PUNK: THE COMPILATION (Which of these tracks is the most UNpunk?)

INXS "modern rock" too obviously. (And actually, I have no idea how Escape Club were marketed, come to think of it. But it seems like they could have been considered modern rock, by somebody. They did come from England.)

Huey Lewis gets a new wave pass because (1) his old band backed up Elvis Costello's first album; (2) he covered Dave Edmunds on Sports; and (3) his first couple albums with the News have their Boomtown Rats-like moments (and they even seemed to be trying to look Rats-like on the cover of their first one)

That Quarterflash song is just one layer of major label intrusion over like Patti Smith and Pretenders. Like I could see Richard Hell covering it after "Love Comes in Spurts"

This is def that Crowded House song

That late-80s upbeat "modern rock" that's one foot in new wave and one foot in AOR is probably my favorite era of pop music: INXS, Escape Club, Information Society, Terrence Trent Darby, late Squeeze, Bangles, Johnny Hates Jazz...

Midnight Oil etc

What does "one layer of major label intrusion over like Patti Smith and Pretenders" mean?

Quarterflash rock

xpost, like Patti Smith and the Pretenders took the major labels money, but Quaterflash probably listened to the major labels advice on how to make records?

The whole Quarterflash/xhuxk thing was just a joke. But I was thinking about polling xhuxk's alternative guide top 10 some time. The video for 'Harden My Heart' is a central to the early-80s pop-modernist canon inside my thin mind...

On un-punk sound alone I'd vote for "Karma Chameleon" (maybe George gets a pass on sexual politics).

"Don't Dream It's Over" is my second. It's basically a hair metal or AOR ballad done beautifully right.

I guess "New Wave" was a poison phrase by the early 90s (and even that would've been something of a misnomer).

but the first eighties comps and eighties-themed nights were already going as early as '92!

Wow, I can't believe that commercial is real! What were they thinking?? The wigs, the phony banter, the sexism (the woman basically just says 'Yeah!' to whatever the guy says), and nary an actual punk song on the album.

Voted 'I Need a New Drug' only because Huey Lewis and the News strike me as the least 'punk' of all the artists. He even had a song called 'Hip to be Square', whose message is almost the antithesis of punk. But really any song on this album would qualify.

well you could argue that from its title inversion to the music that "Hip to Be Square" is purest Guy Debord.

lol

You can draw a pretty short line from UK post-punk to "Karma Chameleon"

can we just agree all these songs are awesome but Huey Lewis

I was gonna say the same thing, except I like Huey Lewis too.

Huey Lewis was my first concert, on the sports tour, went with my mom. I thought I was cool.

Little did you know you were punking it up out there.

i think i was wearing a blue mesh sleeveless shirt

disco being the opposite of punk obvs

I thought prog was the opposite of punk.....

Nick Lowe and Billy Idol about the only ones here that have even some connection with punk rock.

I'll vote for Toni Basil, though Huey Lewis (which also has a sax hook) is a close 2nd.

And yes, for me at least, Rumours is more subversive than Never Mind the Bollocks, though i only *wish* it was as influential...

Billy Idol is probably most A-to-B punk tied artist here, but Love and Rockets and Madness at least came from something adjacent to the scene. idg the Nick Lowe thing.

http://i.imgur.com/7WOj5.gif

Patti Smith and the Pretenders took the major labels money, but Quaterflash probably listened to the major labels advice on how to make records?

Pat Benatar the obvious missing link in this equation (though she applies way more to Q-flash's followup hit "Find Another Fool" than to the one above.)

Nick Lowe and Billy Idol about the only ones here that have even some connection with punk rock.
Billy Idol is probably most A-to-B punk tied artist here, but Love and Rockets and Madness at least came from something adjacent

Again -- Why not Devo? (Not arguing; just curious if some people really think they had no link to punk.)

wonder if Robert Palmer deserves a mention

Devo, true. Those pre-first album recordings that were compiled at some point in the 90s were pretty punky, but would anyone outside of Ohio locals have heard them at the time they were made?

Robert Palmer has roots ore in prog jazz rock than punk, coming from the Alan Bown.

not that he's punk exactly -- he's a fellow traveler. "Johnny and Mary" or "Looking For Clues" woulda made sense on this comp though

Nick Lowe's punk credentials mainly from producing Elvis Costello and The Damned

I've been hunting to the full tracklist to see what's missing from the list, but to no avail.

to

Haha same here. I keep getting this thread.

xxpost

Also from being the main force behind the proto-punk, pub rock Brinsley Schwarz.

Oh cmon Devo is totally punk

Nick Lowe and Billy Idol about the only ones here that have even some connection with punk rock.

I'll vote for Toni Basil

toni basil had a connection to punk (or post-punk): devo played on/produced "mickey" and the album it was on.

I'd forgotten about Lowe's Damned production turn, but the EC and Brinsley Schwarz things don't really cut him into punk imo.

Toni Basil did a bunch of Devo covers at some point, too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_4L_ZIES4g

oh lol I guess it was that very album. I've only ever heard them as standalones, so I had no idea they were on the Word of Mouth album.

"So it Goes" was ~~kind of~~ linked to the punk scene, no?

and "mickey" came from a power-pop song called "kitty":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOXVcyVEO6A

Wow. I don't think I ever knew about that.

Early Elvis Costello (i.e. "Pump It Up") sounds plenty punk to me, but ymmv

"kitty" was co-written by mike chapman, blondie's producer.

Toni Basil, the unacknowledged punk pioneer

She's in the Monkees film "Head",,

And Easy Rider...

And Five Easy Pieces. And helped choreograph The T.A.M.I. Show.

get bent, that's amazing.

i think this compilation was put together by a punk scholar who just wanted to fuck with everyone.

voted Karma Chameleon. just come on.

(xpost) that said, i think quarterflash probably has the most degrees of separation from actual punk culture. i voted for escape club but in retrospect i'd change my vote.

otm:

Sister Paul comprise a male bassist singing in soprano and a female drummer in alto. They sing all songs together playing the each instrument in the heavy groove. The words written by Susumu have a queer and unstable feeling. In spite of the sound they make is full of decadance, violence and insanity, some audiences laugh, others shed tears surrounding all happy atomosphere in the end.

^ ^ ^ 2:10 --> 2:19 is beyond awesome!

love how the drummer is never not going ALL IN

sister paul discography and mail order

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

lol, i figured that i want a new drug would take it, for whatever reason, but maybe that one doesn't mean much to UK folks. it's certainly more "hard edged" than don't dream it's over, an honorable victor.

of the runners-up, i'm sort of surprised that jeopardy came in above the likes of of human and chains of love, but it's only by one vote, so fair play.

i voted for Kihn but in retrospect i would've voted for Escape Club because those guys seem the least likely to have even heard a punk band

We didn't discuss "Don't Dream It's Over" enough -- one of my unfuckwithable jams. Love everything about it.

i always figured that jeopardy was about as punk as some girls, which is to say kinda

and alfred otm

tbh i probably know the weird al version of "jeopardy" better than the original, it was just kind of a kneejerk vote

I didn't vote in this--love the commercial--but, as a couple of people suggested, the answer is so obviously Quarterflash to me. Not that I hate "Harden My Heart"--there's a song on their first LP, "Love Should Be So Kind," I like a lot--but some of these are attached to punk by a thread one millimeter thick, either via the song or the artist's family tree or the way they were marketed, and some are attached by a thread three millimeters thick, but Quarterflash has no connection whatsoever that I can see. I guess the idea of hardening your heart is a punk sentiment, but I'm not sure it's worth a distant finish behind bands with clear new wave affiliations.

mr. narrator, quarterflash is pat benatar to me, so sort of weirdly punk by association

^ to the tune of "history lesson part ii"

lol

I noticed the resemblance to Pat Benatar too when I looked at the video. Mind you, Justin Bieber sometimes looks like Darby Crash to me.

I could see that actually.

bieber/crash

bieby pyn

Franz Biebercrash: the punishment begins.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MuhwxTZs8M8/SZW8pE3mdZI/AAAAAAAAAMA/jI8iU7rYw3Y/s400/displayimage.jpg

i'm thinking that westwood promotions put this out via warner/time-life or warner special products, but discogs' warner special products entry doesn't mention it.

Yeah, you can see the Warner "W" logo on the cds in the commercial. It's become my mission to find a real world copy of this fucker.

^ saw that, but then decided it was maybe just a warner-like westwood logo, dunno

it would probably belong somewhere on this page:

http://www.bsnpubs.com/warner/wsp/wsp4500.html

Everlasting Love
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZfxyhG12y8

"Do you recognize this dance? It's called The Shag"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lSFDVhcD1g

Senior Prom
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVsrcl55fmU

the Totally '90s comp contendo referred to upthread is actually comparably peculiar.

Tracklisting:

1. Unbelievable - EMF
2. The Only Living Boy In New Cross - Carter
3. Real Real Real - Jesus Jones
4. Sleeping Satellite - Tasmin Archer
5. Mr. Wendall - Arrested Development
6. Trouble - Shampoo
7. Well Did You Evah - Deborah Harry & Iggy Pop
8. Rubberband Girl - Kate Bush
9. I'll Be Your Baby Tonight - Robert Palmer & UB40
10. It Should Have Been Me - Adeva
11. Live Your Life Be Free - Belinda Carlisle
12. Outstanding - Kenny Thomas
13. I Like To Move It - Reel II Real
14. Independence - Lulu
15. Careful - Horse
16. Ice Ice Baby - Vanilla Ice

I don't know, that is way more 90s than PUNK is punk

yeah but it's like three or four no-brainers buffering a whole lot of pretty counterintuitive picks

that's three or four more than the PUNK compilation has!

I guess the idea of hardening your heart is a punk sentiment, but I'm not sure it's worth a distant finish behind bands with clear new wave affiliations.

at a guess, Quarterflash may have lost votes by being the only one on this list to be completely unknown in Europe?

that 90s comp looks like it came free with 10 purchases of a soft drink in early 1994, so I guess it is pretty 90s

Sorry for bumping such an old post, but, I have been searching for this for at least 5-6 years. I think I finally solved the mystery last night. Rather than bore you with all the details, I'll just refer you to the Reddit post where I explain the full story: https://www.reddit.com/r/Music/comments/3o3ens/minor_mystery_solved_90s_punk_cd_commercial/

The bolded titles are the songs not in the commercial (10), the other 26 match up with the known track listing featured in the commercial.

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80's Retro (Warner Special Products OPCD-3536) (discog info here: https://musicbrainz.org/release/43b18d5a-f488-4880-bac1-b8335c64a43c)

CD 1
1 - Hit Me With Your Best Shot - Pat Benatar
2 - Who Can It Be Now? - Men At Work
3 - Voices Carry - Til Tuesday
4 - Our House - Madness
5 - One Thing Leads To Another - The Fixx
6 - Rock Lobster - The B-52s
7 - What You Need - INXS
8 - And We Danced - The Hooters
9 - She Blinded Me With Science - Thomas Dolby
10 - I Want A New Drug - Huey Lewis & The News
11 - Whip It - DEVO
12 - Talking In Your Sleep - The Romantics
13 - Be Near Me - ABC
14 - She's A Beauty - The Tubes
15 - Human - The Human League
16 - Send Me An Angel - Real Life
17 - Harden My Heart - Quarterflash
18 - Eyes Without A Face - Billy Idol

CD 2
1 - Hold Me Now - Thompson Twins
2 - Stray Cat Strut - Stray Cats
3 - So Alive - Love and Rockets
4 - Video Killed The Radio Star - The Buggles
5 - Cruel To Be Kind - Nick Lowe
6 - Don't Dream It's Over - Crowded House
7 - Someday, Someway - Marshall Crenshaw
8 - Jeopardy - Greg Kihn Band
9 - Karma Chameleon - Culture Club
10 - My Sharona - The Knack
11 - 867-5309 (Jenny) - Tommy Tutone
12 - Chains of Love - Erasure
13 - I Ran (So Far Away) - A Flock of Seagulls
14 - Wild Wild West - The Escape Club
15 - Mickey - Toni Basil
16 - Precious To Me - Phil Seymour
17 - You Might Think - The Cars
18 - Here Comes The Rain Again - Eurythmics