There will always be endless debate over who invented punk and where it sprang from. One things for sure, it wasn’t born in 1976. Some will point to the US origin of the term in Punk magazine, and the obvious influence of The Stooges and MC5 on UK punk acts like The Damned. The Sex Pistols started out playing covers of Who songs, and 1950’s acts like Eddie Cochran had a strong influence on both the leather jacketed look of The Clash, and their sound.
Attitude wise, despite their professed hatred of hippies, punk and post-punk owed it’s counter culture vibe to that very movement, even down to free festivals such as Brockwell Park and the creation of anti-fascist protest movements such as Rock Against Racism. Courting controversy or confrontation wasn’t invented by punk either, as attested to by Rolling Stones court cases, and The Who’s equipment trashing.
One influence that has been over-looked, however, is 1960s garage rock and producers like Joe Meek. The intense sound of acts like Wimple Winch could easily be compared to early Buzzcocks, but one act that has yet to get credit for influencing the sound of punk is Scotland’s The Voice, formed in 1965 by organ/piano player Eddie Hammil, singer Stuart Halbert, guitarist Miller Anderson (who still performs solo), bass player Ian McDonald and drummer Jimmy ‘Styx’ McNally.
Starting out as the Royal Crests, they quickly changed their name to Karl Stuart and the Profile , releasing three singles for Mercury Records, all of which were typically lightweight 60’s fare, before changing again to The Voice. As The Voice they recorded their one and only single ’Train to Disaster’, which sounded unlike anything else around at the time. We may be used to the intense and raw sound of producers like Steve Albini now, but in 1965 the distorted intro of ‘Train To Disaster’ and the feedback drenched outro was still a novelty from a home grown act.
The apocalyptic lyrics were far from the cheesy optimism of the chart fodder of the time too. Warning of the self-destructive path humanity had set itself on (this is at the height of the Cold War, remember), it is relentlessly pessimistic, promising “You feel the flames of the burning train, destruction, fire and searing pain. But you decide your fate. You can jump before it's too late”. Bear in mind that this was recorded before songs such as Edwin Starr's ‘War’ saw the light of day, The Velvet Underground formed, and MC5 declared they would ‘Kick Out The Jams’.
Shortly after the release of that single, which failed to chart, guitarist Miller Anderson decided to leave and was replaced by a pre- Spiders From Mars Mick Ronson who joined in 1965 after the break up of his band, The Crestas. Former Cresta’s drummer Dave Bradfield also joined The Voice in March the following year.
However, Ronson and Bradfield were soon to be left high and dry by a bizarre turn of events, and one that sealed the cult reputation of The Voice. Aside from being aspiring pop stars, albeit noisily original ones, the other members of band were also members of an odd religious cult, The Process, who worshipped both Christ and Satan. Mick and Dave were soon out of work when the cult decided to move to the Bahamas in June 1966 and the rest of the band decided to up sticks and join them there too, leaving Ronson and Bradfield behind .
Mick Ronson, of course, later found lasting fame as David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust period writing partner in The Spiders From Mars, so lets not feel too sorry for him. Bradfield re-traced his steps and joined the re-formed Crestas. The controversial element to this is that, although never proven, The Process and their teachings were publicly linked to the Manson Family and, by association, the Sharon Tate murders. That association has dogged The Voice to this day.
They may well have only recorded and released that one single, and played just a handful of gigs, of which only a sole blurry photo of an autographed flyer remains as evidence, but The Voice remain an obscure yet potentially influential pre-cursor to punk and protest that belied their otherwise conventional appearance in their promo shots, and, should you want it, that single will now set you back several hundred pounds if you can find a copy. Fortunately, we have Youtube.
To prove that the sentiments expressed on 'Train To Disaster' are as relevant today as they were back then, I will leave the last word to them.
The world is on its way
Every passenger will pay
If he stays on the train to disaster
The world is the train to disaster