
it happens), I certainly had no idea about 'collections' and
'collectors', except that they were probably old men with
beards, but here we are forty years later, and suddenly punk
records are being chased all across the world by every man and
his dog. Fucking crazy !!!!