Punk diary: 1970-1979. - book reviews

ArtForum, Summer, 1994 by Andrew Hultkrans

Longtime punk maven George Gimarc has organized his memorabilia vaults into a chronological scrapbook, meticulously documenting the daily eruptions of the punk movement. Partially inspired by Gimarc's own need for a reference tome on the period, Punk Diary is essential for fans of the era, and is amusing for the curious voyeur, not unlike thumbing through a friend's high school yearbook. While Gimarc's completist tendencies can grow tiresome for the uninitiated (carefully tracking the "careers" of such obscurities as the Pork Dukes and Slaughter and the Dogs), even VH-1 viewers will enjoy plumbing the secret histories of Elvis Costello, Sting, U2, and other main-stream acts.

In addition to the antics of the premier punk bands, Gimarc provides us with wonderfully embarrassing early glimpses of later superstars. Highlights include: NME and Melody Maker letters from a precocious teenage Morrissey, who, had he not formed the Smiths years later, would surely have found his calling as a rock critic: "Aerosmith are one of those American dance-a-rama scenic bands with enough punch to see the Stones on pensions and enough make-up to last them through the winter. . . . Vocalist Steven Tyler sounds as though he is using the microphone to brush his teeth. . . . It's often forgotten that the [New York] Dolls were the beginning of a whole new music scene in America which has produced such rarities as Kiss, Aerosmith, The Tubes, and the current genius Bruce Springsteen . . . not to mention the truckloads of amateur bands which, as I pen this epistle, will no doubt be screeching away at unrecognizable chords after bathing in the latest brands of cosmetics. . . . The Ramones are the latest bumptious band of degenerate no-talents whose most notable achievement to date is their ability to advance beyond the boundaries of New York City." And a review of a live performance of the recently formed U2 contains an eerily prescient riff on Bono as "a lead singer who could well grow to be something of a nuisance when U2 are Top of the Pops regulars . . . like a naughty Mork, the unpredictable alien, he's irrepressible, irritating, and accidentally, incidentally and purposefully incisive."

Whether or not you know (or care) about the bands in question, a close reading unearths some riotous Establishment responses to the punk movement, which, if they seem impossibly tight-assed today, were the opening salvos of future culture wars in America: "The Ramones get the attention of The Glasgow Evening Times, who print the headline 'Ramones In Teenage Glue Death Outrage.' Labor Party MP James Dempsey of Scotland makes a move to have the first Ramones LP banned from the country's record racks, citing the track Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue as encouragement to young buyers to do just that. Dempsey is preparing to put a bill before Parliament that will put glue and similar solvents on a par with cigarettes and fireworks, making them available only to those over seventeen." Regarding an early Arts Council-funded performance by industrial pioneers Throbbing Gristle, which featured strippers and pornographic photos, Tory MP Nicholas Fairbairn fumed, "It's a sickening outrage, sadistic, obscene, evil. The Arts Council must be scrapped after this!" Meanwhile the Sex Pistols' arrival in America prompted alarmist headlines decrying the "punk rock horror" invading our shores. Memphis Vice officer Lieutenant Ronald Howell offered the press his guidelines for the band's performance in his precinct: "We've heard a lot about these boys, and if they behave themselves we'll give them a right friendly welcome. Memphis is a dean city. We aim to keep it that way. We will not tolerate any real or simulated sex onstage. No sir. They can be nude if they like. They can spit. They can even vomit. No laws against that, but there must be no lewd or indecent behavior."

As dated as much of Punk Diary seems, many of the cultural clashes documented within remain sadly relevant today. No future indeed.