Origins of Pub Rock

-- xhuxk

"Acquiesce"
"Hello"
"Rock and Roll Star"
"Columbia"

And not only back then. You find them in more recent stuff such as "I Can See a Liar" and "The Hindu Times" too.

I certainly do hear Slade in the singalong choruses of "You Shook Me All Night Long" and "Back In Black"

Good little history lesson here:

https://pleasekillme.com/pub-rock-wilko-johnson/

> rather loud vocals over loud guitars<again, where are all these mysterious "loud guitars" in oasis songs??

Some excellent reading on this thread. I started listening to Slade when they "stormed" America, and played Midnight Special or Don Kirshner's Rock Concert or summat, and a friend of mine, half-English, and maybe a native (Dad was stationed there), said. "Those guys are never gonna make it, they're too English." Looks like he waw right. But the Clash, who of course did have US hits (ditto Slade, but only as 80s covers; another friend saw them back over here then, when they lip-synched or sang live but to a backing tape, either way didn't go too well), the Clash did seem maybe influenced image-wise: their Angels With Dirty Faces shtick went with Slade as singing chimneysweeps (maybe also pre-Village People, with the guy in the glam suit, Noddy in his own gear etc.

Slade's "Run Runaway" was a bit of a US hit, right? maybe their only one.

*was* right.
Don't remember an American hit, hope you're right!
I heard the Elizabeth McQueen covers album referenced by threadstarter, back when it first came out. Wasn't that into her presentation (seems like she's since been more effective with Asleep At The Wheel, who come to think of it are somewhat like American pub rock re their mix of western swing and other roots traditions, covers and originals, with some originals). But I was intrigued by some of McQ's pub rock selections, incl. Ducks Deluxe originals. I still want to check them out, and Kilburn High Roads too, because Ian Dury.
Graham Parker & The Rumour sound kind of post-pub; he faded away after ditching them, but I a late 70s album they made without him kept me listening.

"Post-Pub" is golden..

Interesting that this old thread was hijacked into a discussion of Slade in the first place, who were essentially glitter/arena (after the skinhead phase) and everything pub rock was supposed to be in opposition to. But as Wilko argues in that piece I linked to, there never was a definitive pub "sound" per se; it's just that the bands happen to play in pubs.

I always thought Huey Lewis's "Workin' for a Livin'" was sort of post-pub... he was in Clover, after all. When I learned they backed Elvis on My Aim is True I tracked some down and found it really, really unlikeable.

Glad I missed that, thanks for the warning.
But pub rock seems def. based on hearty bar appeal, but also they were trying to balance that with something more: not just any old covers, or any old originals; it had to all fit together in a signature sound, to develop their own following, without gettin too wierd.
Which reminds me, in the 70s Consumer Guide capsules stashed on xgau's site, he compares Duck Deluxe, at least in approach, if not actual sound, to Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen, whose covers and originals attracted quite a social mix, suits and headz and geezers and more, in early 70s Austin, even before they started having albums released (Well, starting waaay before, if you count the first decade in Ann Arbor, 'til they finally exhausted the possibilities of being professional students etc., jumped to Berkeley and became barriffic favorites there, and an opening act for the Dead, who were getting back to being more collegetown-proto-pub-rootsy themselves, esp. when not jamming)

were Men at Work or Dire Straits pub rock?

Dire straits are definitely pubrock adjacent. There are Rockpile connections there iirc?

Yes, definitely. Men At Work are from Australia, so they don't count.

Yeah okay, their second drummer (Terry Williams) was in Rockpile with Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds xp

All 70s/80s Australian bands are, by definition, pub rock, apart from Dead Can Dance.

Re: Dire Straits

Brewers Droop was a Southern English pub rock band of the early 1970s. Though they did not chart, they are notable as an early exponent of the pub rock style, as well as for their connections with Dire Straits, as both Mark Knopfler and Pick Withers played with the group for a few months in 1973.

lmao Brewers Droop is an incredible pub rock band name

oh my god i didn't know what it meant, this is even better

noun: brewers droop
inability in a man to achieve or maintain an erection as a consequence of drinking an excess of alcohol.
"rumor had it he suffered from brewer's droop"

“his brewer’s droop got him into dire straits”

All 70s/80s Australian bands are, by definition, pub rock, apart from Dead Can Dance.
Were The Go-Betweens, The Scientists, The Church, The Saints, The Birthday Party, Us Mob, No Fixed Address, Coloured Stone, Radio Birdman, Rose Tattoo, Midnight Oil pub?

I'll wait for the remix album Drewer's Broop.

hadn't encountered brwers droop before (fnarr), the cover of this comp is amazing:

https://d1e9ycqe323hkh.cloudfront.net/items/303410828798.jpg

It turns out Pick Withers played with Dave Edmunds too. It's all making sense now.

actual song titles by brewers droop:

House Party
I Can See Your Public Bar
The Way I Feel
Let's Watch T.V.
Opening Time (Beer)
Droopin'
Caught Us Doin' It
Sweet Thing
My Old Lady
Rock Steady Woman
What's The Time
Midnight Special
If You See Kay Tonight
It Ain't The Meat - It's The Motion

so much DO NOT WANT in such a small discography

Doctor Parkinson declared, "I'm not surprised to see you here. You've got smokers cough from smoking, brewer's droop from drinking beer."

had to look that lyric up (i thought it was genesis or something tbh). good spot!

lmao @ brewer's droop's dire straits pisstake cover

noteworthy new comp. cue argument about whether some of these bands are really pub rock.

https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/surrender-to-the-rhythm-the-london-pub-rock-scene-of-the-seventies-various-artists-3cd-digipak/

There's a few acts that shouldn't be on there, pretty obvious who they are I'd say. I'm sure some of it is not bad, good even, but why anyone would need three CDs of this stuff I can't imagine.

This song says it all in just over 4 minutes.

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

I love that song, was tempted to post it.

It's genius.

There's a few acts that shouldn't be on there, pretty obvious who they are I'd say.

agreed but a couple that are so out there that i feel compelled to remark -

The Jam!!!
SAHB1!!!

With so many pub rock bands of the era having not recorded, we’ve plugged the gaps with a few acts (Status Quo, Mott, SAHB, Thin Lizzy) who had an agreeably down-to-earth, spit’n’sawdust mentality even though they were too big to play the circuit. After all, pub rock is a state of mind as much as a physical location… Oh well, that sounds alright---but, if they're gonna have Mott The Hoople, and they are, I would have expected them to pick, say, "All The Way To Memphis"---fitting the roots etc. format better than "I Wish I Was Your Mother'!

Yes, that is a weird pick.

That Brewer’s Droop tracklist (from their 1972 LP, Opening Time) is just fantastic! It’s superior to any gag or parody.

What’s with this new version of “Surrender to the Rhythm”?

Here is a much older version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSlyn0WoSjc

With Brinsley on second keyboards…and Ian Gomm on bass?

New version is some kind of Elvis Costello nostalgia project but it sounds good!

https://pitchfork.com/news/elvis-costello-reunites-with-first-band-rusty-announces-debut-album/