DVD Reviews - Punk in London, Punk in England

The good peeps at MVD Entertainment Group (purveyors of fine musical visual and audio wares) hooked me up a month or so ago with their remasters of old school punk films "Punk in London" and "Punk in England".

After a few chaotic weeks of trying to find late night time to watch them, and not getting it, I finally watched them back to back last night. Punk in London (1977) was the first one. German indie filmmaker Wolfgang Buld (ya, das is Deutsch) came to London to check out the punk scene in 1977. DVD Talk writes "As part of a film school project, wannabe director Wolfgang Büld decided to travel to the UK and document up and coming bands who were redefining the entire nature of rock and roll."

He got inside some of the scene and filmed concert footage and backstage interviews. Not all the bands liked the way-too-serious German guy following them around when they just wanted him to bugger off. But he persisted and made another punk document of the times back then. There's some concert footage of the Clash that's cool, way too much of Chelsea's bassist and more of the Lurkers than you'd ever want. It's OK, not great and I think other punk docs tell the story in a better way, but this video is like a decent side dish: it's available and worth eating but not as good as the main course.



I much preferred the second part of Buld's journey back to England a bit later for his follow-up "Punk in England" when he tried to capture this gritty urban phenomenon as it spread throughout the country. This review of Punk in England claims Buld revisited the scene three years later after 1977, which would make it 1980. I think it was closer to maybe 18-24 months later, probably tail end of 1978 or early 1979 when this was shot.

Punk in England has way better live performances from the Jam and The Clash (fave rock!) and more from the burgeoning ska scene in the UK, with great footage of Madness and The Specials. Buld even caught up with the Pretenders and shot a few of their songs in their rehearsal space a few weeks before their debut LP got released. They seemed a bit nervous, but 'Brass in Pocket' and 'Stop Your Sobbing' still sound OK. Here's a promo clip from the DVD.



There are fun bonus materials on the DVD - notably the 'Women in Rock' documentary featuring live performances and interviews with Siouxsie & the Banshees (great live version of 'Christine'), The Slits and Girlschool.

I still have yet to make time for the 'Reggae in Babylon' DVD that also came with my package, but the next night I get my ganja on, I'll think about it. :-)