Punk Before Punk Was Punk

This is amazing! Read the story of mid 70's rock band Death in today's NY Times. Listen to them play "Politicians In My Eyes." I had never heard of these guys before, but they existed, starting in Detroit as an R&B band in the early 70's, and switching to an up tempo, hard rock style in 1973 after seeing an Alice Cooper show. And yes, they seem to have beaten the Bad Brains and Pure Hell for the mantle of first all black punk band by some time. Incredible.

"The teenage Hackney brothers started playing R&B in their parents’ garage in the early ’70s but switched to hard rock in 1973, after seeing an Alice Cooper show. Dannis played drums, Bobby played bass and sang, and David wrote the songs and contributed propulsive guitar work, derived from studying Pete Townshend’s power-chord wrist technique. Their musicianship tightened when their mother allowed them to replace their bedroom furniture with mikes and amps as long as they practiced for three hours every afternoon. “From 3 to 6,” said Dannis, 54, “we just blew up the neighborhood.”