Pub Rock
Paul Yamada, Terminal Zone, 1978
TO THOSE OF US here in the states, the period of so called 'Pub Rock' in the UK, which lasted at least 6 years, and has yet to fade completely, has often seemed more cohesive and unified in its aims and products than it really was. Certainly few American British rock fans are as aware of the club-scene as it exists to the musically active Britons themselves. Even fewer of us are fully acquainted wtih the causes of roots-oriented rock in Britain, like the Teds. I certainly don't claim to be an expert. New Musical Express reports invaluable information but is hardly a substitute for being there, as if anything is. Nonetheless, there is certainly a paucity of writing coming out of England on its own best musical phenomenon; punk/New Wave and the mainstream dominate, as usual. What I shall try to do is fill in facts and details and then try to explain whatever development I think has taken place, and ultimately I shall try to develop some critical stance on the recorded output past and present; that is, in the end, a statement on the present, on such artists as Graham Parker, Elvis Costello, Sean Tyla, Motors, and even Clover, though they are not originally an English group.
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