NOBODY'S SAVAGE

Vic Godard's Subway Sect were the fifth UK punk band, ever. Rereading what I've just typed it sounds totally absurd, but according to the old History Books it's as clear as that. First there was nothing; then, on Day 1 of Year Zero there were the Sex Pistols, to be followed on Day 2 by Clash, Damned and Buzzcocks. Then God, I mean Malcolm McLaren and Bernie Rhodes decided to have a punk festival, so they created Suzy and the Banshees, who weren't really a band yet, and Subway Sect. There you have it: punk band nr. 5. Of course, with the passing of time we realized it wasn't all that cut-and-dried, in fact the mid-70's were a big blur of various shades of crosspollinating glam/ hippie/ pre-/ proto-/ post- as well as mere punk noises. But the fact still remains that, because of the "school of '76"-connection, Subway Sect are probably the most famous punk band nobody's ever actually, like, heard. There are some big conspiracy theories on why their LP was never (to this day) released, but my guess is their manager Rhodes was just too busy doing the Clash to be bothered. "Nobody's scared"/ "Dontsplitit", the sole 45 the "real" Subway Sect did release (recorded in 1977, released in 1978), is a great peek into an era when it seemed everything was possible; apart from the fact that these guys really couldn't play (whereas the Clash and Pistols were just pretending), it doesn't follow any (Punk) Rock rules; you don't know where the song is going, don't know what Vic Godard's singing reminds you of, can't place their garbage-cans-and-vacuum-cleaner sound in any sort of tradition (Velvet Underground everybody says; I don't hear it), that's why if there ever was such a thing as real punk, this has gotta be it! I'd love to hear that lost LP.
Never mind the Famous-Punk-Bands-You've-Never-Heard, let's talk about the Bands-That-Were-Around-But-Weren't-Cool-Enough. Like Ultravox! (No, I wasn't shouting, they were actually named "Ultravox!") This early Midge Ure-free incarnation was around when punk's first stirrings were felt, yet they were never lumped in with punk (unlike say, the extremely un-punk Dire Straits or Boomtown Rats!) Maybe they sounded too much like Roxy Music, especially some of their rawer live stuff on Viva! (Is that were they got the exclamation point from?), and those Year Zero punks were too ashamed of their past as Roxy fans to like Ultravox!! (Yes, I did shout this time.) Anyway, their second single "Young Savage" from May '77 is pretty wild; I like the sleeve design too, it's very, er... punk.

Subway Sect - Nobody's Scared
Subway Sect - Dontsplitit
Ultravox! - Young Savage