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Punk File #1: The First Anarchic Year

Kieron Tyler, MOJO, June 2006

'76 WAS PRETTY hairy. The anniversary headlines might read "1976, The Year Of Punk", but for most kids flares and long hair (still a sign of rebellion) didn't vanish until 1978. As the year began, the word "punk" was in the air, but it was tagged to misfit '60s garage bands rounded up on Lenny Kaye's Nuggets compilation while New York's Punk magazine, launched in December of 1975, (issue 1 cover lines: "Brando. Ramones. Girls. Lou Reed") had begun making its way to London, embodying a streetwise Bowery cool that poor old London could never aspire to.

Total word count of piece: 919

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