The girls are going out to bars in L.A. tonight, The Standard and Skybar, I can't get into them since I'm not female or famous or wicked rich. I'm going along for the ride to visit friends up there and I've got lots of time to kill while they get ready with the hair straighteners and makeup etc..
The top punk front men is a list I've been putting together bit by bit during my free time like walking home from work or walking various places. I already made the top hardcore vocalists list. Anyone on that list, can't be listed here, basically hardcore is out, all other genres of punk are in. There are a lot more people who deserve to be on this list, it was tougher to narrow down than the hardcore list. A ton of my favorite bands in general are punk rock.
I'm judging front men based on not only how the vocals sound on the records, but lyrics, stage presence, and cool looks. It's style and shock over substance on this list, kind of like my favorite horror movies.
I don't really go for the preachy bands anymore. I prefer songs about sex, violence, and fantastical stuff. Music is an escape for me, exotic, and more exciting than real life. When I wanna see a show, I wanna see a show, not someone staring at the ground, dressed in the same clothes your average college student wears.
Post Punk is not really represented here either. All the rock press' lists of top punk bands read like Husker Du, Mission of Burma, Wire, etc... I like all those bands, but only a couple of the singers on my list are critical faves.
--- top ten punk front men ---
10. Mr. Chi Pig - SNFU
9. Pig Champion* (and editor's note) - Poison Idea
8. El Duce** - The Mentors
7. Wattie - The Exploited
6. Animal*** - Anti-Nowhere League
5. Stiv Bators**** - Dead Boys / Lords of the New Church
4. Dave Vanian - The Damned
3. Monkey - The Adicts
2. Lee Ving***** - Fear
1. Glenn Danzig
footnotes...
* I've never seen Poison Idea live or on tape, but I've seen photos showing the extremely overweight Pig Champion having to sit down while playing, due to his obesity. I do not know if he has to do this at every show.
editor's note - I was just listening to Poison Idea, and looking up Pig Champion on the internet, and for the first time ever, found out that he's not the lead singer. I always pictured him doing the singing in my brain, but my brain was wrong. My assumptions were due to him sitting in the front on the t-shirt that I had in high school. Still, due to his massive size (450+) he stays on the list, with all due respect to Jerry A, the actual fontman.
** It's hard to separate the truths from the myths about The Mentors, since El Duce would make wild claims as to what goes on at their shows. He is certainly one to embellish upon the truth in order to get a reaction and most of what I know about the Mentors I've learned from his interviews. I've seen limited video footage of their performances, but maybe there is enough out their to clear up the rumors. These tapes are harder to come by than your more common GG Allin stuff.
*** The rock video for 'So What' must be one of the greatest of all time. Animal strikes heavy metal poses in front of a huge lighting rig, and sings some of the most dirty lyrics you're ever gonna here, plus we get some close-ups of his genitals and back door. I don't know where the hell they thought this video could be played. Later the Anti-Nowhere League put out a mainstream rock album that reminds me of Midnight Oil or something. Animal proves he can really sing on this one, called 'The Perfect Crime', but the record has been pretty much overlooked by punks and critics alike.
**** A more recent favorite of mine, I've never seen any video footage, so I'm putting Stiv Bators on the list based on voice alone. After hearing him slur the sleazy and miserable Dead Boys lyrics, it's fun to here the same style of vocals paired with the more poppy eighties music from his other band, The Lords of the New Church.
***** Lee Ving is thought to be one of the toughest punk icons around. Not someone who ever keeps his mouth shout, which is good because his voice and words are what made Fear. He's the only original member in the band today and they still draw crowds. Check out the MD.45 record, where he takes up the vocal and harmonica duties. It's a hard rock album, the 'MD' for Dave Mustaine and the '45' being 'XLV' in roman numerals.
That's the list, and I'm content with it. I left out two personal favorites, Joey Ramone and Iggy Pop, since they already get plenty of mainstream recognition. Sure they deserve more, far more than Mick Jagger and Bono, but I wanted to make a list with less obvious choices. My list needs people on it that readers will think are way off the mark. No controversy = No fun. One last point, notice how almost everyone listed has a ridiculous name. I love it.
2 punk links
Harley Flanagan's Hardcore (and punk rock) Hall of Fame - Interviews with members of Agnostic Front, Bad Brains, Murphy's Law, Iron Cross, Government Issue, and more.
article on fashioncore - you would swear that this is a joke and that the kids are made up, but I guess not, this is not on the onion.com
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