You Say You Want a Revolution Pt. 3 Quiz

Answer: Public Image Ltd

One wondered what the world held in store for John Lydon after his association with the Sex Pistols had come to a bitter end in 1978, to the echoes of "ever get the feeling you've been cheated?"
John Lydon is a highly intelligent man. Not that you could tell that from his on-stage persona as Johnny Rotten while he was a member of the Sex Pistols, but he had vision and, contrary to popular belief, a modicum of musical talent.

His first move was to dispose of the Johnny Rotten personna and re-adopt his own name. He sought out talent for a new band, drawing in Jah Wobble, ex-Clash guitarist Keith Levene and Canadian drummer Jim Walker. The band became known as Public Image Limited or PiL. He would draw on influences from Africa, Jamaica and the avant-garde to create a vastly different album. "First Issue" is a difficult listen, particularly if you're expected the full frontal assault of a Sex Pistols' driven sound. The album is painfully repetitious. However, it managed to break a number of barriers, the most important being a musical divorce from the Sex Pistols. In many respects, PiL separated Lydon (musically) from the Pistols in a similar manner that the Plastic Ono band put a distance between John Lennon and the Beatles. This would also be the album that would usher in the post-punk movement by creating the idea that punk did not have be reliant of the garage sounds of the 1950s and 60s but that it could cross musical cultures whilst maintaining its air of non-conformism.

Answer: Stiff Little Fingers

One of the early criticisms that was hurled at the punk genre is that it was represented by a bunch of young white kids... what in the world should they be complaining about? To add fuel to this argument the fingers were pointed at the likes of Henry Rollins and that he was the product of a well to do neighbourhood in Washington DC and that Joe Strummer was the son of a British diplomat. Into this breech stepped the Stiff Little Fingers. They surfaced in 1977, in the midst of The Troubles in Northern Ireland, where sectarian violence was a way of life for them.

A number of punk rock scholars have labelled them Ireland's answer to The Clash and this reputation was enhanced by their debut album "Inflammable Material". Their lyrics certainly showed that they had the political nous of Strummer and Jones (The Clash) but their delivery took onboard the same boiled vinegar of Johnny Rotten. However, this LP was not a call to arms by the band but a call to reason and dialogue by the warring parties. Both the Irish Republican Army and Royal Ulster Constabulary are taken to task in the single "Alternative Ulster" for the state of the conflict, while "Suspect Device" decries both sides for using freedom as a slogan while parading around with guns. To highlight their diversity the band does a remarkable cover of Bob Marley's "Johnny Was", altering the lyrics to reflect the scene in Ireland. Aside from being a poster for the progression of punk rock, this album is also a remarkable time capsule of the times.

(Footnote) The band sent in a cassette of their first single, "Suspect Device", to a local radio station. They soon received a call from the station who, sheepishly, asked for another copy. Fearing the original item was a bomb they threw it into a bucket of water to diffuse it.

Answer: The Skids

It is difficult to identify where the Skids fit in the pantheon of punk rock. While lead guitarist Stuart Adamson vehemently protested in 1979 that they were punk, there is an equal argument that they were punk pretenders and that their music fell into lonesome crevices that represented that awkward limbo before the emergence of new wave.

Sadly, for the Skids, they arrived at that moment when punk was experiencing its winter of discontent. That initial burst of creativity had flared and then flamed out and now the search was on for the new sound. Their first album, "Scared to Dance" had, provisionally, provided that genesis. Robert Jobson had conjured lyrics that dealt with the usual anthology of punk issues - the face of war, its pointless existence and the death and distress that it caused. Backing him, and this is what set the Skids apart from their rivals, was the booming guitar of Stuart Adamson, who would, later, become better known for his work as the founder and front-man of Big Country.

The problem for the Skids was that the critics hated them. The result was that we had a band that was breaking new ground, had a sprinkling of hits reaching the UK top twenty, an album that made the UK top ten, a unique sound and an in-your-face guitar hero that suddenly fell on its sword and disappeared. Fortunately, thanks to the Manic Street Preachers sampling their song "Charles" (1979) on their stand-alone single "Motown Junk" in 1992 and U2 and Green Day's cover, turning it into an international hit, of "The Saints Are Coming" in 2006, the Skids finally received some overdue recognition.

Answer: The Undertones

The Undertones were formed in 1974 in Derry in Northern Ireland. As punk was not well known in the area it led to the band not being well liked. This was highlighted by a picture of graffiti hate directed at the band which would later grace the back cover of their debut single - words that cannot be repeated here. By 1978 they'd had a small following of about fifty regulars and were set to throw in the towel.

That's when legendary BBC DJ, John Peel, heard their song "Teenage Kicks" and became a fan. He would fund their first EP which then led to a record deal with Sire Records and the release of their eponymous debut album in 1979. With John and Damian O'Neill producing infectious guitar hooks influenced by the 1960s garage sound and Feargal Sharkey unleashing his trademark quaver, they created a sound that was a mutation of pub-rock and 1970s glam. Despite living amidst the Troubles, for the most part, they eschewed the conflict from their lyrics and focused on teenage angst and other adolescent issues, producing pop punk anthems such as "Jimmy Jimmy", "Here Comes the Summer" and "You've Got My Number (Why Don't You Use It?)".

Answer: Joy Division

Inspired by the sound and stage show of the Sex Pistols, four young men from Manchester pooled their resources to form Joy Division. Not content with limits of the power of their idols they worked intensely to forge a new soundscape, a more powerful sound, that would mirror the post industrial devolution of their home town.

The result was "Unknown Pleasures" (1979), an album that managed to paint a landscape dressed in audaciousness and dread and would provide a bass-line for a nation of goths. The album did not do well, initially, for the band, however, the suicide of the band's lead singer, Ian Curtis, a year later, would enshroud it with a sense of mythology and help their next (and final) album "Closer" to greater heights. That album would also provide the band with their biggest selling single "Love Will Tear Us Apart".

Answer: The Slits

The Slits were not a well-honed affair and, if anything, could be seen as amateurish. However, their presence on the post-punk English scene was both welcomed and crucial. They became the subversive groundbreakers who, along with the Raincoats, would pave the way for the likes of the Pretenders and a string of bands that made up the grrrl movements of the 1990s. The departure of Palmolive (Paloma Romero) and the introduction of Budgie (Peter Clarke) as the replacement drummer also heralded a new sound for the group. They began to lean heavily on reggae and dub and became, a little more polished as a unit.

Their 1979 album "Cut" was a hub of disorientating effects channeled into a reggae sound infused with a level of spirit the girls would struggle to replicate in later years. However, what comes through clearly is an overarching sense of fun from this album. There is a taunting, teasing quality from Ari Up's vocals as she coos and trills like a precocious schoolgirl, totally at odds with the cover photograph that shows three young women, virtually naked and covered in mud.

(Footnote) The great cover photo was taken by Pennie Smith, the same photo-journalist responsible for the iconic cover photo on the Clash's 1979 album "London Calling".

Answer: The Buzzcocks

When it comes to assessing British punk rock in the heady days of the late 1970s it is difficult to look past the Sex Pistols and the Clash and what they bought to the table. The Sex Pistols brought the rage and the Clash brought the revolution... it was left to the Buzzcocks to bring the sharp angled view on romance. Don't get me wrong the tracks on this LP are frenetic and dosed high on energy but those musical adventures are perfectly matched by Pete Shelley's wicked sense of humour and his deliciously tongue-in-cheek lyrics. As a consequence, the band was able to touch a nation by producing highly catchy punk-pop tales that told of heartbreak and falling in and out of love. The issue for the band, however, was consistency. They managed to produce a string of stunning singles but struggled to put that together consistently over the duration of an album.

To omit the Buzzcocks from this list because none of their initial albums (as a whole) are not worthy would be criminal. That's why this album, "Singles Going Steady", is a bit of a cheat in this quiz. It is a compilation of all their initial singles and b-sides. Where it does gain some traction or credence is that it was the band's first release in North America and was done as a means of introducing them to that market. It was not released in their home country, but import sales grew so much that, after two years, the label decided to release it in the UK. Sadly, by this time, the band had broken up and the album flopped. Still, it represents an important page in the history of UK punk. Even if it didn't it would be worth the price purely for the band's most famous masterpiece "Ever Fallen in Love".

Answer: Gang of Four

Gang of Four were another band that adopted a minimalistic approach to their music, very much in the mode of Wire and the Ramones. However, they managed to extend the boundaries of post-punk and new wave producing a fusion of James Brown style funk with the naked aggression of punk. In some quarters it has been dubbed as dance punk though, in this author's eyes, that would seem to be almost an injustice.

Their debut album "Entertainment!" was met with open arms and critical acclaim. And it seems to age well... Rolling Stone magazine ranked it at 490 in their "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list in 2003. In 2012 it ranked at 483 and by the time the 2020 list was assembled it had risen in the list to 273. Beyond its rhythmic funk lies a wall of staccato guitar riffs and an assemblage of sometimes spoken, sometimes shouted vocals that have influenced future generations such as members of Rage Against the Machine and Fugazi. The lyrics take aim at revisionist history, self-serving media and sexual politics. The words as poignant today as they were then.

Answer: The Germs

Hailing from Los Angeles, California, the Germs were made up of front-man Darby Crash, guitarist Pat Smear (who would later gain some respect for playing with the likes of Nirvana and the Foo Fighters), Lorna Doom on bass and drummer Dan Bolles. Described by Allmusic's critic Jack Rabid as a "crazy, inept set of juveniles with no clue", the band would release just the one album, 1979's "GI", which was produced by founding member of the Runaways, Joan Jett.

Despite the nihilistic outpouring, the lyrics on this disc are, surprisingly, nuanced. The band previously released the single "Forming" in 1977 and the EP "Lexicon Devil" (1978) but neither of these could prepare you for the blistering opening track to "GI", the snarling "What We Do is Secret". It seemed like the band had suddenly found a way to catch the wind and fill their sails. Sadly, on the verge of breaking through, lead singer Darby Crash took his own life in 1980 and the band fell apart soon after.

(Footnote) The band's initial drummer was a lass by the name of Dottie Danger who would later achieve fame under her birthname Belinda Carlisle. She contracted a case of mononucleosis, which cut short her stay with them.

Answer: The Ruts

Who the heck are the Ruts?

By the end of 1978 many music critics were beginning to decry punk rock, claiming that it had done its dash and that the only changes on the scene were the number of new bands jumping on the gravy train and churning out the same old thing. There was nothing new.

Enter the Ruts, led by their charismatic, street-wise and "force to be reckoned with" frontman Malcolm Owen. Formed in 1977, the band tore through the prophets of punk's demise with their furiously paced, debut album "The Crack". Built on punk's dogma, the album exudes reggae, roots and dub sounds. It was different, it was in-your-face and it was liberating. This is particularly evident on the album's opening track (and single) "Babylon's Burning".

Ten months later Malcom Owen was found dead as the result of a heroin overdose. It effectively killed the band in the process. To align this with a more contemporary scenario, it was similar in effect to Kurt Cobain's passing on Nirvana. Think I'm reaching with that example... consider this, at the time of Owen's death, the Ruts were viewed by critics as a bigger band than Joy Division. Post Malcolm Owen, the band would reform but they failed to re-ignite the same fire and have been consigned to being a question in history... who the heck are the Ruts?