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 Jam is a live compilation album by new wave group The Jam. It was recorded between 1979 and 1982.
Shortly after The Jam’s first live album, Dig The New Breed came their second with a much wider collection of songs.
Unfortunately it is again compiled from different gigs in different times of the band’s evolution. This is frustrating as I feel I am still deprived of the proper experience of The Jam live.
Average Amazon Customer Rating – %%AVERAGERATING%% Stars
Filthy Lucre Live is a live album by the Sex Pistols recorded in London in June 1996 on their reunion world tour.
Now that doesn’t sound very punk does it?
Dig The New Breed is a live compilation album from The Jam featuring songs recorded at concerts between 1977 and 1982.
I remember the heady days back in 1977 and The Jam were caught up in the punk/new wave scene. It was a bit strange because their image and music was a long way from the Sex Pistols.
The developed into a very successful singles band with a series of number ones in the UK and created excellent albums including All Mod Cons and Setting Sons.
Average Amazon Customer Rating – %%AVERAGERATING%% Stars
Live From Here To Eternity is a compilation live album from The Clash recorded between 1978 and 1982 in the UK and USA.
The Clash were one of the first punk rock groups in the UK, with Joe Strummer formerly with the pub rock group The 101ers. With their album London Calling in particular they went on to be so much more than punk.
Continue reading The Clash Live From Here To Eternity 1978 to 1982
Still is a compilation of studio tracks by Joy Division and two concert recordings from at Birmingham and High Wycombe.
Confusingly, Amazon report the High Wycombe concert was on 13 July 1979 while Wikipedia go with 20 February 1980.
The Birmingham gig was the last before singer Ian Curtis killed himself.
The Heatwave Festival is a live recording of Elvis Costello and the Attractions from August 23rd, 1980 from the Heatwave Festival in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada available through Wolfgang’s Vault.
There are a number of live concert recordings from the This Year’s Model tour in 1978 but this one catches Elvis Costello promoting the Get Happy album.
Live At The El Mocambo is a live album by Elvis Costello and the Attractions recorded on March 6th, 1978 at The El Mocambo in Toronto, Canada.
The recording was originally released as part of the 2 1/2 Years box set but came out on its own in 2009.
Average Amazon Customer Rating – %%AVERAGERATING%% Stars
Live at The Nashville Rooms is a recording of a live concert by Elvis Costello from August 7, 1977.
This is sold as a bonus on the Deluxe Edition of Elvis Costello’s first album My Aim Is True.
Average Amazon Customer Rating – %%AVERAGERATING%% Stars
Continue reading Elvis Costello Live At The Nashville Rooms 1977 (With My Aim Is True Deluxe)
Live At The Old Waldorf is a live album by Television recorded at the Old Waldorf, San Francisco on 29th June 1978.
It has been difficult to get because it’s twice been issued as a limited edition release but I bought the mp3 version from Amazon.
Live At Hollywood High is a live album by Elvis Costello and the Attractions, recorded at the Hollywood High School in Los Angeles, California on June 4th, 1978.
Tracks from this performance have appeared before this CD was released as bonuses on the Armed Forces album.
Average Amazon Customer Rating – %%AVERAGERATING%% Stars
Continue reading Elvis Costello Live At The Hollywood High 1978
