Cheap & Nasty #15 – Instant Punk Cash-In! (The UK Exploitation Years 1977-1979)

   When punk exploded across Britain in 1976, it was widely seen as a menace. Barely two years later, it had become a label that almost anyone could exploit. What began as a genuine musical and cultural movement quickly turned into a commercial opportunity for record labels, producers, veteran musicians and opportunists of every description.

  Cheap and Nasty #15 explores that fascinating grey area known as British Punk Exploitation. Between 1977 and 1979, dozens of singles appeared that attempted to cash in on punk without really belonging to it. Some were recorded by anonymous session musicians, others by hastily assembled studio groups, while many simply added the word punk to the title in the hope of shifting a few more copies.

  This session brings together many of those oddities, from tongue-in-cheek novelties like Norman & The Hooligans' "I'm A Punk" and The Punkettes' "Going Out Wiva Punk" to promotional giveaways, library music recordings, shameless imitations and bizarre studio experiments that today are every bit as entertaining as they are absurd. It also features artists who briefly orbited the real punk scene, including Cherry Vanilla, Alberto Y Lost Trios Paranoias and the early Police, alongside long-forgotten acts whose entire careers amounted to a single 45.

  The real surprise is just how many of these records are better than they have any right to be. Beneath the commercial opportunism lie infectious hooks, punchy riffs and enough energy to show just how deeply punk had infiltrated every corner of the British music industry. It was no longer a marginal subculture. It had become a recognisable style, easy to parody and, above all, easy to sell.

  Cheap and Nasty #15 captures the moment when punk stopped belonging exclusively to the punks. It's a journey through the distorted, opportunistic, often hilarious and occasionally inspired reflection of a movement that, in remarkably little time, went from shocking a nation to becoming just another product on the shelves of Britain's music business.

                              

                                           

                            

Trashlist

00. The Great Rock'n'roll Swindle - Trailer
01. Monks – Johnny B Rotten (EMI, 1979)
02. Wozo – Punk Rock (Music De Wolfe, 1978)
03. Norman & The Hooligans – I’m A Punk (President Records, 1977)
04. The Punkettes – Going Out Wiva Punk (Response Records, 1977)
05. Cherry Vanilla – The Punk (RCA, 1977)
06. Kevin Short & His Privates – Punk Strut (EMI International, 1978)
07. Radio Active – Alltime Needletime Loser (BeeB, 1977)
08. Colin Lloyd Band – Chat Show (Music De Wolfe, 1978)
09. F.U.2. – You Don’t Love Me (Shoking , 1977)
10. The Water Pistols – Soft Punk (State Records, 1976)
11. Billy Karloff Band – Back Street Billy (Wanted Records, 1978)
12. Johnny Ducann – Throw Him In Jail (Arista, 1977)
13. Alberto Y Lost Trios Paranoias – Snuffin’ Like That (Stiff Records, 1977)
14. Bog Ugly - I've Seen It Vomit (Toadstool Records, 1978)
15. Airship – Get Out, Take Your Mother With You (Decca, 1979)
16. Jilted John – Jilted John (EMI International, 1978)
17. Bullets - Grammar School Girls (Big Bear Records, 1978)
18. The Police – Fall Out (Illegal Records, 1977)
19. The Pork Dukes – Making Bacon (Wood Records, 1977)
20. Horrorcomic – England 77 (Lightning Records, 1978)
21. The Vacants – I’m Allrite (Variety, 1977)
22. Telescope – Bye Byes (Ain’t Nice) (Pentagon, 1977)
23. Sex Pistols - My Way (Virgin, 1979)

Unearthed by Tony Rivers

  Sid Vicious's version of "My Way," originally made famous by Frank Sinatra, has been part of my life since my teenage years. For one reason or another, it's one of those records that has always stayed with me. That's why I've chosen to end this session with it, even though the Sex Pistols are probably the most written about, analysed and endlessly discussed band in the entire history of punk.

  Then again, that's really what Estación Zombie is all about. These sessions are best thought of as a kind of audio fanzine on Mixcloud, with the blog serving as its printed companion. They're not intended to be encyclopaedias or academic studies, but personal selections driven by curiosity, forgotten records and, every now and then, a few memories of my own.

  Taken from The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle, "My Way" felt like the perfect way to bring this journey through the opportunistic, absurd and oddly endearing side of late seventies British punk to a close.