Nothing quite amuses in the way that a vintage local news report on those crazy kids and their "punk rock" does, but there's something extra surreal when the dry, patronizing drone of the local anchor follows around the going-ons of a band that actually represents the genre at its most gleefully obnoxious rather than just another new-wave Blondie rip-off. Here's some great footage of underdocumented Texas noise-punks Stick Men With Ray Guns profiled sometime in the 1980's on one such evening news sojourn. Come for the condescending narration from an anchor who just can't seem to believe that these Stick Men, what with their slam-dancing and their angst and their atheism, aren't some junkie thugs lying passed out in a gutter, stay for some pretty excellent footage of the late Bobby Soxx and his cohorts:
If the unsurprisingly out-of-touch framing of this trend piece wears thin, here's some early footage of the Stick Men in all their scuzzy wonder to make up for it:
Here's Bobby's band Before Stickmen: The Teenage Queers.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5838338817564191923#
Posted by: Steve Dirkx | November 06, 2011 at 10:28 AM
Absolutely brilliant!! both the Teenage Queers + The Stickmen were way way ahead of their time...fantastic!
Posted by: Wes | November 06, 2011 at 12:31 PM