Punk Archives
25 Punk Singles
Cleopatra
An important compilation of, just like it says, twenty-five, classic punk rock singles. The collection spans from ‘77 to ‘89, mostly concentrating on UK , included are “Born to Lose” and “Chinese Rocks” by Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers, “Seeing Through My Eyes” and “Decapitated” by Broken Bones, “Viva Le Revolution” by the Adicts, “New Barbarians” by Urban Dogs, “Another Typical City” and “This Gun Says” by U.K. Subs, etc. One after another, it’s “hit after hit” of important punk singles that seem to be forgotten in these days of insane amounts of money being thrown at boring bands, oh, well… There’s tracks by the Neurotics, Peter and the Test Tube Babies, Rubella Ballet, Art Attacks, Raped, Manufactured Romance, Action Pact, Menace (they do “The Young Ones”), the Enemy, the Dark, Rabid, Fallen Angles, Jayne County (interesting, and coming in as the latest single, 1989), Chelsea, the Only Ones, and the Slits. Whew!
You know, there’s only so much money you could spend on records back then, and I couldn’t get everything, so some of these names I only remember from passing up in favor of something else, some of them I remember (e.g., the Slits) from my high school days, right at the point I got over being scared of punk rock and started actually listening to it. But I can’t help but wonder at what’s going to happen to this music in the future? Right now CDs, assuming you don’t buy them on-line, cost around $18. Back in 1981, I didn’t see any records that expensive anywhere, and none of the music I wanted to hear was on the radio, who had MTV? No one I knew, I lived in Washington, D.C. – a big city! These days, the music I read about that’s big with the kids (radio’s good up here), and what I occasionally see on MTV, the rare occasions I sit in front of a television, really upsets me: what’s up with this shit? Why isn’t all the great, great punk being venerated as it should be? Anyone who says the bands weren’t as good are insane, stupid and deaf. This comp is proof. Cleopatra Records, 13428 Maxella #251, Marina Del Rey , CA 90292
