Do you also like so called hard rock?????

[croatoa]

Ok I could be totally insane but that "it's so easy" song by the Guns 'n' Roses kicks my ass...oh and also "talk dirty to me" by Poison...

No crazy-like-me here???

[Gringo Starr]

The first 'Mystery Track' on Sonic Nightmares was The Scorpions. We have also played a track by Status Quo (not Pictures Of Matchstick Men) as well as several '70s/'80s German new wave bands that could easily be called 'hard rock'. Of course this is all part of the "podcast you love to hate" campaign we have been pushing lately. Beat-Man is a total Metal Head, by the way (maybe I shouldn't have said that). So if one of the most respected Trash Punkers in Europe is into this stuff I'm sure there are a lot more here in the Hideout.

Many if not most Garage/Billy/Punk types that I know here in Europe began their musical journeys with Metal. It was the first widely accessible rebel music here in the '80s. Punk was a bit more underground and not so readily available in record stores.

My experience was totally different. I grew up in Orange County, California in the early '80s. The So Cal Punk scene was very big at that time and there were many bands, fanzines, etc. Metal was considered 'Arena Rock' bullshit. Metal kids and Punks never hung out together like you see now (Google Heavy Metal Parking Lot). In fact it was the L.A. Punk scene that introduced me to '60s Punk. I'll never forget that life-changing moment on the Rodney On The Roq radio show when a Black Flag track was followed by The Seeds! So I do understand the knee-jerk reaction when someone brings up Metal especially in these forums.

So, do I like hard rock? Fuck yeah.....
The Stooges
The MC5
DMZ
Thin Lizzy
AC/DC
Motorhead
Grand Funk (that first red album)
Blue Cheer
Black Sabbath (you know which records I mean...)
But if you wanna talk about Poison or Guns n Roses or Whitesnake here, I'm probably not going to be very enthusiastic.


----why do I talk so much???---

[Gringo Starr]

I REST MY CASE....

[Mike]

I concur, grew up in the same area & era. Only "hard rock" bands that punks were permitted to like have mostly already been listed here, funny thing is that most of the Heavy Metal types around here in the early 80's hated these bands

Motorhead
Venom
Stooges
MC5


you'd also get a pass later on for:
Hanoi Rocks (maybe not hard rock)
Metallicas 'Kill 'em All' LP

[Gra Fiend]

Yeah don't get me wrong, I understand entirley why people can get a kick out of some these bands (who doesn't like The Ace Of Spades"?). Thing is, when I was growing up and these rock/metal bands appeared, we saw them as a joke rather than anything of any credibilty ( watch them on You-Tube now and it's even funnyer). I just can't see a relevance with bands like AC/DC or Gund N Roses to the "garage punk" element of the "hideout ". Yes I get the Stooges/MC5 link but we wouldn't class them as rock or metel where I live in the UK. :-)

[Ken (Evil Empire Records)]

Gra Fiend said:

I just can't see a relevance with bands like AC/DC or Gund N Roses to the "garage punk" element of the "hideout ".

Well, I would say that a lot of that good 90s cow punk kinda stuff like Girl Trouble, Rev. Horton Heat, Supersuckers, The Cowslingers, et. al. borrowed pretty heavily from AC/DC. Hellacopters, too. So they're as pertinent as any other influential artist in that sense.

GNR were kinda of New York Dolls Lite and would stand as a cautionary tale about how Glam-Rock can go horribly horribly lame....

[Gra Fiend]

I didn't say I couldn't see an influence. There's influence from many genres in one Garage tune or another. I stated I couldn't see the relevance! I like to draw from positive influences on the Garage Punk scene and don't like the thought of Metal Heads and/or "Guitar Wankers" (people who do huge lead breaks while pulling cum faces) reuining what it means to me. Maybe I'm just single minded!
I'll stay out of this from now on as I can see that some of you enjoy the "Rockier" side. :-) Piece Out!

[Ken (Evil Empire Records)]

Oh man... I wasn't being argumentative. I'm just saying that Influences are relevant, even if not always cool. For instance, what if someone had posted "What's your favorite Bo Diddley song?" Not garage or punk, but I don't think anyone would bitch.

[Gra Fiend]

Yeah thats cool Seriously no worries (hence the smiley face :-) ) You have a real valid point with this discussion though. There's alot more influence from the harder rock background in todays Garage scene than people credit.

Always cool and never offended/offensive
Gra :-)

P.S. Here's another to get people worked up - What are your views on the influence of Goth bands on the Garage of today?

[Gringo Starr]

Hmmm... Easy now guys. I think this is healthy discussion to have here. Instead of ignoring the proverbial 300 pound gorilla lets talk about it.
Punk Rock is by definition an anti-establishment, do-it-yourself, honest, unpretentious, rebellious musical and cultural art form. Punk is as old as Rock and Roll itself and it could be argued that Punk is Rock and Roll. Punks have greased back hair and sideburns, Moptops and Beatle Boots, bellbottoms and suede jackets, black leather and sneakers, cut-off shorts and white T-shirts, and have even been known to wear day-glow plastic body suits and funny hats. Regardless of the fashion of the times or labels coined by the media, this 'real Rock and Roll' has always been with us and for some of us this is the only sound/feeling that floats our boat --
When it is rebelling.
When it makes me want to scream.
When my dick gets hard --
When It is in some way related to the original Rock and Roll ethic.
And I think that most of us here have that in common and we are all here to celebrate that noisy, unpopular, unsafe, un-capitalistic, uncompromising musical and (yes) cultural Phenomenon. It's not so easy to say that a song is cool. It is also what's behind it. When you bring up a song like "talk dirty to me" by a band like Poison to a group of people here who have heard the likes of Hasil Adkins, The Stooges, Andre Williams, or The Dead Boys I think that you have an uphill battle trying to convince us that Poison's particular way of talking dirty is pretty cool. So--

Q.Do you also like so called hard rock?????
A. When it's good. (see above for relative criteria)

[Ken (Evil Empire Records)]

Gra Fiend said:

P.S. Here's another to get people worked up - What are your views on the influence of Goth bands on the Garage of today?

That's a weird one, isn't it? I know a bunch of local Columbus guys who were die hard rockabilly/psychobilly guys when I met them 20 years ago.... Now they're hanging out at goth bars and compalining about how DJs don't spin enough goth and industrial. I'm a whatever floats your boat kinda guy, that feels like a weird transition to me.

[Ken (Evil Empire Records)]

Gringo Starr said:

Q.Do you also like so called hard rock?????
A. When it's good. (see above for relative criteria)

Amen.

[MikeL]

I used to be a big metal fan. I liked a lot of the classic bands, i.e. Zeppelin, Sabbath, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, Grand Funk Railroad, Mountain, KISS. I also liked the first wave of bands that came out of the 80s LA scene, i.e. Van Halen, Quiet Riot, Motley Crue, Ratt, Guns & Roses, along with bands that started in the 70s but didn't hit it big until the 80s, i.e. Twisted Sister, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden.

Nowadays I rarely if ever listen to metal, for several reasons. First off, many of those first wave bands get played to death on classic rock radio nowadays (Zeppelin in particular), so I've gotten sick of hearing them. Hair metal has been assimilated into that format too, which makes me like it even less. Second, I liked many of those LA bands back when I really didn't know any better. It's a little embarrassing for me to have to admit that I used to like such mediocre bands as Quiet Riot, Motley Crue and Ratt. Now I find them ridiculous. Third, I've grown to like stuff that's either poppy or rootsy, hence my current obsession with garage rock and power pop. I really wish I had gotten into the Ramones back when I was in high school, because they are a band that truly speaks to me.

However, I do have a few exceptions...I like UFO, because they're more of a cult band, and I still think "Appetite for Destruction" by Guns & Roses is a masterpiece. I also still like Aerosmith, Cheap Trick and Hanoi Rocks. All three bands tend to get lumped in with heavy metal, but I disagree with that. Aerosmith was a traditional rock'n'roll band rooted in blues; they were slightly heavier than the Stones, but not nearly as edgy as the New York Dolls. Cheap Trick was a power pop band that did sound heavier live, but I still don't think of them as metal. Hanoi Rocks almost defies classification, so I just think of them as a very cool rock'n'roll band, nothing else.