LOST PUNK. FORGOTTEN BANDS, GREAT SONGS

This series features absolutely fantastic songs from the beginnings in the 1970s up to the 2010s, with bands from all over the world. Discover songs that still absolutely rock and impress today. Most bands are pretty much forgotten, despite excellent songs. Here is the complete list of all the bands you can find in a playlist on SpotifyWill be updated constantly... At the end of the list you can send me a comment if there are mistakes in my list or if you have recommendations for other forgotten bands (music should be on Spotify). I'm looking forward to it!

 Playlist on Spotify. Playlistcover: Turbulent Hearts with Suzi Moon from Los Angeles, California.

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I started the series ‘Lost Punk. Forgotten bands, great songs’ on 10 June 2025. These are bands that are hardly known on Spotify anymore, often have less than 1,000 monthly listeners, but usually only between 10 and 500. But these bands have released fantastic music, often just a few singles, maybe a couple of albums - and have split up at some point, sometimes after a short time. With this list and playlist, I want to try to save these artists and bands from being completely forgotten. The music deserves it! Finally, this list acts as a 'history of underground punk' from its start to close to the present day... so have fun discovering these bands and their great releases.

Band list:

Updated August 7, 2025

• Artist: The Avengers (San Francisco, California)
• Song: The American in Me
• The Avengers a seminal San Francisco punk band from 1977 to 1979. In their short history, they played more than 100 gigs, sharing bills with bands like X, DOA, and the Dead Kennedys. They also notably opened for the legendary final show of the Sex Pistols.

• Artist: The Bags (Los Angeles, California)
• Song: Survive (1978)
• The Bags (also called Bags or the Alice Bag Band) were a key part of the first wave of the LA punk scene, active between 1977 and 1980.

• Artist: The MnMs (Los Angeles, California)
• Song: Knock Knock Knock (1980)
• A short-lived band with only one release

• Artist: The Nuns (San Francisco, California)
• Song: Savage (1979)
• A founding act of the early San Francisco punk/ new wave scene, the band performed and recorded on and off from the mid-1970s into the 2000s, with Jennifer Miro and Jeff Olener at its core. Alejandro Escovedo, who later found success as an Americana musician, was also a key member during their late '70s peak.

• Artist: TNT (Switzerland)
• Song: Subwayscene (1979)
• Most famous Swiss Punk band TNT (‚Züri brennt‘). The chaotic Dogbodys transformed into the dedicated punk band TNT (1978-81) after 14-year-old Sara joined.

• Artist: Blue Oil (Montreal, Canada)
• Song: Sardine City (1981)
• The first all-female punk band from Quebéc, this group was founded in 1978 by sisters Christiane and Manon Fatter. The lineup, which later included Manon Asselin (bass, vocals) and Marie Martine Bédard (guitar), blended punk, new wave, and post-punk. They were active until the mid-1980s.

• Artist: Wanda’s (Alkmaar, The Netherlands)
• Song: Second Part (1982)
• They are considered one of the first all-female punk bands in the Netherlands, founded in 1979. Various lineup changes; active until 1989.

• Artist: Indirekt (Hoorn, The Netherlands)
• Song: Shell Helpt (1984)
• Active from 1982-1987. Fierce yet melodic punk, Dutch lyrics, female singer.

• Artist: The Nixe (Utrecht, The Netherlands)
• Song: Boring City (1981)
• Early All-girl punk band

• Artist: Fertile Virgin (Massachusetts, US)
• Song: My Three Suns (1990)
• All female band on Harriet Records. The members were Donna Sartanowicz, Julie Kantner, Leslie Dell'Elce-Grinley and Trisha Matthews. Rough-edged guitar rock with a melodic feel.

• Artist: Gloo Girls (New York, US)
• Song: Meow (1993)
• Active in the early 90s.

 

Updated June 15, 2025

• Artist: The Pathetix (Lancashire, UK)
• Song: Snuffed It (taken from the self-titled album, released 1979)
• Formed in 1976. Had positive reviews in the music press and encouraging words from John Peel
More information at Bored Teenagers

• Artist:V2 (Manchester, UK)
• Song: Man in the Box (taken from the compilation V2) Overground Records/ Wipe Out Music
• Formed in 1977. A band from the Manchester punk scene along with the Fall, Buzzcocks and Warsaw and containing ex members of the Nosebleeds and Panik.
More information at Punk 77

• Artist: The Last Words (Sydney, Australia)
• Song: Animal World (taken from the compilation Animal World) PHR Records
• Formed in 1977 by mainstays Malcolm Baxter on lead vocals, and Andy Groome on guitar.
More information at Wikipedia

• Artist: Micke Mek (Sweden)
• Song: Slut (taken from the compilation Andra Bränder) Massproduktion
• Apparently, they were an early Swedish punk artist. I've found no information on them elsewhere, only on this Massproduktion sampler.

• Artist: Date-X (Eskilstuna, Sweden)
• Song: Crying Girl (taken from the self-titled album, 1981)
• Active between 1980  and 1985
More information at punktjafs

• Artist: Klischee (Hannover, Germany)
• Song: Nazis Raus (taken from the album 'Normalzustand', 1981) Höhnie Records
• Kondensators was one of Hannover's early punk bands. After their breakup in 1980, David Spoo and Konrad Kittner (who would later join Abstürzende Brieftauben) teamed up with Jens Frank to form Klischee.

• Artist: Cherry Vanilla (New York-born/ California-based today)
• Song: The Punk (taken from the album 'Bad Girl‘, 1978)
• Cherry Vanilla is an American singer-songwriter, publicist, and actress. After working as an actress in Andy Warhol's Pork, she worked as a publicist for David Bowie, before becoming a rock singer. She subsequently became a publicist for Vangelis.
More information at Wikipedia

Artist: Dishrags (Victoria/ Vancouver, Canada)
• Song: I Don’t Love You (taken from the compilation ‚Vancouver Complication‘, 1979)
• Formed in 1977. First all-girl punk band in Canada
More information at Psychedelic Baby Magazine

• Artist: Mary Monday (San Francisco, California)
• Song: Popgun (single, 1977)
• Mary Elizabeth Inman Monday (2 May 1945 - 30 April 1988) was an American punk singer, who released one single, ‚I Gave My Punk Jacket to Rickie‘ /‘Popgun’
More information at Hozac Records

Updated June 10, 2025

• Artist: Turbulent Hearts (Los Angelese, CA)
• Song: Panic (taken from the compilation 'All Out‘, 2025), Pirate Press Records
• Formed in 2014, fronted by ex-Civet member Suzi Moon, Mark Johnson, bass, and Jay Skowronek on drums.
More information (Blog entry at Tumblr)

• Artist: The Vicars (Essex, UK)
• Song: Radio Roy (taken from the compilation 'Southend Punk Volume One') Angels In Exile Records
• Active around 1979. One of the 'unknown' punk bands, according to Wikipedia, where the great Alison Moyet (Yazoo) had her origins as a singer.
More information (Southend Punk)

• Artist: Max and the Makeups (Austin, Tx)
• Song: Zerox (taken from the compilation 'Chasing the Monsters‘) Not Records Tapes
• Formed 1981; a band from legendary club Raul's in Austin, the first venue in Austin to feature punk/ new wave bands.
More information at notrecordstapes.com

• Artist: The Welders (Saint Louis, Ms)
• Song: P-E-R-V-E-R-T (taken from 'Our Own Oddities‘) Bachelor Records
• Formed in 1975. One of St. Louis’ earliest punk bands, and definitely its first all-girl punk band (all between thirteen and fifteen when they started).
More information at Maximum Rock'n Roll

• Artist: The Deep Throats (Chelmsford, UK)
• Song: We’re the Force (taken from the compilation 'We‘re the Force’) Only Fit For The Bin
• Formed in 1977. The Deep Throats made a big impression on the Essex punk scene, and built up a sizeable following in the local area. After the compilation's release, the band reunited for a sold-out comeback concert at London's legendary Hope and Anchor in late 2023.
More information at Music Clive-Colchester

• Artist: The Dum Dum Boys (West Auckland, New Zealand)
• Song: Let There Be Noise (taken from the compilation 'Let The Be Noise‘) In The Red Records
• Hailing from working class West Auckland, the band formed in 1980. They were the first NZ punk band to record and release a full-length in their native country.
More information at Audio Culture

• Artist: The Proles (Newcastle surrounding area, UK)
• Song: Stereo Love (taken from compilation 'Morton Crescent’) Overground Records/ WIpe Out Music Ltd.
• Formed in 1977. Originally called Riot (76-Mar 77), Valves (Mar-Aug 77). They still have an own website

• Artist: The Diodes (Toronto, Canada)
• Song: Shape of Things to Come (taken from the self-titled album, 1977) Sony Music Entertainment Canada.
• Formed in 1976. They were one of the first Canadian punk bands helped to foster the original core Punk scene in Toronto, as well as the first Canadian punk band signed to a major label.
More information at Wikipedia

• Artist: PANIC (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
• Song: Requiem for Martin Heidegger (taken from the album '13‘, 1978)
• Formed in 1976. Led by the imposing figure of punk provocateur, Peter Penthouse (Peter ten Seldam). PANIC was one of the first Dutch punk bands to play in the USA (On July 4, 1978, at the CBGB Club, New York).
• More information at Bacteria

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