Typical Girls: Women in Punk/Post-Punk/Underground Music (Circa 1975-1980s)

["Mike Appelstein" <mike AT appelstein.com>]

This is why I love Typical Girls - here we have an argument regarding the
Slits' first shows by people THAT WERE THERE.  Where else on the web are we
(slightly) younger post-punk obsessives going to get that?

<<for some reason people like to think these girls just picked up
instruments and jumped on stage. they practiced and wrote for months before
performing.>>

So is it time to retire the myth once and for all that the original punks
"couldn't play?"  From what I can hear, the guitar bands could play fine.
Malcolm McLaren always promoted that myth about the Sex Pistols, but it's
clear Cook, Matlock and especially Jones were perfectly accomplished
players.  Perhaps, in the mid-1970s, musicians were still so enamored of
extended guitar solos that listeners weren't used to a simpler approach.  I
mean, the Sheffield bands like Cab Volt were using synths they "couldn't
play" a la Pere Ubu or Eno-era Roxy Music...but I tend to think that's a
whole different scene and philosophy. 

Were there any bands that truly, obviously "couldn't play" at their first
shows?  The Flowers of Romance?  Early Germs?

- mike
mike AT appelstein.com
http://www.appelstein.com/blog