sex pistols vrs the clash

[Jeremy Blackman]

I really don't know what to say to that

That statement could kill any thread. Well done.

[AlguienEstolamiPantalones]

you are speaking in abstarct tones " how do we know this or that or who or what"

the point is who could of done more for punk

i say the pistols,

for example when the stones came out they didnt write their own songs, but they had the right imgae and with time the songs came out of them and the rest is history

but thye always had the cool image , look at how great brian jones looked and mick was a born front man, keith took some time but brian jones was born for it and died for rock and roll


the pistols had the right image and well they wrote their own songs, if you can call them songs, but thye would of gotten better, no wait something that great can only last a short time

but they should of had more copy cats then the clash did, 80's american punk based themselves on politics and stupid shit when it should of been about freaking out the mainstream and then getting all the girls to go nuts like Elvis did

like the beatles did

like eminem is doing now

ya know what jon spencer is doing right now he is getting my white mocha cappachino ready for me at his job at starbucks, meanwhile eminem is getting paid millions to re create pop culture

he found fucking 50 cent and who is hotter now

this is Em's world and he did it the DIY Way , since 89 he would perform in local rap shows and make mix tapes and try and sell them and no one gave a fuck then one day the whole world gave a fuck thats punk baby

the ramones would of been proud that was their plan, to be the next stones and biger then kiss who was huge at the time, and they refused to change their style

to bad it didnt work out for poor joey and the boys, but i bet they would of respected eminem

[Sleuth]

I really don't know what to say to that

That statement could kill any thread. Well done.

And isn't that punk?

[RapturousAmbivalence]

Even though AlguienEstolamiPantalones prefers the Sex Pistols and I prefer the Clash, I must say that his interpretation of punk is definitely the right one. Punk is a philosophy, a way of life, an attitude. What it's not is wristbands and Hot Topic t-shirts and little assholes like Simple Plan and Averil-fuckin'-Lavigne peddling their shitty "I'm-a-punk" pathos to millions of screaming fad-swallowing girls with acne problems. I do not like Eminem. I find him a misogynistic homophobe (but then again, aren't all rappers gay-bashing womanizers?). However Eminem does conduct himself in a way that is punk to the core (i.e. not giving a fuck). And again, The Sex Pistols were the ultimate snotty little rude schoolboys, their smarmy sneers outmatched only by their crusty abandon. The Clash tried to inject some awareness into their punk schtick but they tried really hard not to fall prey to the rock formula of that time (Peter Frampton, anyone?). Strummer actually kicked Mick Jones out of the band after he tried to mold their sound into one that would be friendly to the mainstream. All three of these artists never sold out, they just became famous . . .

I don't want to start a heated battle over who was better, the Pistols or the Clash, I see your reasoning behind your support of the Pistols. We can't forget that they actually spearheaded the first wave of punk and it's invasion of mainstream. Their legacy was one of overwhelming drug use, sex, violence, and apathy. They shocked the Queen Mother and mothers alike. They STARTED the punk movement in Britain, they STARTED the first punk fad in 1977, but back then it was some much more dirty and grimy, really true and essential, worthy of the title punk. Soon every schoolboy or girl was razoring their school jumpers and shaving their hair, seeing that yes, there was a word for what they felt, that word was punk. The Sex Pistols became a truly filthy stain on musical history, and for that they deserve all the recognition in the world. But now, with the onslaught of so many shitty bands and Vans Warped Tours, we've lost that raw anger and rebellion that lived so many decades ago. That feeling went underground, went back into tiny clubs and garages, it went back under the radar again.

I don't think we'll ever see another Sex Pistols, another band with the same principles, the same feelings, the anger, the fury, the unadultarated punk sensability. We'll never see another Clash, another Damned, another Bad Brains, another band that could match the emotion of that era (the 70's and 80's), because today, it's all about the money. Some artists, like Eminem, have found a way to make millions without compromising their sound and their principles. They can deliver their message and then cash their fat royalty check. You mentioned the Beastie Boys, they had originally played a part in the NYC hardcore punk scene back in the eighties, alongside DC greats like the Minutemen and Minor Threat (yeah, it's a MacKaye band, so what?), but then they found that they could use the emerging medium of rap to express their views to a larger audience. What you got was that hard, raw sound melded into backbeats and samples on Paul's Boutique and other early works. If you can exploit the mainstream and still get your message across (political or not), then you've succeeded.

Subverting the mainstream is a delcate process that many true punk bands tend to forgoe, they couldn't care less about signing some stupid fucking multi-million dollar deal, they just wanna bring punk rock to the people.

I care passionately about punk and I get so fucking mad when I see its name forsaken to sell records to posers and fad-followers who gladly snatch up the latest recycled sound in order to maintain social standing with their "in" friends.

[chainsmoking insomniac]

Pistols hands down.

But fuggit, the Clash is good-time listening too.