PVC

PVC is a German punk band founded in 1977; it was the first German punk band in West-Berlin, and mainly wrote song lyrics in English. PVC's song Wall City Rock, became iconic in the rock music scene in Berlin, and is a well-known anthem of 70s punk rock in general. Their song "Berlin by Night" has been covered by many other German punk bands, including Slime. Both of these songs have been called all-time classics. On August 6, 1977, PVC put on the first official punk concert in Berlin. PVC's first band photo, which is also the cover photo of guitarist Gerrit Meijer's memoir, was taken at the Berlin Wall near Checkpoint Charlie in 1978.

The founding members of PVC were influenced by bands like The Damned, the Ramones

and The Vibrators. PVC's guitarist Gerrit Meijer wrote: "In

February 1976 while I was reading the New Musical Express I came across an article

about the New York scene ... the Ramones were discussed, and their concept seemed to me to

be the most dubious that I had ever heard of: two-minute songs, no solos, 20-minute

performances. The part of this about "no solos" was very different from my own work, and

so it really pushed me—encouraged by these new aspects—to right away attempt my own

compositions in this style."

PVC's music is classified as somewhere in between the melodic new-wave sound (exemplified by

the song "Berlin by Night") and typical punk crunchiness (exemplified by "Wall City

Rock"). PVC's music up until the 1990s is considered to be classic punk, including that

the musical performance was more important than the lyrics. Gerrit Meijer wrote: "In

the course of the 1990s, we traveled a lot in the so-called 'new German states' where we

experienced a strange thing: people in the audience at a punk concert would sit

cross-legged in front of the stage, and earnestly try to listen to the lyrics, that's

something we weren't used to. Often the public seemed to have difficulty in correctly

classifying PVC. When people say that they could understand the lyrics better if the band

would play more quietly, I respond that PVC doesn't have any special message, and it

doesn't matter whether they understand the lyrics or not."

As they evolved, PVC did not feel limited to the historical definition of punk music. At later concerts, PVC quickly transitioned between punk compositions, rockabilly, and a cappella pieces; although such musical variety was popular, punk veterans were the minority in their audiences. Their classic pieces were often modified

and re-envisioned as well—for example during "Wall City Rock" they would invite the audience to sing along, and "Berlin By Night" would be accompanied by cutting guitar sounds.