Popfoto. "Punk: The rock rebels from the garbage can." Popfoto (German), no. 10, Oct. 1977, pp.
Punk The rock rebels from the garbage can
— A German colour spread profiling the major punk bands of 1977, providing line-ups, discographies, and defining characteristics for a teen audience.
— The Damned (New Rose), Generation X (Your Generation), The Jam (In The City), The Clash (White Riot, Remote Control), Boomtown Rats (Lookin’ After Number One), The Vibrators (Baby Baby), and Sex Pistols (Anarchy In The UK).
— The Clash are highlighted as the most political band, with a quote from Tony Parsons in the NME urging readers to buy their LP, noting their lyrics against racial hatred and class hostility.
— Other notable details include The Damned being the first English punk band to play in America, Generation X's on-stage violence, and the Sex Pistols' prowess at generating scandal.
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Popfoto was a West German youth and music magazine (1970s–1980s) mixing pop culture, posters, and celebrity features, with a focus on contemporary music trends.
(Oct 1977 No. 10): A three-page full-colour punk special providing short biographies of The Damned, Generation X, The Jam, The Clash, Boomtown Rats, The Vibrators, and Sex Pistols, band line-ups, discographies.
Popfoto | Nr. 10 Oktober 1977 | Page 130 & Page 131
Popfoto Nr. 10 Oktober
DM 2,50 SFR 2,80 C20153 E
The hottest punks in colour!
Popfoto | Nr. 10 Oktober 1977 | Page 130 & Page 131
Punk
The rock rebels from the garbage can
Would your parents allow you to like these guys?
In England, adults no longer have much chance to forbid anything: there the punk bands are the new teen heroes.
Popfoto presents to you here the hottest punks.
The Damned
Line-up: Dave Vanian (vocals), Captain Sensible (bass), Rat Scabies (drums), Brian James (guitar), Lu (guitar)
Singles: New Rose, Neat Neat Neat, Stretcher Case Baby. LP: Damned Damned Damned.
Special features: The Damned was the first English punk band to play in America. Even if it’s none of your business: all five band members are totally stoned during their gigs. They think that’s great and tell every journalist. They also spit from the stage or throw meat pies into the audience. They earn between 2000 and 3000 marks per concert in England, but the money immediately goes to replace smashed instruments with new ones.
Generation X
Line-up: Billy Idol (vocals), Tony James (bass), Bob 'Derwood' Andrews (guitar), Mark Laff (drums)
Single: Your Generation. LP: currently in progress.
Special features: The bravest punk band. Wherever they play, not only the fur flies but also glasses – this time not from the stage into the audience, but the other way around. When guitarist Bob was hit in the face by a broken glass during a gig in Leicester, he kept playing until he realised the blood dripping onto his guitar was his own – then he fainted. And Billy challenged the pigs to a fight on stage, even though violence is not his thing at all.
The Jam
Line-up: Paul Weller (vocals, guitar), Bruce Foxton (guitar), Rick Buckler (drums). Single: In The City, next single: All Around The World, LP: In The City.
Special features: The Jam comes closest to what punk rock is supposed to be. When you hear these boys, you just want to grab a guitar and play along with them. Otherwise, they wear the uniforms of the rockers of the sixties: white shirts, black suits, short hair. Their greatest role model is The Who, and if The Jam keeps going as they have begun, an equally successful career could easily lie ahead of them. The only thing they’ve lacked so far: a real scandal!
The Clash
Line-up: Joe Strummer (vocals, guitar), Paul Simonon (bass), Mick Jones (lead guitar, vocals), Nicky Headon (drums)
Single: White Riot, next single: Remote Control, LP: The Clash.
Special features: The Clash is the most political of the punk rock bands. Music critic Tony Parsons in the English music paper New Musical Express to everyone else: I urge you to get this LP. The strength of our (English) nation lies in its youth. You can safely call The Clash the most important of the punk bands, and their lyrics against racial hatred and class hostility offer genuine food for thought. Only problem: for those who don’t understand English, the band doesn’t say any more than others.
Boomtown Rats
Line-up: Bob Geldof (vocals), Johnnie Fingers (keyboards), Garry Cott (guitar), Gerry Roberts (guitar), Pete Briquette (bass), Simon Crowe (drums). Single: Lookin’ After Number One, LP: Boomtown Rats.
Special features: Before they had even recorded a record, the first Irish punk band had already achieved fame and was even described by the New York Times as an example of the brutality that the new wave brings. Lead singer Bob had been badly punched in the face at a concert. The pain was followed by a consolation prize: a record contract. And two weeks after its release (late August ’77) the first single by the Rats was already in the Top Twenty.
The Vibrators
Line-up: Gary Tibbs (bass), Knox (rhythm guitar, vocals), Eddie Edwards (drums), John Ellis (lead guitar).
Single: Baby Baby, next single: London Girls, first LP: Pure Mania.
Special features: They started as Chris Spedding’s backing band, yet they say they invented punk. On stage they act tough; in private they’re as harmless and colourless as a religious education teacher. Because their career in England didn’t take off right away, the four moved to Berlin and now hope to be the first punk band in Germany to really cash in.
Otherwise: they get photographed with a vibrator but hope that mum doesn’t see them like that.
Sex Pistols
Line-up: Johnny Rotten (vocals), Sid Vicious (bass), Steve Jones (guitar), Paul Cook (drums)
Singles: Anarchy In The UK, God Save The Queen, Pretty Vacant. LP: currently in progress.
Special features: They are always the first – the first to have genuine scandals, the first punks at the top of the charts, the first to be publicly beaten up by Teds, the first that radio DJs refused to play, and the first with whom the name punk was associated at all. Otherwise, they have the best PR machine, which ensures that every scream that Johnny Rotten and his comrades make also gets into the newspapers. Of course, they are also the loudest – but that goes without saying.
Popfoto | Nr. 10 Oktober 1977