Pretty Boy Punk

Occasional Albums Thing 087 - Generation X “Generation X”

I’ve been on an ongoing quest to (re)collect (what I regard as) a set of the classic first wave Punk albums. “Ramones”, “Damned Damned Damned”, “Never Mind The Bollocks…”, “The Clash”, “In The City”, “Another Music In A Different Kitchen”, “The Scream”, “Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts”, “Germ Free Adolescents”, I had found them all but one was eluding me and there was a reason why.

I’d bought all these albums on first release back in 1977/78 but through a combination of loss and wear and tear I was getting them all again. The one that was eluding me was this, Generation X’s debut. When first released back in March 1978 there were a couple of key features that my original copy had and I wanted the same issue. Firstly the sleeve opened at the top rather than along the right hand side, also, the first issue came with an Obi strip. Obi strips are common on Japanese records where they were used on imported western albums to display artist names, track-lists, prices, and catalogue numbers in Japanese script. An Obi strip is a narrow paper band wrapped around the cover of a record, almost like a ribbon, featuring all that info. In the picture above it’s that black strip with the band name, catalogue number etc. printed on it. My original LP had one so I wanted the replacement to have one too.

But as with posters and other inserts included with records, what’s the first thing that goes missing ? Exactly, those posters got pinned onto walls and other postcards and inserts and bits and pieces get left out of sleeves and lost. The Obi strip covered part of the sleeve and I guess people removed it from around the sleeve and lost it got too. So, although it was relatively easy to find a top opening copy of this album, finding one which still had its Obi strip with it proved somewhat more challenging. Until we were sitting in the pub one sunny August afternoon and an alert popped up on my phone from Discogs to inform me that a NM copy including the Obi had been posted for sale…no-one else stood a chance, it was mine !

Generation X were formed in that first rush of Punk in 1976, as the first visit of the Ramones to London and the emergence of the Sex Pistols turned the music world upside down. Singer/guitarist William Broad (later to become Billy Idol), a Uni drop out and member of the Bromley Contingent who followed the Sex Pistols, drummer John Towe and bass player Tony James (previously a member of proto Punks the London SS and later of Sigue Sigue Sputnik) answered an ad in the Melody Maker and found themselves becoming the band Chelsea fronted by Gene October. After some disagreements with October Broad/Idol, Towe and James left Chelsea to form their own band. Billy ditched the guitar and Bob Andrews (soon given the Punk soubriquet Derwood) was poached from Fulham ‘rocker’ band Paradox. After a handful of rehearsals and less than a week, Generation X played their first gig at the Central London College of Art & Design on 10 December 1976.

By July of 1977 Generation X had signed to Chrysalis Records and on 1st September they released their debut single, “Your Generation”, which charted, reaching #36. In March of 1978 came this debut album. Chrysalis very much presented the band on the sleeve as a “pretty boy” punk band, all four members had a certain “teen appeal” which the record company played up. Despite that the music was good, produced by Martin Rushent (who 3 years later would produce the defining 80's album "Dare" by Human League), it was fierce and spiky. Towe and James were a more than adequate rhythm section and Derwood Andrews was a blisteringly exciting guitar player.

I find that there’s a very 60’s theme running through this record. The most obvious touchpoint being the inclusion of 3rd single “Ready Steady Go!” with its lyrics about being in love with said ’60’s music shows presenter Cathy McGowan and name-checks for the The Beatles, The Stones, Bobby Dylan, the Kings Road and Jukebox Jury. Opening song “From The Heart” references (John) Lennon, Ray (Davies), Keif (Richards) and (Pete) Townshend. Then the superb “One Hundred Punks” has lyrics like “Down Wardour Street to the Soho sound”, “They look so sharp, they look like one, If you ain't got the look, you'll never be one” and  “Tomorrow's famous faces advertised today”. There’s no other way of putting it but Billy Idol could be singing about the original ’60’s Mods, shift that song forward a year or so and substitute the word Punks for Mods in the title and it’s a Mod Revival anthem. I also have to add that the lyric “A hundred punks run with total suss, A hundred good mates you know you'll trust, There's never no bother and there's never no fuss” seems a little optimistic given that the Punks in question would no doubt have been based on the Bromley Contingent of which Billy Idol was a “member” along with Siouxsie Sioux, Steve Severin and Soo Catwoman etc.,no bother or fuss…yeah right !

Musically there are some observations I’d like to make. Derwood Andrews was obviously a very accomplished guitarist and many of the songs on this album feature very un-Punk like guitar solo’s (“One Hundred Punks”, “Listen”, “Ready Steady Go”, “Promises”, “Kiss Me Deadly” and “Youth Youth Youth”, more on the latter two later). Also, producer Martin Rushent includes in places some Reggae style Dubby effects on “Listen” and “Day By Day” which ties in with the previous years 2nd single “Wild Youth” the B-side of which was a “Version” titled “Wild Dub”. Generation X play ed the opening night at the Roxy Club in Covent Garden where the in house DJ was Don Letts who, in the main, played Reggae and Dub as there weren't any Punk records to play, so maybe they band picked up that idea from The Roxy.

The two high points on this album for me are Side 2’s centrepiece, “Kiss Me Deadly” and final track “Youth Youth Youth”. When we were in bands in the early 1980’s many of us were striving to write a song that came even close to “Kiss Me Deadly”. My band at the time, the enigmatically named Pop Da Freak, made our attempt with “Oh No! Not Another Johnny And Suzie Song” and some of you may recall the band From Eden (featuring future members of PWEI and The Wonder Stuff) who made their attempts at the style with “Can’t Hurt A Memory” and the very  splendid “All The Gold And Dreams”. But Generation X batted us all down with “Kiss Me Deadly”, starting slow and busting out as our young Punks “risk the subway” and attempt to “rip this world apart”…it’s magnificent !

To close out this album we have “Youth Youth Youth”. In Punk terms this is an epic, it’s six minutes and six seconds long but the lyrics are finished with by 2 mins 38, the rest is handed over to a two and a half minute+ Derwood guitar solo and this is where we find out something about Generation X’s accomplished guitarist. This ain’t no Claptout Blues jam, it’s an atonal rush that I discovered years later, after being introduced to Krautrock by my old friend Philip Barlow, is HEAVILY influenced by the guitar style on the first two albums by Berlin’s Ash Ra Tempel (self titled and “Schwingungen” if you want to listen) so maybe there is nothing new under the sun after all.

Were Generation X Punk ? Well undoubtedly, Billy Idol ran with the Bromley Contingent and Tony James had been a member of the London SS whose ranks acted as a proving ground for the likes of James, Mick Jones (The Clash) and Brian James (The Damned). But it’s fair to say by the time this album was released a lot of the rough edges had been smoothed offof them. Their first 2 singles (neither of which are on here) may be considered their most Punk efforts. This album contains a lot of references to “Rock & Roll” and the likes of The Beatles but please don’t get me wrong, this is a great bloody record and 15 year old me ate it up, while 63 year old me still loves it.

Kiss Me Deadly - https://youtu.be/DMM5oKtFVC0?si=YK05c_-PlTgzUwY1