Sunday, May 18, 2014

1975 - 1979: Top 30 Albums of the Punk Era

Time for a flashback to the late ’70s, the era that gave birth to punk rock and all its various mutations that, in one way or another, have influenced all guitar music we’ve been listening to in the last 40 years.

The trigger for this flashback was the recent Soul Jazz Records compilation "Punk 45 - Kill the Hippies! Kill Yourself! The American Nation Destroys Its Young Vol.1 1973-1980" which chronicles the rise of underground punk in the USA with a series of excellent singles released between 1973 and 1980. The Punk 45 series continues with a new release this month with the self-explanatory title "Sick on You! One Way Spit! After the Love & Before the Revolution Vol.3: Proto-Punk 1969-77" (see also here).

Before we get our hands on that one as well, time to revisit our 30 favorite albums of the punk and post-punk years. By including only one album by each artist or band (and leaving out compilations or EPs), we came up with this formidable list:

1975 - 1979: Top 30 Punk & Post-Punk Albums

1.   Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols - THE SEX PISTOLS
2.   Live At The Witch Trials - THE FALL
3.   Unknown Pleasures - JOY DIVISION
4.   Entertainment! - GANG OF FOUR
5.   London Calling - THE CLASH
6.   All Mod Cons - THE JAM
7.   Ramones - RAMONES
8.   Fear Of Music - TALKING HEADS
9.   This Year's Model - ELVIS COSTELLO
10. Pink Flag - WIRE
11. Suicide - SUICIDE
12. Marquee Moon - TELEVISION
13. Second Edition - PUBLIC IMAGE LTD
14. The Scream - SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES
15. Damned Damned Damned - THE DAMNED
16. (I'm) Stranded - THE SAINTS
17. The Modern Dance - PERE UBU
18. Horses - PATTI SMITH
19. Parallel Lines - BLONDIE
20. Cut - THE SLITS
21. Germ Free Adolescents - X-RAY SPEX
22. Real Life - MAGAZINE
23. Three Imaginary Boys - THE CURE
24. Radios Appear - RADIO BIRDMAN
25. Young Loud And Snotty - DEAD BOYS
26. The Undertones - THE UNDERTONES
27. Drums And Wires - XTC
28. Specials - SPECIALS
29. The B-52's - THE B-52'S
30. Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! - DEVO

Listen to our Top 30 on Spotify:



What else should be in there? I leave the comments to you…

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