![]() ![]() True, a handful of American and British Punk acts landed major label deals, and some even found a few words in Rolling Stone or a cursory spin on FM radio. The uniformity and adamancy of this blockade was virtually on the level of conspiracy it was, essentially, an assumption by the mainstream music industry that the American marketplace would have no interest in Punk Rock, beyond the kind of FM-acceptable tokenism one found in Cheap Trick, The Cars and Blondie. Even bands of enormous charm and potential were filed away as safety pin-wearing freaks. Here’s a few: Because early MTV was so reliant on videos made in the United Kingdom (and so very many of these were of alternative artists), because Netflix et al are so eager to let you know how hip their music supervisors are, and because Nirvana-ism thrust punk rock so forcefully into the forefront of public pop consciousness, it has been largely forgotten that in the pre-MTV era – say, 19 - American commercial radio, the American major labels, and the mainstream American music press virtually conspired to shut down exposure of the loud, simple and radical new sounds coming from the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia. There are manifold reasons for this misconception. Because, see, what was played on WNEW sucked Muni’s shrunken, albeit meaty balls. This is the reason that totally reasonable people you met in 1978 actually cared about Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airman. The Netflixian idea that everyone was hanging around grooving to Generation X or “Neat Neat Neat” is a total effing fantasy. You called your friend in the anti-Leo Sayer brigade and said, “Turn on the TV now! The Babys are on Mike Douglas! And the Tubes are on Kirshner this weekend!” Even if you were listening to Pink Flag and Spiral Scratch, that’s about all you got in the United States in terms of mainstream engagement with vaguely cool music. This is the truth, an’ deal with it: It was a big deal when The Babys were on The Mike Douglas Show. I want to be absolutely and utterly clear about this: Even in the cities and the college campuses, circa 1977 Punk Rock was a minority of a minority position in the United States frankly, you counted yourself mega-lucky to find someone who was into Todd Rundgren or Cheap Trick, and about 94 percent of the time that’s as hip as it was going to get. Recent-ish movies and streaming series set in the mid and late 1970s love to fill their saloons, biker bars, nightclubs, sleepovers and dorm rooms with all manner of hipster punk and post-punk, regardless of the fact that the actual contemporary humans not invented by Netflix were far more likely listening to Andy Gibb, Bob Welch (God bless him) and Black Oak Arkansas. This is the mistaken perception that Punk Rock was a lot bigger and more visible in the United States in the 1970s than it actually was. There’s a peculiar and history-bending phenomenon that I call Vinylism. General tickets on-sale Friday, January 23.Strawberries ad in the NME (Image: Flickr) The New York City show will take over the celebrated Central Park Summer Stage annual concert series on May 19. Mark your calendars, as “The Missing Link Tour” will roll into Denver’s prestigious Red Rocks Amphitheatre on May 3, and joins the stellar line up for Atlanta’s Shaky Knee’s Festival on May 8. We always enjoy playing live but when we have the opportunity to share the stage with a band as inspiring as MASTODON we know each evening will be that much more special. ![]() ![]() MASTODON will close all other shows.ĬLUTCH drummer Jean-Paul Gaster had this to say about the tour.”We are very much looking forward to our U.S. CLUTCH will close the show on April 24 in Vancouver, May 10 in Pittsburgh, May 15 in Bethlehem, May 16 in Baltimore and also the final night of the tour, May 24 in Columbus. “The Missing Link Tour” will feature full sets from both MASTODON and CLUTCH. Sweden’s GRAVEYARD will then take over the main support slot starting in Los Angeles on April 29 for the remaining dates, closing out the tour in Columbus, Ohio on May 24. Paul, Minesota with support provided by BIG BUSINESS, who recently supported MASTODON throughout a sold-out European tour. “The Missing Link Tour” kicks off on April 16 in St. Together, this night of heavy rock will be one of the heaviest and most exciting concert events of the year. Two of the world’s most respected and influential hard rock bands, MASTODON and CLUTCH, announce “The Missing Link Tour”, which brings together both bands as they join forces along with special guests GRAVEYARD and BIG BUSINESS - each taking part of the tour as support. ![]()
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