For the past forty plus
years, I have banged on about how UK Punk Rock 1976/78 was best exemplified by
the bands that started from scratch. Self-taught, intelligent people who wanted
to do something new; Devoto’s Buzzcocks, the Adverts, The Slits, Subway Sect,
the Prefects, Penetration, the Fall, the Raincoats, Alternative TV, X-Ray Spex,
the Banshees and even Eater. Dismissed as the second division, these were THE
essential bands who were punk…to my mind, and many agree. Generation X didn’t
fit into my theory, but they made simply the most irresistible glam, pop, mod,
rock’n’roll amalgamation and released it as their debut album -the eponymous
Generation X. Without a doubt one of THE best debut albums there is from the timeframe...it’s
a total classic. Faultless. Thrilling. Tuneful. Catchy. Immediate. A great Pop
Record. It sounds fresh, cocky, and world-beating. It sets your pulse racing…
But it was and still is a battleground for punk authenticity and snobbery. Were they real or were they ‘plastic’. (I first heard the term ‘plastic punk’ in 1977 as a 12 year old. Wise old 17 year olds used it as term of derision for bands and people who weren’t considered to be ‘real punks’. It was the worst insult you could level at a band). Of course, after all this time, it shouldn’t matter…Generation X - the album still sounds fresh, vital and fun. It also sounds silly and clichéd. It is irresistible, but it’s like a West Side Story re-enactment of Punk in London. If you don’t believe me you can trace the lineage from Generation X through to Green Day, their cover of Kiss Me Deadly, to American Idiot, to their Broadway Musical of the same name.
It could be maintained that Generation X went against the orthodoxy of punk; instead of No Elvis, Beatles and the Rolling Stones – two get positive namechecks in Ready Steady Go and the Elvis lip-curl validated ‘the King’. Instead of opposing heavy metal guitar solos – they use one to end the album (That Punk-Hendrix maelstrom that makes up half of YouthYouthYouth!) There are unashamedly glam stomps and pop choruses (Wild Youth IS the Punk Rock ‘Tiger Feet!) But at the same time they kept referencing Punk in the songs – even including product placement for ‘Malcolms strides’ (When it was Vivienne who made them!). They wanted it both ways - their cake, and to eat it (off a gold-disc following a residency on Top of the Pops). There are so many corny and fuckin’ clichéd lyrics scattered throughout the album it’s difficult not to smile throughout: The spray can is the gun which shoots from my hand….Our hair was short – we said what we thought…..the Snooker Hall is empty, Cause they’re all out playing pool…Soon you’ll get your gear form Marks and Sparks / Punks ‘ll take over the Top of the Pops….
Promises, Promises tries really hard to be Generation X’s Complete Control with its reference to A&R men not giving a shit about their rock’n’roll dream and James’ backing vocals on that and other tracks are pure Mick Jones. Nonetheless, no matter how ludicrous, the song still works and is probably another which Billy-Joe sings word-for-word in the shower. Derwoods guitar-playing is phenomenal - once you accept he is a Metal virtuoso trying to condense it into a punk format - rather than a three-chord-wonder or ground-breaker. Mark Laff is a cool drummer and comes close to being a player on a par with Keith Moon. Tony James was an enthusiastic ideas man and the brains of the outfit rather than a musician’s musician. Weirdly and technically Idol is the weak link as a singer, but a decent vocal-stylist with a love of rock’n’roll melodrama.
There was a codified elitism in the song lyrics which rankled with some: 100 Punks dictated that you “had to have a look” to be one. The Tube stops and Soho streets listed meant the Londoncentricity was ingrained. Punk for many meant the opposite to exclusivity: If anyone can do it (yourself) any one can be included. But despite this, it is still a great, action-packed, solid-gold-easy-listening and quite brilliant album - as long as you don’t take it seriously. That old scenario - What if Punk Never Happened? The Pistols didn’t employ Lydon after his audition or they didn’t go on Bill Grundys show? Well, Generation X probably STILL would’ve happened somehow – Billy Idol and Tony James had that drive and determination to be Great Big Rock Stars – but they would’ve been a glam/ rockabilly/pub rock band – and would’ve created their own teenage mythology. When all is said and done, after 43 years Generation X by Generation X still sounds fuckin’ amazing. It’s a great piece of Pop, Rock and OK Punk History…..but history rendered in a cartoonish form. If you want grit, social-realism, politico-protest, poetic self-expression…and so on, look elsewhere. If you want ‘young, dumb and full of cum’, well you’ve come to the right place. If you want to hear one of the bands who influenced Green Day, Guns’n’Roses and loads of other ‘Rebel-Rockers’ then, yep – here they are. Generation X were the brashest of their Generation. The cockiest, the best-looking, the most ambitious and their debut album was their Finest Hour. They would never better it (King Rocker aside – classic 45!). For every serious teenage-boy who ‘hated’ them there were five fun-loving teenage girls who loved them. And for every twenty-three year old rock fan who despised them there five thirteen year olds who worshipped them.
If you can’t make up your mind whether I’m trying to praise or slate Generation X, well, good; I’m doing both. I love this album…but I hate myself for liking them, because it goes against everything I ‘believe’ about punk rock and art and commerce.
But it was and still is a battleground for punk authenticity and snobbery. Were they real or were they ‘plastic’. (I first heard the term ‘plastic punk’ in 1977 as a 12 year old. Wise old 17 year olds used it as term of derision for bands and people who weren’t considered to be ‘real punks’. It was the worst insult you could level at a band). Of course, after all this time, it shouldn’t matter…Generation X - the album still sounds fresh, vital and fun. It also sounds silly and clichéd. It is irresistible, but it’s like a West Side Story re-enactment of Punk in London. If you don’t believe me you can trace the lineage from Generation X through to Green Day, their cover of Kiss Me Deadly, to American Idiot, to their Broadway Musical of the same name.
It could be maintained that Generation X went against the orthodoxy of punk; instead of No Elvis, Beatles and the Rolling Stones – two get positive namechecks in Ready Steady Go and the Elvis lip-curl validated ‘the King’. Instead of opposing heavy metal guitar solos – they use one to end the album (That Punk-Hendrix maelstrom that makes up half of YouthYouthYouth!) There are unashamedly glam stomps and pop choruses (Wild Youth IS the Punk Rock ‘Tiger Feet!) But at the same time they kept referencing Punk in the songs – even including product placement for ‘Malcolms strides’ (When it was Vivienne who made them!). They wanted it both ways - their cake, and to eat it (off a gold-disc following a residency on Top of the Pops). There are so many corny and fuckin’ clichéd lyrics scattered throughout the album it’s difficult not to smile throughout: The spray can is the gun which shoots from my hand….Our hair was short – we said what we thought…..the Snooker Hall is empty, Cause they’re all out playing pool…Soon you’ll get your gear form Marks and Sparks / Punks ‘ll take over the Top of the Pops….
Promises, Promises tries really hard to be Generation X’s Complete Control with its reference to A&R men not giving a shit about their rock’n’roll dream and James’ backing vocals on that and other tracks are pure Mick Jones. Nonetheless, no matter how ludicrous, the song still works and is probably another which Billy-Joe sings word-for-word in the shower. Derwoods guitar-playing is phenomenal - once you accept he is a Metal virtuoso trying to condense it into a punk format - rather than a three-chord-wonder or ground-breaker. Mark Laff is a cool drummer and comes close to being a player on a par with Keith Moon. Tony James was an enthusiastic ideas man and the brains of the outfit rather than a musician’s musician. Weirdly and technically Idol is the weak link as a singer, but a decent vocal-stylist with a love of rock’n’roll melodrama.
There was a codified elitism in the song lyrics which rankled with some: 100 Punks dictated that you “had to have a look” to be one. The Tube stops and Soho streets listed meant the Londoncentricity was ingrained. Punk for many meant the opposite to exclusivity: If anyone can do it (yourself) any one can be included. But despite this, it is still a great, action-packed, solid-gold-easy-listening and quite brilliant album - as long as you don’t take it seriously. That old scenario - What if Punk Never Happened? The Pistols didn’t employ Lydon after his audition or they didn’t go on Bill Grundys show? Well, Generation X probably STILL would’ve happened somehow – Billy Idol and Tony James had that drive and determination to be Great Big Rock Stars – but they would’ve been a glam/ rockabilly/pub rock band – and would’ve created their own teenage mythology. When all is said and done, after 43 years Generation X by Generation X still sounds fuckin’ amazing. It’s a great piece of Pop, Rock and OK Punk History…..but history rendered in a cartoonish form. If you want grit, social-realism, politico-protest, poetic self-expression…and so on, look elsewhere. If you want ‘young, dumb and full of cum’, well you’ve come to the right place. If you want to hear one of the bands who influenced Green Day, Guns’n’Roses and loads of other ‘Rebel-Rockers’ then, yep – here they are. Generation X were the brashest of their Generation. The cockiest, the best-looking, the most ambitious and their debut album was their Finest Hour. They would never better it (King Rocker aside – classic 45!). For every serious teenage-boy who ‘hated’ them there were five fun-loving teenage girls who loved them. And for every twenty-three year old rock fan who despised them there five thirteen year olds who worshipped them.
If you can’t make up your mind whether I’m trying to praise or slate Generation X, well, good; I’m doing both. I love this album…but I hate myself for liking them, because it goes against everything I ‘believe’ about punk rock and art and commerce.