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| A BRIEF HISTROY OF PUNK |
The Foundations of Punk Rock
The beginnings of punk rock are often furiously debated. This is partially because everyone has different definition of punk rock, and partially because its foundation stones are found in several places.
"Punk Rock" was originally used to describe the garage musicians of the '60's. Bands like the Sonics were starting up and playing out with no musical or vocal instruction, and often limited skill. Because they didn't know the rules of music, they were able to break the rules.
The mid to late '60s saw the appearance of the Stooges and the MC5 in Detroit. They were raw, crude and often political. Their concerts were often violent affairs, and they were opening the eyes of the music world.
The velvet underground is the next piece in the puzzle. The Velvet Underground, managed by Andy Warhol, were producing music that often bordered on noise. They were expanding the definitions of music without even realizing it.
The final primary influence is found in the foundations of Glam Rock. Artists like David Bowie and the New York Dolls were dressing outrageously, living extravagantly and producing loud trashy rock and roll. Glam would end up splitting up its influence, doling out portions to hard rock, "hair metal" and punk rock.
New York: The First Punk Rock Scene
The first concrete punk rock scene appeared in the mid '70s in New York. Bands like The Ramones, Wayne County, Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers, Blondie and the Talking Heads were playing regularly in the Bowery District, most notably at CBGB.
The bands were unified by their location, camaraderie, and shared musical influences. They would all go on to develop their own styles and many would shift away from punk rock.
While the New York scene was reaching its heyday, punk was undergoing a separate creation story in London.
Meanwhile, Across the Pond
England's punk scene had political and economic roots. The economy in the United Kingdom was in poor shape, and unemployment rates were at an all-time high. England's youth were angry, rebellious and out of work. They had strong opinions and a lot of free time.
This is where the beginnings of punk fashion as we know it emerged, and they centered out of one shop. The shop was simply called SEX, and it was owned by Malcolm McClaren.
Malcolm McClaren had recently returned to London from the U.S., where he had unsuccessfully tried to reinvent the New York Dolls to sell his clothing. He was determined to do it again, but this time looked to the youths who worked and hung out in his shop to be his next project. This project would become the Sex Pistols, and they would develop a large following very quickly.
Enter The Bromley Contingent
Among the fans of the Sex Pistols was an outrageous bunch of young punks known as the Bromley Contingent. Named after the neighborhood they all came from, they were at the first Sex Pistols shows, and quickly realized they could do it themselves.
Within a year, the Bromleys had formed a large portion of the London Punk scene, including The Clash, The Slits, Siouxsie & the Banshees and Generation X (fronted by a young Billy Idol) and X-Ray Spex. The British punk scene was now in full swing.
The Punk Rock Explosion
By the late '70s, punk had finished its beginning and had emerged as a solid musical force. With its rise in popularity, punk began to split into numerous sub-genres. New musicians embraced the DIY movement and began to create their own individual scenes with specific sounds.
In order to better see the evolution of punk, check out all of the subgenera that punk split off into. It's a list that's constantly evolving, and it's only a matter of time before more categories appear.
Blog Category: Life
Watching (DVD/Video): Harry Potter
Current mood: blah
Added on: 29/06/2006 19:24:12
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Anticredictcal |
Added: 07/04/2008 13:21:08
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Man if anybody was here from the sixties they would have slaped you for writing that................ ..................ea t me!
But your hot as hell so your looks stop that from becoming an asult. if you like punk rock so bad then you should be making something
happen with your life not theirs or be drinking he he he he he he he ..................so if you want to say anything mean or nice look for me
.................. .................... ..........He he! |
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luke |
Added: 20/03/2007 11:41:33
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| hello again, im not sure if my last 'comment' reached you so im doing it again, at the start of my original comment on the history of punk i left out a big bit from the first line (i was in a hurry to go out for a short time), antway it concerned the role of 'pub bands' before the start of punk proper. before the pistols there were short haired people who didnt wear flares-or like them because they represented hippies and dull prog rock, and in 1970's london you had either 30.000 seat venues or pubs with stages. it was against this backdrop that the 'pub' bands brought together like minded people, people who would go on and take the 'anti' prog rock stance later on in punk bands, and as for the bands only playing old chuck bery covers to drunk old men is a sad lie that has stuck with those bands. to hear what i mean check out the EDDIE AND THE HOT RODS single 'teenage depression' released in 1976 or 'letsagetabitarocki n' 45 by the 101er's for 2 good examples, songs by 'pub' bands but teenage depression is known as a classic track among early punks and fans of that era. gotta go, little horror is back from school soon. bye, luke |
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luke |
Added: 20/03/2007 09:55:45
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| hello, i found your history to be unoriginal in one respect (no offence0 and that is the musical role played by the bands who would be known as 'pub rock'. at the time j. rotten was always slagging them off yet he himself was a follower of 'pub rock' bands before the pistols as were many in the early punk bands. the most obvious example would be that of the band the 101er's who claimed a pre-clash joe strummer on vocals, you can hear his 101er's influence in the clash. and contary to legend there was punks before the pistols gave them a rallying point, before the pistols the musical focus was on bands like eddie and the hot rods and the 101er's, kilburn and the high roads/ian dury, (the list of bands goes on). the reason so many 'pub' bands turned to punk was originally they shared an ideal in simple havin it rock'n'roll, many of them even had short hair before the pistols to distance themselves from the prog rock hippie bores, what put many off punk was the mclaren inspired voilence at gigs which he engineered to give his band publicity and the musicians ho had been playing for some years were not too happy to have their instruments broken or being spat at (this is the short version). plus many indi labels were formed to release 'pub rock' records out (stiff, chiswick, radar, ect). i could go on for ages but im sure im boring you so unless this was a help and im able to supply you with any more punk history not in the books (ive been into punk sinse 1978 and collected facts as well as records and fanzines and magazines sinse then, i have according to my friends become a goldmine of useless infomation about punk because of it and if ever there was a job on offer about punk history i would get the job! ha ha to them, what have they got? thats what i say. |
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