# Post-punk bands that predated punk **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 6, 2012, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-punk-bands-that-predated-punk/618018 "2012-04-06T17:47:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-punk-bands-that-predated-punk/618018/41 "2012-04-09T15:53:16Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I’m no expert, but would the B-52a fit the bill? No, because of timing; they didn’t play their first show until 1977. I’m kind of surprised no one’s mentioned Patti Smith, whose debut LP came out in 1975. Perhaps she was too serious to be post-punk. Just for the hell of it, I’m going to mention _[Nadir’s Big Chance](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadir%27s_Big_Chance)_, released in 1975 by, of all people, Peter Hammill, leader of art-rock band Van der Graaf Generator, even though it’s more pre-punk than pre-post-punk. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-punk-bands-that-predated-punk/618018/42 "2012-04-10T06:01:55Z")
Thinking on it some more I’d suggest looking into Brian Eno’s first two solo albums(he was in early Roxy Music) which were apparently so strange at the time they came out no one even knew what genre to call them, glam rock really? Here Come The Warm Jets Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy Just check out some of the songs, both albums predate punk. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-punk-bands-that-predated-punk/618018/43 "2012-04-10T10:30:43Z")
(waiting for the inevitable Zagar and Evans reference) ---
**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-punk-bands-that-predated-punk/618018/44 "2012-04-10T15:41:23Z")
How about The Stranglers? I think their first record was in like '77 or so, but they’d been together for a few years prior to that with, from my understanding, a style that was already developing. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-punk-bands-that-predated-punk/618018/45 "2012-04-10T16:25:09Z")
> [@grude](#): > > Thinking on it some more I’d suggest looking into Brian Eno’s first two solo albums(he was in early Roxy Music) which were apparently so strange at the time they came out no one even knew what genre to call them, glam rock really? > > Here Come The Warm Jets > Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy > > Just check out some of the songs, both albums predate punk. I was going to say that! Darn it all anyway! Here’s a curiosity… it’s a song I definitely remember posting about in some other thread, but it seems to fit here. See if [this track](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGq2AtuERFs) from 1967 don’t remind you of Beck. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-punk-bands-that-predated-punk/618018/46 "2012-04-10T18:52:22Z")
> [@Beastly\_Rotter](#): > > The Sweet were always split between immaculately crafted, immensely catchy fluff on their A-sides, and a much heavier sound on their B-sides: [Done Me Wrong All Right](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wrhe9f7RVzE), which wouldn’t disgrace Deep Purple, yet was hidden away. I know nothing about punk, but if that’s punk then sign me up. That sounds a lot more like metal then anything else, at least to me. The driving bass is awesome. ---
**Author:** ![punch\_line\_loser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e7dd6/32.png) [@punch\_line\_loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/punch_line_loser)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-punk-bands-that-predated-punk/618018/47 "2012-04-10T20:54:57Z")
I’ve been beaten to pretty much all of the answers I was going to provide. I’ll throw in another mention for Suicide, especially since they were the first band to call themselves “punk music” as early as 1971 despite being already lightyears beyond the punks in New York. Also, post-punk “sophisti-pop” legends Orange Juice formed as the Nu-Sonics in 1976, right when the UK strand of punk was in its ascendancy. Also gotta throw a shout out to my pal Rick Berlin and Orchestra Luna, who formed in Boston in 1974 that at the time seemed like it was post-fucking-everything but could probably be loosely described as post-punk now. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-punk-bands-that-predated-punk/618018/48 "2012-04-10T20:57:43Z")
> [@Anamorphic](#): > > How about The Stranglers? I think their first record was in like '77 or so, but they’d been together for a few years prior to that with, from my understanding, a style that was already developing. At the time, in Britain, _The Stranglers_, who emerged at about the same time as _The Sex Pistols_ were considered very much as part of the original first wave of punk. As things developed, and lots of bands imitating _The Sex Pistols_ emerged (after a week or two of practice), some punk purists began to look a bit askance at _The Stranglers_ because, you know, although they were angry and nasty, and certainly were very far from prog rock, they used an organ :eek:, and could play in tune using more than two chords and more than one tempo. So anyway, the point is that you can make a case that _The Stranglers_ were absolutely at the heart of the British punk movement, or that they were sort of peripheral to it, but no way were they post-punk or (what I think we are supposed to be looking for) pre-punk-post-punk. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-punk-bands-that-predated-punk/618018/49 "2012-04-10T23:21:20Z")
> [@Edward\_The\_Head](#): > > > [@Beastly Rotter](#): > > > > The Sweet were always split between immaculately crafted, immensely catchy fluff on their A-sides, and a much heavier sound on their B-sides: [Done Me Wrong All Right](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wrhe9f7RVzE), which wouldn’t disgrace Deep Purple, yet was hidden away. > > I know nothing about punk, but if that’s punk then sign me up. That sounds a lot more like metal then anything else, at least to me. The driving bass is awesome. Yeah, that particular song sounds more metal than punk to me, though I maintain the band was also doing some pretty punk-ish stuff. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-punk-bands-that-predated-punk/618018/50 "2012-04-10T23:28:42Z")
> [@Ichbin\_Dubist](#): > > The Red Krayola’s first record came out in 1967 but they sound exactly like a mid-80s postpunk band to me, [to wit.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3h03mh0MEMU) Whoa. Where has this band been my whole life? Holy shit. I can’t believe that’s 1967. Gotta dig up some more of their stuff… ---
**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2012, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-punk-bands-that-predated-punk/618018/51 "2012-04-11T02:21:19Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > So anyway, the point is that you can make a case that _The Stranglers_ were absolutely at the heart of the British punk movement, or that they were sort of peripheral to it, but no way were they post-punk or (what I think we are supposed to be looking for) pre-punk-post-punk. Fair enough. I still like 'em. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Beastly\_Rotter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@Beastly\_Rotter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beastly_Rotter)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2012, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-punk-bands-that-predated-punk/618018/52 "2012-04-11T10:31:57Z")
Radio Birdman were founded in 1974, and released their first EP in 1976: [Smith and Wesson Blues](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jm2FCmBkck&feature=relmfu) was typical of their sound, the missing link between the Stooges and the Doors. ---
**Author:** ![Beastly\_Rotter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@Beastly\_Rotter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beastly_Rotter)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2012, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-punk-bands-that-predated-punk/618018/53 "2012-04-11T10:37:40Z")
And The Saints were also founded in 1974:[Stranded](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LA2DbwXJoo) came out in 1976. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-punk-bands-that-predated-punk/618018.md?page=2)