Crashin wrote:
Oh, yeah! The Violent Femmes...I love that old school stuff. I also like:
The Smiths, esp. Louder Than Bombs
Echo and the Bunnymen
The Cure (older stuff, like Staring at the Sea)
Elvis Costello
Talking Heads
Descendants
Front 242
Jesus and Mary Chain
I could go on and on...
My, my... I didn't expect to hear some of those names. Being an old tosser myself and having gotten into the whole punk scene thing back in 1979 (Yes, I know. That was before some of you were old enough to talk), many of the above mentioned bands were the thing of the day.
On that last, I loved Echo, The Cure (how about "Killing an Arab")...., well, all of them actually except for The Smiths.
I've spent tons of time with Front 242!
OK, now too that list, I add...
The Psychedelic Furs esp Talk Talk Talk( I know I spelled that wrong)
Ultravox
KIlling Joke (An intelligent and insidious band! Fall of mankind stuff.)
Souixe and the Banshees ( I absolutely love Arabian Knights!)
Speaking of which, I jumped on the stage once when they played at Santa Monica Civic (sometime in the mid '80's) and gave her a peck on the cheek before dodging the last of the bouncers that were heading in like missles and diving back into the audience.
Death Cult (Their name before they became The Cult. They were originally called Southern Death Cult, but changed to the cult after a break up then inclusion of old members from another batcave band called Theater of Hate.)
The Clash (Some of the things they sang about in high school, i'm seeing the wreckage of now being down here in South America Also, they were the first to dub versions of their tracks. Robber Dub, Armigideon Time, ...)
Dead Kennedys (Jello was another man with a lot to say)
Lastly, and this may sound strange, but that early Devo stuff was genius! Not that "Whip It" crap that they did just to appease an industry suit, but the early things like Jocko Homo. They came straight outa' deep right with the pedal down spouting all kinds of weird stuff about nuclear fallout and accidents, bubbled eyed dog boys, and the de-evoluton of man kind. Whacked? Yes! But entertaining like it was going out of style.
Now it's funny to me that nobody has mentioned much Ska or dance hall. How about The Selector or Desmond Decker?
Cheers,
BDKR