10 7" Singles That Defined Punk
10. Gary Gilmores Eyes - The Adverts (1977)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxxcJzma-IsPunk rock was about breaking down the barriers and allowing absolutely anyone to form a band. But certain members of certain bands genuinelly knew how to play, such as The Clashs Mick Jones and Televisions telekinetic guitar duo, Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd. Yet, The Adverts, the brainchild of TV Smith, whichever way you choose to look at it, were actually severely insufficient musicians. A fact they even testified to in their debut single, One Chord Wonders. Gary Gilmores Eyes, a schlocky, B-movie tale that has much in common with the cheap theatricality of the Damned is a song that took a highly contentious contemporary issue (the donation of a serial killers eyes for medical research) and envisions an unassuming transplant patient waking up and looking through these murderous eyes.
An abject horror story that is complimented by the groups jittery, energetic instrumentation, Gary Gilmores Eyes is one of the most surreal singles ever released. But that was the beauty of punk. No subject was too gruesome and no topic was too offensive to be addressed. A creative and imaginative 7 that will leave you scratching your head at its weirdness in between head-banging along to its infectious, novel charm.