Labels, what are they good for?

What I really resent most about people sticking labels on you is that it cuts off all the other elements of what you are because it can only deal with black and white; the cartoon. Siouxsie Sioux
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/labels.html

What I really resent most about people sticking labels on you is that it cuts off all the other elements of what you are because it can only deal with black and white; the cartoon. Siouxsie Sioux
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/labels.html

 "What I really resent most about people sticking labels on you is that it cuts off all the other elements of what you are because it can only deal with black & white, the cartoon... Siouxsie Sioux

What I really resent most about people sticking labels on you is that it cuts off all the other elements of what you are because it can only deal with black and white; the cartoon. Siouxsie Sioux
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/s/siouxsiesi183818.html?src=t_labels

What I really resent most about people sticking labels on you is that it cuts off all the other elements of what you are because it can only deal with black and white; the cartoon. Siouxsie Sioux
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/labels.html

What I really resent most about people sticking labels on you is that it cuts off all the other elements of what you are because it can only deal with black and white; the cartoon. Siouxsie Sioux
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/labels.html

What I really resent most about people sticking labels on you is that it cuts off all the other elements of what you are because it can only deal with black and white; the cartoon. Siouxsie Sioux
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/labels.html

What I really resent most about people sticking labels on you is that it cuts off all the other elements of what you are because it can only deal with black and white; the cartoon. Siouxsie Sioux
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/labels.html

Last night there was the usual musical discussion in the bar and a friend announced "I like the 70's at least up to 1977, it all went wrong with punk".

Really? I was 13 in '77, he wasn't, so my musical wonder years were soundtracked at least partly by Punk, whatever that was. I was a Peel listener, not one of the 20 million who say they were listening the first time he played the Ramones, but not long after that. As with all new "movements" quality control was not always the big concern for punk bands, but Ramones, The Clash, and The Stranglers were great, and still are. But, are they a movement or just a bunch of bands who appeared at about the same time?

Punk quickly morphed into new wave, and I learned the term "Power Pop". The best definition of Power Pop I have seen is "a style of pop music characterized by a strong melody line, heavy use of guitars, and simple rhythm". Sounds like a lot of what was going on around 1978 to me. 

So three labels for much the same part of the musical landscape. Punk/New Wave/Power Pop was a varied mix of music, at least as much as what had gone before. The difference at the time was the labelling of different micro genres was vitally important, mostly to NME & Sounds but also to mark your tribe out from the "old farts" who listened to Yes, Genesis & Led Zeppelin.Over the years around the turn of the Eighties the music seemed to shift to accommodate the labels. The Mohican & bondage trousers end of punk turned into Oi!, the clue's in the name, with bands like Sham 69 & The Cockney Rejects leading the charge. New Wave splintered into most of the factions that ruled the early 80s, synthpop, goth, even some of the more banal U.S. "college" bands all grew out of New Wave. Power Pop headed by The Jam became the mainstream of guitar based pop, fusing elements from Nuggets style garage bands with Punk & Pub Rock.

On the iPod labels or genres, are part of the basic classification. I have 23 at the moment. The largest is alternative, a label that seems to cover Nirvana, Coldplay, Oasis & Arcade Fire making it pretty much useless as a way of defining what you will get when you press play. So, labels what are they good for? A way of sorting the wood from the trees, of feeling connected to your peers, or just another marketing tool? Personally I use them to find music that suits my mood, but I know that my inner librarian also wants to keep things in the right place, but after New Wave fractured into a hundred subsets that right place could have a dozen names.

I'll talk more about Power Pop another time but for now visit Pop Geek Heaven, Bruce Brodeen's resource site for anything with a jangly guitar and a catchy chorus.

The record sleeves on this post are a few of my favourites from the late 70's. Things I can still listen to now.