Found this curiosity from late 1979 on youtube with many musicians discussing the influence of Punk Rock. While David Bowie and Paul McCartney among others seemed to find value in it, Mick Taylor says: "I don't think they've been very influential at all musically, but I think probably they've opened alot of doors for bands that came along after them"
Some comments on Punk from December 1979. Rare footage!For me personally, I was 14 years old in 1977, and was swept up with Punk music. Along with Reggae, Punk was still somewhat out of the mainstream and was something some of us young knuckleheads gravitated to in high school. I still still loved Zeppelin, Hendrix, Stones, Beatles, Dylan, Neil Young, etc, etc., etc., and didn't turn in to a die hard punker with a mohawk lol, but there was something radical and rebellious about most of the Punk Rock I was listening to - at first the Sex Pistols and The Clash, then on to California bands such as Dead Kennedys and X, along with many others. I saw the Clash in 1979 at the Santa Monica Civic and it still stands out as one of my favorite concerts. I also attended URGH a Music War in 1980 at the same venue which included The Cramps, Dead Kennedys, X, and Pere Ubu among others. I eventually gravitated towards other things after that, and still had my love for classic rock (first time seeing the Stones in 1981!), but the memories of that era are burned deeply. Looking back now, I say it's had a huge impact and influence on rock music, and without it rock music would have suffered imo.
Here's what Keith and Mick had to say in a 2011 interview:
PUNKKeith : “It moved our ass, boy. See, the thing I loved about those times was the attitude and a new generation coming up. Unfortunately, only a very few [bands] could actually play, you know, music.”
Mick : “The sort of punk scene in New York, you know, you had the Ramones and you had the New York Dolls, but they didn’t really play that kind of music … it was more of a glam look. New York was sort of different than what the Sex Pistols were putting out. I mean, my favorite band of that period, was the Clash, definitely. They definitely had a dance sensibility, as well as a rock sensibility.”
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Wondering what others think about it all - from those older, as well as those younger. Was it influential? Or was it a waste of time? Was it meaningful? Or was it useless?
_____________________________________________________________Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......