At the risk of depressing older readers, last week marked the 25th anniversary of the release of New Rose by The Damned, the first British punk single.
Yes, a quarter of a century has passed since spiky hair, anarchy, the pogo, chaos, straight-legged jeans, ripped T-shirts, safety pins and amphetamine-fuelled, three-chord guitar pop winged their way into an outraged British consciousness. Which means it is 23 years since I bought my first punk record - well, a Blondie 45 - under the impression that the revolution had started and everything was going to be different.
Sadly, I was correct: Thatcher was elected in 1979 and the revenge of Little England began in earnest. So much for youthful fervour and the widely held belief that the young punks would soon burn themselves out. All these years later, The Damned (with Dave Vanian and Captain Sensible remaining from the original quartet that featured Brian James and Rat Scabies) are still touring and recording, and communicating with fans at www.officialdamned.com.
Here, alongside such staples of music sites as a discography and biographies, you will find the delights of Captain Sensible's 2001 US tour diary. "The flight was a breeze," notes the Captain, "possibly aided by some excellent tranquillisers that [drummer] Pinch had procured just before the trip. Trouble was, every time he awoke from a quick snooze, he complained that the 'sodding things weren't working' and took another one."
But while such official sites are by no means rare - The Buzzcocks' site at www.buzzcocks.com gives the lowdown on original 'cocks Howard Devoto and Pete Shelley's recent recording under the irreverent moniker of buzzkunst - it can take an age to find reliable information.
Many punk bands imploded years ago so official sites don't exist or, like The Clash site Westway To The World were set up to plug retrospectively released product. Far better to visit the lovingly compiled g London's Burning with its links, lyrics and guitar tablatures. Or try former Clash frontman Joe Strummer's homepage at www.joestrummer.co.uk.
As befits their chaotic history, The Sex Pistols' web presence is similarly confusing. A mini-site at www.virginrecords.com, set up when the band briefly re-formed, is long gone. Instead, try the cleanly designed God Save The Sex Pistols at www.sex-pistols.net, or for news on Johnny Rotten/Lydon go to www.john-lydon.com. The band's former bassist and principal tunesmith Glen Matlock has a site at www.glen matlock.com where you will find dates for The Dead Men Walking "lark", a kind of could've-been-a-contender supergroup tour featuring Glen, Pete Wylie of Wah!, Kirk Brandon of Spear Of Destiny and Mike Peters of The Alarm. Such a nostalgia fest hardly seems punk at all.
The second hassle with finding decent punk sites is the sheer number of cyberspace destinations. For that reason I have not listed sites for US bands, except to note that punk would never have happened without The Ramones.
The Google punk directory lists 1,341 sites devoted to bands, and that is before you get into subsections such as Flyers and Posters, Garage Rock, Riot Grrl and Christian Punk. (Visit Christian Punks Unite at http://skatenbass.tripod.com to find "scripture chosen to support Christian punk".) This explains why the Ultimate Band List, http://ubl.artistdirect.com, is invaluable.
Type in the name of the band and you will find a biography, a links page and information on downloads and streaming media. Look for links at House Of The Rising Punk http://ubl.artistdirect.com or Worldwide Punk www.worldwidepunk.com. Via such gateways, you will find brilliantly obscure sites.
Ever wondered what happened to The Adverts' mainman TV Smith? Visit www.tvsmith.com to find out. Or Mark Perry, singer with ATV and founder of the legendary fanzine Sniffin' Glue? At www.markperry.freeuk.com you will find Mark cheerfully slagging off the "navel-gazing toss" purveyed by Elvis Costello and Nick Cave. You could be forgiven for thinking that not a lot changed 25 years ago, except that boys were given another excuse to make lists, but the Women Of 1970s Punk at www.comnet.ca/~rina suggests otherwise.
Pre-punk, chicks were, broadly speaking, allowed to sing folk songs and make tea. Thanks to the trailblazing efforts of the likes of The Slits and Siouxsie Sioux of The Banshees fame, feminism barged into the rock 'n' roll boys' club. And if you want further proof that punk changed people's lives, go to the Early 80s Punk Rock Survivors community at http://communities.msn.com/earlyeightiespunkrocksurvivors, where you can "bullshit about the bad old days".
