Flashback #1: When it comes to purveyors of angry music, there are few bands that were angrier or more rebellious than the Sex Pistols. But our first flashback of the day doesn't feature any of their bollocks. No, that honor goes to Johnny Lydon's second major band, Public Image Ltd. (or PiL), and their 1986 release, Album (also known as Compact Disc or Cassette depending on the specific format). The first track off that album was the raucous "F.F.F." which stood for "Farewell my fair-weather friend." We all know one, we've all told one off. And no song was more definitive for me as I transitioned from high school and went away to college.
Flashback #2: Remember Nitzer Eb? Do you remember what their name meant? Well, it didn't mean anything. It was supposed to sound harsh and German. Coupled with their pounding, percussion-laden, synthesizer grooves, this name achieved its purpose. These days, "Join in the Chant" may not sound overtly angry. But in 1987, this was the perfect music to scare the crap out of your gentler neighbors.
Flashback #3: Talk about angry, how about Fear? This punk outfit from LA was immortalized in the documentary film, The Decline of Western Civilization. In that film, we see the band taunting their audience with personal attacks and actually inciting folks to come up on stage and fight them. "I Don't Care About You," from The Record (1982), could only come from a band with such little regard for themselves and so much inner conflict that they had to fight during a performance. I didn't hear this song until I got to college -- there was no way it was getting airplay in the small town of St. Marys, PA -- and I think I was merely amused by its novelty. I was just a kid from a small, rural town, and I had no direct connection to the anger tapped by the LA punk scene. But give "I Don't Care About You" a listen today (uh, parents should not listen to it with their children), and I think you will find that it accurately, and unfortunately, sums up what passes for political discourse in 2010.
Be certain to come back for the "Uplifting Edition" of the Friday 80s Flashback!
More flashbacks are available in the archives. As always, your comments are welcome on today's, or any other, flashback post. And if you like what I'm doing here, please share the link with your friends. If, however, you don't like the flashback, feel free to share it with your enemies.
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I'll see you in seven!
And if you are on Twitter, and feel so inclined, please +K my influence in Music on @klout.
I'll see you in seven!
UPDATED April 5, 2024, to replace missing video for "Join In The Chant."
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