WHEN BRITAIN WENT POSTAL
The Big Bang
Few would have predicted that the Sex Pistols’ first gig—in November 1975, at the Saint Martin’s School of Art in central London—would be the start of an explosion of music. Not many even knew it was happening. That soon changed. Punk would create a space that other bands rushed to fill. Inspired by the DIY ethos and the rejection of the notion that pop music had to be a 30-minute conceptual track on the lives of elves, punk was just grab an instrument and form a band.
Some simply aped the style of the Pistols, but by 1978, many felt that had been done to death, and so they took off in different directions, moving away from 1-2-3 beats and buzz-saw guitar sounds into diverse styles. The industry, with its need for labels, would eventually lump those diverse styles into a vat called ; I knew it simply as music—music that, in my opinion, is some of the most innovative and exciting ever created. It would take an entire issue of to do it justice; barring that (it seems some hi-fi equipment needs reviewing!), restrictions need to be made. This article will survey only British bands formed, or records released, during 1978–1980. Even so, my personal selection of artists and albums is contrary and open for debate—just like the music. (The question will be raised of bands included or left out—eg, should Siouxsie and the Banshees be in, or were they actually)
