MCA Q4, Polydor, Pistols

I'd buy Kevin's take on the Pistols.  Mind you my adoration was very
time compressed 'cause I was buying all their singles as they came out
and mega bootlegs long before the album came out.  Anyhow, at the time,
rock truly did need refocusing, and after the guy at the record store
(Gregg, do you know Joe Sarducci, who worked at a little outfit called 
Systematic Record Distributors in Berkeley in the early 80s?) in Portland
who was feeding me the early punk from England hot off the press (they 
had presses back then... Sigh....) played me Who Are You, again, hot off
the press, in the light of all the great new stuff that was coming out
of England and beginning to leak out of the WEST COAST, we both looked
at each other and said, "What the fuck is Townshend's problem?  This 
stuff is so watered down!", an opinion  I still hold in large respect
to the newer Who stuff.  Point is, ironically some of the artists who 
actually had contact with the first punk stuff, and Townshend certainly
deserves credit for having been there, it had apparently no beneficial
influence on his music, excepting, very, very arguably, Rough Boys (I can
do without the "I very nearly kissed you" and "I want to buy you leather".
I love singing those lyrics in my best Big Bird voice in the office.  It
does get a laugh.  As do the lyrics for Slit Skirts.)  Nonetheless,
Townshend did have a decent tune in him, and certainly showed it.  I just
don't think, in conclusion, that he got very focused, and he REALLY needed
it.

And back then, as in the last few years, I find a whole flood of stuff
I like on the alterna-radio stations, mixed in with loads 'o' crap.
Difference is, from 74 till punk, there was nothing on the damned radio.
Then from New Wave, which essentially all sucks, I agree, Kevin, onto
Guns'N'Roses first album, there was another long spell of severe suckage.
Nirvana at first I didn't like all that much, but grew to love 'em and a
whole slew of bands thereafter.  Once again, see Pearl Jam's unabashed ode
to the Who (though they need all the help they can get, influence-wise),
and Cobain's professed love of the Wipers (local of PDX).  

As for second albums sucking, I can credit the following bands for having 
bad second or third albums after incredible first ones:  Stiff Little
Fingers (if you don't have Inflammable Material, their first, you're not
worth it), Generation  X (No, no, no!!!! the goddam import!), the Clash
(No, no, no!!!! the goddam import!).  Bands who made it to four, arguably
five:  The Jam.  Boy did they take a nosdive after that!!  Bands who've
made it to three and going strong:  STP, Soundgarden (actually more
there). Bands who made two really great ones: Ramones.
Bands who haven't really had a bad record:  Buzzcocks (well they had a 13 
year gap between ablums three and four), Sex Pistols (only 
because they only had one real one).  O.K. sorry I took up so much
bandwidth.

Jeff