VA - Action Time Vision, A Story Of Independent UK Punk 1976-1979 [2016] (4 x CD's)

UK PUNK

Previously posted November 20, 2021

VA - Action Time Vision, A Story Of Independent UK Punk 1976-1979 [2016] (4 x CD's)

In the early years of the punk rock explosion of the 70's, the record industry didn't know what to make of the aggressive new sound. Punk certainly seemed like the coming thing, but no one seemed sure of how to sell music that was built around open disrespect for authority figures -- which in the eyes of the punks included the music industry. Thankfully, punk was born with a passionate desire to document itself, and if the major labels weren't going to put punk rock on records, the punks would do it themselves. No previous rock movement was more closely associated with independent labels and the D.I.Y. philosophy than punk, and countless indie labels were launched to commit fresh talent to vinyl. Action Time Vision: A Story of Independent U.K. Punk 1976-1979 is an exhaustive and wildly entertaining four-volume box set that examines both the indie label scene in the United Kingdom as well as the bands that emerged on homegrown labels. The set opens, fittingly enough, with "New Rose" by the Damned, widely acknowledged as the first British punk single and the release that turned Stiff Records into a going concern. Just as that record still sounds fresh and explosive four decades later, nearly all of the 111 songs on Action Time Vision are filled with energy, passion, and a sense of discovery, as the musicians strive to find their place in a new musical landscape and have fun doing it. This set is also a potent reminder that early punk was never as monochromatic as many liked to believe (or as samey as U.K. punk would become in the '80s). Along with the foursquare punk attack of the Lurkers, the Cortinas, Sham 69, and many others, there's the speeded-up pub rock of Fruit Eating Bears, the joyous power pop of the Stoat, the prog-inspired twists and turns of Psykik Voltz, the arty minimalism of English Subtitles, the psych-inspired surrealism of Victim, the edgy cool of the Flys, and the acoustic guitar in a bedsit parody/tribute of Patrik Fitzgerald. And while the set includes lots of familiar names, the compilers have included plenty of obscurities that often prove to be as satisfying as the best-known tracks, another reminder of how fertile this era truly was. (There are also a number of tracks from artists who would go on to greater fame in the future, such as Billy Bragg in Riff Raff, Kevin Rowland in the Killjoys, and Shane MacGowan in the Nipple Erectors.) The liner notes from Andy Davis are a great read, and an impressive history of the many bands and labels featured here. This is hardly the first or best study of the U.K. punk scene of the 70's, but Action Time Vision is an impressive tribute to the early stirrings of indie culture in England, and it's great listening throughout. (Allmusic review by Mark Deming )

===========================================================

ALL 

or

ALL 

===========================================================

Track lists

CD1      

01 Damned New Rose 2:44

02 Eater Outside View 2:04

03 Radiators From Space Television Screen 1:52

04 Cortinas Fascist Dictator 2:37

05 Drones Lookalikes 2:36

06 Lurkers Shadow 2:29

07 Rezillos I Can't Stand My Baby 2:38

08 999 I'm Alive 2:33

09 Johnny Moped No One 2:47

10 Sham 69 I Don't Wanna 1:42

11 Puncture Mucky Pup 2:05

12 Snivelling Shits Terminal Stupid 2:56

13 Vacants Worthless Trash 2:21

14 Zeros Hungry 2:18

15 Maniacs Chelsea 77 2:36

16 Outsiders One to Infinity 2:05

17 Killjoys Johnny Won't Get to Heaven 2:41

18 Johnny & the Self Abusers Saints and Sinners 1:51

19 Unwanted Withdrawal 1:59

20 Wasps Teenage Treats 3:05

21 Pigs Youthanasia 2:47

22 Lockjaw Radio Call Sign 1:35

23 Neon Hearts Venus Eccentric 2:40

24 Jerks Get Your Woofing Dog Off Me 1:51

25 Panik Modern Politics 2:58

26 Some Chicken New Religion 2:16

27 Carpettes Radio Wunderbar 2:54

28 Flys Love and a Molotov Cocktail 2:33

29 Alberto Y Lost Trios Paranoias Gobbing on Life 3:58

30 Only Ones Lovers of Today 3:10

31 Suspects Nothing to Declare (Live at the Vortex) 2:19

CD2

01 Swell Maps Read About Seymour 1:30

02 Patrik Fitzgerald Safety-Pin Stuck in My Heart 2:41

03 Boys Leaders (Demo) 2:32

04 Stoat Office Girl 3:11

05 Acme Sewage Co. I Don't Need You 3:18

06 V2 Speed Freak 2:00

07 Bazoomis Give it All to Me 3:56

08 Raped Moving Target 3:50

09 Big G I Hate the Whole Human Race 3:13

10 Subs Gimme Your Heart 3:02

11 Tubeway Army That's Too Bad 3:20

12 Xtraverts Blank Generation 3:07

13 Fruit Eating Bears Door in My Face 2:54

14 Front System 3:29

15 Satan's Rats You Make Me Sick 2:10

16 Stiff Little Fingers Suspect Device 2:35

17 Menace G.L.C. 2:25

18 Dyaks Gutter Kids 3:14

19 Skids Reasons 2:09

20 Rudi Big Time 2:43

21 Artattacks I Am a Dalek 2:49

22 Bears On Me 3:13

23 O Level Pseudo Punk 1:47

24 Members Solitary Confinement 3:55

25 Nipple Erectors King of the Bop 2:03

26 Angelic Upstarts The Murder of Middle Towers 4:38

27 Mean Street Bunch of Stiffs (Live at the Vortex) 2:54

CD3

01 Alternative Tv Action Time Vision 2:30

02 Social Security I Don't Want My Heart to Rule My Head 3:01

03 Tights Bad Hearts 3:35

04 Riff Raff Cosmonaut 1:28

05 Dole New Wave Love 3:15

06 Joy Division Failures 3:45

07 Leyton Buzzards 19 and Mad 2:54

08 Demon Preacher Little Miss Perfect 3:28

09 Outcasts Just Another Teenage Rebel 3:15

10 Fall Psycho Mafia 2:13

11 Chelsea Urban Kids 2:54

12 Protex Don't Ring Me Up 2:38

13 Cravats Gordon 4:02

14 Horrorcomic England '77 2:31

15 Uk Subs C.I.D. 1:55

16 Spizz Oil 6,000 Crazy 2:14

17 Dodgems I Don't Care (Full Version) 4:52

18 Users Kicks in Style 2:01

19 Peter and the Test Tube Babies Elvis is Dead 2:11

20 Ruts In a Rut 3:41

21 Disco Zombies Drums Over London 4:10

22 Nicky & the Dots Never Been So Stuck 2:31

23 Shapes Wot's for Lunch Mum? (Not B****s Again!) 1:32

24 No Way Breaking Point 3:09

25 Wall New Way 3:56

26 Hollywood Brats Sick on You 5:10

CD4

01 Adam and the Ants Zerox 3:49

02 Notsensibles Death to Disco 3:18

03 Vice Creems Danger Love 3:07

04 Murder the Disturbed D.N.A. 3:29

05 Cockney Rejects Flares 'n' Slippers 1:37

06 Psykik Volts Totally Useless 4:37

07 Molesters The End of Civilisation 3:19

08 Newtown Neurotics Hypocrite 3:16

09 Pure Hell These Boots Are Made for Walking 2:47

10 Fire Exit Timewall 2:16

11 Pack King of Kings 3:14

12 Steroid Kiddies Dumb Dumb 2:18

13 English Subtitles Time Tunnel 2:40

14 Proles Soft Ground 2:15

15 Adicts Easy Way Out 3:08

16 Dark My Friends 2:33

17 Woody & the Splinters I Must Be Mad 1:57

18 Victim Why Are Fire Engines Red 2:46

19 X-Certs Anthem 2:37

20 F-X Slag 3:03

21 Rivals Future Rights 2:54

22 Silent Noise I've Been Hurt (So Many Times Before) 2:51

23 Vice Squad Nothing 1:57

24 Prefects Things in General 3:10

25 Licks 1970's Have Been Made in Hong Kong 3:17

26 Fatal Microbes Violence Grows 3:13

27 Poison Girls Under the Doctor 2:50

=============================================================

=============================================================