Where to start with CBGB's 70s Punk
CBGB's 70s Punk is a music scene from New York City, USA, 1973–1982. Its principal artists include Ramones, Television, Talking Heads and Patti Smith. This issue covers 10 essential albums and 15 dated events.
Start here
- 1
Ramones
Ramones · 1976Original release: Sire Records · SR 6020 · 12″ Vinyl · US 1976Punk rock's founding document, stripping songs to fourteen tracks under three minutes to establish the genre's basic attack.
- 2
Horses
Patti Smith · 1975Original release: Arista · AB 4066 · 12″ Vinyl · US 1975Shows punk could be literate and spiritual as well as physical, fusing Beat poetry with garage rock.
- 3
Marquee Moon
Television · 1977Original release: Elektra · 7E-1098 · 12″ Vinyl · US 1977Proves the genre could stretch into sophistication and ambition while still holding its nerve.
Go deeper
- 4
Talking Heads: 77
Talking Heads · 1977Original release: Sire Records · SR 6036 · 12″ Vinyl · US 1977This 1977 debut, anchored by "Psycho Killer," established the band's anxious, art-school take on punk and new wave.
- 5
Blondie
Blondie · 1976Original release: Private Stock · PS 2023 · 12″ Vinyl · US 1976Blondie's 1976 debut folded pop hooks and girl-group melody into punk's velocity, launching Debbie Harry as the scene's most visible woman.
- 6
Rocket to Russia
Ramones · 1977Original release: Sire Records · SR 6042 · 12″ Vinyl · US 1977The Ramones' third album, released in 1977, refined the formula down to its essentials on tracks like "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker" and "Rockaway Beach." Two years of relentless CBGB…
- 7
Leave Home
Ramones · 1977Original release: Sire Records · SA-7528 · 12″ Vinyl · US 1977Released in 1977, less than a year after the debut, Leave Home was recorded fast and lean, catching the Ramones at their most propulsive.
- 8
Blank Generation
Richard Hell and the Voidoids · 1977Released in 1977, this album's title track became punk's nihilist anthem, distilling a generation's attitude and DIY instincts into one refrain.
For the obsessed
- 9
Remain in Light
Talking Heads · 1980Original release: Sire Records · SRK 6095 NP promo · 12″ Vinyl · PT 1980This 1980 collaboration with Brian Eno pulled African polyrhythms and funk into the band's sound, stretching new wave's range and shaping generations of art-rock that followed.
- 10
Young, Loud and Snotty
Dead Boys · 1977Original release: Sire Records · SR 6038 · 12″ Vinyl · US 1977This raw, aggressive 1977 debut captured the Dead Boys' chaotic CBGB shows and the direct pipeline running from Cleveland to New York punk.
The stories behind every record are in CBGB's 70s Punk, a members' issue.