Punk pathetique: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Punk rock subgenre}}

{{tone|articleuse dmy dates |date=March 20072020 }}

'''Punk Pathetique''' is a [[subgenre]] of [[United Kingdom|British]] [[punk rock]] (principally active circa 1980-1982) that involved humour and [[working class]] themes.

{{Infobox music genre

| name = Punk pathetique

| stylistic_origins = {{hlist|[[Punk rock]]|[[glam rock]]|[[Pub rock (United Kingdom)|pub rock]]|[[music hall]]|[[drinking song]]s|[[football chant]]s|[[Oi!]]|[[novelty song]]s|[[blue comedy|bawdy humour]]|[[British comedy]]}}

| cultural_origins = Late 1970s, [[England]]

| derivatives =

| subgenres =

| regional_scenes = [[East End of London]]

| other_topics = [[Garry Bushell]] - [[Sounds (magazine)|''Sounds'' magazine]] - [[working class]]

}}

[[Image:ToyDolls-Olga Wiesbaden2005-04-01.jpg|thumb|Michael "Olga" Algar of punk pathetique band [[Toy Dolls]] on stage in 2005]]

The name of the genre was coined by then-''[[Sounds (magazine)|Sounds]]'' journalist [[Garry Bushell]], who actively championed many of its exponents. Punk pathetique was initially an attempt to characterize a group of [[London]] bands that embodied [[Cockney]] culture with a [[Dickensian]] working class attitude. Musically it was related to, and had crossover with the [[Oi!]] subgenre. The cover of the 1980 Bushell/''Sounds'' [[compilation album]] ''Oi the Album'' said it featured "ruck 'n' rollers and punk pathetiques".<ref>{{cite book | last = Gimarc | first = George | title = Punk Diary 1970-1982 | year = 2006 | publisher = Backbeat Books, [[San Francisco]] | pages = 393 | id = ISBN 0-87930-848-6}}</ref>

'''Punk pathetique''' is a [[subgenre]] of British [[punk rock]] (principally active circa 1980–1982) that involved humour and [[working class|working-class]] cultural themes.<ref name=Bushell>{{cite web | url = http://www.garry-bushell.co.uk/oi/index.asp | title = The Story of Oi! | access-date = 2006-07-07 | author = Garry Bushell | publisher = garry-bushell.co.uk |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060624055720/http://www.garry-bushell.co.uk/oi/index.asp |archive-date = 2006-06-24| author-link = Garry Bushell }}</ref>

==Origin==

Some punk pathetique bands had notable successes in the UK charts. [[Toy Dolls]] got to #4 in December 1984 with "Nellie The Elephant." [[Splodgenessabounds]] reached #7 in 1980 with "Simon Templar", and #26 with "Two Little Boys" later that year.

The name of the genre was coined by then-''[[Sounds (magazine)|Sounds]]'' journalist [[Garry Bushell]], who actively championed many of its exponents. Punk pathetique was initially an attempt to characterize a group of [[London]] bands that embodied [[Cockney]] culture with a [[Dickensian]] [[working class]] attitude. Musically, it was related to, (and had crossover with) the [[Oi!]] subgenre. The cover of the 1980 Bushell/''Sounds'' [[compilation album]] ''[[Oi! theThe Album]]'' saiddescribed itthe record as featuredfeaturing "ruck 'n' rollers and punk pathetiques".<ref name=gimarc>{{cite book | last = Gimarc | first = George | title = Punk Diary 1970-1982 | year = 2006 | publisher = Backbeat Books, [[|___location=San Francisco]] | pages url= 393 | https://books.google.com/books?id =4WM6Cb1z-PwC ISBN |isbn=0-87930-848-6 }}</ref>{{rp|393}} In contrast to harder-edged Oi! bands with more serious lyrics, punk pathetique bands focused on the naughty, silly and trivial. Max Splodge of Splodgenessabounds said: "The pathetique bands are the other side of Oi! We're working class too, only whereas some bands sing about prison and [[welfare spending|the dole]], we sing about [[pilchard]]s and bums. The audience is the same".<ref name="Bushell"/>

According to Bushell:

<blockquote>During 1980, hooligan audiences, especially in South East London, found new live laughs in the shape of Peckham-based piss-artist pranksters Splodgenessabounds, whose brand of coarse comedy and punk energy scored three top thirty singles that year. Their debut single, "[[Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps|Two Pints of Lager]]" was a Top Ten smash. Tongue in cheek, I dubbed them "punk pathetique" along with equally crazy bands like Brighton's [[Peter and the Test Tube Babies]] and Geordie jesters The [[Toy Dolls]].<ref name=Bushell>{{cite web | url = http://www.garry-bushell.co.uk/oi/index.asp | title = The Story of Oi! | accessdate = 2006-07-07 | author = [[Garry Bushell]] | publisher = garry-bushell.co.uk }}</ref></blockquote>

Some punk pathetique bands had notable successessuccess in the UK charts. [[Toy Dolls]] gotreached toNo. #4 in December 1984 with "Nellie Thethe Elephant.". [[Splodgenessabounds]] reached #No. 7 in 1980 with "Simon Templar"," and #No. 26 with "Two Little Boys" later that year. According to Bushell:

Other key punk pathetique bands included [[TV Personalities]], [[The Shapes]], [[The Adicts]] and the Gonads. Rather than the "ruck 'n' roll" of harder Oi! groups, Punk Pathetique focused lyrically on the [[ephemeral]] and the trivial. Max Splodge, of Splodgenessabounds, said: "The pathetique bands are the other side of Oi! We're working class too, only whereas some bands sing about prison and the dole, we sing about [[pilchard]]s and bums. The audience is the same."<ref name="Bushell"/>

<blockquote>{{cquote|During 1980, [[hooligan]] audiences, especially in [[South East (London sub region)|South East London]], found new live laughs in the shape of Peckham-based piss-artist pranksters Splodgenessabounds, whose brand of coarse comedy and punk energy scored three topTop thirty30 singles that year. Their debut single, "[[Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps|Two Pints of Lager]]Please" was a Top Ten10 smash. Tongue in cheek, I dubbed them "punk pathetique" along with equally crazy bands like [[Brighton]]'s [[Peter and the Test Tube Babies]] and Geordie[[Mackem|Maccam]] jesters Thethe [[Toy Dolls]].<ref name="Bushell"/>{{cite web | url = http://www.garry-bushell.co.uk/oi/index.asp | title = The Story of Oi! | accessdate = 2006-07-07 | author = [[Garry Bushell]] | publisher = garry-bushell.co.uk }}</ref></blockquote>

Peter and the Test Tube Babies were first featured in ''Sounds'' in July 1980, and made their vinyl debut on ''[[Oi! The Album]]'' later that year. They favoured absurd lyrics and strange titles, such as "The Queen Gives Good Blow Jobs" and "Elvis Is Dead (He Was 42 and a Fat Cunt)".<ref name=gimarc/>{{rp|348}} Toy Dolls, based in [[City of Sunderland|Sunderland]], shared the punk pathetique approach to nonsensical entertainment. Toy Dolls singer Michael "Olga" Algar told ''Sounds'' in March 1980: "We're a [[New wave music|new wave]] group, but we're not serious. All our songs are pretty childish and infantile, but they're all based on things and people 'round here".<ref name=gimarc/>{{rp|312}}

Splodgenessabounds' stage show sometimes went to [[carnivalesque]] extremes. Police were frequenting their live shows by December 1979, due to reports of public nudity and "farting on demand" during renditions of "Michael Booth's Talking Bum", and "Blown Away Like A Fart In A Thunderstorm", during which "Max gets a blowjob onstage from his female singing partner."<ref>{{cite book | last = Gimarc | title = Punk Diary 1970-1982 | pages = 271}}</ref>

Bushell wrote that punk pathetique peaked in autumn 1980, with the "Pathetique Convention" staged at the [[Electric Ballroom]].<ref name="Bushell"/> However, music critic Dave Thompson has said, regarding Splodgenessabounds' 1981 album:

The group was prone to humorously grandiose press release claims, such as the announcement that their debut album would be a triple, including a side of "old material transcribed from their own cassettes, coupled with their 'Pathetic Movements Manifesto'", and including a free Christmas tree with every copy.<ref>{{cite book | last = Gimarc | title = Punk Diary 1970-1982 | pages = 386}}</ref>

Bushell writes that Punk Pathetique peaked in autumn 1980, with the Pathetique Convention staged at the [[Electric Ballroom]],<ref name="Bushell"/> but critic Dave Thompson has stated of Splodgenessabounds' 1981 album:<blockquote>{{cquote|Music historians find their attention drawn to "We're Pathetique", Splodge's rallying call for a musical genre which precious few people even remember today. But the Punkpunk Pathetiquepathetique movement spawned not only Splodge, but also such joys as the Toy Dolls and Peter and the Test Tube Babies, and it still has an impact today.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p{{AllMusic|class=amg&tokenalbum|id=&sqlr49905|pure_url=10:lgjw7ipjg7xryes}} | title = ''Splodgenessabounds'' album review | accessdateaccess-date = 2006-07-07 | author = Dave Thompson | publisher = allmusic.com }}</ref></blockquote>}}

Other punk pathetique bands included [[Television Personalities]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thevinyldistrict.com/storefront/2015/03/graded-on-a-curve-television-personalities-are-we-nearly-there-yet/ |publisher=The Vinyl District |title=Graded on a Curve: Television Personalities, Are We Nearly There Yet? |author=MICHAEL H. LITTLE |date=March 20, 2015 |access-date=August 17, 2020}}</ref> [[Half Man Half Biscuit]], [[The Shapes (UK band)|the Shapes]], the Gonads,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fearandloathingfanzine.com/the-shapes.html |publisher=Fear and Loathing Magazine |title=The Shapes |access-date=August 17, 2020}}</ref> [[the Adicts]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/review-adicts-albums-1982-87-boxset-213667 |title=Review: The Adicts - The Albums 1982-87 boxset |date=November 15, 2018 |access-date=August 17, 2020 |publisher=Sunderland Echo}}</ref> [[Notsensibles]], Auntie Pus, the Postmen, Desert Island Joe, the Hoopers, Pierre the Poet (Garry Butterfield), Paul Devine, Lord Waistrel & the Cosh Boys, Stephen Louis Knoche Jr & His Raging Cronies, the Alaska Cowboys, Patronage, Percy Throwers Man Eating Plans, SexyCows, the Orgasm Guerrillas, the Implications, and Doughnut & the Donor. Later, the mantle was inherited by the [[Bus Station Loonies]], Monkish and [[Macc Lads]], who performed comic punk singalongs in very much the same style. Toy Dolls, Peter and the Test Tube Babies, the Gonads, Splodgenessabounds and Auntie Pus & The Men From Uncle continue to tour and record.

[[Peter and the Test Tube Babies]] were first featured in ''Sounds'' in July 1980, and made their vinyl debut on Oi The Album later that year. They favoured absurd lyrics and strange titles, "The Queen Gives Good Blow Jobs" being a typical example.<ref>{{cite book | last = Gimarc | title = Punk Diary 1970-1982 | pages = 348}}</ref></blockquote>

== Fun-Punk==

Toy Dolls, based in [[Sunderland]], shared the punk pathetique approach to entertaining nonsense. Singer Olga Algar told ''Sounds'' in March 1980: "We're a new wave group, but we're not serious. All our songs are pretty childish and infantile, but they're all based on things and people 'round here."<ref>{{cite book | last = Gimarc | title = Punk Diary 1970-1982 | pages = 312}}</ref> They proved they could match the London-based bands for ridiculously long song titles, with 1986's "If You're In A Pop Group You'll End Up Paying A Fortune Practicing At Peter Practice's Practice Place."

In Germany, the similar '''Fun-Punk''' genre emerged in the mid-1980s as a response to hardcore punk, which at that time was marked by [[political correctness]] and negative imagery.<ref>''Punk Rock BRD'' 1, Begleitheft</ref> Fun-Punk often dealt with absurd themes or alcohol and drug excesses. An early pioneer was [[Normahl]], later followed by [[Die Ärzte]], [[Die Goldenen Zitronen]], [[Die Kassierer]], and [[Wizo]].<ref name="Taugenix Nr.4">''Taugenix'', Fanzine Nr. 4, Interview with „Die Frohlix“</ref>

Other acts aligned to the movement included John Peel’s favourites The Postmen, Desert Island Joe, Pierre The Poet (Garry Butterfield), Paul Devine and his appalling ‘Stop That Drumming’ and later Case, Lord Waistrel & The Cosh Boys, the Alaska Cowboys and the Orgasm Guerrillas. All of these acts recorded songs (except Pierre). Even later, the mantle was inherited by the Macc Lads who did comic punk singalongs such as Charlotte The Harlot in very much the same style.

Bushell writes that Punk Pathetique peaked in autumn 1980, with the Pathetique Convention staged at the [[Electric Ballroom]],<ref name="Bushell"/> but critic Dave Thompson has stated of Splodgenessabounds' 1981 album:<blockquote>Music historians find their attention drawn to "We're Pathetique", Splodge's rallying call for a musical genre which precious few people even remember today. But the Punk Pathetique movement spawned not only Splodge, but also such joys as the Toy Dolls and Peter and the Test Tube Babies, and it still has an impact today.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=&sql=10:lgjw7ipjg7xr | title = ''Splodgenessabounds'' album review | accessdate = 2006-07-07 | author = Dave Thompson | publisher = allmusic.com }}</ref></blockquote>

As of 2006, Toy Dolls, Peter and the Test Tube Babies, The Gonads and Splodgenessabounds continued to tour and record.

== References ==

{{reflist}}

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{{Punk}}

[[Category:Punk rock genres]]

[[Category:English styles of music]]