Punk: Attitude Page #4

that this guy brought me

to see this lousy band.

The next night I was back.

I'm a Nazi schatze y'know

The first time I saw

The Ramones...

the whole set,

maybe 12 songs...

went by in about 16 minutes and I was

thinking, like, what the hell was that.

We were missing...

the essence of rock 'n' roll...

which was basically

what we grew up...

with the was the

3- minute song.

What happened though was that

because we were playing so fast...

the 3-minute songs became

1- and-a-half-minute songs.

Take it Dee Dee

I can't stop it!

As far as why we were playing so fast,

that was the way we played.

Hey ho, let's go

Hey ho, let's go

Hey ho, let's go

Hey ho, let's go

They're forming in

a straight line

They're going through

a tight wind

The kids are losing

their minds

The Blitzkrieg Bop

They're piling in

the back seat

They're generating

steam heat

Legs McNeil and John Holmstrom had

this idea that they'd start a magazine...

and then they could probably

get free records and free drinks...

and they'd say that they were

representing a magazine...

and since they was no magazine

that they could represent...

because nobody cared about

this downtown music...

they started their

own magazine.

And John wanted to call it Teenage News,

which I thought was a very stupid idea.

I didn't realise it

at the time...

but it was from an unreleased

New York Dolls record.

I said ok so what do we call

the magazine about comics...

and fashion...

and funny stuff.

- Why don't we call it Punk?

- And I was, like, perfect.

We'll call it Punk.

The first night we decided

to do any kind of interviews...

we went to CBGB's.

Legs insisted on dragging along

his friend, Mary Harron.

And that was the night we met Lou Reed.

It was the first time I saw The Ramones.

The Ramones came out and

they counted off the wrong song.

One, two, three, four and they

all went to the wrong song...

and they threw down their guitars

in self disgust and it was great.

I was just like, you know, completely

shell shocked but it was so...

it was so, I felt like I was seeing

something completely new.

That was the night we met Lou Reed

and I went up to him and said.

Oh, we're going to interview

you for a punk magazine.

John said, yeah,

"We'll put you on the cover"...

and he said, yeah,

"You're circulation must be fabulous. "

I can't seem to face up

To the facts

I'm tense and nervous and I

Can't relax

I can't sleep

'Cause my bed's on fire

Don't touch me

I'm a real live wire

And the media picked

up punk rock...

and started calling Television,

Talking Heads, Patti Smith...

everyone in New York was

punk rock all of a sudden.

Psycho killer

Qu'est-ce que c'est

None of the bands called themselves

punk, or particularly wanted to be punk.

The Ramones certainly didn't

want to be called that.

Unfortunately I think

it was detrimental to us...

as far as the straight media

was concerned...

because they assume we were

a bunch of hooligans...

and were kind

of afraid of us.

And the bands

were so diverse...

that I don't even know

if that's what they were.

You know some

of these bands...

I wouldn't have classified

them as punk...

but they have a punk attitude,

like Television.

You see I don't

feel Television...

but they are,

I mean they came from the punk.

Patti Smith,

if you wanna take the lyric, alright...

you know, some of these things

in a sense are punk.

The Dead Boys were more rock

and roll than punk...

but they certainly had punk

lyrics and a punk attitude.

Oh baby

I need lunch

When punk rock came out

it was very threatening...

and frightening

to some people.

Even Debbie Harry talks about

when she would go to radio stations...

people were like afraid of her

because they heard she was punk rock...

like she was going to pull out

a knife or something.

He don't

Hang around

With the gang no more

So I remember one time seeing

Blondie at CBGB's.

I think it was "Heart of Glass"

that they were playing...

and it sounded almost

like a disco song...

and it sounded much more musical

and much more mainstream...

than any other of the bands

that had played before...

it sounded like something that you could

actually start hearing on the radio.

And what the major labels had done,

it said, "Ok, new wave is acceptable. "

Blondie, The Knack, The Cars...

pink neck ties,

snazzy suit jackets and all...

but we don't want anything

to do with punk.

When the UK kinda blew up...

which was immediately after really,

or almost at the same time...

there was a different vibe...

and we were really, you know, my friends

and I were really interested in that.

Curious as to how,

how does this same kind of thing...

how is it expressed in a somewhat

different cultural climate.

My Mother called me and said,

"Punk started in England"...

and I'm like, "Oh, Mum".

The political, social climate...

at the time in the 70's was crucial

to the formation of punk rock...

because punk rock was talking

about the dole queue...

and the Winter of Discontent.

The fabric of society at that time was,

like, when we first started...

it was, in our eyes,

falling apart.

We had the 3-day week,

you had rubbish strikes.

You know wherever you went,

it was bad news.

They were talking about burying

people at sea, in the Mersey...

because the grave diggers were

on strike. I mean it was that bad.

God save the queen

The time was just right.

It wasn't orchestrated.

It was like all these

elements of people...

not being happy with what

was going on at present.

So I suppose that probably had quite

a strong push for all of us to say...

well, we'd better do

something for ourselves...

rather than rely

on anybody else.

God take the Queen

She ain't a human being

And has no future

It ain't a string

Well, there was no such word

as punk at the time, if I remember.

The first time I heard that word using

in conjunction with what we were doing...

was Caroline Coon,

or one of these journalists...

and I was quite shocked

to be honest...

because, you now,

I thought we were kinda...

you know, I didn't really

know what we were doing.

All I knew was it was

kinda different from...

the other garbage that

was going around at the time.

God save your

mad parade

74, 75, 76, I mean the place to be,

was, you know, the King's Road.

It was the only place

that was interesting.

The one thing that would

draw us to the King's Road...

was Vivian and

Malcolm's shop.

That was the one thing you had

to go and see and hang out in.

I'd never seen anyone look

like this ever before in my life.

She had this white hair that...

stuck out all over the place

and these purple eyebrows drawn on.

And I'd never met anyone

like Malcolm and Vivian...

because they looked so f***in

bizarre for a start.

People like Vivian Westwood

are a kinda social sponge.

I don't mean she sponges,

as in leech...

I mean sponges as in,

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes