Thursday 18 November 2010

Prêt à Punk

Groovy old punk sampler from seminal French record label Skydog Records.

It's all in here to be heard; The Clash, The New York Dolls and of course: Iggy.
But there's also a smattering of blues; capturing the true gestation of punk and the live scene of the late nineteen-seventies.

Skydog were really all about the Stooges; although they did have many other interesting artists visit their stable, but essentially Iggy was where they were at.
And Iggy, at the time, was very punk indeed.

When Iggy was punk.
Remember that?
Included here is a fascinating version of the Stooges' 'Open Up and Bleed', with Iggy-styled preamble; I'm not sure if this version was released anywhere else; but I know the album that was to be titled with the same name was never released - although there's bound to be out there somewhere something those who are pragmatic and motivated enough to do such things have put together.
Bound to be.

It's funny how Sean Tyla always managed to get in on the act (he appears on this compilation both with his own band and with Ducks Deluxe), being regularly grouped, or lumped in with punk and new wave bands - The Tyla Gang were included on the classic compilation Hope & Anchor Front Row Festival (1977), along with XTC, Steel Pulse, Dr. Feelgood and, er, Dire Straits [!].

It's not that I'm down on Sean Tyla; far from it; he was truly a great songwriter and performer (I still think The Tyla Gang's Moonproof (1978) is one of the best albums of its genre from the period).
I just never got the association.
He even looked wrong: long hair and bearded, flare-wearing, obvious stoner; yet there he was, doing his rock n roll thing alongside The Stranglers and 999.

I know Peel liked them - it was his show that introduced me to the band - so maybe that made The Tyla Gang cool.

All in all, this sampler, as all samplers are, is very evocative; crystallizing the time perfectly.

Bon Appétit!


Various Artists - La Creme De Skydog (1978)

Flamin' Groovies - Jumpin' Jack Flash
Ducks Deluxe - Here Comes the Night
Tyla Gang - It's Only Rock n Roll
Titus Williams - Talkin' About You
Fantomes - I Wanna Be Your Dog
Fantomes - High School
1984 - Dirt
1984 - Flesh Kaput
Iggy and The Stooges - Open Up and Bleed

Excellent 320 vinyl rip, from a not that well pressed record.
Voila

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for this. I had this on vinyl, years ago and haven't heard it for ages. I originally bought it for the stooges track but ended up enjoying the Fantomes the most. Looking forward to hearing it again.

roy rocket said...

The Stooges and The Fantomes had a lot in common.
Glad to reacquaint you.

I may be well off the wall with this: but I know you... am I right?

Anonymous said...

Merci bien!

roberto said...

never heard this,but i have some good Tyla memories from an old Beserkeley comp...thanks!