Public Image: Prolong Punk Rock

To some, the Punk Rock genre died at that last Sex Pistols gig where Johnny Rotten ambiguously stated 'Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?'. Not long after, the Pistols collapsed into an ugly, self parody.

Many bands evolved into Post Punk, Indie, Gothic Rock or just went plain New Wave.

Is there a POD which could give Punk Rock a few more years of life? How would this affect its main players? Would there be a different offshoot or would a different genre overtake it?

What does this mean for Alternative Rock?

(This refers to the first wave of Punk - 1974 to 1978).
 
Well punk rock died with sex pistols only if you have a very narrow definition. I mean the "second wave" started the day the "first wave" ended. Sounds more like a continuum to me.
 
The death of the original 'Pistols symbolized the death of Punk for many actually. Second wave bands mainly branched out into Post Punk and Gothic Rock etc.

I'm posing the question can the first wave be prolonged.
 
Then I guess not. If the definition of punk is so limited that Give 'em enough rope doesn't count, non could take up the torch after sex pistols without changing the genre too much, e.g. break the first wave. I guess if Sex Pistols hold their act together it would survive some longer, but given the intergroup enmity it's hard to make it hold together more than a year longer.
 
I'd say The Clash but they added elements to their sound (later in their career) although their debut is a perfect blueprint for the genre.

I only used the Pistols as an example due to the many bands who formed in their wake who emulated them heavily - contributing to the first wave of UK Punk: Buzzcocks, Warsaw (who later became Joy Division), The Clash (yes, they credit SP), The Fall etc.

Sex Pistols staying together obviously hinders Post Punk to an extent (No PiL for a start... maybe Jah Wobble stays as an unknown? Or maybe in this ATL he can replace Sid? He was the original choice to replace Glen Matlock).
 
To some, the Punk Rock genre died at that last Sex Pistols gig where Johnny Rotten ambiguously stated 'Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?'. Not long after, the Pistols collapsed into an ugly, self parody.

Many bands evolved into Post Punk, Indie, Gothic Rock or just went plain New Wave.

Is there a POD which could give Punk Rock a few more years of life? How would this affect its main players? Would there be a different offshoot or would a different genre overtake it?

What does this mean for Alternative Rock?

(This refers to the first wave of Punk - 1974 to 1978).

If you want to prolong the first wave of punk (and specifically UK Punk), I think you need a different band at the head of the movement.

With OTL line-up, the Sex Pistols were too unstable to last very long.

Even if you change the line-up, if you have John Lydon as singer & de facto leader of the group they will go post-punk, because his musical tastes were esoteric art-rock in the early-mid 1970s (Captain Beefheart, Can etc..) so Public Image was really a return to the sort of music he always liked.

The Clash had reggae leanings right from the start, so that might rule them out as flame-bearers if you want "pure" punk. Another minus is that they took a scary turn towards classic rock territory with their 2nd album, then from 'London Calling' onwards they tried to make late 1970s versions of the Beatles' White Album (double, triple discs crammed with every genre imaginable).

If you stunt Strummer & Jones' desire to diversify their style you MIGHT have a candidate in the Clash.. but that's a tough challenge.

My pick for top dog in this timeline is The Damned. They managed 2nd & 3rd albums that didn't stray too far from their punk roots, albeit with some psychedelic influences creeping in there.

The real departure for them came with the 4th album (The Black Album) where they dipped their toes into proto-goth, which they further explored as the 1980s progressed. However they still had some solid punk tracks at the same time. If the Damned were top of the tree in UK punk, they might not be as inclined to go goth.
 
So..

If The Damned are the leaders of the movement then Gothic Rock will have more exposure.

If The Clash are the leaders of the movement then the diverse elements of their sound may create more eclectic off-shoot bands.

I think it's a tossup between them two..

Unless Lemmy Kilmister forms Motorhead with a more pronounced Punk Rock influence? (shedding the Metal side obviously). It's a long shot, but hey! Butterflies are little bastards...

Maybe if Proto Punk bands become more popular in their lifetime? MC5, Stooges, New York Dolls etc.
 
So..

If The Damned are the leaders of the movement then Gothic Rock will have more exposure.

If The Clash are the leaders of the movement then the diverse elements of their sound may create more eclectic off-shoot bands.

I think it's a tossup between them two..

Unless Lemmy Kilmister forms Motorhead with a more pronounced Punk Rock influence? (shedding the Metal side obviously). It's a long shot, but hey! Butterflies are little bastards...

Maybe if Proto Punk bands become more popular in their lifetime? MC5, Stooges, New York Dolls etc.

Addressing your points one by one..

* If The Damned lead the UK punk movement, the chances are that they'll either lead it into goth or a new wave of psychedelic music. In OTL they covered Jefferson Airplane's 'White Rabbit' - and then there's this track the Captain Sensible wrote, which sounds a lot like Syd Barrett's Pink Floyd: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGFLVRB3Srw
Basically, if lead singer Dave Vanian chooses their direction, it's goth.. and if Captain Sensible chooses their direction it's psychedelia with a fair bit of whimsy.

* If the Clash lead punk, you probably either get punk mixed with classic rock (which would be Joe Strummer's influence - he was in a pub rock band after all) or Funk/early rap (courtesy of Mick Jones). They both had a common meeting point in punk & reggae, but you just have to look at their post-Clash careers to see the artistic differences.

* You raise a good point with Motorhead - they are an outside bet here - chances are if actual punk never happens in the UK, then they'd gain the most out of it because of their attractiveness to the no-BS loud-fast music fans. (a perfect antidote to disco, easy listening & prog rock)

* Dunno about proto punk bands - I thought the original brief was to prolong UK punk, but sure there's potential there for something to strike success earlier. Whether it's the Stooges not succumbing to self-destructive drug use, or the New York Dolls becoming the American Rolling Stones instead of Aerosmith.. feel free to offer your best possibility here.

I personally would love for it to be the Modern Lovers - their geeky spin on rock appeals to a vast untapped market just waiting for the right band - in OTL it's Talking Heads & Devo who got there first, but the Modern Lovers had a romantic bent that never fully emerged in popular geek rock until Weezer hit it big in the 1990s. And they could have got there about 5 years before Talking Heads and Devo, if only Jonathan Richman had not been so 'difficult' with everyone at the time.


Eventually, I think it's inevitable that the smarter punk bands go post-punk (or 'art-rock'). There's a long history of leading-edge punk bands broadening their sound - from the Stooges getting a saxophone on 'Funhouse', to John Lydon forming PiL, to Black Flag slowing it down on side 2 of the 'My War' album, becoming the first progressive punk band..
 
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Hmm here's a thought... maybe this is near impossible but...

Richard Branson tried to install John Lydon as the vocalist for Devo after he left the Sex Pistols.

What if Lydon did join Devo? I'm not saying they'd be Sex Pistols mark II but if they kept a Punk edge, it would prolong the first wave. They'd be in competition with McLaren's Pistols...

Maybe they'd still be more experimental but it's a thought.
 
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