Pub Rock in the USA and the UK

Remember "Pub Rock"? It was sometimes marketed as "punk rock," but in actuality, it was a slightly different animal. For one thing, while it shared with punk a penchant for stripped down simplicity, it wasn't nearly as angry, confrontational, absurdist and/or political as punk. It was much more a feelgood music, though perhaps with some exceptions. Essentially, pub rock was, and always has been, crowd pleasing music played in clubs with bars. And of course, while famous, landmark NYC clubs such as Max's Kansas City, CBGB's and the Mudd Club could possibly have been considered drinking establishment, none, in fact, qualified as pubs. The music played in these places was not pub rock, exactly. In the U.K., pub rock seems to be associated with small clubs out of London, that is, locatable more in small provincial towns.In fact, the two times in my life I've been to London, I noticed that there were a lot more techno dance clubs than bars featuring bands playing live, at least within the London city limits.

[a side note: in NJ, there is a large slew of shore bands that play in the boardwalk bars, from Cape May all the way up to Sandy Hook. Much like their British counterparts, they used to be known for their classic rock/r&b sound. Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes came out of this scene as did, of course, the E Street Band (as well as Bruce's earlier bands). Nowadays, I tend to ignore this scene, as my impression of it is that it has gotten a lot schlockier.]

I was thinking a while ago about pub rock, after acquiring a cheapo 3 CD compilation called "I Spit on your Gravy," and one of the tracks is by Eddie and the HotRods, one of the leading pub rock bands during the era of British punk, c. 1976-78. I remember buying their LP "Teenage Depression" right around the time I got into punk and thinking it was pretty decent. They had a really rocking, loud fast version of Bob Seger's "Get out of Denver." On this record, they do Van Morrison's "Gloria," but its not that great a version.

Anyway, Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds were also pub rockers, with their power pop and neo-rockabilly. So was Graham Parker and the Rumour, with their stripped down r&b, even though, like the punks, Parker was often edgy. Then there were bands like Ducks Deluxe (who spun off into The Motors, Brinsley Schwartz, and Dr. Feelgood. The Motors then gave us Bram Tchaikovsky, who was something of a hitmaker in the late 70s new wave era. I'd also include Ian Dury and the Blockheads and Wreckless Eric among the pub rock pantheon. My wife, Jolie, who lived for a time in England was telling me a while ago about the Sensational Alex Harvey Band; it sounds, too, like they might have been pub rockers; or at least rockers who spent all their free time at the pubs.