Monday, July 26, 2010

KNOW YOUR PRODUCT

It's funny a lot of people don't know the impact Australian Punk bands had on the world.
One day i went to see a Q&A with Don Letts. For those of you who don't know the name.
Don Letts is one of the first Punk DJ's in London. He's family were Jamaican, but he was raised in London. His cross pollinated upbringing gave him a vast knowledge of English and Jamaican music and culture. He pretty much single handedly was responsible for fusing the marriage between Punk and Reggae in England. Bands like The Clash for example, owe a lot to Don Letts.
There were a lot of Punk bands around, but none of them had cut a record yet and it was still a little early to define it into name or title. Lyrically the closest thing to what these bands were singing about was Reggae. Jamaica was in a state of political unrest, similar to Thatcher Era England. So lyrics about Revolution and Change were things that resonated well with the English. It's one of the most perfect examples of a beautiful cultural exchange.

But the one exchange that is completely left out of the history books is this one.
Don Letts, amongst his many Reggae records owned one 7 inch that he bought at Rough Trade Records. It was the closest thing he could find that sounded like these Punk Bands that he was playing to. Every time he played it, the crowd would go mental and lose their shit.
That 7'' was ''Im Stranded'' by a group from Brisbane Australia, called - The Saints.

We pretty much started Punk without even knowing it.
To me that is a quintessentially beautiful lesson for a lot of Australian music.

We often lose sight of just how good we really are.

This mix is dedicated to the Australian Punk and Garage Bands that provided a rich legacy of culture for this country without even knowing or trying at the time. These are songs and bands that need to be preserved and known about.

KNOW YOUR PRODUCT!!!!

1. XL Capris - 'My City Of Sydney'
2. Razar - 'Stamp Out Disco'
3. The Victims - 'Television Addict'
4. The Saints - 'Erotic Neurotic'
5. The Fun Things - 'Lipstick'
6. X - 'I Don't Wanna Go Out'
7. Hunters & Collectors - 'The Slab'
8. Psychotic Turnbuckles - 'Groove To The Eye'
9. Johnny Kannis - 'Pushin Too Hard'
10. The Stems - 'Tears Me In Two'
11. The Lime Spiders - '25th Hour'
12. Screaming Tribesmen - 'My True Love's Blood'
13. Radio Birdman - 'Anglo Girl Desire'
14. The Sunny Boys - 'Alone With You'
15. The Saints - 'Story Of Love'

2 comments:

  1. sweet mix, keep up the good work.. good to hear you have Mr Carter on the show this week too... have you got AK79, Hate Your Neighbours or the Get A Haircut comps? great summaries of NZ proto-punk stuff... Let me know if you want copies...

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  2. Hey
    Good to hear some feedback.
    Yeah Simon's show last night was amazing!
    Kids got great taste, would love to hear AK79.
    I've got a copy of Get A Haircut, i think the 1st one,
    i didn't know it was a series.
    Can you send me some links?

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