Chords for Blitz - On Riverside With Gary Bushell, 1982
Tempo:
74.175 bpm
Chords used:
G
Gm
Eb
Gb
Em
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
[G] [Gbm] It wasn't really that much of an impact here then.
What it was over here was that the things like the cars, Joe Jackson and stuff,
were really what started the whole quote-unquote new wave in America.
[Gb] And it's not really until now that [Em] the pistols are really starting to make an impact on [Gb] the kids around,
you know, with the whole punk idea.
[Eb] And through the pistols they listen to things like the Dead Kennedys, Black Flag,
a lot of the LA bands are starting to make a [Gbm] big like at my store.
Besides the things like the [Gb] Flock of Seagulls, the Ants, Duran Duran, the Spandau and the whole [Db] thing,
the [G] big thing right now is the hardcore.
Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, as soon as I get the shipment in they're flying out the door.
And with the hardcore people it's just ripped up [Gb] clothes, ripped up shirts,
and you know, just put on [Am] a Black Flag album, have a couple of beers and bang your head, you know.
If they don't have a name for it they call it new wave or punk if it sounds shitty.
As a club manager, when I open a club [C] and I have a band,
and I start [G] seeing people come through the door with all kinds of things through their cheeks and [F] spiked hair,
[G] you know, I start to worry because these people really a lot of times act absurd.
I think that's probably what's in.
They act absurd and they're a real hassle for management.
You know, they run into walls and they fall on the floor and stuff and it's just a hassle.
I mean, you know, the lawsuits you could have if these people felt anything,
but their nervous systems are like, you know, on [Em] the same level as some type of liver flu.
You get dressed up like Rod Stewart, dye your hair, stick a sock in your pants and you're rock and roll.
And here I remember walking up to the fast lane one time, I think the Ramones were playing,
I see a kid come sailing out the door onto the street.
He was in the club, he just whipped it out and peed on somebody's leg.
And the one time someone taps Eric on the shoulder, he turns around, they whack him in the face with a blackjack.
That's happening, man.
That's happening.
That was part of it.
Eric loved that.
I love it.
That made him, you know, real fond of new wave music.
That makes me love punkers, man.
I love that.
You never know when you're going to get [Am] stuck or beat.
When it comes [G] to the bar business, [B] I'd rather have Rednecks because they [Em] drink good bourbon,
they pay a lot of money and new wavers come in and [D] ask you, can I have a cup of [Em] water, please?
[Gm] Eric may not like it, but punk, especially the hardcore variety, does seem to be rearing its ugly head in parts of America.
[G] But it is very much a minority interest, as I realized when I went down to my old high school.
Punk?
You mean like punk rockers?
Yeah.
Punk rockers?
I don't like them really.
I like more of the rock and roll.
In fact, I found that punk is such a non-starter amongst the kids at the high school
that these kids have an annual fancy dress punk day.
I asked them if there were any punk groups they do like.
Yeah!
Adam Neal!
American kids that are into punk aren't necessarily 24-hour punk rockers.
The thing is that people in America [Ab] want to party and dress up to fit the occasion.
If we went to England, we'd probably look funny over there.
[D] They'd laugh at us.
[G] The way we're dressed right now, do we look funny to kids?
You look more conservative than conservative.
Yeah, that's [F] it.
It's [Abm] slowly but surely, I think it's going to flow over here.
Like I said, we're a little bit [Gm] behind, but what can you do?
There's not that much in American rave about to start [G] our own thing.
And yet how ironic that American musicians like Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Patti Smith, Debbie Harry and the Ramones
were such an essential part of the early growth of punk in this country.
On the subject of punk in Britain and people with nervous systems like liver flukes,
we now go to Steve for a chat with sounds journalist Gary Bushall.
Thanks very much, mate.
[Ab]
From time to time, the musical press seems to [Gm] create whole new batches of musical categories
which seemingly exist to puzzle and bemuse their readers,
setting up a whole new series of alternatives to identify with or not, as the case may be.
Well, one of the newest to emerge is New Wave Punk,
although personally I didn't really know it being a way.
So here to suffer the slings and arrows and all that stuff is Mr.
Gary Bushall,
features editor of sounds, and two members of the Manchester band Blitz,
who I'm told are the forerunners of the movement.
Well, firstly, Gary, New Wave Punk, where [Ab] did it come from?
Was it your front room or somewhere?
Or where?
No, I mean, [Gm] everyone's talking about the music press creating trends,
but I think for the last three years, the music press has tried [A] to destroy what punk was.
They tried to say it had gone.
In fact, it hadn't gone.
I mean, lots of bands all over the country were keeping it alive,
like the UK Subs, [G] the Angelic Upstarts, Cockney Regix.
And now the actual pressure's built up from the grassroots so much that people can't ignore what's happening.
Right, I mean, how do you justify the supposed political involvement?
I mean, I'm quoting you here.
I have a quote right in front of me, which says,
the gutter press which [Eb] indulges in scummy miscoverage.
I mean, how can you justify the political involvement if that's happening?
Well, there is, I mean, it is political with a small p,
because, I mean, you're talking about a whole generation of people
where a quarter of the population live under the poverty line.
You're talking about millions of people on the dole.
And the people who form punk bands now tend to be [Gm] those sort of [A] people.
So obviously they're against the establishment.
Obviously they're against unemployment.
So that's [Gm] the political element of it, yeah.
Sure, OK.
But taking it as the, let's take it as the old wave of 77 almost.
I don't know if [Eb] you'd agree with that.
But politically then, musically,
how does this new wave differ from that?
Is it all that different?
Musically, not all, I mean, it tends to be a lot harder, a lot faster.
But actually socially, [G] it's actually, this new wave now is what the first wave pretended to be.
I mean, the [Gm] first wave was all art students pretending to be off the [Ab] dole.
And now this wave is [Eb] people off the dole, not pretending at all, but telling the truth.
Right, I got you.
OK.
If I may, may I quote again.
I've got some categories here within the whole category of what we're talking about.
Street socialist punk, anti [G]-political Herbert's, which is a great one.
Skunk rock, oi, new punk, Nazi skin, redskins.
Now, and the Blitz have been described as the nabobs of yob rock, which is [Eb] a wonderful phrase.
Could one of you please describe yob rock?
No, that's his idea.
We don't know what it means.
It's one of Mr.
Bush's other phrases, right?
Yob rock, but I don't know what nabob is.
OK, nabob.
I mean, what category are you guys in?
Just a punk band, really.
So, I mean, how do you regard the new wave of punk?
Do you regard yourself as part of this?
Yeah, of [G] course I do, yeah.
And how does that align with the old wave of 77?
How are you different?
[A] [Eb] A lot were working class.
They were all middle class.
That was all sort of big fashion thing then.
Right.
The fashion element's sort of gone out of it now, and it's more to do with music.
It's more what it should have been.
[G] OK, I mean, out of that 77 wave, you had the Blondie and the Stranglers, maybe,
who later went on to become, let's face it, top of the popsters.
I mean, what's to prevent Blitz not doing that?
What's going to stop you?
Well, it wouldn't be.
Yeah, no.
You wouldn't have been top of the popsters.
Yeah, of course we didn't.
You would?
Nothing against doing it.
That's not against your morals or your principles or whatever?
All them bands in 77, they said they didn't want to be rich.
Right.
By the next minute, they were going around in limousines.
Right?
You sure?
Well, anybody who says they don't want to be rich is either a liar or a bleeding idiot.
Got you.
OK.
I do want to be soggy rich.
I want real gold stuff at Fox.
OK, well, that's fair enough.
Right.
Jenis, thanks very much.
I'm sure this could go on for hours.
What it was over here was that the things like the cars, Joe Jackson and stuff,
were really what started the whole quote-unquote new wave in America.
[Gb] And it's not really until now that [Em] the pistols are really starting to make an impact on [Gb] the kids around,
you know, with the whole punk idea.
[Eb] And through the pistols they listen to things like the Dead Kennedys, Black Flag,
a lot of the LA bands are starting to make a [Gbm] big like at my store.
Besides the things like the [Gb] Flock of Seagulls, the Ants, Duran Duran, the Spandau and the whole [Db] thing,
the [G] big thing right now is the hardcore.
Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, as soon as I get the shipment in they're flying out the door.
And with the hardcore people it's just ripped up [Gb] clothes, ripped up shirts,
and you know, just put on [Am] a Black Flag album, have a couple of beers and bang your head, you know.
If they don't have a name for it they call it new wave or punk if it sounds shitty.
As a club manager, when I open a club [C] and I have a band,
and I start [G] seeing people come through the door with all kinds of things through their cheeks and [F] spiked hair,
[G] you know, I start to worry because these people really a lot of times act absurd.
I think that's probably what's in.
They act absurd and they're a real hassle for management.
You know, they run into walls and they fall on the floor and stuff and it's just a hassle.
I mean, you know, the lawsuits you could have if these people felt anything,
but their nervous systems are like, you know, on [Em] the same level as some type of liver flu.
You get dressed up like Rod Stewart, dye your hair, stick a sock in your pants and you're rock and roll.
And here I remember walking up to the fast lane one time, I think the Ramones were playing,
I see a kid come sailing out the door onto the street.
He was in the club, he just whipped it out and peed on somebody's leg.
And the one time someone taps Eric on the shoulder, he turns around, they whack him in the face with a blackjack.
That's happening, man.
That's happening.
That was part of it.
Eric loved that.
I love it.
That made him, you know, real fond of new wave music.
That makes me love punkers, man.
I love that.
You never know when you're going to get [Am] stuck or beat.
When it comes [G] to the bar business, [B] I'd rather have Rednecks because they [Em] drink good bourbon,
they pay a lot of money and new wavers come in and [D] ask you, can I have a cup of [Em] water, please?
[Gm] Eric may not like it, but punk, especially the hardcore variety, does seem to be rearing its ugly head in parts of America.
[G] But it is very much a minority interest, as I realized when I went down to my old high school.
Punk?
You mean like punk rockers?
Yeah.
Punk rockers?
I don't like them really.
I like more of the rock and roll.
In fact, I found that punk is such a non-starter amongst the kids at the high school
that these kids have an annual fancy dress punk day.
I asked them if there were any punk groups they do like.
Yeah!
Adam Neal!
American kids that are into punk aren't necessarily 24-hour punk rockers.
The thing is that people in America [Ab] want to party and dress up to fit the occasion.
If we went to England, we'd probably look funny over there.
[D] They'd laugh at us.
[G] The way we're dressed right now, do we look funny to kids?
You look more conservative than conservative.
Yeah, that's [F] it.
It's [Abm] slowly but surely, I think it's going to flow over here.
Like I said, we're a little bit [Gm] behind, but what can you do?
There's not that much in American rave about to start [G] our own thing.
And yet how ironic that American musicians like Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Patti Smith, Debbie Harry and the Ramones
were such an essential part of the early growth of punk in this country.
On the subject of punk in Britain and people with nervous systems like liver flukes,
we now go to Steve for a chat with sounds journalist Gary Bushall.
Thanks very much, mate.
[Ab]
From time to time, the musical press seems to [Gm] create whole new batches of musical categories
which seemingly exist to puzzle and bemuse their readers,
setting up a whole new series of alternatives to identify with or not, as the case may be.
Well, one of the newest to emerge is New Wave Punk,
although personally I didn't really know it being a way.
So here to suffer the slings and arrows and all that stuff is Mr.
Gary Bushall,
features editor of sounds, and two members of the Manchester band Blitz,
who I'm told are the forerunners of the movement.
Well, firstly, Gary, New Wave Punk, where [Ab] did it come from?
Was it your front room or somewhere?
Or where?
No, I mean, [Gm] everyone's talking about the music press creating trends,
but I think for the last three years, the music press has tried [A] to destroy what punk was.
They tried to say it had gone.
In fact, it hadn't gone.
I mean, lots of bands all over the country were keeping it alive,
like the UK Subs, [G] the Angelic Upstarts, Cockney Regix.
And now the actual pressure's built up from the grassroots so much that people can't ignore what's happening.
Right, I mean, how do you justify the supposed political involvement?
I mean, I'm quoting you here.
I have a quote right in front of me, which says,
the gutter press which [Eb] indulges in scummy miscoverage.
I mean, how can you justify the political involvement if that's happening?
Well, there is, I mean, it is political with a small p,
because, I mean, you're talking about a whole generation of people
where a quarter of the population live under the poverty line.
You're talking about millions of people on the dole.
And the people who form punk bands now tend to be [Gm] those sort of [A] people.
So obviously they're against the establishment.
Obviously they're against unemployment.
So that's [Gm] the political element of it, yeah.
Sure, OK.
But taking it as the, let's take it as the old wave of 77 almost.
I don't know if [Eb] you'd agree with that.
But politically then, musically,
how does this new wave differ from that?
Is it all that different?
Musically, not all, I mean, it tends to be a lot harder, a lot faster.
But actually socially, [G] it's actually, this new wave now is what the first wave pretended to be.
I mean, the [Gm] first wave was all art students pretending to be off the [Ab] dole.
And now this wave is [Eb] people off the dole, not pretending at all, but telling the truth.
Right, I got you.
OK.
If I may, may I quote again.
I've got some categories here within the whole category of what we're talking about.
Street socialist punk, anti [G]-political Herbert's, which is a great one.
Skunk rock, oi, new punk, Nazi skin, redskins.
Now, and the Blitz have been described as the nabobs of yob rock, which is [Eb] a wonderful phrase.
Could one of you please describe yob rock?
No, that's his idea.
We don't know what it means.
It's one of Mr.
Bush's other phrases, right?
Yob rock, but I don't know what nabob is.
OK, nabob.
I mean, what category are you guys in?
Just a punk band, really.
So, I mean, how do you regard the new wave of punk?
Do you regard yourself as part of this?
Yeah, of [G] course I do, yeah.
And how does that align with the old wave of 77?
How are you different?
[A] [Eb] A lot were working class.
They were all middle class.
That was all sort of big fashion thing then.
Right.
The fashion element's sort of gone out of it now, and it's more to do with music.
It's more what it should have been.
[G] OK, I mean, out of that 77 wave, you had the Blondie and the Stranglers, maybe,
who later went on to become, let's face it, top of the popsters.
I mean, what's to prevent Blitz not doing that?
What's going to stop you?
Well, it wouldn't be.
Yeah, no.
You wouldn't have been top of the popsters.
Yeah, of course we didn't.
You would?
Nothing against doing it.
That's not against your morals or your principles or whatever?
All them bands in 77, they said they didn't want to be rich.
Right.
By the next minute, they were going around in limousines.
Right?
You sure?
Well, anybody who says they don't want to be rich is either a liar or a bleeding idiot.
Got you.
OK.
I do want to be soggy rich.
I want real gold stuff at Fox.
OK, well, that's fair enough.
Right.
Jenis, thanks very much.
I'm sure this could go on for hours.
Key:
G
Gm
Eb
Gb
Em
G
Gm
Eb
[G] _ [Gbm] It wasn't really that much of an impact here then.
What it was over here was that the things like the cars, Joe Jackson and stuff,
were really what started the whole quote-unquote new wave in America.
[Gb] And it's not really until now that [Em] the pistols are really starting to make an impact on [Gb] the kids around,
you know, with the whole punk idea.
[Eb] And through the pistols they listen to things like the Dead Kennedys, Black Flag,
a lot of the LA bands are starting to make a [Gbm] big like at my store.
_ _ Besides the things like the [Gb] Flock of Seagulls, the Ants, Duran Duran, the Spandau and the whole [Db] thing,
the [G] big thing right now is the hardcore.
Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, as soon as I get the shipment in they're flying out the door.
And with the hardcore people it's just ripped up [Gb] clothes, ripped up shirts,
and you know, just put on [Am] a Black Flag album, have a couple of beers and bang your head, you know.
If they don't have a name for it they call it new wave or punk if it sounds shitty.
As a club manager, when I open a club [C] and I have a band,
and I start [G] seeing people come through the door with all kinds of things through their cheeks and [F] spiked hair,
[G] you know, I start to worry because these people really a lot of times act absurd.
I think that's probably what's in.
They act absurd and they're a real hassle for management.
You know, they run into walls and they fall on the floor and stuff and it's just a hassle.
I mean, you know, the lawsuits you could have if these people felt anything,
but their nervous systems are like, you know, on [Em] the same level as some type of liver flu.
You get dressed up like Rod Stewart, dye your hair, stick a sock in your pants and you're rock and roll.
And here I remember walking up to the fast lane one time, I think the Ramones were playing,
I see a kid come sailing out the door onto the street.
He was in the club, he just whipped it out and peed on somebody's leg.
And the one time someone taps Eric on the shoulder, he turns around, they whack him in the face with a blackjack.
That's happening, man.
That's happening.
That was part of it.
Eric loved that.
I love it.
That made him, you know, real fond of new wave music.
That makes me love punkers, man.
I love that.
You never know when you're going to get [Am] stuck or beat.
When it comes [G] to the bar business, [B] I'd rather have Rednecks because they [Em] drink good bourbon,
they pay a lot of money and new wavers come in and [D] ask you, can I have a cup of [Em] water, please?
[Gm] _ Eric may not like it, but punk, especially the hardcore variety, does seem to be rearing its ugly head in parts of America.
[G] But it is very much a minority interest, as I realized when I went down to my old high school.
Punk?
You mean like punk rockers?
Yeah.
Punk rockers?
I don't like them really.
I like more of the rock and roll.
In fact, I found that punk is such a non-starter amongst the kids at the high school
that these kids have an annual fancy dress punk day.
I asked them if there were any punk groups they do like.
Yeah!
_ Adam Neal!
_ American kids that are into punk aren't necessarily 24-hour punk rockers.
The thing is that people in America [Ab] want to party and dress up to fit the occasion.
If we went to England, we'd probably look funny over there.
[D] They'd laugh at us.
[G] The way we're dressed right now, do we look funny to kids?
You look more conservative than conservative.
Yeah, that's [F] it.
It's [Abm] slowly but surely, I think it's going to flow over here.
Like I said, we're a little bit [Gm] behind, but what can you do?
There's not that much in American rave about to start [G] our own thing.
And yet how ironic that American musicians like Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Patti Smith, Debbie Harry and the Ramones
were such an essential part of the early growth of punk in this country.
On the subject of punk in Britain and people with nervous systems like liver flukes,
we now go to Steve for a chat with sounds journalist Gary Bushall.
Thanks very much, mate.
[Ab]
From time to time, the musical press seems to [Gm] create whole new batches of musical categories
which seemingly exist to puzzle and bemuse their readers,
setting up a whole new series of alternatives to identify with or not, as the case may be.
Well, one of the newest to emerge is New Wave Punk,
although personally I didn't really know it being a way.
So here to suffer the slings and arrows and all that stuff is Mr.
Gary Bushall,
features editor of sounds, and two members of the Manchester band Blitz,
who I'm told are the forerunners of the movement.
Well, firstly, Gary, New Wave Punk, where [Ab] did it come from?
Was it your front room or somewhere?
Or where?
No, I mean, [Gm] everyone's talking about the music press creating trends,
but I think for the last three years, the music press has tried [A] to destroy what punk was.
They tried to say it had gone.
In fact, it hadn't gone.
I mean, lots of bands all over the country were keeping it alive,
like the UK Subs, [G] the Angelic Upstarts, Cockney Regix.
And now the actual pressure's built up from the grassroots so much that people can't ignore what's happening.
Right, I mean, how do you justify the supposed political involvement?
I mean, I'm quoting you here.
I have a quote right in front of me, which says,
the gutter press which [Eb] indulges in scummy miscoverage.
I mean, how can you justify the political involvement if that's happening?
Well, there is, I mean, it is political with a small p,
because, I mean, you're talking about a whole generation of people
where a quarter of the population live under the poverty line.
You're talking about millions of people on the dole.
And the people who form punk bands now tend to be [Gm] those sort of [A] people.
So obviously they're against the establishment.
Obviously they're against unemployment.
So that's [Gm] the political element of it, yeah.
Sure, OK.
But taking it as the, let's take it as the old wave of 77 almost.
I don't know if [Eb] you'd agree with that.
But politically then, musically,
how does this new wave differ from that?
Is it all that different?
Musically, not all, I mean, it tends to be a lot harder, a lot faster.
But actually socially, [G] it's actually, this new wave now is what the first wave pretended to be.
I mean, the [Gm] first wave was all art students pretending to be off the [Ab] dole.
And now this wave is [Eb] people off the dole, not pretending at all, but telling the truth.
Right, I got you.
OK.
If I may, may I quote again.
I've got some categories here within the whole category of what we're talking about.
Street socialist punk, anti [G]-political Herbert's, which is a great one.
Skunk rock, oi, new punk, Nazi skin, redskins.
Now, and the Blitz have been described as the nabobs of yob rock, which is [Eb] a wonderful phrase.
Could one of you please describe yob rock?
No, that's his idea.
We don't know what it means.
It's one of Mr.
Bush's other phrases, right?
Yob rock, but I don't know what nabob is.
OK, nabob.
I mean, what category are you guys in?
Just a punk band, really.
So, I mean, how do you regard the new wave of punk?
Do you regard yourself as part of this?
Yeah, of [G] course I do, yeah.
And how does that align with the old wave of 77?
How are you different?
[A] [Eb] A lot were working class.
They were all middle class.
That was all sort of big fashion thing then.
Right.
The fashion element's sort of gone out of it now, and it's more to do with music.
It's more what it should have been.
[G] OK, I mean, out of that 77 wave, you had the Blondie and the Stranglers, maybe,
who later went on to become, let's face it, top of the popsters.
I mean, what's to prevent Blitz not doing that?
What's going to stop you?
Well, it wouldn't be.
Yeah, no.
You wouldn't have been top of the popsters.
Yeah, of course we didn't.
You would?
Nothing against doing it.
That's not against your morals or your principles or whatever?
All them bands in 77, they said they didn't want to be rich.
Right.
By the next minute, they were going around in limousines.
Right?
You sure?
Well, anybody who says they don't want to be rich is either a liar or a bleeding idiot.
Got you.
OK.
I do want to be soggy rich.
I want real gold stuff at Fox.
OK, well, that's fair enough.
Right.
Jenis, thanks very much.
I'm sure this could go on for hours.
What it was over here was that the things like the cars, Joe Jackson and stuff,
were really what started the whole quote-unquote new wave in America.
[Gb] And it's not really until now that [Em] the pistols are really starting to make an impact on [Gb] the kids around,
you know, with the whole punk idea.
[Eb] And through the pistols they listen to things like the Dead Kennedys, Black Flag,
a lot of the LA bands are starting to make a [Gbm] big like at my store.
_ _ Besides the things like the [Gb] Flock of Seagulls, the Ants, Duran Duran, the Spandau and the whole [Db] thing,
the [G] big thing right now is the hardcore.
Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, as soon as I get the shipment in they're flying out the door.
And with the hardcore people it's just ripped up [Gb] clothes, ripped up shirts,
and you know, just put on [Am] a Black Flag album, have a couple of beers and bang your head, you know.
If they don't have a name for it they call it new wave or punk if it sounds shitty.
As a club manager, when I open a club [C] and I have a band,
and I start [G] seeing people come through the door with all kinds of things through their cheeks and [F] spiked hair,
[G] you know, I start to worry because these people really a lot of times act absurd.
I think that's probably what's in.
They act absurd and they're a real hassle for management.
You know, they run into walls and they fall on the floor and stuff and it's just a hassle.
I mean, you know, the lawsuits you could have if these people felt anything,
but their nervous systems are like, you know, on [Em] the same level as some type of liver flu.
You get dressed up like Rod Stewart, dye your hair, stick a sock in your pants and you're rock and roll.
And here I remember walking up to the fast lane one time, I think the Ramones were playing,
I see a kid come sailing out the door onto the street.
He was in the club, he just whipped it out and peed on somebody's leg.
And the one time someone taps Eric on the shoulder, he turns around, they whack him in the face with a blackjack.
That's happening, man.
That's happening.
That was part of it.
Eric loved that.
I love it.
That made him, you know, real fond of new wave music.
That makes me love punkers, man.
I love that.
You never know when you're going to get [Am] stuck or beat.
When it comes [G] to the bar business, [B] I'd rather have Rednecks because they [Em] drink good bourbon,
they pay a lot of money and new wavers come in and [D] ask you, can I have a cup of [Em] water, please?
[Gm] _ Eric may not like it, but punk, especially the hardcore variety, does seem to be rearing its ugly head in parts of America.
[G] But it is very much a minority interest, as I realized when I went down to my old high school.
Punk?
You mean like punk rockers?
Yeah.
Punk rockers?
I don't like them really.
I like more of the rock and roll.
In fact, I found that punk is such a non-starter amongst the kids at the high school
that these kids have an annual fancy dress punk day.
I asked them if there were any punk groups they do like.
Yeah!
_ Adam Neal!
_ American kids that are into punk aren't necessarily 24-hour punk rockers.
The thing is that people in America [Ab] want to party and dress up to fit the occasion.
If we went to England, we'd probably look funny over there.
[D] They'd laugh at us.
[G] The way we're dressed right now, do we look funny to kids?
You look more conservative than conservative.
Yeah, that's [F] it.
It's [Abm] slowly but surely, I think it's going to flow over here.
Like I said, we're a little bit [Gm] behind, but what can you do?
There's not that much in American rave about to start [G] our own thing.
And yet how ironic that American musicians like Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Patti Smith, Debbie Harry and the Ramones
were such an essential part of the early growth of punk in this country.
On the subject of punk in Britain and people with nervous systems like liver flukes,
we now go to Steve for a chat with sounds journalist Gary Bushall.
Thanks very much, mate.
[Ab]
From time to time, the musical press seems to [Gm] create whole new batches of musical categories
which seemingly exist to puzzle and bemuse their readers,
setting up a whole new series of alternatives to identify with or not, as the case may be.
Well, one of the newest to emerge is New Wave Punk,
although personally I didn't really know it being a way.
So here to suffer the slings and arrows and all that stuff is Mr.
Gary Bushall,
features editor of sounds, and two members of the Manchester band Blitz,
who I'm told are the forerunners of the movement.
Well, firstly, Gary, New Wave Punk, where [Ab] did it come from?
Was it your front room or somewhere?
Or where?
No, I mean, [Gm] everyone's talking about the music press creating trends,
but I think for the last three years, the music press has tried [A] to destroy what punk was.
They tried to say it had gone.
In fact, it hadn't gone.
I mean, lots of bands all over the country were keeping it alive,
like the UK Subs, [G] the Angelic Upstarts, Cockney Regix.
And now the actual pressure's built up from the grassroots so much that people can't ignore what's happening.
Right, I mean, how do you justify the supposed political involvement?
I mean, I'm quoting you here.
I have a quote right in front of me, which says,
the gutter press which [Eb] indulges in scummy miscoverage.
I mean, how can you justify the political involvement if that's happening?
Well, there is, I mean, it is political with a small p,
because, I mean, you're talking about a whole generation of people
where a quarter of the population live under the poverty line.
You're talking about millions of people on the dole.
And the people who form punk bands now tend to be [Gm] those sort of [A] people.
So obviously they're against the establishment.
Obviously they're against unemployment.
So that's [Gm] the political element of it, yeah.
Sure, OK.
But taking it as the, let's take it as the old wave of 77 almost.
I don't know if [Eb] you'd agree with that.
But politically then, musically,
how does this new wave differ from that?
Is it all that different?
Musically, not all, I mean, it tends to be a lot harder, a lot faster.
But actually socially, [G] it's actually, this new wave now is what the first wave pretended to be.
I mean, the [Gm] first wave was all art students pretending to be off the [Ab] dole.
And now this wave is [Eb] people off the dole, not pretending at all, but telling the truth.
Right, I got you.
OK.
If I may, may I quote again.
I've got some categories here within the whole category of what we're talking about.
Street socialist punk, anti [G]-political Herbert's, which is a great one.
Skunk rock, oi, new punk, Nazi skin, redskins.
Now, and the Blitz have been described as the nabobs of yob rock, which is [Eb] a wonderful phrase.
Could one of you please describe yob rock?
No, that's his idea.
We don't know what it means.
It's one of Mr.
Bush's other phrases, right?
Yob rock, but I don't know what nabob is.
OK, nabob.
I mean, what category are you guys in?
Just a punk band, really.
So, I mean, how do you regard the new wave of punk?
Do you regard yourself as part of this?
Yeah, of [G] course I do, yeah.
And how does that align with the old wave of 77?
How are you different?
[A] [Eb] A lot were working class.
They were all middle class.
That was all sort of big fashion thing then.
Right.
The fashion element's sort of gone out of it now, and it's more to do with music.
It's more what it should have been.
[G] OK, I mean, out of that 77 wave, you had the Blondie and the Stranglers, maybe,
who later went on to become, let's face it, top of the popsters.
I mean, what's to prevent Blitz not doing that?
What's going to stop you?
Well, it wouldn't be.
Yeah, no.
You wouldn't have been top of the popsters.
Yeah, of course we didn't.
You would?
Nothing against doing it.
That's not against your morals or your principles or whatever?
All them bands in 77, they said they didn't want to be rich.
Right.
By the next minute, they were going around in limousines.
Right?
You sure?
Well, anybody who says they don't want to be rich is either a liar or a bleeding idiot.
Got you.
OK.
I do want to be soggy rich.
I want real gold stuff at Fox.
OK, well, that's fair enough.
Right.
Jenis, thanks very much.
I'm sure this could go on for hours.