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How good were the Jam in 1979 ? Possibly their best year for singles, with Strange Town, When You're Young, and Eton Rifles. Of course, we knew they were alright once we heard  the All Mod Cons LP in the autumn of 1978. Very smart and very nimble in moving ahead of the Who copyist accusations. Don't blame them either for the Mod revival. By the time new mod bands had learned the chords to My Generation, Paul Weller was way down the road.
"Life is timeless, days are long when you're young
 You used to fall in love with everyone
 Any guitar and any bass drum"

Of course, I'll play Strange Town instead.

The Boys - Kiss Like A Nun
The Jam - Strange Town
Shop Assistants - I Don't Want To Be Friends With You
Slaughter & The Dogs - Quick Joey Small
Magazine - Model Worker
Moondogs - Roddy's Gang
Heartbreakers - I Love You
Runaways - Little Sister
Cramps - I Can't Hardly Stand It
Jilted John - Goodbye Karen
Lurkers - Shadow
Rattlecats - Run My Life
Elvis Costello - Greenshirt
Sham 69 - If The Kids Are United
Radio Birdman - Non Stop Girls
Revillos - Juke Box Sound

Another week, another punk rock biopic. The Runaways, anyone ? All girl band ? Cherry Bomb ? Guitarist Joan Jett seems to have emerged as the keeper of the legacy of her first band, which she led with singer Cherie Currie. Both of them (or the actors playing them, Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning) seem to be the stars of the film which opened at the Sundance Festival at the weekend. Joan is executive producer.
 If the Runaways passed you by the first time, it's perfectly understandable. American in origin and famously under the influence of Kim Fowley, producer, they were a bit too rocky for my liking. Apart from their first single "Cherry Bomb", which came out in 1976 and was even better than Suzi Quatro. It's often said of many bands that if they split up after their first record then they'd been regarded as immortal. A great theory, unless you happen to be in a band that makes one of those first records.
I have yet to see the Runaways on film, although I have seen a recent photo of Joan Jett and she could nearly pass off as her younger self, without too much breathing in. Dakota Fanning (Tom Cruise's daughter in War of the Worlds ?) plays Cherie Currie, the singer who was often seen wearing a basque on stage. Yes, I know what a basque is. How do you think I keep my figure ?
Cherie Currie is now an artist who carves figures out of tree trunks using chain saws. Whether that is a result of the difficult times she had when she was in the Runaways, who knows ? The film isn't due to open in America until March, and whether it ever makes its way to a picture house here remains to be seen. I won't be buying the soundtrack, though. I've already got 'The Japanese Singles Collection' of which I like two songs.
Whose next for the film treatment ?  What about The Lurkers ? London's answer to the Ramones make some records then break up. Singer disappears. Bass player keeps name and plays punk festivals for next thirty years. Not sure what he looks like in the basque , though.

An overabundance of long records has reduced the playlist to only twelve. I subscribe to the under three minute orthodoxy that has stood me (and punk rock) in good stead for four decades. Occasionally some bands apply for, and receive, a licence which allows them to 'go long'. Buzzcocks and Television provide tonights supersizers. There's also a Beatles cover, a demo from Peter Case and Paul Collins post-Nerves group, and the band of the moment, Dr Feelgood, live at a comedy theatre in Lower Regent Street. Roy Hudd waiting just off stage, I presume.


Ramones - Oh Oh I Love Her So
The Cravats - Gordon
Buzzcocks - Moving Away From The Pulsebeat
Breakaways - Everyday Things
Television - Marquee Moon
Young Marble Giants - Choci Loni
Orange Juice - Tender Object
Dr Feelgood - Don't You Just Know It
Left Banke - Let Go Of You Girl
The Feelies - Everybody's Got Something To Hide (Except Me & My Monkey)
The Brave New World - Train Kept A Rollin'
Razorcuts - Big Pink Cake

If I was asked to do a diagram of punk rock and its influences (for a GCSE History of Punk exam, say) I would probably draw two distinct timelines for American punk and British punk. Velvets, MC5, Stooges, New York Dolls at the top of the US column.
Kinks, Creation, Dr Feelgood, Eddie & The Hot Rods atop the other.The very occasional crossover, of course - Malcolm McLaren, managing both the New York Dolls and the Sex Pistols being the most obvious. But after reading an , guitar player with Dr Feelgood, I have to redraw the whole thing. 
"We started out as a 1950s-style rock'n'roll band, and used to get gigs backing Heinz, the singer Joe Meek produced," Johnson says. "In 1972, we backed him at Wembley. The MC5 were also booked. I'd never seen a band play with such aggression and force. The teddy boys hated 'em, pelted 'em with beer cans. It was a life-changing experience, and Dr Feelgood found their sound after that."
I was unaware that Motor City and Canvey Island had such a close connection. MC5 were Detroit primeval rock n roll. The Feelgoods were British R&B , the only pubrock band that you could listen to on record. Separated by an ocean and different voltages. It's like discovering that The Beatles saw Elvis live at the Louisiana Hayride in 1954. I now have to go back and listen to the MC5's 'Back In The USA' LP and look for traces of Wilko Johnson's skittering Telecaster (or is it the other way round ?) Did Lee Brilleaux, singer with the Feelgoods, have a White Panthers badge under the skinny lapel of his suit jacket ? And what other punk rock revelations are there out there ? Were Eater the house band in Andy Warhol's Factory ? Did Pere Ubu appear on The Geordie Scene ? I think we should be told.

The Damned had a great knack for picking cover versions. Choosing a Beatles song wasn't the most obvious choice for a first generation punk band but they did 'Help' in a fast and furious style that might not have improved on the original but was the best Beatles cover of 1977. OK, not much competition but still. They also bravely recorded The Stooges' '1970' for their first LP. Renaming it 'I Feel Alright' was a wise move. Who wants to be reminded of the year of the birth of loons and cheesecloth when many BOFs were still wearing them at the beginning of 1977 ? Of course, the actual song itself is too long by about two minutes but I suspect The Damned were padding like mad. Sometimes I suspect the Stooges were doing the same for Fun House, of which '1970' is the first song, side two. Padded or not, Fun House is still brilliant. Recorded with Iggy using a hand held microphone through speakers, no headphones (they tried wearing them but it all sounded so restrained) and no attempt to keep the different instruments on separate tracks. Not the usual method of recording an LP, even today. My favourite fact , though, is that producer Don Gallucci was a member of the Kingsmen, and played organ on 'Louie, Louie'.

Damned - I Feel Alright
Girls At Our Best! - Getting Nowhere Fast
Flipper - Get Away
The Replacements - I Will Dare
June Brides - Every Conversation
Generation X - Gimme Some Truth
Echo & The Bunnymen - All That Jazz
Alternative TV - Good Times
Vibrators - Bad Time
Au Pairs - You
Passengers - Face With No Name
Seeds - Pushin' Too Hard
XTC - Crowded Room
Disco Zombies - Drums Over London
Nick Lowe - I Don't Want The Night To End
Wire - Fragile

Feeling refreshed after two weeks away, I sometimes think there's nothing better in the whole wide world than playing a punk rock classic that can survive copious over exposure. Exhibit 'A' is 'Gary Gilmore's Eyes' by The Adverts. Released only six months after his execution, it was a wonderful example of bad taste that would have phone in shows busy for weeks if released today.

Adverts - Gary Gilmores Eyes
Mo-dettes - Two Can Play
X - We're Having Much More Fun
Specials - Blank Expression
Romantics - Can't Tell You Anything
Eddie & Hot Rods - Writing On The Wall
Skids - Out Of Town
Joy Division - Ice Age
Gymslips - Wandering Stars
Kilburn & High Roads - Upminster Kid
Chocolate Watch Band - Baby Blue
Television Personalities - Paradise Estate
Jesus & Mary Chain - Taste Of Cindy
Delta 5  - You

I have to assume Tony Parsons went on Celebrity Mastermind solely to benefit the charity Scope. I always thought that he'd left his gunslinging days at the NME far, far behind him, in his new role as successful 'sensitive chap-lit' author. Judging by his performance in the black leather chair this week, he has. 
I know its one thing to answer the questions sitting on your own sofa and another to answer them sitting under the studio lights with John Humphreys staring at you. (My brother Martin was once a contestant, successfully answering questions about the films of Steve McQueen in 1980, so I have it on good authority that it's nerve shredding.) But Tony did miss some easy ones.
  "London Lady was the b-side of which early Stranglers single ?' asked John.
"Peaches" said Tony.
OK, I can forgive him that. He was a journalist at the time, and I assume he didn't actually go out and buy the single in a shop, so didn't go through the whole ceremony of studying the picture sleeve while it played on the record player in the front room.

"What was the name of the single released by 999 in January 1978 although it failed to chart ?" said John.
"Pass" said Tony.
Yes, he can get away with that one too. No one paid attention to 999 singles.

"Which band was originally called 'The Nightlife Thugs' before their singer chose their new name from a phrase in the autobiography of Woody Guthrie" asked John.
"Pass" said Tony.
Don't know what's going on there. The answer is, of course, The Boomtown Rats. But I would hesitate before admitting that I knew that. The Boomtown Rats? Who's setting these questions? So I assume that Tony, who looked very cool in his skinny tartan tie and still impressive haircut, decided to pretend he didn't know anything about Bob Geldof and his pyjama wearing cohorts. Better looking stupid than outing yourself as a Boomtown Rats fan.
But there's no excuse for what followed. You might want to look away now.
"Which Manchester venue hosted a gig by the Sex Pistols in June 1976 that inspired the formation of bands such as Joy Division ?" asked John
"The Hacienda" said Tony.
Sorry, Tony, no excuse for not instantly shouting out 'Lesser Free Trade Hall' before adding 'And did you know that the Buzzcocks played support that night , John ?"
Still , it was good to see the words Tony, Parsons and Punk in the same sentence on the TV. I remember his Clash interview in the NME of 1977, when it was required reading. He even survived being married to Julie Burchill. Welcome back to the fold, Tony.
(Grip and Emergency. In case you wondered.)