History Lesson: Before ’75 (2011 Retrocast)
(Featuring a near-chronological overview of the origins of punk music.  Originally broadcast on KPSU on 3 September 2011, & podcast on 31 August 2015.)

As someone who grew up in the ’80’s and ’90’s, Punk was already transmuting into a plethora of other kinds of music by the time I reached musical consciousness.  While I came to appreciate everything that spawned from it, I had a real interest in where it came from, which has informed my musical sensibilities in that time.  While my interests now may range far and wide, the net that is cast embodies all that is punk, in the way that I define it.

This episode features edited samples from the IFC film Punk Attitude mixed with a variety of music that helped get the ball rolling.  I also include a few clips from other sources, to help flesh out the story when needed.  If you look at “punk” as a mode of music making, the genesis itself lies in The Blues, leading to Rock ‘n’ Roll.  Punk music is often steeped in the roots of Chuck Berry riffs, but as an ethos, encompasses so much more.  I try to provide as much musical insight as I have into the music that was bubbling under the surface when 1975, an important year for Punk Rock, was in full swing.

I open the show with the fantastic Pere Ubu version of “Final Solution.”  In a lot of ways, Punk was about searching for a Final Solution.  Music needed to be forever affected by something new in order to break away from some of the mainstream crimes that had been committed.  But the people themselves, desperate and hungry for something else, were also looking for a social Final Solution, a way to put behind them all the pain and horror that the world could inflict.  While Punk may not have made any massive, or permanent changes that could be considered “Final,” I think this song really sets the tone for the kind of people that made punk possible.  They were those who were searching for that Solution, and punk is the story of what came of their efforts.

This show was a real pleasure to make, and it features some of my favorite music that has ever been recorded.  While this is the only show that is completed in this form, I hope to continue this series much more frequently in the near future.  The Grumpy Punk has been reawakened in a way that I cannot sated with a mere two hour show.  I wouldn’t be surprised, October and future guests not withstanding, that this will be the foreseeable format of the show for the time being.

There is a lot that could be said of the artists in this show, and I could wax poetic for pages.  But I’ll let the radio do the talking.  It tells the story much better than I could, that’s for sure.  I will say that, before the show even started, I was getting comments and e-mail from people who wanted to make sure that I didn’t leave stuff out.  And, of course, I did.  Humorously enough, I managed to fit one or two in at the last minute.  There is an out-of-chronology Kinks song, sadly, but getting “Louie Louie” in near the front was a wise, wise move.  I have plans, after I finish the initial run of this show, to go back and plug all the holes, and expand on the work I did in this show.  Hopefully, I don’t loose motivation by then.

That’s it for this week.

See you in seven.

*

History Lesson: Before ’75

Part I

01.) Part 01 * Interviews * Punk Attitude * Shout! Factory
02.) Final Solution (Cleveland, Ohio, 76) * Pere Ubu * Terminal Tower: An Archival Collection * Rough Trade Records
03.) Louie Louie * The Kingsmen * “Louie Louie” b/w “Haunted Castle” * Wand Records
03.) Part 02 * Interviews * Punk Attitude * Shout! Factory
04.) “What Have You Got?” * Marlon Brando * The Wild Ones * Columbia Pictures
04.) Search & Destroy (Ann Arbor, Michigan, 73) * Iggy & The Stooges * Raw Power * Columbia Records
05.) Part 03 * Interviews * Punk Attitude * Shout! Factory
06.) Maybellene * Chuck Berry * The Chess Story: 1947 – 1975 * Chess Records
07.) Part 04 * Interviews * Punk Attitude * Shout! Factory
08.) Incense And Peppermints * Strawberry Alarm Clock * Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968 * Rhino Records

Part II

09.) Part 05 * Interviews * Punk Attitude * Shout! Factory
10.) 96 Tears * ? & The Mysterians * “96 Tears” b/w “Midnight Hour” * Pa Go Go Records
11.) Part 06 * Interviews * Punk Attitude * Shout! Factory
12.) Strychnine * The Sonics * Here Are The Sonics!!! * Norton Records
13.) Part 07 * Interviews * Punk Attitude * Shout! Factory
14.) Riot on Sunset Strip * The Standells * The Best of the Standells * Rhino Records
15.) Part 08 * Interviews * Punk Attitude * Shout! Factory
16.) Psychotic Reaction * The Count Five * “Psychotic Reaction” b/w “They’re Gonna Get You” * Double Shot Records
17.) The Gift (Edit) * The Velvet Underground * Peel Slowly And See * Polydor Records
18.) Part 09 * Interviews * Punk Attitude * Shout! Factory
19.) Lou Reed on Andy Warhol * Lou Reed * Interview * Flora.tv
20.) All Tomorrow’s Parties (1965) * The Velvet Underground * Peel Slowly And See * Polydor Records

Part III

21.) Pushin’ Too Hard * The Seeds * The Seeds * GNP Crescendo
22.) Part 10 * Interviews * Punk Attitude * Shout! Factory
23.) Boy In The Sandbox (1968) * Michael Yonkers Band * Microminiature Love * Sub Pop Records
24.) Part 11 * Interviews * Punk Attitude * Shout! Factory
25.) White Responsibility * Huey Newton    Punk Attitude * The Complete Malcom X on DVD * http://malcolmxfiles.blogspot.com/
26.) Feel It (1970) * It’s All Meat * It’s All Meat * New Music Records
27.) Part 12 * Interviews * Punk Attitude * Shout! Factory
28.) Kick Out the Jams (1969) * MC5 * Kick Out the Jams * Elektra Records
29.) Part 13 * Interviews * Punk Attitude * Shout! Factory
30.) Helium Head (I Got A Love) (1970) * Sir Lord Baltimore * Kingdom Come * Anthology Recordings

Part IV

31.) Queen Of Stars (Loop) * Kim Fowley / Austin Rich * Unreleased * Blasphuphmus Radio
32.) Part 14 * Interviews * Punk Attitude * Shout! Factory
33.) Light My Fire (Edit) (Live) * The Doors * Alive, She Cried * Elektra Records
34.) Part 15 * Interviews * Punk Attitude * Shout! Factory
35.) Long Way To Go (71) * Alice Cooper * Love It To Death * Warner Bros. Records
36.) Part 16 * Interviews * Punk Attitude * Shout! Factory
37.) Not Right (1969) * The Stooges * The Stooges * Elektra Records
38.) Part 17 * Interviews * Punk Attitude * Shout! Factory
39.) Buick Mackane (72) * Marc Bolan & T.Rex * The Slider * Reprise Records

Part V

40.) Politicians In My Eyes (Loop) * Death / Austin Rich * Unreleased * Blasphuphmus Radio
41.) Part 18 * Interviews * Punk Attitude * Shout! Factory
42.) Hang On To Yourself (72) * David Bowie * The Rise And Fall of Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders From Mars * RCA Records
43.) Part 19 * Interviews * Punk Attitude * Shout! Factory
44.) Space Age Love (LA 74) * Zolar-X * Timeless * Alternative Tentacles Records
45.) Part 20 * Interviews * Punk Attitude * Shout! Factory
46.) Vietnamese Baby (NYC, 73) * The New York Dolls * The New York Dolls * Island Records
47.) Part 21 Vietnamese Baby
48.) One Way Spit (Chickasha, Oklahoma, 75) * Debris * Static Disposal * Anopheles Records
49.) You Really Got Me * The Kinks * “You Really Got Me” b/w “It’s All Right” * Reprise Records

Part VI

50.) Part 22 * Interviews * Punk Attitude * Shout! Factory
51.) You’re A Prisoner (Detroit, Michigan, 75) * Death * …For The Whole World To See * Drag City
52.) Part 23 * Interviews * Punk Attitude * Shout! Factory
53.) Master Race (NYC, 75) The Dictators * The Dictators Go Girl Crazy! * Epic Records
54.) We Ended Up * The Mumps * How I Saved The World * Sympathy For The Record Industry
55.) Part 24 * Interviews * Punk Attitude * Shout! Factory
56.) The Gift (Instrumental Edit) * The Velvet Underground / Austin Rich * Unreleased * Blasphuphmus Radio
57.) Ain’t It Fun (Cleveland, Ohio, 75) * Peter Laughner * Take The Guitar Player For A Ride * Tim Kerr Records