VARIOUS ARTISTS Part 2: Yes Please! I Want More 70's Punk!

When the local Sam Goody was going out of business I decided to go and see what they had for markdowns.  I brought a friend with me who told me that he had a good friend who was manager and could "help" us get some great deals.  I wanted to get a ton of music that was on my list and I knew that Sam Goody had a number of things on that list.  What I did not count on was that this manger friend would give us the store if he was allowed to.  I came home with a total of two large trash bags and my total was less the $20.00 for those two bags.  I was amazed that the holiday came early and the music was bountiful and rewarding.  My first of the CDs that I grabbed were the boxed sets that were way to pricey and sometimes out of my budget.  The friend knew that we were not going to turn around and sell these, but to listen for enjoyment. One of the first box sets I grabbed was the No Thanks! The 70's Punk Rebellion.  A box set to this day still rewards me with great music of the 70's Punk Era.

When I got this box set I knew little over half of the bands on it and I was curious about the other half.  There are bands on this box set that I knew well enough and loved just the same.  I knew that alone was going to make me more and more curious with every listen.  I got this because of the rest of the artists that were represented on this box and if they were on this box they were good enough for me.  If this was any other time that if I had the money I would count this as an impulse buy.  With this sale, this box set was something I needed to get.  According to the friend they only got two copies in and he had one and I should take the other.  He was not wrong looking at the bands on here.

With a quick scan the box set included Iggy & The Stooges, Richard Hell, Television, Ramones, The Clash, Dead Boys, Pere Ubu, The Damned, The Jam, Wire and So many others.  All bands I knew well and really loved.  I would seriously buy more music of any of these artists if they had more material that was to be issued.  For me this was a very rewarding box set to have in my massive box set collection.  A lot of this music is enough to make anyone's head spin.  100 of these tracks is easy for anyone to digest more then once and in my case over a zillion times.

I was happy to get this box and when I went home it was one of the first things on my CD player. It was the book's liner notes that kept me entertained for hours.  With stories about the era and mini biographies about the each band help me learn more then if I was sitting in math class.  I always grew up curious, and the music and the liners kept me more and more happy.  Each disc of this four disc anthology of music had at least one or two bands that I wanted to know about.

At the time I knew very little about X-Ray Spex, Eddie & The Hot Rods, The Saints, Subway Sect, 999, and countless others.  There was even a song on here that Radiohead covered and knew a bit about the band called Magazine, but the original version of the song was more aggressive and heavier then the Radiohead counterpart.  In turn it made me go explore these bands I knew very little or nothing about.  Some moments of these songs I always wondered why I have not heard these songs before on either soundtracks or even on college radio or someones radio show.  This music must have been a great era to live in and listen to or even buy and collect.

As far as box sets go, this box is a must for either a huge music fan or a fan of Punk music from the 1970's. It is sadly out of print, but well worth finding.  If I could get another copy so I can listen to it more at my leisure and let other people borrow it, I would.  It's mix of all types punk and bands of the time is well worth the listen of this box.  At the time their were three rare tracks by Television, The Pretenders, and Patti Smith that would even entice the knowledgeable Punk fan.  If there is one quip then it's the exclusion of The Sex Pistols, but that is be cause the band would not allow them on this box because of a dispute with Rhino the record company about a release of their own box set here in the US.  To be honest, their loss and not ours.  At any rate, this is a box set for not only the curious listener, but the most adventurous one.  Check it out and I'm sure you will like it as much as I do. Enjoy!!!