@bkuhn asked me at FOSDEM whether I had ever purchased or "taped" any albums by a punk band. (I don't recall how exactly he expressed the question but it was close to that). I told him at the time that I needed to do some research to ascertain whether certain bands "regarded themselves as punk" (I believe I put it that way).
Reformulating the research inquiry for practical reasons as whether said bands are or were generally regarded as punk, I now can answer:
At a particular point in time during my tiime as a teenager I purchased at least two and at most three albums by the Buzzcocks, who are regarded as an "English punk rock band" according to the Wikipedia article about them. I am fairly certain that one of the albums I purchased was A Different Kind of Tension. (The fact that I can't really remember is possibly of some significance. The reason I remember that one album is that I do recall sort of liking the songs "Paradise" and "I Believe" which were evidently on that album.)
At around the same time (give or take six months) I also purchased the debut album by Violent Femmes, called Violent Femmes. According to Wikipedia, Violent Femmes was "an American alternative rock band". I find this classification peculiar because to my recollection the term "alternative rock" was not in use before the 1990s and any application of the term to pre-1990 music seems anachronistic. Anyhow, I don't remember thinking of Violent Femmes as "punk" but rather "punk-influenced". Some websites describe them as "acoustic punk" or "folk punk". .
Anyway, I am fairly certain that's it. No other album I ever purchased (or "taped") could be described as "punk" genrewise.
Reformulating the research inquiry for practical reasons as whether said bands are or were generally regarded as punk, I now can answer:
At a particular point in time during my tiime as a teenager I purchased at least two and at most three albums by the Buzzcocks, who are regarded as an "English punk rock band" according to the Wikipedia article about them. I am fairly certain that one of the albums I purchased was A Different Kind of Tension. (The fact that I can't really remember is possibly of some significance. The reason I remember that one album is that I do recall sort of liking the songs "Paradise" and "I Believe" which were evidently on that album.)
At around the same time (give or take six months) I also purchased the debut album by Violent Femmes, called Violent Femmes. According to Wikipedia, Violent Femmes was "an American alternative rock band". I find this classification peculiar because to my recollection the term "alternative rock" was not in use before the 1990s and any application of the term to pre-1990 music seems anachronistic. Anyhow, I don't remember thinking of Violent Femmes as "punk" but rather "punk-influenced". Some websites describe them as "acoustic punk" or "folk punk". .
Anyway, I am fairly certain that's it. No other album I ever purchased (or "taped") could be described as "punk" genrewise.
Kete Foy likes this.
Oops, I just remembered that many years after the aforedescribed album purchases, I purchased at least two and probably no more than three CD versions of albums by the Clash. Wikipedia says that the Clash were "an English punk rock band" (much as Wikipedia describes the Buzzcocks). I know I have CDs somewhere in my metaphorical possession of London Calling and Sandinista!. I also now remember that there was an LP of London Calling in my house when I was a teenager but I don't think it belonged to me (it was probably my older brother's).
Last year, I heard the Buzzcocks' "Ever Fallen in Love" and thought it was a perfect pop punk song.