Explain the asthetics of Punk

The thing I remember most was the shows were very small. In LA, The Dickies, The Circle Jerks, The Germs, X, the Alley Cats, and Fear all played to crowds that averaged 50 to 500, so despite what anyone says, this was music for outsiders.

In Southern Cal we had some great venues - First and foremost - The Masque in Hollywood which was a regular venue for X, The Germs, The Mau-Mau’s, The Weirdos, The Avengers, The Dils, The Skulls and others. The Go-Gos rented practice space there. Cathay de Grandem, Madam Wong's, The Starwood were other Hollywood haunts

The Golden Bear in Huntington Beach - home for Agent Orange, The Adolescents, TSOL, etc. Cuckoo's Nest was another. Fender's Ballroom in Long Beach

Sweetwater in Hermosa Beach and The Fleetwood in Redondo Beach - pretty much home for Black Flag

Dancing Waters in San Pedro - home of The Minutemen and Firehose

I told him I felt we lost the battle by 1983

The US Festival(Saturday, May 28, 1983) felt like the last gasp to me.

The Vans Warped Tour did a great job at breaking new bands.

I worked the Warped Tour in '97 for Gatorade, great time. 26 shows in ~30 days over North America. That, had the feeling of bands in it for the love of music. Just everybody piled in buses bouncing from city to city. There wasn't really any room or money for prima donas. Not to mention, no band was really big enough to think so.

I saw or worked all the seminal shows at the Masque, Madam Wong's, Cuckoo's Nest, Al's Bar, The Golden Bear and the Claremont Colleges (which hosted the Ramones and NY Dolls).

My business partners are the founders of the Warped Tour: "Fish" from Vans and Ray of RK Diversified. They can't believe it celebrated its 15th Birthday this year.

I forgot all the great Ska shows that took place at the O.N. Club in Hollywood. You also need to bring in the aspect that punk was also very much aligned with reggae and ska music in the early days. Lee Perry was used on a number of albums and Don Letts, the great London DJ, was instrumental in linking those two world together in 1976. Bob Marley commented on this in his single "Punky Reggae Party."

Jwong and Albertporter

Here are good representative songs that speak to that Era:

The NY Scene:

Blondie "Denis"
The Dead Boys "Sonic Reducer"
Heartbreakers "Chinese Rocks"
Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers "Roadrunner"
Richard Hell & The Voidoids "Blank Generation"
Television "See No Evil"

LA:

X "Los Angeles"

UK:

The Clash "White Man in Hammersmith Palais"
Generation X "Ready Steady Go"
The Jam "All Around The World"
The Only Ones "Another Girl, Another Planet"
The Pistols "God Save The Queen"
Wire "Outdoor Miner"

Bongo,

How can you recommend a Richard Hell song other than the immortal "Love Comes in Spurts"? Perhaps the greatest song title in the annals of rock music history.

Marty