Punk Rock – forty years young this week – the release of Anarchy in the UK by the Sex Pistols. This being a French things blog, here is a Anarchy in the Uk sung in a rather good French translation by Mr Rotten himself. Watch the video for the reaction of the French to Mr Vicious in his errant ramblings round Paris. I guess punk was designed to shock – anarchy and swastikas – no real political statement, just a confused desire to be different, to shock, to break the existing musical codes. – A much quoted start from Mr Lydon himself – he walked down that very fashionable “Swinging London” street The King’s Road in 1975, wearing a T shirt bearing the words “I hate Pink Floyd” he was  spat on by hippies (perish the thought). Punk, still as fresh now as it was then. Some music is timeless because it is too technical and immensely boring (Pink Floyd, The Eagles, Boston) etc. Some music is actual like Mr Springsteen because he addresses issues (via a gritty and traditional style). A lot f music is throwaway and expendable, but Punk is just simply eternal. Enjoy the vid. Just to say that the French never really had a rock movement equivalent to punk – French punk was just noisy new wave pop with groups like Telephone. In Rock terms (though many will disagree) France has always been very conservative – Hey we still venerate Johnny Halliday. I guess the real French musical revolution came with Electro – daft Punk, David Guetta, Lost Cities and now (oh shit) the world’s best known French artist “Christine and the Queens” WTF is that about. So dear readers, long live punk, thanks to the Pistols – I know you are all screaming “what about Joey and the guys???” well they weren’t truly punk and neither was Patty Smith – best American punk band ever, the MC5. Like the Pistols, they are not yet and will never be past their “Sell By” date. Listen to the original Sex Pistols, as good today as ever it was.