Jason's Punk History Page 2
CHAPTER 5: THE BEGINING OF PUNK IN ENGLAND
In 1975 England was in a deep recession, the number of unemployees was the worst since the Second World War. School-leavers were among the most vulnerable. The public spending had risen to 45 percent of the national income. At this time state-control - through nationalized industries and a vast bureaucracy - seemed to be on the way to Orwell's 1984! In February 75 Mrs Thatcher became Conservative Party leader and began to propagate her ideology based on the primacy of the individual (or better egoism). Slogans with messages as SAME THING DAY AFTER DAY - TUBE - WORK - DINER - WORK - TUBE - ARMCHAIR - TUBE - WORK - HOW MUCH MORE CAN YOU TAKE - ONE IN FIVE CRACKS UP were painted on walls.
The music-business was dominated by expensive (over)produced Pop and 'progressive' Rock. The hopes of the early seventies, David Bowie and Roxy Music, changed their image with every album release into a more commercial style. But they made the first postmodern records and the attempt to create a new pop-generation. Style not only music was important. It was the sensibility and combination of fashion, art & music based on works of Andy Warhol and Velvet Underground, George Orwell and Stanley Kubricks A Clockwork Orange.
In 1975 new groups had no chance to produce and promote their records until McLaren began to manage the Sex Pistols. He organized the first concerts and for some months they toured the country. There weren't many people at the performances, but from the very beginning the Pistols polarized their tiny audiences and at each concert one or two people followed them. Some of them built later their own groups like Chrissie Hynde (Pretenders), Viv Albertine (the Slits), Joe Strummer and Mick Jones (the Clash), Howard Trafford (aka Devoto: the Buzzcocks, Magazine), Peter McNeish (aka Shelley: Buzzcocks), Peter Hook and Bernard Sumner (Joy Division, New Order), Morrissey, Tony James (Chelsea, GenerationX), Adam Ant, Bruce Gilbert (Wire), and others.
In July 1976 the Sex Pistols recorded seven songs with Dave Goodman on a four-track machine. These were Anarchy in the UK, Pretty Vacant, Seventeen, Satellite, Problems, I wanna be me and Submission. With these tapes McLaren made his first assault on the music industry. But the primary purpose of the companies is to take money and at that moment they didn't see any chance to earn it from Sex Pistols records. McLaren decided to hold another big event at Islington's Screen on the green. At the end of August the Midnight Special pulled together the Buzzcocks, the Clash and the Sex Pistols in Punk's first metro- politan test of strength. Waiting for all three groups were not only the fans but also journalists, photographers and A&R men. The Pistols, especially John Lydon made a totally different performance as the other two bands and got the main-attention of the media.
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