Punk rock (also known as simplypunk) is arock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950srock and roll[2][3][4] and 1960sgarage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced short, fast-paced songs with hard-edged melodies and singing styles with stripped-down instrumentation. Lyricism in punk typically revolves aroundanti-establishment andanti-authoritarian themes. Punk embraces aDIY ethic; many bands self-produce recordings and distribute them throughindependent labels.
The term "punk rock" was previously used by Americanrock critics in the early 1970s to describe the mid-1960s garage bands. Certain late 1960s and early 1970s Detroit acts, such asMC5 andIggy and the Stooges, and other bands from elsewhere created out-of-the-mainstream music that became highly influential on what was to come.Glam rock in the UK andthe New York Dolls from New York have also been cited as key influences. Between 1974 and 1976, when the genre that became known as punk was developing, prominent acts includedTelevision,Patti Smith,Richard Hell and the Voidoids, and theRamones in New York City;the Saints inBrisbane; theSex Pistols,the Clash, andthe Damned in London, and theBuzzcocks in Manchester. By late 1976, punk had become a major cultural phenomenon in the UK. It gave rise to apunk subculture that expressed youthful rebellion through distinctivestyles of clothing, such as T-shirts with deliberately offensive graphics, leather jackets, studded or spiked bands and jewelry, safety pins, and bondage and S&M clothes.
In 1977, the influence of the music and subculture spread worldwide. It took root in a wide range of local scenes that often rejected affiliation with the mainstream. In the late 1970s, punk experienced a second wave, when new acts that had not been active during its formative years adopted the style. By the early 1980s, faster and more aggressive subgenres, such ashardcore punk (e.g.,Minor Threat),Oi! (e.g.,Sham 69),street punk (e.g.,the Exploited), andanarcho-punk (e.g.,Crass), became some of the predominant modes of punk rock, while bands more similar in form to the first wave (e.g.,X,the Adicts) also flourished. Many musicians who identified with punk or were inspired by it went on to pursue other musical directions, giving rise to movements such aspost-punk,new wave,thrash metal, andalternative rock. Following alternative rock's mainstream breakthrough in the 1990s withNirvana, punk rock saw renewed major-label interest and mainstream appeal exemplified by the rise of the California bandsGreen Day,Social Distortion,Rancid,the Offspring,Bad Religion, andNOFX.
The anti-government stance and nihilistic impression of the future provided by capitalism united the punk scene in the 1970s in the United Kingdom as other bands emerged in the 70s and 80s like X-Ray Spex and Steel Pulse.
The first wave of punk rock was "aggressively modern" and differed from what came before.[5] According toRamones drummerTommy Ramone, "In its initial form, a lot of 1960s stuff was innovative and exciting. Unfortunately, what happens is that people who could not hold a candle to the likes ofHendrix started noodling away. Soon you had endlesssolos that went nowhere. By 1973, I knew that what was needed was some pure, stripped down, no bullshit rock 'n' roll."[6]John Holmstrom, founding editor ofPunk magazine, recalls feeling "punk rock had to come along because the rock scene had become so tame that [acts] likeBilly Joel andSimon and Garfunkel were being called rock and roll, when to me and other fans, rock and roll meant this wild and rebellious music."[7] According toRobert Christgau, punk "scornfully rejected the political idealism and Californian flower-power silliness ofhippie myth."[8]
Hippies were rainbow extremists; punks are romantics of black-and-white. Hippies forced warmth; punks cultivatecool. Hippies kidded themselves aboutfree love; punks pretend thats&m is our condition. As symbols of protest, swastikas are no less fatuous than flowers.
Technical accessibility and ado it yourself (DIY) spirit are prized in punk rock.UK pub rock from 1972 to 1975 contributed to the emergence of punk rock by developing a network of small venues, such as pubs, where non-mainstream bands could play.[10] Pub rock also introduced the idea ofindependent record labels, such asStiff Records, which put out basic, low-cost records.[10] Pub rock bands organized their own small venue tours and put out small pressings of their records. In the early days of punk rock, this DIY ethic stood in marked contrast to what those in the scene regarded as the ostentatious musical effects and technological demands of many mainstream rock bands.[11] Musical virtuosity was often looked on with suspicion. According to Holmstrom, punk rock was "rock and roll by people who didn't have very many skills as musicians but still felt the need to express themselves through music".[7] In December 1976, the EnglishfanzineSideburns published a now-famous illustration of three chords, captioned "This is a chord, this is another, this is a third. Now form a band".[12]
British punk rejected contemporary mainstream rock, the broader culture it represented, and their musical predecessors: "NoElvis,Beatles orthe Rolling Stones in 1977", declaredthe Clash song "1977".[13] 1976, when the punk revolution began in Britain, became a musical and a cultural "Year Zero".[14] As nostalgia was discarded, many in the scene adopted anihilistic attitude summed up by theSex Pistols' slogan "No Future";[5] in the later words of one observer, amid the unemployment and social unrest in 1977, "punk's nihilistic swagger was the most thrilling thing in England."[15] While "self-imposedalienation" was common among "drunk punks" and "gutter punks", there was always a tension between their nihilistic outlook and the "radical leftist utopianism"[16] of bands such asCrass, who found positive, liberating meaning in the movement. As a Clash associate describes singerJoe Strummer's outlook, "Punk rock is meant to be our freedom. We're meant to be able to do what we want to do."[17]
Authenticity has always been important in the punk subculture—the pejorative term "poseur" is applied to those who adopt its stylistic attributes but do not actually share or understand its underlying values and philosophy. Scholar Daniel S. Traber argues that "attaining authenticity in the punk identity can be difficult"; as the punk scene matured, he observes, eventually "everyone got called a poseur".[18] Cultural scholars and music journalists have often attributed 'true' punk rock as a movement and cultural fad confined to western world in the 1970s and 1980s.
The early punk bands emulated the minimal musical arrangements of 1960sgarage rock.[19] Typical punk rock instrumentation is stripped down to one or two guitars, bass, drums and vocals. Songs tend to be shorter than those of other rock genres and played at fast tempos.[20] Most early punk rock songs retained a traditional rock 'n' rollverse-chorus form and 4/4time signature. However, later bands often broke from this format.[21] Punk music was not a standalone movement in the 70s and 80s. Major punk communities gather across the globe as punk perseveres among contemporary musicians and listeners today.
The vocals are sometimes nasal,[22] and the lyrics often shouted in an "arrogant snarl", rather than conventionally sung.[23][24] Complicatedguitar solos were considered self-indulgent, although basic guitar breaks were common.[25] Guitar parts tend to include highlydistortedpower chords orbarre chords, creating a characteristic sound described by Christgau as a "buzzsaw drone".[26] Some punk rock bands take asurf rock approach with a lighter, twangier guitar tone. Others, such asRobert Quine, lead guitarist ofthe Voidoids, have employed a wild, "gonzo" attack, a style that stretches back throughthe Velvet Underground to the 1950s recordings ofIke Turner.[27] Bass guitar lines are often uncomplicated; the quintessential approach is a relentless, repetitive "forced rhythm",[28] although some punk rock bass players—such asMike Watt ofthe Minutemen andFirehose—emphasize more technical bass lines. Bassists often use apick due to the rapid succession of notes, makingfingerpicking impractical. Drums typically sound heavy and dry, and often have a minimal set-up. Compared to other forms of rock,syncopation is much less the rule.[29] Hardcore drumming tends to be especially fast.[23] Production tends to be minimalistic, with tracks sometimes laid down on home tape recorders[30] or four-track portastudios.[31]
Punk rock lyrics are typically blunt and confrontational; compared to the lyrics of other popular music genres, they often focus on social and political issues.[32] Trend-setting songs such as the Clash's "Career Opportunities" andChelsea's "Right to Work" deal with unemployment and the grim realities of urban life.[33] Especially in early British punk, a central goal was to outrage and shock the mainstream.[34] The Sex Pistols' "Anarchy in the U.K." and "God Save the Queen" openly disparaged the British political system and social mores. Anti-sentimental depictions of relationships and sex are common, as in "Love Comes in Spurts", recorded by theVoidoids.Anomie, variously expressed in the poetic terms of Richard Hell's "Blank Generation" and the bluntness of the Ramones' "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue", is a common theme.[35] The controversial content of punk lyrics has frequently led to certain punk records being banned by radio stations and refused shelf space in major chain stores.[36] Christgau said that "Punk is so tied up with the disillusions of growing up that punks do often age poorly."[37]
1980s punks with leather jackets and dyed mohawk hairstyles
The classic punk rock look among male American musicians harkens back to the T-shirt, motorcycle jacket, and jeans ensemble favored by Americangreasers of the 1950s associated with therockabilly scene and by Britishrockers of the 1960s. In addition to the T-shirt, and leather jackets they wore ripped jeans and boots, typicallyDoc Martens. The punk look was inspired to shock people.Richard Hell's more androgynous, ragamuffin look—and reputed invention of thesafety-pin aesthetic—was a major influence on Sex Pistols impresarioMalcolm McLaren and, in turn, British punk style.[38][39] (John D Morton of Cleveland'sElectric Eels may have been the first rock musician to wear a safety-pin-covered jacket.)[40] McLaren's partner, fashion designerVivienne Westwood, creditsJohnny Rotten as the first British punk musician to rip his shirt, and Sex Pistols bassistSid Vicious as the first to use safety pins,[41] although few of those following punk could afford to buy McLaren and Westwood's designs so famously worn by the Pistols, so they made their own, diversifying the 'look' with various different styles based on these designs.
Young women in punk demolished the typical female types in rock of either "coy sex kittens or wronged blues belters" in their fashion.[42] Early female punk musicians displayed styles ranging fromSiouxsie Sioux's bondage gear toPatti Smith's "straight-from-the-gutter androgyny".[43] The former proved much more influential on female fan styles.[44] Over time, tattoos,piercings, and metal-studded and -spiked accessories became increasingly common elements ofpunk fashion among both musicians and fans, a "style of adornment calculated to disturb and outrage".[45] Among the other facets of the punk rock scene, a punk's hair is an important way of showing their freedom of expression.[46] The typical male punk haircut was originally short and choppy; themohawk later emerged as a characteristic style.[47] Along with the mohawk, long spikes have been associated with the punk rock genre.[46]
Between the late 16th and the 18th centuries, punk was a common, coarse synonym for prostitute;William Shakespeare used it with that meaning inThe Merry Wives of Windsor (1602) andMeasure for Measure (1603–4).[48] The term eventually came to describe "a young male hustler, a gangster, a hoodlum, or a ruffian".[49]
The first known use of the phrase "punk rock" appeared in theChicago Tribune on March 22, 1970, whenEd Sanders, co-founder of New York's anarcho-prankster bandthe Fugs described his first solo album as "punk rock – redneck sentimentality".[50][51] In 1969 Sanders recorded a song for an album called "Street Punk" but it was only released in 2008.[50] In the December 1970 issue ofCreem,Lester Bangs, mocking more mainstream rock musicians, ironically referred toIggy Pop as "that Stooge punk".[52]Suicide'sAlan Vega credits this usage with inspiring his duo to bill its gigs as "punk music" or a "punk mass" for the next couple of years.[53]
In the March 1971 issue of Creem, criticGreg Shaw wrote about theShadows of Knight's "hard-edge punk sound". In an April 1971 issue ofRolling Stone, he referred to a track bythe Guess Who as "good, not too imaginative, punk rock and roll". The same month John Medelsohn describedAlice Cooper's albumLove It to Death as "nicely wrought mainstream punk raunch".[54]Dave Marsh used the term in the May 1971 issue ofCreem, where he described? and the Mysterians as giving a "landmark exposition of punk rock".[55] Later in 1971, in his fanzineWho Put the Bomp,Greg Shaw wrote about "what I have chosen to call "punkrock" bands—white teenage hard rock of '64–66 (Standells, Kingsmen,Shadows of Knight, etc.)".[56][nb 1]Lester Bangs used the term "punk rock" in several articles written in the early 1970s to refer to mid-1960s garage acts.[58]
In the liner notes of the 1972 anthology LP,Nuggets, musician and rock journalistLenny Kaye, later a member of the Patti Smith Group, used the term "punk rock" to describe the genre of 1960s garage bands and "garage-punk", to describe a song recorded in 1966 by the Shadows of Knight.[59]Nick Kent referred to Iggy Pop as the "Punk Messiah of the Teenage Wasteland" in his review ofthe Stooges July 1972 performance atKing's Cross Cinema in London for a British magazine called Cream (no relation to the more famous US publication).[60] In the January 1973Rolling Stone review ofNuggets, Greg Shaw commented "Punk rock is a fascinating genre... Punk rock at its best is the closest we came in the '60s to the original rockabilly spirit of Rock 'n Roll."[61] In February 1973, Terry Atkinson of theLos Angeles Times, reviewing the debut album by a hard rock band,Aerosmith, declared that it "achieves all that punk-rock bands strive for but most miss."[62] A March 1973 review of an Iggy and the Stooges show in theDetroit Free Press dismissively referred to Pop as "the apotheosis of Detroit punk music".[63] In May 1973, Billy Altman launched the short-livedpunk magazine inBuffalo, NY which was largely devoted to discussion of 1960s garage and psychedelic acts.[64][65]
In May 1974,Los Angeles Times criticRobert Hilburn reviewed the second New York Dolls album,Too Much Too Soon. "I told ya the New York Dolls were the real thing," he wrote, describing the album as "perhaps the best example of raw, thumb-your-nose-at-the-world, punk rock sincethe Rolling Stones'Exile on Main Street."[67] In a 1974 interview for his fanzineHeavy Metal Digest,Danny Sugerman told Iggy Pop "You went on record as saying you never were a punk" and Iggy replied "...well I ain't. I never was a punk."[68]
By 1975,punk was being used to describe acts as diverse as thePatti Smith Group, theBay City Rollers, andBruce Springsteen.[69] As the scene at New York'sCBGB club attracted notice, a name was sought for the developing sound. Club ownerHilly Kristal called the movement"Street rock";John Holmstrom creditsAquarian magazine with usingpunk "to describe what was going on at CBGBs".[70] Holmstrom,Legs McNeil, and Ged Dunn's magazinePunk, which debuted at the end of 1975, was crucial in codifying the term.[71] "It was pretty obvious that the word was getting very popular", Holmstrom later remarked. "We figured we'd take the name before anyone else claimed it. We wanted to get rid of the bullshit, strip it down to rock 'n' roll. We wanted the fun and liveliness back."[69]
The early to mid-1960s garage rock bands in the United States and elsewhere are often recognized as punk rock's progenitors.the Kingsmen's "Louie, Louie" is often cited as punk rock's defining "ur-text".[72][nb 2] After the success of theBritish Invasion, the garage phenomenon gathered momentum around the US.[75] By 1965, the harder-edged sound of British acts, such asthe Rolling Stones,the Kinks, andthe Who, became increasingly influential with American garage bands.[76] The raw sound of U.S. groups such asthe Sonics andthe Seeds predicted the style of later acts.[76] In the early 1970s some rock critics used the term "punk rock" to refer to the mid-1960s garage genre,[24] as well as for subsequent acts perceived to be in that stylistic tradition, such as the Stooges.[77]
In Britain, largely under the influence of themod movement and beat groups, the Kinks' 1964 hit singles "You Really Got Me" and "All Day and All of the Night", were both influenced by "Louie, Louie".[78][nb 3] In 1965,the Who released the mod anthem "My Generation", which according to John Reed, anticipated the kind of "cerebral mix of musical ferocity and rebellious posture" that would characterize much of the later British punk rock of the 1970s.[80][nb 4] The garage/beat phenomenon extended beyond North America and Britain.[82] In America, thepsychedelic rock movement birthed an array of garage bands that would later become influences on punk,the Austin Chronicle described the13th Floor Elevators as a band who can lay claim to influencing the movement, "the seeds of punk remain blatant in the howling ultimatumErickson transferred from his previous teen combo to the Elevators"[83] as well as describing other bands in theHouston, Texaspsychedelic rock scene as "a prime example of the opaqueproto-punk undertow at the heart of the bestpsychedelia". Hippieproto-punkDavid Peel ofNew York City's Lower East Side was the first person to use the word "motherfucker" in a song title and also directly influencedthe Clash.[84]
In August 1969,the Stooges, fromAnn Arbor, premiered with aself-titled album. According to criticGreil Marcus, the band, led by singerIggy Pop, created "the sound ofChuck Berry'sAirmobile—after thieves stripped it for parts".[85] The album was produced byJohn Cale, a former member of New York's experimental rock groupthe Velvet Underground, who inspired many of those involved in the creation of punk rock.[86] TheNew York Dolls updated 1950s' rock 'n' roll in a fashion that later became known asglam punk.[87] The New York duoSuicide played spare, experimental music with a confrontational stage act inspired by that of the Stooges.[88] In Boston,the Modern Lovers, led byJonathan Richman, gained attention for their minimalistic style. In 1974, as well, the Detroit bandDeath—made up of three African-American brothers—recorded "scorching blasts of feral ur-punk", but could not arrange a release deal.[89] In Ohio, a small but influential underground rock scene emerged, led byDevo inAkron[90] andKent and by Cleveland'sElectric Eels,Mirrors andRocket from the Tombs.
Bands anticipating the forthcoming movement were appearing as far afield asDüsseldorf, West Germany, where "punk before punk" bandNeu! formed in 1971, building on theKrautrock tradition of groups such asCan.[91] In Japan, the anti-establishment Zunō Keisatsu (Brain Police) mixedgarage-psych andfolk. The combo regularly faced censorship challenges, their live act at least once including onstage masturbation.[92] In Peru, founded in 1964, the groupLos Saicos, used fast tempos, aggressive riffing, hoarses and screamed vocals along with souped-up tracks about prison escapes, funerals and destruction has led some publication to retrospectively credit them as pioneering punk rock.[93][94] A new generation of Australian garage rock bands, inspired mainly by the Stooges andMC5, was coming closer to the sound that would soon be called "punk": InBrisbane,the Saints evoked the live sound of the BritishPretty Things, who had toured Australia and New Zealand in 1975.[95]
The origins of New York's punk rock scene can be traced back to such sources as the late 1960strash culture and an early 1970sunderground rock movement centered on theMercer Arts Center inGreenwich Village, where theNew York Dolls performed.[96] In early 1974, a new scene began to develop around theCBGB club, also inLower Manhattan. At its core wasTelevision, described by critic John Walker as "the ultimate garage band with pretensions".[97] Their influences ranged fromThe Velvet Underground to the staccato guitar work ofDr. Feelgood'sWilko Johnson.[98] The band's bassist/singer,Richard Hell, created a look with cropped, ragged hair, ripped T-shirts, and black leather jackets credited as the basis for punk rock visual style.[99] In April 1974,Patti Smith came to CBGB for the first time to see the band perform.[100] A veteran of independent theater and performance poetry, Smith was developing an intellectual, feminist take on rock 'n' roll. On June 5, she recorded the single "Hey Joe"/"Piss Factory", featuring Television guitaristTom Verlaine; released on her own Mer Records label, it heralded the scene's DIY ethic and has often been cited as the first punk rock record.[101] By August, Smith and Television were gigging together atMax's Kansas City.[99]
TheRamones performing inToronto in 1976. The Ramones are often described as the first true punk band, popularizing the punk movement in the United States. They are regarded as highly influential in today'spunk culture.
InForest Hills, Queens, theRamones drew on sources ranging from the Stooges tothe Beatles andthe Beach Boys toHerman's Hermits and 1960s girl groups, and condensed rock 'n' roll to its primal level:"'1–2–3–4!' bass-playerDee Dee Ramone shouted at the start of every song as if the group could barely master the rudiments of rhythm."[102] The band played its first show at CBGB in August 1974.[103] By the end of the year, the Ramones had performed seventy-four shows, each about seventeen minutes long.[104] "When I first saw the Ramones", criticMary Harron later remembered, "I couldn't believe people were doing this. The dumb brattiness."[105]
That spring, Smith and Television shared a two-month-long weekend residency at CBGB that significantly raised the club's profile.[108] The Television sets included Richard Hell's "Blank Generation", which became the scene's emblematic anthem.[109] Soon after, Hell left Television and founded a band featuring a more stripped-down sound,the Heartbreakers, with former New York DollsJohnny Thunders andJerry Nolan.[38] In August, Television recorded a single, "Little Johnny Jewel". In the words of John Walker, the record was "a turning point for the whole New York scene" if not quite for the punk rock sound itself – Hell's departure had left the band "significantly reduced in fringe aggression".[97]
Early in 1976, Hell left the Heartbreakers to formthe Voidoids, described as "one of the most harshly uncompromising [punk] bands".[110] That April, the Ramones' debut album was released bySire Records; the first single was "Blitzkrieg Bop", opening with the rallying cry "Hey! Ho! Let's go!" According to a later description, "Like all cultural watersheds,Ramones was embraced by a discerning few and slagged off as a bad joke by the uncomprehending majority."[111]The Cramps, whose core members were fromSacramento, California andAkron, Ohio, had debuted at CBGB in November 1976, opening for the Dead Boys. They were soon playing regularly at Max's Kansas City and CBGB.[112]
At this early stage, the termpunk applied to the scene in general, not necessarily a particular stylistic approach as it would later—the early New York punk bands represented a broad variety of influences. Among them, the Ramones, the Heartbreakers, Richard Hell and the Voidoids, and the Dead Boys were establishing a distinct musical style. Even where they diverged most clearly, in lyrical approach – the Ramones' apparent guilelessness at one extreme, Hell's conscious craft at the other – there was an abrasive attitude in common. Their shared attributes of minimalism and speed, however, had not yet come to define punk rock.[113]
With its "inflammatory, venomous lyrics [and] crude energy", theSex Pistols' debut single "Anarchy in the U.K." "established punk's modus operandi".[114] ProducerChris Thomas layered multiple tracks ofSteve Jones's guitar to create a "searing wall of sound",[115] whileJohnny Rotten spewed the vocals "as if his teeth had been ground down to points."[116]
After a brief period unofficially managing the New York Dolls, BritonMalcolm McLaren returned to London in May 1975, inspired by the new scene he had witnessed at CBGB. TheKing's Road clothing store he co-owned, recently renamedSex, was building a reputation with its outrageous "anti-fashion".[117] Among those who frequented the shop were members of a band called the Strand, which McLaren had also been managing. In August, the group was seeking a new lead singer. Another Sex habitué,Johnny Rotten, auditioned for and won the job. Adopting a new name, the group played its first gig as theSex Pistols on November 6, 1975, atSaint Martin's School of Art, and soon attracted a small but dedicated following.[118] In February 1976, the band received its first significant press coverage; guitaristSteve Jones declared that the Sex Pistols were not so much into music as they were "chaos".[119] The band often provoked its crowds into near-riots. Rotten announced to one audience, "Bet you don't hate us as much as we hate you!"[120] McLaren envisioned the Sex Pistols as central players in a new youth movement, "hard and tough".[121] As described by criticJon Savage, the band members "embodied an attitude into which McLaren fed a new set of references: late-sixties radical politics, sexual fetish material, pop history, [...] youth sociology".[122]
Bernard Rhodes, an associate of McLaren, similarly aimed to make stars of the bandLondon SS, who becamethe Clash, which was joined byJoe Strummer.[123] On June 4, 1976, the Sex Pistols played Manchester'sLesser Free Trade Hall in what became one of the most influential rock shows ever. Among the approximately forty audience members were the two locals who organised the gig—they had formedBuzzcocks after seeing the Sex Pistols in February. Others in the small crowd went on to formJoy Division,the Fall, and – in the 1980s —the Smiths.[124] In July, the Ramones played two London shows that helped spark the nascent UK punk scene.[125] Over the next several months, many new punk rock bands formed, often directly inspired by the Sex Pistols.[126] In London, women were near the center of the scene—among the initial wave of bands were the female-frontedSiouxsie and the Banshees,X-Ray Spex, and the all-femalethe Slits. There were female bassistsGaye Advert inthe Adverts andShanne Bradley inthe Nipple Erectors, while Sex store frontwomanJordan not only managedAdam and the Ants but also performed screaming vocals on their song "Lou". Other groups includedSubway Sect,Alternative TV,Wire,the Stranglers,Eater andGeneration X. Farther afield,Sham 69 began practicing in the southeastern town ofHersham. InDurham, there wasPenetration, with lead singerPauline Murray. On September 20–21, the100 Club Punk Festival in London featured the Sex Pistols, Clash, Damned, and Buzzcocks, as well as Paris's female-leadStinky Toys. Siouxsie and the Banshees and Subway Sect debuted on the festival's first night. On the festival's second night, audience memberSid Vicious was arrested for having thrown a glass at the Damned that shattered and destroyed a girl's eye. Press coverage of the incident reinforced punk's reputation as a social menace.[127]
Some new bands, such as London'sUltravox!, Edinburgh'sRezillos, Manchester's the Fall, and Leamington'sthe Shapes, identified with the scene even as they pursued more experimental music. Others of a comparatively traditional rock 'n' roll bent were also swept up by the movement:the Vibrators, formed as a pub rock–style act in February 1976, soon adopted a punk look and sound.[128] A few even longer-active bands includingSurrey neo-modsthe Jam and pub rockersEddie and the Hot Rods,the Stranglers, andCock Sparrer also became associated with the punk rock scene. Alongside the musical roots shared with their American counterparts and the calculated confrontationalism of the earlyWho, the British punks also reflected the influence ofglam rock and related artists and bands such asDavid Bowie,Slade,T.Rex, andRoxy Music.[129] However, Sex Pistols frontman Johnny Rotten (real name John Lydon) insisted that the influences of the UK punk scene were not from the US and NY. "I've heard an awful lot of American journalists pretending that the whole punk influence came out of New York." He argued: "T. Rex, David Bowie, Slade,Mott The Hoople,the Alex Harvey Band — their influence was enormous. And they try to write that all off and wrap it around Patti Smith. It's so wrong!".[130]
In October 1976, the Damned released the first UK punk rock band single, "New Rose".[131] The Vibrators followed the next month with "We Vibrate". On November 26, 1976, the Sex Pistols' released their debut single "Anarchy in the U.K.", which succeeded in its goal of becoming a "national scandal".[132]Jamie Reid's "anarchy flag" poster and his other design work for the Sex Pistols helped establish a distinctivepunk visual aesthetic.[133]
On December 1, 1976, an incident took place that sealed punk rock's notorious reputation, when the Sex Pistols and several members of theBromley Contingent, includingSiouxsie Sioux andSteven Severin, filled a vacancy forQueen on the early eveningThames Television London television showToday to be interviewed by hostBill Grundy. When Grundy asked Siouxsie how she was doing, she made fun of him saying, "I've always wanted to meet you, Bill". Grundy, who was drunk, told her on the air; "we shall meet afterwards then". This instantly generated a reaction from Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones who pronounced a series of terms inappropriate for prime-time television.[134] Jones proceeded to call Grundy a "dirty bastard", a "dirty fucker", and a "fucking rotter", triggering a media controversy.[135] The episode had a major impact on the history of the scene and the punk term became a household name in 24 hours thanks to the press coverage, and several front covers of newspapers.[134]
Two days later, the Sex Pistols, the Clash, the Damned, and the Heartbreakers set out on the Anarchy Tour, a series of gigs throughout the UK. Many of the shows were cancelled by venue owners in response to the media outrage following the Grundy interview.[136]
A punk subculture began in Australia around the same time, centered aroundRadio Birdman and the Oxford Tavern in Sydney'sDarlinghurst suburb. By 1976,the Saints were hiring Brisbanelocal halls to use as venues, or playing in "Club 76", their shared house in the inner suburb ofPetrie Terrace. The band soon discovered that musicians were exploring similar paths in other parts of the world.Ed Kuepper, co-founder of the Saints, later recalled:
One thing I remember having had a really depressing effect on me was the first Ramones album. When I heard it [in 1976], I mean it was a great record [...] but I hated it because I knew we'd been doing this sort of stuff for years. There was even achord progression on that album that we used [...] and I thought, "Fuck. We're going to be labeled as influenced by the Ramones", when nothing could have been further from the truth.[137]
InPerth, theCheap Nasties formed in August.[138] In September 1976, the Saints became the first punk rock band outside the U.S. to release a recording, the single "(I'm) Stranded". The band self-financed, packaged, and distributed the single.[139] "(I'm) Stranded" had limited impact at home, but the British music press recognized it as groundbreaking.[140]
A second wave of punk rock emerged in 1977. These bands often sounded very different from each other.[141] While punk remained largely an underground phenomenon in the US, in the UK it had become a major sensation.[142][143] During this period punk music also spread beyond the English speaking world, inspiring local scenes in other countries.
The Misfits developed a "horror punk" style in New Jersey.
The Dead Boys' debut LP,Young, Loud and Snotty, was released at the end of August.[149] October saw two more debut albums from the scene: Richard Hell and the Voidoids' first full-length,Blank Generation, and the Heartbreakers'L.A.M.F.[150] One track on the latter exemplified both the scene's close-knit character and the popularity of heroin within it: "Chinese Rocks" — the title refers to a strong form of the drug – was written by Dee Dee Ramone and Hell, both users, as were the Heartbreakers' Thunders and Nolan.[151] (During the Heartbreakers' 1976 and 1977 tours of Britain, Thunders played a central role in popularizing heroin among the punk crowd there, as well.)[152] The Ramones' third album,Rocket to Russia, appeared in November 1977.[153]
TheSex Pistols' live TV skirmish withBill Grundy on December 1, 1976, was the signal moment inBritish punk's transformation into a major media phenomenon, even as some stores refused to stock the records and radio airplay was hard to come by.[154] Press coverage of punk misbehavior grew intense: On January 4, 1977,The Evening News of London ran a front-page story on how the Sex Pistols "vomited and spat their way to an Amsterdam flight".[155] In February 1977, the first album by a British punk band appeared:Damned Damned Damned (by the Damned) reached number thirty-six on the UK chart. The EPSpiral Scratch, self-released by Manchester'sBuzzcocks, was a benchmark for both the DIY ethic and regionalism in the country's punk movement.[156]The Clash'sself-titled debut album came out two months later and rose to number twelve; the single "White Riot" entered the top forty. In May, the Sex Pistols achieved new heights of controversy (and number two on the singles chart) with "God Save the Queen". The band had recently acquired a new bassist,Sid Vicious, who was seen as exemplifying the punk persona.[157] The swearing during the Grundy interview and the controversy over "God Save the Queen" led to amoral panic.[158]
Scores of new punk groups formed around the United Kingdom, as far from London as Belfast'sStiff Little Fingers and Dunfermline, Scotland'sthe Skids.[159] Though most survived only briefly, perhaps recording a small-label single or two, others set off new trends.Crass, fromEssex, merged a vehement, straight-ahead punk rock style with a committed anarchist mission, and played a major role in the emerginganarcho-punk movement.[160] Sham 69, London's Menace, and theAngelic Upstarts fromSouth Shields in the Northeast combined a similarly stripped-down sound with populist lyrics, a style that became known asstreet punk. These expressly working-class bands contrasted with others in the second wave that presaged thepost-punk phenomenon. Liverpool's first punk group,Big in Japan, moved in a glam, theatrical direction.[161] The band did not survive long, but it spun off several well-known post-punk acts.[162] The songs of London'sWire were characterized by sophisticated lyrics, minimalist arrangements, and extreme brevity.[163]
Alongside thirteen original songs that would define classic punk rock, the Clash's debut had included a cover of the recent Jamaicanreggae hit "Police and Thieves".[164] Other first wave bands such asthe Slits and new entrants to the scene likethe Ruts andthe Police interacted with the reggae andska subcultures, incorporating their rhythms and production styles. The punk rock phenomenon helped spark a full-fledged ska revival movement known as2 Tone, centered on bands such asthe Specials,the Beat,Madness, andthe Selecter.[165] In July, the Sex Pistols' third single, "Pretty Vacant", reached number six and Australia's the Saints had a top-forty hit with "This Perfect Day".[166]
In September, Generation X and the Clash reached the top forty with, respectively, "Your Generation" and "Complete Control". X-Ray Spex's "Oh Bondage Up Yours!" did not chart, but it became a requisite item for punk fans.[167] The BBC banned "Oh Bondage Up Yours!" due to its controversial lyrics.[168] In October, the Sex Pistols hit number eight with "Holidays in the Sun", followed by the release of their first and only "official" album,Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols. Inspiring yet another round of controversy, it topped the British charts. In December, one of the first books about punk rock was published:The Boy Looked at Johnny, byJulie Burchill andTony Parsons.[nb 5]
In February 1977, EMI releasedthe Saints' debut album,(I'm) Stranded, which the band recorded in two days.[169] The Saints had relocated to Sydney; in April, they andRadio Birdman united for a major gig atPaddington Town Hall.[170]Last Words had also formed in the city. The following month, the Saints relocated again, to Great Britain. In June, Radio Birdman released the albumRadios Appear on its own Trafalgar label.[171]
By 1979, thehardcore punk movement was emerging inSouthern California. A rivalry developed between adherents of the new sound and the older punk rock crowd. Hardcore, appealing to a younger, more suburban audience, was perceived by some as anti-intellectual, overly violent, and musically limited. In Los Angeles, the opposing factions were often described as "Hollywood punks" and "beach punks", referring to Hollywood's central position in the original L.A. punk rock scene and to hardcore's popularity in the shoreline communities ofSouth Bay andOrange County.[172]
In contrast to North America, more of the bands from the original British punk movement remained active, sustaining extended careers even as their styles evolved and diverged. Meanwhile, theOi! andanarcho-punk movements were emerging. Musically in the same aggressive vein as American hardcore, they addressed different constituencies with overlapping but distinct anti-establishment messages. As described by Dave Laing, "The model for self-proclaimed punk after 1978 derived from the Ramones via the eight-to-the-bar rhythms most characteristic of the Vibrators and Clash [...] It became essential to sound one particular way to be recognized as a 'punk band' now."[173] In February 1979, former Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious died of a heroin overdose in New York. If the Sex Pistols' breakup the previous year had marked the end of the original UK punk scene and its promise of cultural transformation, for many the death of Vicious signified that it had been doomed from the start.[174]
By the turn of the decade, the punk rock movement had split deeply along cultural and musical lines. The "Great Schism" of punk occurred right as the 1980s were approaching, when melodicnew wave artists began to separate themselves fromhardcore punk. This left a variety of derivative scenes and forms. On one side werenew wave and post-punk artists; some adopted more accessible musical styles and gained broad popularity, while some turned in more experimental, less commercial directions. On the other side, hardcore punk, Oi!, and anarcho-punk bands became closely linked withunderground cultures and spun off an array ofsubgenres.[175] Somewhere in between,pop-punk groups created blends like that of the ideal record, as defined byMekons cofounder Kevin Lycett: "a cross betweenABBA and the Sex Pistols".[176] A range of other styles emerged, many of themfusions with long-established genres. The Clash albumLondon Calling, released in December 1979, exemplified the breadth of classic punk's legacy. Combining punk rock with reggae, ska, R&B, and rockabilly, it went on to be acclaimed as one of the best rock records ever.[177] At the same time, as observed by Flipper singer Bruce Loose, the relatively restrictive hardcore scenes diminished the variety of music that could once be heard at many punk gigs.[141] If early punk, like most rock scenes, was ultimately male-oriented, the hardcore and Oi! scenes were significantly more so, marked in part by the slam dancing andmoshing with which they became identified.[178]
In 1976—first in London, then in the United States—"New Wave" was introduced as a complementary label for the formative scenes and groups also known as "punk"; the two terms were essentially interchangeable.[179]NME journalistRoy Carr is credited with proposing the term's use (adopted from the cinematicFrench New Wave of the 1960s) in this context.[180] Over time, "new wave" acquired a distinct meaning: bands such asBlondie andTalking Heads from the CBGB scene;the Cars, who emerged from the Rat in Boston;the Go-Go's in Los Angeles; andthe Police in London that were broadening their instrumental palette, incorporating dance-oriented rhythms, and working with more polished production were specifically designated "new wave" and no longer called "punk". Dave Laing suggests that some punk-identified British acts pursued the new wave label to avoid radio censorship and make themselves more palatable to concert bookers.[181]
Bringing elements of punk rock music and fashion into more pop-oriented, less "dangerous" styles, new wave artists became very popular on both sides of the Atlantic.[182] New wave became a catch-all term,[183] encompassing disparate styles such as2 Tone ska, themod revival inspired bythe Jam, the sophisticated pop-rock ofElvis Costello andXTC, theNew Romantic phenomenon typified byUltravox,synthpop groups likeTubeway Army (which had started out as a straight-ahead punk band) andHuman League, and the sui generis subversions ofDevo, who had gone "beyond punk before punk even properly existed".[184] New wave crossed into the mainstream with the debut of the cable television networkMTV in 1981, which put many new wave videos into regular rotation.[185] According to Stuart Borthwick and Ron Moy, authors ofPopular Music Genres: an Introduction, the "height of popularity for new wave" coincided with theelection of Margaret Thatcher in spring 1979.[186]
Post-punk brought together a new fraternity of musicians, journalists, managers, and entrepreneurs; the latter, notablyGeoff Travis ofRough Trade andTony Wilson ofFactory, helped to develop the production and distribution infrastructure of theindie music scene that blossomed in the mid-1980s.[188] Smoothing the edges of their style in the direction of new wave, several post-punk bands such asNew Order andthe Cure crossed over to a mainstream U.S. audience. Others, like Gang of Four, the Raincoats, and Throbbing Gristle, who had little more than cult followings at the time, are seen in retrospect as significant influences on modern popular culture.[189]
Television's debut albumMarquee Moon, released in 1977, is frequently cited as a seminal album in the field.[190] Theno wave movement that developed in New York in the late 1970s, with artists such asLydia Lunch andJames Chance, is often treated as the phenomenon's U.S. parallel.[191] The later work of Ohio protopunk pioneersPere Ubu is also commonly described as post-punk.[192] One of the most influential American post-punk bands was Boston'sMission of Burma, who brought abrupt rhythmic shifts derived from hardcore into a highly experimental musical context.[193] In 1980, the Boys Next Door moved fromMelbourne, Australia to London and changed their name tothe Birthday Party, which evolved intoNick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Melbourne'sLittle band scene further explored the possibilities of post-punk and gave rise to acts such asDead Can Dance.[194][195] The original post-punk bands were highly influential on 1990s and 2000salternative rock musicians.[196]
A distinctive style of punk, characterized by superfast, aggressive beats,screaming vocals, and often politically aware lyrics, began to emerge in 1978 among bands scattered around the United States and Canada. The first major scene of what came to be known as hardcore punk developed in Southern California in 1978–79, initially around such punk bands asthe Germs andFear.[197] The movement soon spread around North America and internationally.[198][199] According to authorSteven Blush, "Hardcore comes from the bleak suburbs of America. Parents moved their kids out of the cities to these horrible suburbs to save them from the 'reality' of the cities and what they ended up with was this new breed of monster".[21] In 1981, hardcore punk was exposed to mainstream television audiences following a live performance from Fear onSaturday Night Live, which prompted a live-broadcast riot andmosh pit, which included members of the emerging hardcore scene such asIan MacKaye,Harley Flanagan,Tesco Vee, andJohn Brannon.[200][201]
Among the earliest hardcore bands, regarded as having made the first recordings in the style, were Southern California'sMiddle Class andBlack Flag.[199]Bad Brains — all of whom were black, a rarity in punk of any era – launched theD.C. scene with their rapid-paced single "Pay to Cum" in 1980.[198] Austin, Texas'sBig Boys, San Francisco'sDead Kennedys, and Vancouver'sD.O.A. were among the other initial hardcore groups.[citation needed] They were soon joined by bands such as theMinutemen,Descendents, andCircle Jerks in Southern California; D.C.'sMinor Threat andState of Alert; and Austin'sMDC. By 1981, hardcore was the dominant punk rock style not only in California but much of the rest of North America as well.[202] ANew York hardcore scene grew, including the relocated Bad Brains, New Jersey'sMisfits andAdrenalin O.D., and local acts such asthe Mob,Reagan Youth, andAgnostic Front.Beastie Boys, who would become famous as a hip-hop group, debuted that year as a hardcore band. They were followed bythe Cro-Mags,Murphy's Law, andLeeway.[203] By 1983,St. Paul'sHüsker Dü, Willful Neglect, Chicago'sNaked Raygun, Indianapolis'sZero Boys, and D.C.'sthe Faith were taking the hardcore sound in experimental and ultimately more melodic directions.[204] Hardcore would constitute the American punk rock standard throughout the decade.[205] The lyrical content of hardcore songs is often critical of commercial culture and middle-class values, as in Dead Kennedys' celebrated "Holiday in Cambodia" (1980).[206]
Straight edge bands like Minor Threat,Boston'sSS Decontrol, and Reno, Nevada's7 Seconds rejected the self-destructive lifestyles of their peers, and built a movement based on positivity and abstinence from cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, and casual sex.[207]
The underground punk rock movement inspired countless bands that either evolved from a punk rock sound or brought its outsider spirit to very different kinds of music. The original punk explosion also had a long-term effect on the music industry, spurring the growth of the independent sector.[209] During the early 1980s, British bands likeNew Order and the Cure that straddled the lines of post-punk and new wave developed both new musical styles and a distinctive industrial niche. Though commercially successful over an extended period, they maintained an underground-style,subcultural identity.[210] In the United States, bands such as Hüsker Dü and their Minneapolis protégésthe Replacements bridged the gap between punk rock genres like hardcore and the more melodic, explorative realm of what was then called "college rock".[211]
In 1985,Rolling Stone declared that "Primal punk is passé. The best of the American punk rockers have moved on. They have learned how to play their instruments. They have discovered melody, guitar solos and lyrics that are more than shouted political slogans. Some of them have even discovered theGrateful Dead."[212] By the mid-to-late 1980s, these bands, who had largely eclipsed their punk rock and post-punk forebears in popularity, were classified broadly asalternative rock. Alternative rock encompasses a diverse set of styles—includingindie rock,gothic rock,dream pop,shoegaze, andgrunge, among others—unified by their debt to punk rock and their origins outside of the musical mainstream.[213]
As American alternative bands likeSonic Youth, which had grown out of the "no-wave" scene, and Boston'sPixies started to gain larger audiences, major labels sought to capitalize on the underground market.[214] In 1991,Nirvana emerged from Washington State's underground, DIY grunge scene; after recording their first album,Bleach in 1989 for about $600, the band achieved huge (and unexpected) commercial success with its second album,Nevermind. The band's members cited punk rock as a key influence on their style.[215] "Punk is musical freedom", wrote frontmanKurt Cobain. "It's saying, doing, and playing what you want."[216] Nirvana's success opened the door to mainstream popularity for a wide range of other "left-of-the-dial" acts, such asPearl Jam andRed Hot Chili Peppers, and fueled the alternative rock boom of the early and mid-1990s.[213][217]
During the early 1990s, new alternative forms of punk rock began to fuse withheavy metal andhip hop music.Rage Against the Machine released their eponymous debut studio albumRage Against the Machine in November 1992, to commercial and critical acclaim. The band presented itself with politically themed,revolutionary lyrical content, accompanied by the aggressive vocal delivery of lead singerZack de la Rocha. Rage Against the Machine would go on to achieve back-to-back number 1 debuts on theBillboard 200, with their second studio album,Evil Empire (1996), and their third studio album,The Battle of Los Angeles (1999).
In a 2016 interview with Audio Ink Radio, Rage Against the Machine bassistTim Commerford was asked about the band's status as a punk band:[218]
Rage is a punk band. We were a punk band and our ethics were punk. We didn't do anything that anyone wanted us to do. We only did what we wanted to do and that is the essence of punk rock.
The riot grrrl movement, a significant aspect in the formation of the Third Wave feminist movement, was organized by taking the values and rhetoric of punk and using it to convey feminist messages.[220][221]
In 1991, a concert of female-led bands at theInternational Pop Underground Convention inOlympia, Washington, heralded the emerging riot grrrl phenomenon. Billed as "Love Rock Revolution Girl Style Now", the concert's lineup includedBikini Kill,Bratmobile,Heavens to Betsy,L7, andMecca Normal.[222] The riot grrrl movement foregrounded feminist concerns and progressive politics in general; the DIY ethic and fanzines were also central elements of the scene.[223] This movement relied on media and technology to spread their ideas and messages, creating a cultural-technological space for feminism to voice their concerns.[220] They embodied the punk perspective, taking the anger and emotions and creating a separate culture from it. With riot grrrl, they were grounded in girl punk past but also rooted in modern feminism.[221] Tammy Rae Carbund, fromMr. Lady Records, explains that without riot grrrl bands, "[women] would have all starved to death culturally."[224]
Green Day frontmanBillie Joe Armstrong, with bassistMike Dirnt to the right. Green Day is credited with reviving mainstream interest in punk rock in the United States.NOFX in 2007
Late 1970s punk music was anti-conformity and anti-mainstream and achieved limited commercial success. By the 1990s, punk rock was sufficiently ingrained in Western culture that punk trappings were often used to market highly commercial bands as "rebels". Marketers capitalized on the style and hipness of punk rock to such an extent that a 1993 ad campaign for an automobile, theSubaru Impreza, claimed that the car was "like punk rock".[226]
In 1993, California'sGreen Day andBad Religion were both signed to major labels. The next year, Green Day put outDookie, which sold nine million albums in the United States in just over two years.[227] Bad Religion'sStranger Than Fiction was certifiedgold.[228] Other California punk bands on the independent labelEpitaph, run by Bad Religion guitaristBrett Gurewitz, also began achieving mainstream popularity. In 1994, Epitaph releasedLet's Go byRancid,Punk in Drublic byNOFX, andSmash bythe Offspring, each eventually certified gold or better. That June, Green Day's "Longview" reached number one onBillboard'sModern Rock Tracks chart and became a top forty airplay hit, arguably the first ever American punk song to do so; just one month later, the Offspring's "Come Out and Play" followed suit.MTV and radio stations such as Los Angeles'KROQ-FM played a major role in these bands' crossover success, though NOFX refused to let MTV air its videos.[229]
Green Day andDookie's enormous sales paved the way for a host of bankable North American pop-punk bands in the following decade.[232] With punk rock's renewed visibility came concerns among some in the punk community that the music was being co-opted by the mainstream.[229] They argued that by signing to major labels and appearing on MTV, punk bands like Green Day were buying into a system that punk was created to challenge.[233] Such controversies have been part of the punk culture since 1977 when the Clash were widely accused of "selling out" for signing withCBS Records.[234] The VansWarped Tour and the mall chain storeHot Topic brought punk even further into the U.S. mainstream.[235]
The Offspring's 1998 albumAmericana, released by the majorColumbia label, debuted at number two on the album chart. A bootleg MP3 ofAmericana's first single, "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)", made it onto the Internet and was downloaded a record 22 million times—illegally.[236] The following year,Enema of the State, the first fully major-label release by pop-punk bandBlink-182, reached the top ten and sold four million copies in under twelve months.[227] On February 19, 2000, the album's second single, "All the Small Things", peaked at number 6 on theBillboard Hot 100. While they were viewed as Green Day "acolytes",[237] critics also foundteen pop acts such asBritney Spears, theBackstreet Boys, and'N Sync suitable points of comparison for Blink-182's sound and market niche.[238] The band'sTake Off Your Pants and Jacket (2001) andUntitled (2003) respectively rose to numbers one and three on the album chart. In November 2003,The New Yorker described how the "giddily puerile" act had "become massively popular with the mainstream audience, a demographic formerly considered untouchable by punk-rock purists."[239]
Other new North American pop-punk bands, though often critically dismissed, also achieved major sales in the first decade of the 2000s. Ontario'sSum 41 reached the Canadian top ten with its 2001 debut album,All Killer No Filler, which eventually went platinum in the United States. The record included the number one U.S. Alternative hit "Fat Lip", which incorporated verses of what one critic called "brat rap".[240] Elsewhere around the world, "punkabilly" bandthe Living End became major stars in Australia with theirself-titled 1998 debut.[241]
Additionally in the early 2000s, attention within punk circles was drawn to theAfro-punk movement and contributions of people of African descent to punk music. Much of this attention was derived from theeponymous documentary released in 2003.[242]
The effect of commercialization on the music became an increasingly contentious issue. As observed by scholar Ross Haenfler, many punk fans "despise corporate punk rock", typified by bands Sum 41 and Blink-182.[243]
The title track ofthe Exploited's debut,Punks Not Dead, the top independent UK album of 1981.[244] The song exemplifies the Oi! sound as "harsher, darker, and cruder" than first-wave punk.[245]
Following the lead of first-wave British punk bandsCock Sparrer andSham 69, in the late 1970s second-wave groups likeCockney Rejects,Angelic Upstarts,the Exploited, andthe 4-Skins sought to realign punk rock with a working class, street-level following.[246][247] They believed the music needed to stay "accessible and unpretentious", in the words of music historianSimon Reynolds.[248] Their style was originally called "real punk" orstreet punk;Sounds journalistGarry Bushell is credited with labelling the genreOi! in 1980. The name is partly derived from the Cockney Rejects' habit of shouting "Oi! Oi! Oi!" before each song, instead of the time-honored "1, 2, 3, 4!"[249]
The Oi! movement was fueled by a sense that many participants in the early punk rock scene were, in the words ofthe Business guitarist Steve Kent, "trendy university people using long words, trying to be artistic ... and losing touch".[250] According to Bushell, "Punk was meant to be of the voice ofthe dole queue, and in reality, most of them were not. But Oi was the reality of the punk mythology. In the places where [these bands] came from, it was harder and more aggressive and it produced just as much quality music."[251] Lester Bangs described Oi! as "politicized football chants for unemployed louts".[252] One song in particular, the Exploited's "Punks Not Dead", spoke to an international constituency. It was adopted as an anthem by the groups of disaffected Mexican urban youth known in the 1980s asbandas; onebanda named itself PND, after the song's initials.[253]
Although most Oi! bands in the initial wave were apolitical or left wing, many of them began to attract awhite power skinhead following. Racist skinheads sometimes disrupted Oi! concerts by shouting fascist slogans and starting fights, but some Oi! bands were reluctant to endorse criticism of their fans from what they perceived as the "middle-class establishment".[254] In the popular imagination, the movement thus became linked to the far right.[255]Strength Thru Oi!, an album compiled by Bushell and released in May 1981, stirred controversy, especially when it was revealed that the belligerent figure on the cover was aneo-Nazi jailed for racist violence (Bushell claimed ignorance).[256] On July 3, a concert at Hamborough Tavern inSouthall featuring the Business, the 4-Skins, and the Last Resort was firebombed by local Asian youths who believed that the event was a neo-Nazi gathering.[257] Following the Southall riot, press coverage increasingly associated Oi! with the extreme right, and the movement soon began to lose momentum.[258]
Crass were the originators of anarcho-punk.[259] Spurning the "cult of rock star personality", their plain, all-black dress became a staple of the genre.[260]
Anarcho-punk developed alongside the Oi! and American hardcore movements. Inspired byCrass, itsDial House commune, and its independentCrass Records label, a scene developed around British bands such asSubhumans,Flux of Pink Indians,Conflict,Poison Girls, andthe Apostles that was as concerned with anarchist and DIY principles as it was with music. Several Crass members were of an older generation of artist and cultural provocateur and thus linked their version of punk directly back to the 1960s counterculture and early 1970s avant-gardism.[261] The acts featured ranting vocals, discordant instrumental sounds, seemingly primitive production values, and lyrics filled with political and social content, often addressing issues such as class inequalities and military violence.[262] Anarcho-punk disdained the older punk scene from which theirs had evolved. In historian Tim Gosling's description, they saw "safety pins and Mohicans as little more than ineffectual fashion posturing stimulated by the mainstream media and industry. [...] Whereas the Sex Pistols would proudly display bad manners and opportunism in their dealings with 'the establishment,' the anarcho-punks kept clear of 'the establishment' altogether".[263]
The movement spun off several subgenres of a similar political bent.Discharge, founded back in 1977, establishedD-beat in the early 1980s. Other groups in the movement, led byAmebix andAntisect, developed the extreme style known ascrust punk. Several of these bands rooted in anarcho-punk such asthe Varukers, Discharge, and Amebix, along with former Oi! groups such asthe Exploited and bands from farther afield like Birmingham'sCharged GBH, became the leading figures in theUK 82 hardcore movement. The anarcho-punk scene also spawned bands such asNapalm Death,Carcass, andExtreme Noise Terror that in the mid-1980s definedgrindcore, incorporating extremely fast tempos anddeath metal–style guitarwork.[264] Led by Dead Kennedys, a U.S. anarcho-punk scene developed around such bands as Austin'sMDC and Southern California's Another Destructive System.[265]
With their love ofthe Beach Boys and late 1960sbubblegum pop, the Ramones paved the way to what became known as pop-punk.[266] In the late 1970s, UK bands such asBuzzcocks andthe Undertones combined pop-style tunes and lyrical themes with punk's speed and chaotic edge.[267] In the early 1980s, some of the leading bands in Southern California's hardcore punk rock scene emphasized a more melodic approach than was typical of their peers. According to music journalistBen Myers,Bad Religion "layered their pissed off, politicized sound with the smoothest of harmonies";Descendents "wrote almost surfy, Beach Boys-inspired songs about girls and food and being young(ish)".[268]Epitaph Records, founded byBrett Gurewitz of Bad Religion, was the base for many future pop-punk bands. The mainstream pop-punk of latter-day bands such asBlink-182 orGreen Day are criticized by many punk rock fans; in critic Christine Di Bella's words, "It's punk taken to its most accessible point, a point where it barely reflects its lineage at all, except in the three-chord song structures."[269]
^Robert Christgau writing for the Village Voice in October 1971 refers to "mid-60s punk" as a historical period of rock-and-roll.[57]
^In the Kingsmen's version, the song's "El Loco Cha-Cha" riffs were pared down to a more simple and primitive rock arrangement providing a stylistic model for countless garage rock bands.[73][74]
^The Ramones' 1978 "I Don't Want You" was largely Kinks-influenced.[79]
^Reed describes the Clash's emergence as a "tight ball of energy with both an image and rhetoric reminiscent of a youngPete Townshend—speed obsession, pop-art clothing, art school ambition."[80] The Who andthe Small Faces were among the few rock elders acknowledged by the Sex Pistols.[81]
^The title echoes a lyric from the title track of Patti Smith's 1975 albumHorses.
^ ... And Out Come the Wolves was certified gold in January 1996.Let's Go, Rancid's previous album, received gold certification in July 2000.
^Savage (1992), pp. 280–281, including reproduction of the original image. Several sources incorrectly ascribe the illustration to the leading fanzine of the London punk scene,Sniffin' Glue (e.g., Wells [2004], p. 5; Sabin [1999], p. 111). Robb (2006) ascribes it tothe Stranglers' in-house fanzine,Strangled (p. 311).
^Murphy, Peter, "Shine On, The Lights Of The Bowery: The Blank Generation Revisited",Hot Press, July 12, 2002;Hoskyns, Barney, "Richard Hell: King Punk Remembers the [ ] Generation",Rock's Backpages, March 2002.
^Laing, Dave.One Chord Wonders: Power and Meaning in Punk Rock. PM Press, 2015. p. 80
^abBlush, Steven, "Move Over My Chemical Romance: The Dynamic Beginnings of US Punk",Uncut, January 2007.
^Sabin (1999), pp. 4, 226; Dalton, Stephen, "Revolution Rock",Vox, June 1993. See also Laing (1985), pp. 27–32, for a statistical comparison of lyrical themes.
^Habell-Pallan, Michelle (2012). "Death to Racism and Punk Rock Revisionism",Pop: When the World Falls Apart: Music in the Shadow of Doubt. p. 247-270. Durham : Duke University Press.ISBN9780822350996.
^Otto, Mark; Thornton, Jacob (April 15, 1971)."Rolling Stone: April 15, 1971". Bootstrap contributors. Alice Cooper eChive.Archived from the original on February 22, 2022. RetrievedFebruary 25, 2022.
^Shapiro (2006), p. 492. Taylor (2003) misidentifies the year of publication as 1970 (p. 16).
^Shaw, Greg (January 4, 1973). "Punk Rock: the arrogant underbelly of Sixties pop (review of Nuggets)".Rolling Stone. p. 68.
^Atkinson, Terry, "Hits and Misses",Los Angeles Times, February 17, 1973, p. B6.
^"Detroit Press Ford review".Detroit Free Press. March 30, 1973. RetrievedDecember 9, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
^Laing, Dave (2015).One Chord Wonders: Power and Meaning in Punk Rock (Second ed.). Oakland, CA: PM Press. p. 23.ISBN9781629630335.Archived from the original on May 7, 2021. RetrievedNovember 19, 2020. – Laing mentions original "punk" magazine. He indicates that much "punk" fanfare in the early 70s was in relation to mid-60s garage rock and artists perceived as following in that tradition.
^Sauders, "Metal" Mike. "Blue Cheer More Pumice than Lava."punk magazine. Fall 1973. In thispunk magazine article Saunders discusses Randy Holden, former member of garage rock actsthe Other Half andthe Sons of Adam, then later protopunk/heavy rock band, Blue Cheer. He refers to an album by the Other Half as "acid punk."
^"Patti Smith—Biography". Arista Records. Archived fromthe original on November 3, 2007. RetrievedOctober 23, 2007. Strongman (2008), p. 57; Savage (1991), p. 91; Pareles and Romanowski (1983), p. 511; Bockris and Bayley (1999), p. 106.
^Savage (1992) claims that "Blank Generation" was written around this time (p. 90). However, the Richard Hell anthology albumSpurts includes a live Television recording of the song that he dates "spring 1974."
^"The Sex Pistols"Archived January 19, 2012, at theWayback Machine,Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock 'n' Roll (2001). Retrieved on September 11, 2006; Robb (2006), pp. 83–87; Savage (1992), pp. 99–103.
^Gimarc (2005), p. 22; Robb (2006), p. 114; Savage (1992), p. 129.
^Savage (1992), pp. 151–152. The quote has been incorrectly ascribed to McLaren (e.g., Laing [1985], pp. 97, 127) and Rotten (e.g.,"Punk Music in Britain"Archived July 30, 2011, at theWayback Machine, BBC, October 7, 2002), but Savage directly cites theNew Musical Express issue in which the quote originally appeared. Robb (2006), p. 148, also describes theNME article in some detail and ascribes the quote to Jones.
^Shuker (2002), p. 228; Wells (2004), p. 113; Myers (2006), p. 205;"Reggae 1977: When The Two 7's Clash". Punk77.co.uk.Archived from the original on September 7, 2012. RetrievedDecember 3, 2006.
^Delaney, Cornelius (2020). "We're the Most Fabulous People Australia Has Ever Known".Urban Australia and Post-Punk: Exploring Dogs in Space. Springer Nature Singapore. pp. 73–80.
^Potts, Adrian (May 2008),"Big and Ugly",Vice. Retrieved on December 11, 2010.
^Andersen and Jenkins (2001), p. 89; Blush (2001), p. 173;Diamond, Mike."Beastie Boys Biography". Sing365.com. Archived fromthe original on May 4, 2006. RetrievedJanuary 4, 2008.
^Eliezer, Christie. "Trying to Take Over the World".Billboard. September 28, 1996, p. 58; Eliezer, Christie. "The Year in Australia: Parallel Worlds and Artistic Angles".Billboard. December 27, 1997 – January 3, 1998, p. YE-16.
^Blasengame, Bart. "Live: Blink-182".Spin. September 2000, p. 80; Pappademas, Alex. "Blink-182:The Mark, Tom and Travis Show: The Enema Strikes Back".Spin. December 2000, p. 222.
^"Goings On About Town: Nightlife".The New Yorker. November 10, 2003, p. 24.
^Fleischer, Tzvi."Sounds of Hate"Archived December 14, 2005, at theWayback Machine. Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC), August 2000. Retrieved on January 14, 2007.
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