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Punk Pretenders?
Are these punk crusaders really rebellious, or at heart were they really a bunch of old softies?...
 Sex Pistols
 Although they were only together for two years, (until they reunited in 1996) you've got to hand it to them. How on earth did the Pistols maintain their scruffy, rebellious, bad boy punk image? Surely they couldn't keep it up all of the time? Well, it looks as though we owe a hefty slab of credit to bass player Sid. Born John Simon Richie, he was renowned for throwing regular temper tantrums which intensified his perfect punk leader image. However, Sex Pistols photographer Dennis Morris, who saw a different side of Sid, once said: "I always knew the violence part of it was not really Sid. He was really quite a gentle person, who simply thought he had an image to live up to." So, despite looking like a hells angel who'd just drunk a skin full of radioactive waste, Mr Vicious was really a cuddly wuddly bear. Mmmm, we think some of you could prove us wrong. Let's not forget the girlfriend incident.
  Sham 69
Pinching their name from an ancient bit of graffiti that celebrated a local football team's winning season in 1969, the Sham were always trotting with trouble. Looking like a bunch of scruffy Grange Hill drop outs, they began tearing up gigs wherever they could lay their hands on. Playing the notorious London punk venue, the Roxy, on a regular basis, they soon created their own little army - a vicious, racist skin head following. With lead singer Jimmy Pursey always trying to make a show biz personality of himself, often calling himself the 'Tommy Steele of Punk', we have to wonder if the punkage is still flowing through the Sham's veins? Well, Jim-bob revealed recently that he's back on the road because: "it pays the mortgage". Cor, you've really lived up to your violent punk profile there, Jimmy-boy...
  Buzzcocks
Heavily influenced by Sid and the fellas' sheer energy, the Buzzcocks had a rough and ready image, but never actually managed to portray any angry political stance. Although they were a major contributor to the initial wave of punk rock, we never felt as though the lads fitted into the ferocious rabble of punk peeps all that well. In fact they've probably got more on common with '90s boyband Take That. You'd never have thought that frontman Pete Shelley was in a 100 yards of being in a punk band after this next flowery comment. Mr Shelley once said, (imagine a softly spoken voice): "I'm trying to be me and all the different facets of me. Each of my songs opens up like a lotus flower and casts a thousand petals, all reaching a certain point." Awww, Pete, stop, you'll bring a tear to our eye. Punk? No way José.
  Stranglers
Originally known as the Guilford Stranglers, (they lived in a village just outside called Chiddingford) the boys seemed to go for the slightly more zany punk image. Well known for their Monty Python-esque shenanigans such as packing stages with topless dancing girls, (and sometimes, if you were really lucky, naked midgets) the boys caused havoc with rights groups all over London. With uncompromising grotesque material like 'Peasant In The Big Shitty', 'I Feel Like A Wog' and 'Down In The Sewer', the Stranglers really did shape up nicely to everybody's punk perception. However, we recently changed our mind after hearing former frontman Hugh's top 5 past times: "1) I listen to a lot of classical music, 2) I love going from a sauna into a plunge pool, 3) Spanish food is my favourite, 4) I admire the author Philip K Dick and 5) I love films." We can understand why he left the band now, honestly, the shame...
  Clash
With the ultimate 'rebels without a cause' attitude, who would have thought that bad boy frontman Joe Strummer was the son of a diplomat, spending most of his childhood years tucked away at boarding school? Really, if it wasn't for Mick Jones, a good old working class Brixton boy who weened all the pretty public school boy out of him, we wonder if the Clash would ever have existed. Left with a perfect punkified prowess, we've often pondered whether some of that bulshy-punk attitude was still with Joe in his later years? Well, you'll be pleased to hear that there was plenty. A couple of months before his passing, he said: "When you get older you either become more of a bastard or less. I'm definitely much more of a bastard now!" That's what we're talking about! Future punk people, may he be an example to you all...
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