50 Years Ago

[www.theguardian.com]

Fascinating, thanks.

And I know exactly what he means when he writes “In 2026, we like to think that we know all there is to know about music’s past: it’s been examined in such detail…, and it’s all readily available thanks to the internet and streaming. But reading the weekly music papers from 1976 is a plunge into a past with which you feel weirdly unacquainted.”

I feel the same going through old Trouser Press issues. Right now I’m going thru a big book of Bomp magazines. And it’s the same thing. Who ARE these groups? It’s really interesting how they get things very wrong, but also sometimes spot-on accurate.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/07/2026 07:16AM by MrFab.

Doctors Of Madness really got screwed by this phenomenon. LATE NIGHT MOVIES, ALL NIGHT BRAINSTORMS is one of my favorite albums, but it doesn't fit neatly into any sub-genre for more than a few songs, and it probably would've been better received if it came out in 1978 or 1979. "Waiting" is a punk song, but if they were part of the scene, they wouldn't have used violin as the lead instrument on it.

Funny to see so many people in The Guardian commenting "Punk was forgettable and made no impact" when the replies to this article go on for 18 pages!

It's also weird to read a UK-centric perspective where punk was a popular fad that died out by 1978, when so many great American punk didn't even release albums till the '80s.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/05/2026 10:38AM by steevee.

I found the article fascinating. I always put Doctors Of Madness in the uncanny Proto-NewWave/Post-Punk sub-genre that included Pere Ubu and Ultravox! Any others to name there, apart from Eno solo? At least the market caught up with Ultravox and they managed to get a payday out of it. Pere Ubu and DOM not so much, but they all had nothing to fear in regards to their artistic legacies. And at least Pere Ubu at their most eager-to-please [The Fontana Years] managed to make genuinely excellent music.

Former TP subscriber [81, 82, 83, 84]

[postpunkmonk.com]
For further rumination on the Fresh New Sound of Yesterday®

Do Devo count as proto-post-punk/New Wave, even though they didn't release a record till 1977?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/06/2026 05:48PM by steevee.

I've been retreating into my collection of The History of Rock magazines, starting from the year 1965. The magazines are a collation of articles from the archives of NME And Melody Maker and I enjoy reading music criticism from that era, where rock and pop finally earned a dedicated group of writers who took them seriously and helped shape the culture/counterculture of that time and for decades to come. My favorite article from last night's reading was on the topic of the Troggs and their proto-punk influence on later acts such as MC5, New York Dolls and the Clash. I don't know what opinions others here have of Melody Maker (I have made my discontent known with regards to their music reviews) , but admittedly, a number of articles caught my eye, especially the ones about (The) Pink Floyd during their early 70's heyday and their predictions of the band's legacy (which is much more clear now with the benefit of hindsight).

But to have lived in that moment, when it was all new....



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/07/2026 12:08AM by Fleeingbandit.