could’ve been in the Bowery Boys, and drummer Jerry Nolan’s idol was Gene Krupa. But the two ex–New York Dolls and Co., whose theme song was too often “Too Much Junkie Business,” conjured a racket that made living fast and dying young sound like the only way to go. G.K.

“Born Too Loose,” “Pirate Love,”
“Chinese Rocks”
RADIO BIRDMAN
RADIOS APPEAR

With an authentic Michigander in their ranks, these Aussies looked to Iggy’s Detroit for inspiration and came up with a sharp debut. In a rare case of Americans getting the better deal, the 1978 domestic release reconfigures the tracks and adds signature surf-tinged tune “Aloha Steve & Danno.” D.B.

“Murder City Nights,” “New
Race,” “Man With the Golden Helmet”
GRUFF RHYS

“The first
Suicide album
completely caved
my head in as
a teenager and
led me on to the
downward spiral
of antisocial
behavior I’m still
exploring today.”

IGGY POP

RAMONES
LEAVE HOME

These guys—one minute they’re meeting the girl they love so at “the” Burger King, the next they’re getting the glory “like Charles Manson.” Their second album is even louder and funnier than the first, with Johnny’s guitar at its ear-splittingest. G.K.

“Suzy Is a Headbanger,”
“Pinhead,” “California Sun”
KEVIN BARNES

CLOCK WISE FROM TOP LEF T: LYNN GOLDSMI TH; KEVIN WES TENBERG; JIM NEWBERRY; BR YAN SHEFFIELD

IGGY POP
THE IDIOT

Fresh off stints as a heroin addict, mental patient, and homeless vagrant, Iggy created for his solo debut a writhing masterpiece that’s totally out of step with the raucous punk spirit his Stooges helped birth but proved wildly influential on the dark art of Joy Division and Bauhaus. D.P.

“Sister Midnight,” “Funtime,”
“China Girl”

ing critiques of British society are informed by an earnest belief in the youth’s power to redeem it, while the album’s soul-tinged punk pop displays a reverence for music history (particularly the Who) most punks found distasteful. D.P.

“Away From the Numbers,”
“In the City,” “Art School”
RAMONES
ROCKET TO RUSSIA

Despite being stuffed with pogo-worthy delights, the Queens boys’ third full-length snarls more than it smiles, with moments of cartoonish paranoia, antisuburbia satire, and adolescent nihilism. B.R.

“Sheena Is a Punk Rocker,”
“Teenage Lobotomy,” “Rockaway
Beach”

“Damned Damned Damned rocks so hard, and it isn’t as self-conscious as some of the other, more political records of that year.”

IGGY POP
LUST FOR LIFE

If The Idiot is the sound of Iggy crawling back from certain death, here he’s alive and kicking. Movie soundtracks and cruise-ship ads can’t diminish the title track’s visceral jolt, and the rest of this howling classic nearly lives up to that tune’s promise. D.P.

“Lust for Life,” “The Passenger,”
“Turn Blue”
THE JAM
THIS IS THE MODERN WORLD

Dismissed on its release as a tossed-off follow-up to In the City, in retrospect Modern World holds up fine for precisely those reasons. While the tunes occasionally feel slight and the Who influence more slavish, the unfussy vibe is refreshing, coming from this otherwise tightly wound trio. D.P.

“The Modern World,” “All
Around the World,” “Standards”
B RETT GUREWITZ
THE JAM
IN THE CIT Y
A striking contrast to the Sex Pistols’
dyspeptic vision: Paul Weller’s scath-

JOHNNY THUNDERS
& THE HEARTBREAKERS
L.A.M.F.
These bad boys were more old-school
than other punks—the guitarist/
frontman was such a classic mook he

RICHARD HELL
& THE VOIDOIDS
BLANK GENERATION

The late Robert Quine and Ivan Julian’s guitars stabbing like porcupine quills, Hell’s voice yelping erotic desperation and oppressed frustration, Marc (Marky Ramone) Bell’s drums pistoning forward, this record’s sound frayed the nerve endings in a way that few other band could even aspire to. G.K.

“Love Comes in Spurts,” “Liars
Beware,” “Blank Generation”

“The only true
American punk
bands were the
Ramones and
the Dead Boys.
I have memories
of listening to that
stuff and literally
jumping up and
down on my bed.
It seemed so far
away from where
I grew up.”