LETTERS

Rip It Up, Issue 15, 1 September 1978, Page 19

LETTERS

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The Sex Pistols have had it. First Johnny Rotten leaves to become John Lydon, and now Sid Vicious goes. They were the Sex Pistols and the mouldy residue which now remains has no right to use the honoured name of the Sex Pistols. Ronald Biggs is just a pulljoy with an IQ of 30, and even Jones and Cook are getting rid of him. Biggs isn’t a punk deepdown and that becomes obvious in “A Punk Prayer”. He escaped conviction and this sort of music needs to be sung with conviction how’s that for a pun(k). So I cling to Never Mind the Bollocks and say ‘up yours’ to Biggs lovers. Loyal Rotten/Vicious Fan Tauranga P.S. If Neville’s fired Danny M, Christchurch, gets his Steely Dan collection smashed. "The American scene is where it's at”, writes Danny M of Christchurch. Why is he so keen on that sort of crap? Why doesn’t he get where it's at? Here in Wellington there's not much New Waveor Punk,and we appreciate what we get through Rip It Up. Liz Wellington Dear Rip It Up We do like you really, it's just the awful Anti-Punk letters that we don't like. Anti-Saturday Night Lovers Wellington I just wanna say that I’m sick to death of the totally fatuous letters that are continually appearing in your basically excellent paper. Most of the time, Neville Purvis writes the funniest and most enjoyable column in Rip It Up. Captain Starlite, there’s more meaning in the lyrics of "Foxhole” than there are to "Night Fever”. Benjamin Mitchell Mt Eden P.S. Go jump in the lake Nobody’s Business of Ponsonby. You cynical old fart, I'll betcha didn’t like Dylan either on Hard Rain, cause he didn’t sing quite right. Jeese some of you guys on the Rip It Up rag staff, make me sick. What do you mean Black and White depresses you? It’s up to typical brilliant Strangler’s standard. Every song on the LP has good hooks and Jean Jacques’ bass work never grates on

my nerves. The Lyrics are certainly stranger than their other albums, but they definitely have not gone to the pot. So Duncan Campbell, your rotten thoughts are yeuch! All I can say is "Something Better Change”. An SPRSR (Society for Prevention of Rotten Strangler Reviews) Nubile You lower the tone of your otherwise excellent rock magazine, by printing letters from such obnoxious disco crazies as Captain Starlite. Disco freaks have had it their own way for too long, it’s time for rock fans to stand up and say enough is enough. We’re getting hammered by disco from all sides, simply because it’s middle of the road, plastic soul that society feels safe with and therefore encourages. The radio stations thrash it (God Save Barry Jenkin), because it appeals to the mindless masses, who make up the bulk of the audience. Serious music fans are entitled to at least one media outlet that caters to our tastes. Rip It Up is going from strength to strength Keep it up, and leave the boogie-down-funky-fiends out till their disco balls drop. One word of warning to Captain Starlite Do your shadow pouncin’ round my sister, and I’ll slash your throat with my razor blade. May you burn in a disco inferno. Johnny Gravel Whakatane Dear Captain Starlite of Birkenhead Next time you boogie down to you r Saturday Night Fever album and are staring at your John Travolta posters, wake up! Zee. X. Viola Long live punk, disco is crap. Who wants to do the Brooklyn Hustle when you can pogo! Bring on the Scavs, or the Reps or the Pistols or the . .. Jeff Jockstrap Dear Captain Starlite want little girls selections to rule your life, because let’s face it, the 45 market is aimed at them. As for me, I find plenty of rhythm in songs like "Peaches". The pogo is great to do and if you ever took the time to listen, you’d find a much more urgent message in New Wave than grooving with your sister. Dave Bish Ponsonby I think Captain Starlite and Danny M are wrong, to put it mildly. Disco sucks, long live rock ‘n’ roll. Rip It Up comes close to the one and only NME for quality. Keep up the new wave news and views, and give Neville a rise. Lastly, Misex have got to be the hardest working, highest energy and most exciting band in the country. We are going to lose them to Aussie if we don’t show them how

much New Zealand loves rock ’n’ roll. Dave the Dude Palmerston North ; I beg to differ with the comments of Nobody’s Business of Ponsonby regarding Hello Sailor’s music. Their music is unashamedly accessible rock and the band makes no pretence at being anything other than straightforward. At the many Sailor concerts I have attended this year, I can honestly say that they do justice to their promise on vinyl. Mike Nielsen Hello Sailor are a very exciting and magnificent band live and on record. I’ve seen them play about 11 times and that’s still not enough for me. . S.L: Titirangi I fail to see how Peter Thomson, in his review of the new Joe Walsh album, can confidently dismiss the Eagles as "those western wimps”, we had hoped Joe Walsh would “pack some beef into”. The Eagles are the classic rock ensemble to which Walsh is purely another addition.. Brilliant (and grossly underrated) guitarist Don Felder would be an invaluable asset to any band, and with the genius of Walsh these two must form one of the world’s most potent guitar combinations. The arrival of Tim Schmit from Poco and Steely Dan sessions ensures that if the Eagles tour here this summer it will be a summer we never forget. Danny McCabe Christchurch I’m sick of merks writing in to a good magazine and saying cut down on New Wave. Kindly refrain from printing any disco wankers letters. Furthermore the next who insults New Zealand’s most outstanding talent, Neville Purvis, I will personally track to the ends of the earth and kick his or her head in. George Armpit Rotorua's Greatest Punk