Best "proto-punk" band?

[SweetZombieJesus]

Poll question: Best "proto-punk" band?

Yeah, it's a stupid name for a genre, but its important nonetheless. You can either vote for your favorite one, or the one which you feel was the most influential on punk. This is all open to debate, I'm not claiming to be any kind of expert.

[Howardx]

1. MC5!!!!!!!

n/t

[SweetZombieJesus]

2. Fucking shit, I can't believe I forgot them

I mean, I did, but I didn't. I was about to put them in, got distracted and put The Dictators instead. I just woke up from a nap so I'm still kind of groggy.

[Forkboy]

13. MC5 vote here

[bif]

42. MC5 All the way

If you ever saw them live, you'd agree. More raw energy than any band I've ever seen. The Who come in close second.

[NWHarkness]

3. I voted Stooges

Although I agree that the MC5 should also be listed, and the NY Dolls as well.

I chose the Stooges because of the weight of specific influence on punk attitude and sound. The Velvets influence transcends punk to the point where I would feel it belittled them to vote for them.

[SweetZombieJesus]

4. That's pretty much why I voted Stooges too

And you're right, the Dolls should be on there, I just fucked up and forgot to list them.

[mitchum]

5. What he/she said...

for the very same reasons

[Susang]

6. I don't even know what "proto-punk" means

I don't think it means anything, since most of those bands fit into their own categories (like glam rock) or were just considered "rock and roll" (like the Stooges and MC5. When was this whole "proto-punk" thing coined?

[SweetZombieJesus]

12. When pretentious rock journalists decided that punk had to have been

inspired by earlier, "edgy" acts. I kind of like the idea that it just arrived fully formed when Steve Jones played the first chord of "Anarchy In The U.K.", or (insert your favorite punk moment here). But the Pistols and the Ramones had to have been inspired by some of these bands, so, here we are.

Basically the only reason I did this poll was because I love all these bands, and like talking about them, and it's a lot easier to do that under the banner of a genre label, even one as unimaginative as "proto-punk".

[Rooktoven]

7. They say that not everyone heard the velvets

but everyone who did formed a band...

"Ridin' a stutz bearcat Jim, those were different times,
All those poets studied rules of verse,
The ladies they just rolled their eyes..."

[FlashHarry]

8. The Sonics

Punk started in the Pacific Northwest in the early sixties with The Wailers, The Sonics and the Kingsmen.

Next, Detroit in the late sixties, with The MC5, The Stooges and Alice Cooper.

Then, NYC in the late sixties/early seventies, with the Velvets, the Dolls and the Ramones.

Then, England, with the Sex Pistols and the Clash. And, well, you know the rest...

[TheBigGuy]

11. the Kingsmen...as in Louie Louie?

hmmm....i guess i can see that tune as very protopunk....yeah...

[FlashHarry]

17. Hell yeah.

Listen to it closely. It epitomizes punk's DIY ethic, plus, it was banned after it came out for being 'lacivious' (basically, because people couldn't understand the lyrics, which are actually quite sweet and romantic.)

[SweetZombieJesus]

16. I like that theory

We shouldn't be so shortsighted as to discount the influence of Pacific Northwest garage rock on the formation of punk.

I reaaaaalllly hope we don't get into the whole "UK vs US" who started punk thing. I hate that fucking argument.

[FlashHarry]

19. I agree.

Although both John Lydon and Joe Strummer have mentioned the Ramones as influences. Although, I don't think you can discount the influence of Bowie, Bolan and the other British glam bands.

[no name no slogan]

39. An addendum...

You forgot Paul Revere and the Raiders in the Pac NW. Even though they had a TV show for a while, they were as punk as they came in the early '60s.

Also, I think Alice Cooper came from Phoenix AZ by way of LA.

Also, some suggested listening for Stooges fans if you can find it: The "Funhouse Box Set" that came out a few years ago. It's the entire Funhouse sessions captured on ± 10 CDs. It shows the evolution of the songs over the course of the sessions, and has some excellent outtakes on it as well.

(disclaimer: I am a HUGE fan of pre-"Raw Power" Stooges, and consider "Funhouse" one of the top 5 albums ever recorded, although I still like the James Williamson/"Raw Power" Stooges too!)

[bif]

44. Alice Cooper is a Detroiter

http://www.keno.org/alicecoopbio.htm

[KittyWampus]

41. Whattabout Freddie Mercury???

Thanks for mentioning the Ramones.

The Who were kinda forerunners too, I think.

Were the Minutemen early enough to be considered "Proto"?

[Brucey]

9. I vote for

The Necroids

[TheBigGuy]

10. Velvet Underground was the only band on that list thay i heard

I have no idea what those others sound like.

[Forkboy]

14. They're probably from Holland

[TheBigGuy]

18. I dont think so....Focus was good though.

Sort of a heavy metal dutch band.

[no name no slogan]

40. Hey forkboy

about your nick: is that possibly taken from the LARD song of the same name? :yourock:

So sad to see a reformed Dead Kennedys touring minus Jello-- it's like Pink Floyd without Roger Waters. :(

[SweetZombieJesus]

15. You're missing out, brother

The other bands are less arty than the VU, surely, but they all rock. If you like the VU, you'll definitely like Television and The Modern Lovers (Jonathan clearly harbored a desire to be Lou Reed's geeky little brother, artistically speaking).

By the way, I really, really wanted to put the Feelies on this list, but I knew no one would vote for them besides me. Am I the only Feelies fan here?

[TheBigGuy]

20. Oh..sure..Jonathan Richmond....

yeah..ive heard of them for sure. They are alot of fun!

[FlashHarry]

22. Well, if you've seen 'There's Something About Mary...'

You've seen Jonathan Richman--he's the troubador that appears throughout the film. He's also in the Farrelly brothers' 'Kingpin' movie.

Also, you might recognize the song 'Road Runner' or 'Pablo Picasso'--the latter, made famous (sort of) by the movie "Repo Man."

[Kathy in Cambridge]

24. Jonathan Richman

one of America's greatest songwriters.

Roadrunner is an American classic.

[Kat45]

27. "driving by the Stop & Shop, With the radio on,,,.

Roadrunner. Roadrunner." Love that song!

[FlashHarry]

21. I'm a Feelies fan.

Glen Mercer and Bill Million, right? (It's been a while...)

[SweetZombieJesus]

23. Indeed

Nothing gets my feet tapping faster than "The Boy With The Perpetual Nervousness". Though I guess they're not really proto-punk, since Crazy Rhythms came out in '80, but still, worth a name-dropping.

[Wickerman]

30. No, absolutely not!

Huge Feelies fan. Hell, I even buy speed the plow and wake-oloo records. They rock, and their drummer, Stanley Dembinksi (sp) later drummed for another well VU influenced band, Luna.

[RandomKoolzip]

45. "The Boy next door is into bigger things..."

"As far as I can see...the boy next door is me, yeah."

"The Boy with the Perpetual Nervousness", the Feelies. Great tune...I like that first album of theirs, "Crazy Rythyms."

[Character Assassin]

25. The Who.

[HEyHEY]

26. Yeah the who get my vote

[BurtWorm]

28. Flamin Groovies

Just tossing out another band for your consideration. A great band. A band before its time. I refer, of course, to the version that had Roy Lomey on vocals, the version that made Teenage Head and Supersnazz. The version that had no apostrophe after the n in "Flamin."

And I also nominate the Standells, for anyone's consideration.

PS: Oh, and Rocket from the Tombs--the precursor to Pere Ubu and the Dead Boys among others.

[FlashHarry]

34. Shake Some Action, indeed!

I'd definitely second your nomination of the Standells (although, their appearance on The Munsters, might earn them a punk demerit...)

[sendero]

29. not even a contest...

... Iggy!

Lots of people who are familiar with Raw Power et al are unaware of Iggy's later works. He matured into a very talented songwriter and in the late 70's and early 80's made some fantastic records.

New Values is a favorite of mine. Just great!

I can't be so enthusiastic about his later stuff tho :(



Though the Velvets contributed greatly, I'm not sure you could really call them punk IMHO.

[Wickerman]

32. Doesn't it kill you

to hear Lust For Life used as a soundtrack for Carnival Cruises? That is so very wrong - but, it is nice that Iggy is surely getting more in royalties for that 20 seconds of sound than his entire catalog brings him. Nice, not just, but nice, glad for him to be getting some cash.

[sendero]

35. Truth be told....

... I was lamenting to a friend just last week about how sad it is to hear Led Zeppelin selling Cadillacs, the Who selling anything and everything and several other bands who made *millions* selling out.

I can forgive Iggy mostly because he never made any big money, of that I am pretty sure - and he earned it.

I'm heard LfL used on at *least* 3 major commercials and I'm always amused as how the editing is done. "With his liquor and drugs" never seems to get in the commercial :)

[BurtWorm]

33. Love New Values!

It's an underrated record.

[sendero]

36. Here in the U.S...

.... it is an all but unknown record. It just might be my favorite Iggy, full of macho posturing and just plain superior songwriting.

Iggy is a lot more than a guy willing to do anything at a stage show, he really is one of America's best songwriters - people can't get past him rolling in broken glass to see that :)

[CanuckAmok]

31. THE CONTORTIONS. FUCK ALL ELSE ;)

Or maybe DNA/Arto Lindsay

[psychopomp]

37. The Stranglers

Ratticus Norvegicus IV (UA,1977) is one of the best albums ever, IMHO.

[sendero]

38. Yes....

... they were a great band, but I'm not sure you could call them "proto" since their first punk efforts didn't appear until the punk scene was well underway.

I'm very fond of their mid-period (early 80s) stuff, the over-the-top new wave stuff like "The Raven" (which does contain some questionable lyrics thanks to JJ) and Meninblack - one of the strangest records (yet cool anyway) ever recorded.

Like many good Brit acts, the Stranglers never got much of an audience here in the states. They did come to Dallas once, played at a rawk-n-roll nightclub. I tell you I'll never forget the look on the faces of the regulars who strolled in and heard the Stranglers banging it out. Their damn mullets just about fell off :) Who knows, maybe they created some new fans that night.

[RandomKoolzip]

43. Simply Saucer, Rocket from the Tombs, Van Der Graaf Generator

A few others:

The Styrenes, The Pink Fairies, Faust, Mahogany Brain, early Bob Seger.

[ACK]

46. I voted for the Stooges

But I should have voted for Richard Hell and the Voidoids. That is what I get for clicking too fast.