"The world is yours for a season"
Oscar Wilde
I started going to music gigs in the Autumn of 1976, taking in the likes of Budgie, Man, Curved Air and Steve Hillage.
Truth is, I was bored and didn't know it. Then, the Punk Rock explosion took place, which saw one of the most exciting musical revolutions ever.
D.O.A. A Right of Passage offers fascinating insight on both sides of the channel, following the Sex Pistols' infamous tour of America, while also
keeping tabs on what was happening in the UK.
The end result is a must for those who were there at the time, and for anyone who wonders what all the fuss was about.
Both sides of the fence are well catered for here, with fan interviews before and after gigs - some positive, some negative - while the odious
chain-smoking Bernard Brooke Partridge and Mary Whitehouse do what they did best, attacking anything they didn't understand.
and their glorious wall of sound hits home with live footage of the likes of "Anarchy In The UK", "EMI" and "Holidays In The Sun".
The band played seven dates in the USA, culminating in that final gig at Winterland, San Francisco when the band trudged off, leaving us with one of the finest debut albums ever recorded.
Lech Kowalski's documentary really does get under the skin of Punk, with this movement's DIY attitude of making something out of nothing, uncovering
the state of things for an army of participants who felt let down by a system designed to bring them down. Witness Terry Sylvester - a working class lad
who tells it like it was before taking the microphone to front his own band, Terry and The Idiots.
Of course, the concert hall footage is alone worth the price of the disc, with Lydon showing he's one of the very best live performers, being utterly mesmeric.
I'd seen Joe Strummer, Iggy, Lux Interior, Patti Smith, Ari from The Slits, Siouxsie and Ian Curtis and Lydon can be added to anyone's list of fromtmen.
Another 30 years from now and the number of people who were present and incorrect during Punk's Golden Years will be vastly diminished. That's one of the reasons
documentaries such as this are so terribly important, turning the spotlight onto an age When We Were Kings.
The special features on this Blu-ray disc (which also includes a DVD) being with "Dead On Arrival: The Punk Documentary That Almost Never Was" (1 hr 55 mins 20s)
Here, we are privy to the recollections and opinions of key players in this story.
John Holmstrom (founder of Punk magazine); photographer Roberta Bayley; co-director and journalist Chris Salewicz; Pistols historian Mick O'shea; Midge Ure and many others, including Malcolm Maclaren. We hear about the origins of Punk with New York Dolls and Iggy namechecked (Roberta talks about being on the door at CBGB's); how the film ran into financial difficulties; why the crew were banned from filming at gigs, and there's valuable input from photographer Rufus Standefer. The Sid and Nancy infamous bed interview
is also included.
Nice to see Lamar St. John pop up, too, being the girl on the ground in the main feature, and still vital after all these years.
This generous making-off doc with a wealth of nostalgic footage gives considerable added value to an already worthy disc.
DOA A Punk Post Mortem (27m 8s) .
Chris Salewicz talks about the documentary and certain individuals, recalling the Sid and Nancy interview; the part played by Tom Forcade of High Times magazine and
looks at what Punk meant and continues to mean.
I struggle to think of anyone better than Chris to tell this story, which continues to resonate over 40 years on.
D.O.A. A Right of Passage will be released on the Second Sight label on 10th September. Image quality on this high definition presentation is strong,
and there's also a limited edition booklet in the package, written by Punk aficianado Tim Murray with additional article by Phelim O'Neill. The booklet is limited to the first 2000 copies, so hurry!
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