Punk and New Wave Live Albums
I remember the explosion of punk rock and new wave in 1976 and 1977 very well as it brings back memories of my youth including listening to John Peel’s late night radio show under the bed clothes so that my Mum and Dad didn’t know I was staying up so late.
I was obviously a rebel then.
Punk and new wave is in some ways divided into two:
British punk that grew out of the pub rock scene and was mainly centred around London; and
American punk that came to prominence by performing at the CBGBs club in New York with bands like The Ramones, Television, Talking Heads and Blondie (quite a variety).
The two helped to influence each other.
The irony of punk and the spirit embodied in the Desperate Bicycles slogan of “it was easy, it was cheap, go and do it” meant that punk rock burnt brightly (and severely damaged many prog rock, heavy rock and classic rock groups) but it burnt out quickly.
The Sex Pistols recorded one studio album, The Damned evolved into something entirely different, The Clash effectively sold out and many other talented groups recorded, flopped and disappeared. Other acts were much more new wave than punk and merged into indie rock.
For many acts, recording in the studio was an entirely new experience and they found it difficult to capture the spirit of their act. Live albums did and there is a visceral excitement about hearing the shouted count in “1, 2, 3, 4…”
To help you to find the best live albums by punk and new wave groups I have a readers poll:
Loading ...You may also want to look at the indie live album poll too
Punk and new wave live albums include:
The Clash – Live At Shea Stadium 1982
The Clash – Live From Here To Eternity 1978 to 1982
Eddie & The Hot Rods – Live EPs
Eddie And The Hot Rods – Live In Concert 1977 & 1978
Elvis Costello – Live At The Nashville Rooms 1977
Elvis Costello – Live At The El Mocambo 1978
Elvis Costello – Live At The Hollywood High 1978
Elvis Costello – Heatwave Festival 1980
The Jam – Dig The New Breed 1977 to 1982
The Jam – Live Jam 1979 to 1982
Joy Division – Still 1980
The Ramones – It’s Alive 1977
The Saints – Live At The Hope & Anchor 1977
Sex Pistols – Filthy Lucre Live 1996
Squeeze – A Round And A Bout 1990
Stiff Little Fingers – Hanx 1980
Talking Heads – The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads
Talking Heads – Stop Making Sense 1983
Television – Live At The Old Waldorf 1978
Television – The Blow Up 1978
XTC – Live In Concert 1980
Live in Philadelphia 1978 & Dallas 1980 is an early live album by new wave / power pop group Blondie.
This album has also been packaged as Picture This Live.
I lost count of the number of posters of Debbie Harry i saw when I was a student between 1978-1981. Her face and body was virtually everywhere and her sex kitten image tended to overshadow what a good group Blondie were.
Continue reading Blondie Live in Philadelphia 1978 & Dallas 1980
Stranglers Live X-Cert is a live compilation album by new wave / punk group The Stranglers.
The original album was recorded at The Roundhouse in June and November 1977 and at Battersea Park in September 1978. The CD reissue included bonus songs recorded live at The Nashville in 1976 and The Hope and Anchor in 1977. All these venues are in London.
The Stranglers came to prominence in the UK in the punk rock “explosion” but they were always slightly apart. The group members were older and probably better musicians.
Eddie & The Hot Rods released two great EPs at the beginning of their career to capitalise on their success as a great live band.
These are now available as bonus tracks on the reissue of their first album, Teenage Depression
Live at Shea Stadium is a live album by The Clash when they supported The Who at Shea Stadium in New York City in October 1982.
A previous live album by the by the group, From Here To Eternity had been well received but this was a compilation from many different concerts from 1977 to 1982.
BBC Radio One Live in Concert is a live album by Eddie And The Hot Rods that was recorded for the a radio broadcast.
Eddie and the Hot Rods were a group that emerged from the pub rock scene in Britain playing louder, faster and more aggressively than normal. They helped open up the market for punk rock and the Sex Pistols and The Clash.
Their earliest success was with the Live at the Marquee EP featuring a blisteringly fast version of Bob Seger’s Get Out Of Denver.
Unfortunately it didn’t do them any good. They weren’t punks but they didn’t fall into the classic rock or the emerging AOR categories either.
I think this album comes from concerts in 1977 and 1978.
Continue reading Eddie And The Hot Rods Live In Concert 1978
Live At The Hope & Anchor 1977 is a live CD by Australian punk group The Saints which is included in the box set All Times Through Paradise.
This is available as an mp3 download so you can just grab disc 4, The Saints performing live in concert.
The Saints are often neglected when there is any review of punk rock. Instead the main focus is on The Ramones, the Sex Pistols and The Clash.
That’s a shame because I remember very clearly the excitement caused by the first single issued by The Saints, (I’m) Stranded in September 1976.
What was this noisy, fast music. We didn’t know where it was going to lead.
XTC Live In Concert is a BBC1 Radio recording of the group performing in December 1980 while they were promoting the Black Sea studio album.
I remember XTC well as a quirky new wave group that rode the wave of interest in new bands created by punk rock. I also remember an intense performance on the Old Grey Whistle Test TV show.
Unfortunately they stopped touring in 1982 when promoting their next album, English Settlement. Singer and guitarist Andy Partridge suffered severely from stage fright and suffered a mental breakdown at a gig in Paris in March 1982.It seems that he had become addicted to valium and his wife through out his supply without any discussion or consideration of the effects of withdrawal.
Their live performances stopped and they developed into a more sophisticated studio band.
Hanx is a live album by Irish punk band Stiff Little Fingers and was recorded at concerts in July 1980.
I’ve put together a poll for you to vote in to find out what are the best punk and new wave live albums.
I’ve got a quite a narrow definition of punk and new wave.
For me, punk and new wave started around 1976 and went through to 1981 or 82. After that the acts became something else – think Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Ramones, Talking Heads and many more acts that don’t deserve to disappear into obscurity.
Later acts will be classified as alternative or indie rock.
Futher down the page is the poll for you to vote for your favourites and see a summary of the votes cast so far.
First I think I should tell you…
This is a category of music that’s very personal to me. I remember bunking down under the bed clothes and listening to the John Peel Show in 1976-78 as the punk revolution was born and gained popularity.
It was always both a British and an American movement (especially CBGBs in New York) and I’m attracted to both sides, even though they are quite different.
In some ways, listening as I did, punk and new wave was a story about great singles as they appeared months before any albums. Sometimes the singles weren’t even on teh albums.
There are some great studio albums – Marquee Moon by Television, London Calling by The Clash, the first three Elvis Costello albums, the first four Talking Heads albums..
This gives you some idea of where I stand on the debate of the Sex Pistols versus The Clash versus The Damned. In fact I’ve never bought anything by the Pistols or the Damned.
My first choice is From Here To Eternity by The Clash. This is a compilation of the band over the peak years and as such it’s frustrating. I’d love the band to release some archive live recordings of individual concerts.
Second is The Name Of The Band Is Talking Heads, named because David Byrne was tired of the band being introduced as The Talking Heads. Another compilation but with good chunks of material from the tours to promote the first four studio albums. Stop Making Sense is a great live album but by that time, Talking Heads had become a funk band.
To me, Graham Parker and Elvis Costello are very similar but Parker tends to be seen as one of the last pub rock bands, Costello as part of the new wave of music in the UK. I’ve followed this convention and my choice is Live At The Hollywood High by Elvis Costello.
These are the three easy choices, but it then gets more difficult.
I’ve create a ska/2-Tone category so I don’t need to think about The Specials or The Beat here. I was never a big fan of The Ramones, The Stranglers or The Police.
The Jam are a clear choice as a band but which album? The two live compilations, Dig The New Breed and Live Jam don’t do it for me. Fortunately there are two sets which bring together different concerts by The Jam from across their short career, The Jam At The BBC and Fire And Skill. It feels like cheating to select one of these although I’ve done something similar with Talking Heads. Narrowing it down to one concert, I’m opting for the 1980 gig at the Newcastle City Hall on Fire and Skill. I should have been there as I was at university in the city. Shortage of money meant I couldn’t afford to keep an eye on the main gigs in the city.
My final choice was much harder. I thought about Live At The Old Waldorf by Television but my starting place is always the brilliant Marquee Moon studio album. sadly the live albums don’t have enough songs from that first album. Hanx by Stiff Little Fingers is an adrenalin rush. The Ruts and the Buzzcocks deserve consideration.
I’ve opted for the Live In Concert recording of XTC made by the BBC in 1980. The band retired from touring because Andy Partridge was very nervous performing live in front of an audience. That’s a shame because XTC are an interesting and underrated band and the energy sizzles on this album.
To summarise:
I’m sure you don’t agree with me so it’s time to cast your votes. I’d love to read a comment about why you love your choices.
You can vote for up to 5 live punk albums
Continue reading What Are The Best Punk & New Wave Live Albums?
It’s Alive is the first live album by American punk band recorded in London on 31 December 1977 The Ramones. It is not the extended DVD called It’s Alive 1974-1996.
The album draws 28 tracks from the first three studio albums – The Ramones, Leave Home and Rocket To Russia – an in 54 minutes, you’re pressing the play button again.
Did someone say “fast”?
The Ramones It’s Alive
