Depending on your age then 1977 and the arrival of punk rock might be year zero. It was nothing of the sort for me. Actually it’s pretty ludicrous. There are other and far better candidates for such a thing as year zero this side of the water. 1956 and Lonnie Donegan’s “Rock Island Line” single which launched Skiffle (a punk music of it’s day), 1957 with the explosion of Elvis and the other American Rock and Rollers, 1963 and Beatlemania with self written songs becoming a reality for the young, 1967 and the psychedelic revolution which has a wider influence than people grant because of the way it permeates into all genres of music and was pivotal in the studio becoming a tool leading up to the digital age and beyond. Nevertheless, if we except that such moments in time make their mark then in 1977 there was a fresh start, a passing of the baton and a chance to sweep out some of the old tired music filling the airwaves.

It’s true to say that a lot of the music circulating in the mid seventies had become out of reach of the everyday teenager on the street and although music evolving and reaching new heights of sophistication is not in itself a bad thing it had left a new generation with the chance to start again that fiery brand of short song that had once been the mainstay in late fifties rock and roll and mid sixties beat and r’n’b. The progressive rock in the concert halls and the easy listening soul and disco in the pubs and clubs had no attraction to the 14 year old in mid seventies Britain and a DIY ethic took hold when kids picked up a guitar and learnt three chords and wrote a song in a similar way to their predecessors in the sixties. So, even in my bias towards the greater musical catalogue of the post war generation, punk was an exciting shot in the arm which I certainly enjoyed, watching many punk bands in 1977 and 1978 at Katies in Beeston and most notably the Sandpiper in the Lace Market.

We also have to remember that the music press and the journalists it employs which while being a critical eye on the music of the day can sometimes have their own agenda when promoting “what’s in”. Jumping on the proverbial bandwagon as it were. But, hasn’t that always been the way? Well in the late seventies it definitely was. Suddenly, the old prog rock and bombastic bands were dismissed where in reality they actually got bigger, sold more records, with huge crowds at concerts and were continuing into the eighties with even greater success. Soul and disco didn’t disappear but morphed into something else. Some groups in 1977 were untouched by punk like Kraftwerk and the other German synthesiser groups, even David Bowie with his own Germanic musings. Music carry’s on whether it is in the limelight or not and not all groups and musicians operate within the current fad.

However, with all that said, Punk was a very noticeable moment in British music and it did have an impact on it’s near neighbour and companion “Pub Rock”. Pub rock is a label given to those bands who from 1972 to 1978 were still playing small venues and the back rooms of pubs often playing a sweaty r’n’b rock and roll with down to earth songs to the accompaniment of local beer drinking fans. It wasn’t a million miles away from what punk was going to become. In fact many of the first punk groups had been playing for a couple of years in this pub rock environment notably The Stranglers, Ian Dury and The 101ers (The Clash). With Dr Feelgood and Eddie and the Hotrods leading the charge, with some success, recreating that Yardbirds, Rolling Stones attitude, and others finding a country rock blend, pub rock, shunned by the major labels, quietly plodded on, filling that void left by the previous generation of groups who had moved up the gig/venue ladder. One record label which did straddle that pub rock / punk new wave scene was Stiff records.

It is in that climate that two of Nottingham’s finest mid seventies groups belonged. Gaffa and Plummet Airlines were exactly that blend of high energy country rock and sweaty rock and roll that defined pub rock. I saw both groups many times. It was always a fun time. Although the emerging punk rock groups in 1977 shared plenty of this down to earth pub rock attitude and sweaty energy they were younger than the pub rockers who also had a level of musical sophistication not wanted or required by the sixteen year old new kids on the block and the pub rock bands were never really considered as part of the new punk movement. A lot of them disappeared overnight, some tried to change and adapt to the new ethic but very few succeeded in that. The music press once supportive of these groups suddenly turned their backs on them, dismissing them as boring or irrelevant. To a degree both Plummet Airlines and Gaffa suffered that fate. Both groups had strong song writing at their core which was ahead of their punk contemporaries. Plummet Airlines released a single single on Stiff in 1976 and slimmed to a four piece in 1977, dropped the s of Airlines, cut a single that was shorter and punkier but called it a day at the end of 1977. Gaffa kept on until the early 1980’s, releasing independent records and entertaining their fans throughout but never getting that breakthrough they deserved. That in itself is a story many bands in many era’s can probably relate to. Such is the story of rock and roll.