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RIP X Ray Spex Singer Poly Styrene: Germ Free Adolescent

Posted 4/26/11 11:46 am EST by in Music, Obituary


"Some people think little girls should be seen and not heard ... but I think ... OH, BONDAGE UP YOURS!" Those are the opening lines of one of the greatest punk songs of all times, X Ray Spex's 1977 firebomb, "Oh, Bondage, Up Yours!"

They're spoken in a girlish English accent by Poly Styrene, the band's singer and one of the most iconic figures in punk history, who died on Monday at the age of 53 after a long battle with cancer.

Styrene (born Marianne Elliot-Said on June 3, 1957) came to embody everything that punk meant to this budding teenage anarchist when I first discovered the sound of youth in revolt. More than former flatmate Johnny Rotten's sneering snarl, Joey Ramone's snub-nosed hiccup or Joe Strummer's agitated yawp, Styrene sounded like punk felt: messy, untrained, unrestrained, unafraid and uninhibited.

Her strangulated vocals, atonal, piercing, and yes, at times annoying, embodied the DIY aspect of the first wave, an explosion of anger, aimlessness, class revolt and freedom of expression that blew up in the messy blast of songs like "The Day the World Turned Day-Glo" and the pogo-ing face-punch of "I am a Poseur."
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GG Allin Bobblehead ... Now With More Blood And Filth!

Posted 10/30/09 4:00 pm EST by in Music


It's kind of hard to beat a shelf that already sags under the weight of bobbleheads of Jason Vorhees, Napoleon Dynamite, Al Franken and the 40-Year-Old Virgin (complete with realistic chest hair removal patterns). But then I feasted my eyes on the piece de resistance of completely unnecessary but must-have gross-out collectibles: The GG Allin 1991 Extra Filthy Bloody Edition bobble.

Aggronautix, the same demented people who have created wobbly-necked figurines of such similarly obscure punk rock icons as Tesco Vee of the Meatmen, Milo of the Descendents and the barely-legal Dwarves, have truly gone all out for the second edition of the Allin figure, which commemorates the scat-loving punk icon in all his messy glory.

From the bloody hematoma on his forehead to the true Manchu beard-mustache combo, bloody cuts on his body and guaranteed-to-offend tattoos, this seven-inch tall likeness of the late punker best known for using the stage as a toilet, performing naked and attacking his fans is for the hardcore only. A reissue of a 1991 bobblehead, this new, 500 numbered unit version promises "copious amounts of blood and filth."

Have we mentioned that the GG figure gets a thumbs up from "The Hangover" director Todd Phillips? (Keeping in mind that his directorial debut was the Allin documentary "Hated," so maybe he’s a bit biased.)

It's never too early to start your holiday shopping, so grab one of these and cross mom off of your list!

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CBGB Gets The Boot: Wake-Up Video

Posted 10/15/09 9:00 am EST by in Wake-Up Video


Part of the punk rock ethos is the idea that nothing can lasts forever. In fact, since today is the only day worth living for, tomorrow isn't worth worrying about. Or, as the Sex Pistols put it, "No future." So it shouldn't have been surprising when the most notorious punk venue in the world finally shut down on this day in 2006. CBGB & OMFUG (which stood for "Country, Bluegrass, Blues and Other Music For Uplifting Gormandizers") opened in 1973 as a juke joint but was taken over in the late 1970s by the punk and new wave movement. It gave a stage to groups like the Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, Television — basically, anybody who was important in the New York rock scene during that era. As time moved on, CBGB became more of a haven for hardcore and amateur bands, but it remained a seminal (and meaningful) stage for any group looking to make a name for themselves in Manhattan.

On October 15, 2006, Patti Smith (one of the venue's early breakout stars) played the final concert in the space. The loud, raucous, sometimes amateurish show saw Smith give the place an emotional farewell. The concert was also a tribute to all of the punks who got lost along the way, including Joey Ramone. As the singer for the Ramones, Joey was an unlikely frontman: Super tall, impossibly skinny and socially awkward. But his sweet voice provided the right amount of sugar for the Ramones punchy three-chord jumps. As a tribute to CBGB, Joey and all the other punks who aren't with us any more, check out the video for Joey's cover of "What a Wonderful World," the saddest happy song ever recorded by a geek from Queens.

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Are Green Day Still Punk? You Betcha, By Kim Stolz

Posted 5/1/09 4:00 pm EST by in green-day


SAN FRANCISCO — "I'm going to Hollywood, wooooooooooooahhh!" Green Day's Tre Cool exclaimed, breaking out of a suite at a hotel where the band has been doing interviews, just a few miles from their East Bay home base. The hallway had been quiet for hours until this point, and there was no apparent reason for Cool's exclamation, but that's probably why he did it in the first place.

The first time I heard Green Day I was at an interschool dance in 6th grade. My boyfriend (!!!) Brandon and I were slow-dancing when all of a sudden, the volume was raised and a unique voice invaded the room. "Basket Case," from Green Day's breakthrough album Dookie, was requested at every subsequent "dance" from that point forward.

Now, almost two decades later, Green Day has pushed boundaries again with their forthcoming album, 21st Century Breakdown.

The album's lyrics are political, revolutionary, angry and hopeful; sonically, the album harkens back to the Who and Queen, and brings an influence of classic rock marked with a large, sometimes abrasive sound that is markedly distinct from 2004's American Idiot. Breakdown, with its 3-minute pop songs, reminds me of Billie Joe Armstrong's roots and the power of Dookie.

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Jennifer Hudson Talks About David 'Punk' Otunga: He's 'Nice And Thick -- I Love It!'

Posted 10/2/08 5:56 pm EST by in jennifer-hudson


By Christina Garibaldi and Jocelyn Vena

To her, he's just David.

But to the rest of the world, Jennifer Hudson's fiancé is, of course, "Punk" — a.k.a. David Otunga, the former "I Love New York 2" contestant.

Many were surprised when the pair's engagement was announced last month. After all, it's not often you see a contestant from such a show getting hitched to an Oscar-winning actress. However, Hudson is keeping the whole thing in perspective. "I don't think it's fair to judge someone off an experience [like the show]," she told MTV News.


Then again, you might not know that he graduated from Harvard Law School (just like Barack Obama) either — and "American Idol," of course, is a reality show too.
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Jennifer Hudson Engaged To Punk

Posted 9/15/08 12:17 pm EST by in jennifer-hudson


She: Oscar-winning singer/actress whose self-titled debut album is due out later this month.

He: Z-list reality star (and Harvard Law grad) known as "Punk" (a.k.a. David Otunga) during his stint on VH1's "I Love New York 2." He was one of four "mama's boys" selected by New York's mother.

They: Got engaged on Friday night in Los Angeles on Hudson's 27th birthday, according to "Access Hollywood." Congratulations, kids.

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Punk Producer Jerry Finn Taken Off Life Support

Posted 8/14/08 11:09 am EST by in punk


Legendary punk producer Jerry Finn, who worked on such landmark albums as Green Day's Dookie, Rancid's … And Out Come the Wolves and Blink-182's Enema of the State, was taken off life support on Tuesday, according to Billboard.com. Finn, 38, suffered a massive brain hemorrhage in July and never regained consciousness. In addition to producing ex-Smiths singer Morrissey's upcoming album, Finn worked on some of the most beloved pop-punk and punk albums of the '90s and early '00s, including LPs by Jawbreaker, Superdrag, the Vandals, MxPx, Sum 41 and AFI.

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CBGB Becomes Punk’s Answer to Bloomingdale’s

Posted 4/7/08 2:52 pm EST by in Behind The Scenes, Fashion, NYC


CBGB now

For punk-rock pilgrims headed to 315 Bowery, until recently the site of CBGB and the mecca of all things safety-pin and duct-tape, there’s a real shock in store. When I toured the space's reincarnation, I wasn’t fully prepared to see the former puke-and-piss palace converted into…a high-end clothing store.

Designer John Varvatos has leased the space and transformed it into his latest L.A. rocker-chic-friendly boutique. And while Varvatos has succeeded in keeping several of the club’s original elements intact, the space looks – and smells – starkly different from when I was last there, stepping on the carcasses of decades-dead mice drudged up during the move. Varvatos and his people have somehow managed to scour and scrub the dirtiest place in Manhattan – and transform it into a space that, I’ve got to admit, still manages to honor the memory of its former tenants. To his credit, Varvatos didn’t touch what remnants of CBGB were left behind before he moved in – whole sections of wall covered with rock fliers and graffiti remain, almost as headstones to the lore of this musical landmark, and even the crackled paint that covered the club’s walls wasn’t stripped away.

More after the jump.

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