The making of the first-ever punk single
When punk music was finding its feet, it made a name for itself as a live sound. The music was inaccessible and noisy, and the gigs were chaotic and violent; it indeed was, as the Sex Pistols promised, anarchy. As such, not many punk singles were being recorded because it was a complex sound to create in a studio with budgetary issues.
A divide between the upper and lower classes has always been an issue, one that was especially brought into the spotlight in the ‘70s as some families struggled to make ends meet while others lived the most glamorous lifestyles imaginable. There were persistent strikes, power outages, and high unemployment; it didn’t help that music also seemed somewhat elitist.
Rock was doing its thing as The Rolling Stones continued to sell out stadiums, which was great for Jagger and co but hardly ideal for fans keen on going to see him. Tickets were too expensive, and even when people could afford them, they would stand so far back that if they held their thumbs up in front of their faces, they would cover the stage entirely.
Punk brought live music back to the working man as bands started to play in small venues such as pubs again. At the same time, the things that bands spoke about also better reflected the struggles of the working man, and musicians’ ability reflected what kind of pupillage they could afford; in other words, half the musicians on stage didn’t even know how to play. But it wasn’t about that; it was energy, chaos, anarchy, and just letting loose. Subsequently, the bands contributing to this movement weren’t as concerned about recording songs as others at the time.
It was only when punk became a phenomenon that bands decided to try to record music and deliver it to the masses, as the genre was proving relatively marketable. The first single was recorded by The Damned, who managed to beat every other band in the race to put out the first punk 45 with their single ‘New Rose’.
“It was produced by Nick Lowe, who said his only role was to go out and buy the band cheap cider so they’d make a good racket,” said Marc Riley, “It might be the first punk record, but it still sounds as thrilling and as urgent as when it came out.”
Adding: “David Robinson who managed Brinsley Schwarz started the Stiff Records label with Jake Rivera [later Echo & The Bunnymen manager] by borrowing £500 from Lee Brilleaux from Dr Feelgood. So it was all that Pub Rock set who started Stiff Records, but they got The Damned and got it out for the first British punk record out.”
It shows just how much of a live sound punk was at the time, given the most popular bands around weren’t the first to record anything. It was only when punk proved it could travel that record labels started to think there was potential profit in it, and The Damned were the first to get some proper music out into the world as a result.
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