174-490: The punk subculture includes a diverse and widely known array of music , ideologies , fashion , and other forms of expression, visual art , dance, literature , and film. Largely characterised by anti-establishment views, the promotion of individual freedom, and the DIY ethics , the culture originated from punk rock . The punk ethos is primarily made up of beliefs such as non-conformity, anti-authoritarianism , anti-corporatism ,
348-475: A DIY ethic ; many bands self-produce recordings and distribute them through independent labels . The term "punk rock" was previously used by American rock critics in the early 1970s to describe the mid-1960s garage bands. Certain late 1960s and early 1970s Detroit acts, such as MC5 and Iggy and the Stooges , and other bands from elsewhere created out-of-the-mainstream music that became highly influential on what
522-434: A do-it-yourself ethic , anti-consumerist , anti- corporate greed , direct action , and not " selling out ". There is a wide range of punk fashion, including T-shirts, leather jackets, Dr. Martens boots, hairstyles such as brightly coloured hair and spiked mohawks, cosmetics, tattoos, jewellery, and body modification . Women in the hardcore scene typically wore clothing categorised as masculine. Punk aesthetics determine
696-469: A dressed-down style of T-shirts, jeans, combat boots or trainers, and crewcuts . Women in the hardcore scene typically wore army trousers, band T-shirts, and hooded jumpers. The style of the 1980s hardcore scene contrasted with the more provocative fashion styles of late 1970s punk rockers (elaborate hairdos , torn clothes, patches, safety pins, studs, spikes, etc.). Circle Jerks frontman Keith Morris described early hardcore fashion as "the...punk scene
870-614: A swastika for shock value; Vivienne Westwood's DESTROY shirt featured an upside-down crucified Jesus and a swastika, notably worn by members of the Sex Pistols. Most contemporary punks are staunchly anti-racist and are more likely to wear a crossed-out swastika symbol than a pro-Nazi symbol. Some punks cut their hair into mohawks or other dramatic shapes, style it to stand in spikes, and colour it with vibrant, unnatural hues. Some punks are anti-fashion , arguing that punk should be defined by music or ideology. Punk clothing choices challenge
1044-579: A "dangerous and daring and do-it-yourself " aesthetic that was later adopted by punk; Smith also commented that one of Donegan's combos "attracted a wild following: men so epicly drunk they'd wet themselves and – very proto-punk, this – their duffel-coats were accessorised with alarm clocks hung round necks." His 1957 British chart-topper " Cumberland Gap " has been referred to as "the first punk No. 1"; Tom Ewing of Freaky Trigger writes: "Lurching speed-freak skiffle played on Christ knows what which sounds nothing remotely like any previous chart-topper: if punk
1218-622: A "dirty bastard", a "dirty fucker", and a "fucking rotter", triggering a media controversy. 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. Two days later, the Sex Pistols, the Clash, the Damned, and the Heartbreakers set out on the Anarchy Tour, a series of gigs throughout
1392-465: A "national scandal". Jamie Reid 's "anarchy flag" poster and his other design work for the Sex Pistols helped establish a distinctive punk visual aesthetic . On December 1, 1976, an incident took place that sealed punk rock's notorious reputation, when the Sex Pistols and several members of the Bromley Contingent , including Siouxsie Sioux and Steven Severin , filled a vacancy for Queen on
1566-596: A "punk mass" for the next couple of years. In the March 1971 issue of Creem, critic Greg Shaw wrote about the Shadows of Knight 's "hard-edge punk sound". In an April 1971 issue of Rolling Stone , he referred to a track by the Guess Who as "good, not too imaginative, punk rock and roll". The same month John Medelsohn described Alice Cooper 's album Love It to Death as "nicely wrought mainstream punk raunch". Dave Marsh used
1740-409: A "style of adornment calculated to disturb and outrage". Among the other facets of the punk rock scene, a punk's hair is an important way of showing their freedom of expression. The typical male punk haircut was originally short and choppy; the mohawk later emerged as a characteristic style. Along with the mohawk, long spikes have been associated with the punk rock genre. Between the late 16th and
1914-530: A 1974 interview for his fanzine Heavy 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." By 1975, punk was being used to describe acts as diverse as the Patti Smith Group , the Bay City Rollers , and Bruce Springsteen . As the scene at New York's CBGB club attracted notice, a name was sought for
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#17328694953812088-535: A band who can lay claim to influencing the movement, "the seeds of punk remain blatant in the howling ultimatum Erickson transferred from his previous teen combo to the Elevators" as well as describing other bands in the Houston , Texas psychedelic rock scene as "a prime example of the opaque proto-punk undertow at the heart of the best psychedelia ". Hippie proto-punk David Peel of New York City 's Lower East Side
2262-495: A bra and underwear. Although that act can seem sexualised, to punks it was just a way of self-expression. Punk seemed to allow people to sexualise themselves and still be taken seriously. The nature of punk allowed many to create a non-gender-conforming style. Punks could be free to use femininity or masculinity to make what they were doing even more shocking to their audience. It became popular for some punks to accentuate societal norms. At one concert, Donita Sparks , lead singer of
2436-519: A characteristic sound described by Christgau as a "buzzsaw drone". Some punk rock bands take a surf rock approach with a lighter, twangier guitar tone. Others, such as Robert Quine , lead guitarist of the Voidoids , have employed a wild, " gonzo " attack, a style that stretches back through the Velvet Underground to the 1950s recordings of Ike Turner . Bass guitar lines are often uncomplicated;
2610-478: A comprehensive exhibit, PUNK: Chaos to Couture , that examined the techniques of hardware, distress, and re-purposing in punk fashion. In the United Kingdom, the advent of punk in the late 1970s with its "anyone can do it" ethos led to women making significant contributions. In contrast to the rock music and heavy metal scenes of the 1970s, which were dominated by men, the anarchic, counter-cultural mindset of
2784-466: A dichotomy. There was a notable amount of cross-dressing in the punk scene; it was not unusual to see men wearing ripped-up skirts, fishnet tights, and excessive makeup, or to see women with shaved heads wearing oversized plaid shirts and jean jackets and heavy combat boots. Punk created a new cultural space for androgyny and all kinds of gender expression. In trying to reject societal norms, punk embraced one societal norm by deciding that strength and anger
2958-603: 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. After a brief period unofficially managing the New York Dolls, Briton Malcolm McLaren returned to London in May 1975, inspired by
3132-557: A former member of New York's experimental rock group the Velvet Underground , who inspired many of those involved in the creation of punk rock. The New York Dolls updated 1950s' rock 'n' roll in a fashion that later became known as glam punk . The New York duo Suicide played spare, experimental music with a confrontational stage act inspired by that of the Stooges. In Boston, the Modern Lovers , led by Jonathan Richman , gained attention for their minimalistic style. In 1974, as well,
3306-422: A lot of 1960s stuff was innovative and exciting. Unfortunately, what happens is that people who could not hold a candle to the likes of Hendrix started noodling away. Soon you had endless solos that went nowhere. By 1973, I knew that what was needed was some pure, stripped down, no bullshit rock 'n' roll." John Holmstrom , founding editor of Punk magazine, recalls feeling "punk rock had to come along because
3480-450: A major city. A local scene usually has a small group of dedicated punks surrounded by a more casual periphery. A typical punk scene is made up of punk and hardcore bands, fans who attend concerts, protests, and other events, zine publishers, reviewers, and other writers, visual artists illustrating zines, and creating posters and album covers, show promoters, and people who work at music venues or independent record labels . Squatting plays
3654-503: A major cultural phenomenon in the UK. It gave rise to a punk subculture that expressed youthful rebellion through distinctive styles 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
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#17328694953813828-402: A male framework." For some punks, the body was a symbol of opposition, a political statement expressing disgust of all that was "normal" and socially accepted. The idea was to make others outside of the subculture question their own views, which made gender presentation and gender identity a popular factor to be played with. In some ways, punk helped to tear apart the normalised view of gender as
4002-410: A part of the punk subculture hold pro-Nazi or Fascist views, however, these Nazi/Fascist groups are rejected by almost all of the punk subculture. The belief that such views are opposed to the original ethos of the punk subculture, and its history, has led to internal conflicts and an active push against such views being considered part of punk subculture at all. Two examples of this are an incident during
4176-522: A person who adopts the dress, speech, and/or mannerisms of a particular subculture, yet who is deemed to not share or understand the values or philosophy of the subculture. Never one to shy away from criticising the music industry and even punk culture, in Chickenshit Conformist Dead Kennedys opined that "Punk's not dead It just deserves to die When it becomes another stale cartoon...Ideas don't matter, it's who you know.", saying punk
4350-459: A punk style (spiked hair and a bondage belt ) to adopting a hardcore style (i.e. boots and a shaved head) as being based on a need for more functional clothing. A punk scholar states that "hardcore kids do not look like punks", since hardcore scene members wore basic clothing and short haircuts, in contrast to the "embellished leather jackets and pants" worn in the punk scene. In contrast to Morris' and Rollins' views, another punk scholar claims that
4524-419: A quantity in a plastic bag and "huffing" (inhaling) the vapour. Liquid solvents were typically inhaled by soaking a rag with the solvent and inhaling the vapour. While users inhale solvents for the intoxicating effects, the practice can be harmful or fatal. Straight edge is a philosophy of hardcore punk culture, adherents of which refrain from using alcohol, tobacco, and other recreational drugs, in reaction to
4698-571: A requisite item for punk fans. The BBC banned "Oh Bondage Up Yours!" due to its controversial lyrics. 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
4872-443: A role in many punk communities, providing shelter and other forms of support. Squats in abandoned or condemned housing, and communal " punk houses " often provide bands a place to stay while they are touring. There are some punk communes , such as Essex's Dial House . The Internet has been playing an increasingly large role in punk, specifically in the form of virtual communities and file sharing programs for trading music files. In
5046-401: 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". Early in 1976, Hell left the Heartbreakers to form the Voidoids , described as "one of the most harshly uncompromising [punk] bands". That April,
5220-620: A traditional rock 'n' roll verse-chorus form and 4/4 time signature . However, later bands often broke from this format. Punk music was not a standalone movement in the 70’s and 80’s. Major punk communities gather across the globe as punk perseveres among contemporary musicians and listeners today. The vocals are sometimes nasal, and the lyrics often shouted in an "arrogant snarl", rather than conventionally sung. Complicated guitar solos were considered self-indulgent, although basic guitar breaks were common. Guitar parts tend to include highly distorted power chords or barre chords , creating
5394-405: A two-month-long weekend residency at CBGB that significantly raised the club's profile. The Television sets included Richard Hell's "Blank Generation", which became the scene's emblematic anthem. Soon after, Hell left Television and founded a band featuring a more stripped-down sound, the Heartbreakers , with former New York Dolls Johnny Thunders and Jerry Nolan . In August, Television recorded
Punk subculture - Misplaced Pages Continue
5568-447: A unique style of punk rock, although not every style of punk rock has its own associated subculture. The earliest form of music to be called "punk rock" was 1960s garage rock , and the term was applied to the genre retroactively by influential rock critics in the early 1970s. In the late 1960s, music now referred to as protopunk originated as a garage rock revival in the northeastern United States. The first distinct music scene to claim
5742-514: A vehement, straight-ahead punk rock style with a committed anarchist mission, and played a major role in the emerging anarcho-punk movement. Sham 69, London's Menace, and the Angelic Upstarts from South Shields in the Northeast combined a similarly stripped-down sound with populist lyrics, a style that became known as street punk . These expressly working-class bands contrasted with others in
5916-787: A vocalist, one or two electric guitarists, an electric bassist, and a drummer. In some bands, the musicians contribute backup vocals, which typically consist of shouted slogans, choruses, or football-style chants . While most punk rock uses distorted guitars and noisy drumming sounds derived from 1960s garage rock and 1970s pub rock , some punk bands incorporate elements from other subgenres, such as surf rock , rockabilly , or reggae . Most punk rock songs are short, have simple and somewhat basic arrangements using relatively few chords, and typically have lyrics that express punk ideologies and values, although some punk lyrics are about lighter topics such as partying or romantic relationships . Different punk subcultures often distinguish themselves by having
6090-421: Is a music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage 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 around anti-establishment and anti-authoritarian themes. Punk embraces
6264-419: Is a dance in which the dancers jump up and down, while either remaining on the spot or moving around; the dance takes its name from its resemblance to the use of a pogo stick, especially in a common version of the dance, where an individual keeps their torso stiff, their arms rigid, and their legs close together. Pogo dancing is closely associated with punk rock and is a precursor to moshing. Moshing or slamdancing
6438-440: Is a later development influenced by all of the above-mentioned styles. Psychobillies prefer to "wreck", a form of slam dancing that involves people punching each other in the chest and arms as they move around the circle pit. Punk has generated a considerable amount of poetry and prose . Punk has its own underground press in the form of punk zines , which feature news, gossip, cultural criticism, and interviews. Some zines take
6612-682: Is a standout example. Early British punks expressed nihilistic and anarchist views with the slogan No Future , which came from the Sex Pistols song " God Save the Queen ". In the United States, punks had a different approach to nihilism which was less anarchistic than the British punks. Punk nihilism was expressed in the use of "harder, more self-destructive, consciousness-obliterating substances like heroin, or methamphetamine". Early punk fashion adapted everyday objects for aesthetic effect: ripped clothing
6786-434: Is a style of dance where participants push or slam into each other, typically during a live music show. It is usually associated with "aggressive" music genres, such as hardcore punk and thrash metal . Stage diving and crowd surfing were originally associated with protopunk bands such as The Stooges, and have appeared at punk, metal, and rock concerts. Ska punk promoted an updated version of skanking . Hardcore dancing
6960-630: Is a trend critics such as Lester Bangs have traced to as far back as Ritchie Valens ' 1958 version of the Mexican folk song " La Bamba ", which set in motion a wave of influential garage rock bands including the Kingsmen , the Kinks , the 13th Floor Elevators and the Sonics . By the late 1960s, Detroit bands the Stooges and MC5 had used the influence of these groups to form a distinct prototypical punk sound. In
7134-533: Is an offshoot of the hardcore punk scene and draws its name from a combination of the words " queer " and "hardcore." As in the larger punk scene, DIY is an integral component of the queercore subculture. Many zines that came out of the riot grrrl movement explored issues of queer identity, contributing to the queercore subculture. The queercore and riot grrrl subcultures are often considered to be connected. These two punk scenes are intertwined, with many bands being both queercore and riot grrrl. Punk aesthetics determine
Punk subculture - Misplaced Pages Continue
7308-461: Is anything, it might as well be that." Ellis writes: "Forerunners of punk by 20 years, Donegan and the thousands of other skiffle acts that sprang up after ' Rock Island Line ' wrested control from the establishment, democratizing the industry in the process." In his Book Protopunk: the Garage Bands , music journalist Lester Bangs traced the origins of punk to Ritchie Valens ' 1958 version of
7482-412: Is meant to be our freedom. We're meant to be able to do what we want to do." 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
7656-481: Is much less the rule. Hardcore drumming tends to be especially fast. Production tends to be minimalistic, with tracks sometimes laid down on home tape recorders or four-track portastudios. 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. Trend-setting songs such as the Clash's " Career Opportunities " and Chelsea 's "Right to Work" deal with unemployment and
7830-481: Is our condition. As symbols of protest, swastikas are no less fatuous than flowers. — Robert Christgau in Christgau's Record Guide (1981) Technical accessibility and a do 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. Pub rock also introduced
8004-424: Is still popular with punks. The New York City punk rock scene arose from a subcultural underground promoted by artists, reporters, musicians, and a wide variety of non-mainstream enthusiasts. The Velvet Underground 's harsh and experimental yet often melodic sound in the mid to late-1960s, much of it relating to transgressive media work by visual artist Andy Warhol , is credited for influencing 1970s bands such as
8178-577: The Los 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." A March 1973 review of an Iggy and the Stooges show in the Detroit Free Press dismissively referred to Pop as "the apotheosis of Detroit punk music". In May 1973, Billy Altman launched the short-lived punk magazine in Buffalo, NY which
8352-778: The BBC stated that "The roots of underground and experimental music, indie and alternative , punk, post-punk and art-punk all snake back to the four Velvet Underground studio albums". In Japan, the anti-establishment Zunō Keisatsu ( 頭脳警察 , lit. ' Brain Police ' ) , formed in 1969 and disbanded in 1975, mixed garage, psychedelic rock and folk; the band's first two albums were withdrawn from public sale after their lyrics were described in Mark Anderson's book The Encyclopedia of Contemporary Japanese Culture to violate industry regulations, with their "spirit... [being] taken up again by
8526-517: The CBGB club, also in Lower Manhattan . At its core was Television , described by critic John Walker as "the ultimate garage band with pretensions". Their influences ranged from The Velvet Underground to the staccato guitar work of Dr. Feelgood 's Wilko Johnson . The band's bassist/singer, Richard Hell , created a look with cropped, ragged hair, ripped T-shirts, and black leather jackets credited as
8700-704: The Circle Jerks . My Rules was a photo zine that included photos of hardcore shows from across the US. In Effect , which began in 1988, described the New York City scene. Punk poets include: Richard Hell , Jim Carroll , Patti Smith , John Cooper Clarke , Seething Wells , Raegan Butcher , and Attila the Stockbroker . The Medway Poets performance group included punk musician Billy Childish and had an influence on Tracey Emin . Jim Carroll's autobiographical works are among
8874-591: The Electric Eels formed. The immediate predecessor to British punk was the early to mid–1970s pub rock scene, which was mostly based around London. Influenced by Detroit proto-punk, this style made use of stripped down, back to its basics, rock music similar to punk, and was fronted by groups including Dr. Feelgood , Tyla Gang , Eddie and the Hot Rods and Count Bishops . Many of the early British punk scene's musician began their careers in pub rock acts, including
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#17328694953819048-529: The Krautrock tradition of groups such as Can . In Japan, the anti-establishment Zunō Keisatsu (Brain Police) mixed garage-psych and folk . The combo regularly faced censorship challenges, their live act at least once including onstage masturbation. A new generation of Australian garage rock bands, inspired mainly by the Stooges and MC5 , was coming closer to the sound that would soon be called "punk": In Brisbane ,
9222-518: The New York Dolls , the Stooges , and the Ramones . Punk political ideologies are mostly concerned with individual freedom and anti-establishment views. Common punk viewpoints include individual liberty , anti-authoritarianism , a DIY ethic , non-conformity, anti- corporatism , anti-government, direct action , and not " selling out ". Some groups and individuals that try to self-identify as being
9396-595: The gutter punk lifestyle in the 1990s. Loren Cass is another example of the punk subculture represented in film. The Japanese cyberpunk movement has roots in the J-rock subculture that arose in the 1970s. The filmmaker Sogo Ishii introduced this subculture to Japanese cinema with his punk films Panic High School (1978) and Crazy Thunder Road (1980), which portrayed the rebellion and anarchy associated with punk, and went on to become highly influential in underground film circles. Crazy Thunder Road in particular
9570-643: The punk label appeared in New York City between 1974 and 1976. Around the same time or soon afterward, a punk scene developed in London. Los Angeles subsequently became home to the third major punk scene. These three cities formed the backbone of the burgeoning movement, but there were also other punk scenes in cities such as Brisbane , Melbourne , and Sydney in Australia, Toronto , Vancouver , and Montreal in Canada, and Boston , Detroit , Cleveland , and San Francisco in
9744-428: The safety-pin aesthetic —was a major influence on Sex Pistols impresario Malcolm McLaren and, in turn, British punk style. ( John D Morton of Cleveland's Electric Eels may have been the first rock musician to wear a safety-pin-covered jacket.) McLaren's partner, fashion designer Vivienne Westwood , credits Johnny Rotten as the first British punk musician to rip his shirt, and Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious as
9918-605: The "'90s, zines were the primary way to stay up on punk and hardcore." They were the "blogs, comment sections, and social networks of their day." In the American Midwest, the zine Touch and Go described the regional hardcore scene from 1979 to 1983. We Got Power described the LA scene from 1981 to 1984, and included show reviews of and interviews with such bands as Vancouver's D.O.A. , the Misfits , Black Flag , Suicidal Tendencies , and
10092-452: The 101ers ( Joe Strummer , Richard Dudanski , Tymon Dogg ), Kilburn and the High Roads ( Ian Dury , Nick Cash ) and Flip City ( Elvis Costello ). By 1976, pub rock had ultimately declined in popularity. At the same time as pub rock, the influence of the New York Dolls had spread to London, where a wave of glam punk bands, including Hollywood Brats and Jet , coalesced by the middle of
10266-527: The 13th Floor Elevators and the Sonics . AllMusic states that bands like the Sonics and the Monks "anticipated" punk; the latter have likewise been cited as examples of proto-punk and the Sonics' 1965 debut album Here Are The Sonics as "an early template for punk rock". The raw sound and outsider attitude of psychedelic garage bands like the Seeds also presaged the style of bands that would become known as
10440-578: The 18th centuries, punk was a common, coarse synonym for prostitute; William Shakespeare used it with that meaning in The Merry Wives of Windsor (1602) and Measure for Measure (1603–4). The term eventually came to describe "a young male hustler, a gangster, a hoodlum, or a ruffian". The first known use of the phrase "punk rock" appeared in the Chicago Tribune on March 22, 1970, when Ed Sanders , co-founder of New York's anarcho-prankster band
10614-502: The 2016 American Music Awards, where the band Green Day chanted anti-racist and anti-fascist messages, and an incident at a show by the Dropkick Murphys , when bassist and singer Ken Casey tackled an individual for giving a Nazi-style salute and later stated that Nazis are not welcome at a Dropkick Murphys show. Band member Tim Brennan later reaffirmed this sentiment. The song " Nazi Punks Fuck Off " by hardcore punk band Dead Kennedys
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#173286949538110788-476: 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!". In October 1976, the Damned released the first UK punk rock band single, " New Rose ". 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
10962-454: The Clash , which was joined by Joe Strummer . On June 4, 1976, the Sex Pistols played Manchester's Lesser 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 formed Buzzcocks after seeing the Sex Pistols in February. Others in the small crowd went on to form Joy Division ,
11136-520: The Clash's debut had included a cover of the recent Jamaican reggae hit " Police and Thieves ". Other first wave bands such as the Slits and new entrants to the scene like the Ruts and the Police interacted with the reggae and ska subcultures, incorporating their rhythms and production styles. The punk rock phenomenon helped spark a full-fledged ska revival movement known as 2 Tone , centered on bands such as
11310-453: The Dead Boys. They were soon playing regularly at Max's Kansas City and CBGB. At this early stage, the term punk 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
11484-645: The Detroit band Death —made up of three African-American brothers—recorded "scorching blasts of feral ur-punk", but could not arrange a release deal. In Ohio, a small but influential underground rock scene emerged, led by Devo in Akron and Kent and by Cleveland's Electric Eels , Mirrors and Rocket from the Tombs . Bands anticipating the forthcoming movement were appearing as far afield as Düsseldorf , West Germany, where "punk before punk" band Neu! formed in 1971, building on
11658-563: The Dogs , the Punks and Death , the latter a pioneering but commercially unsuccessful African-American proto-punk group. Formed in New York in 1971, the New York Dolls , merged Detroit's specific proto-punk sound with elements of glam rock, pioneering the glam punk genre. A 2022 article by Alternative Press stated were "the most important of all protopunk bands after the Stooges [sic]". Their style
11832-471: The Electric Lady in New York City. Underground and pub rock scenes became filled with cacophonous sounds, haziness brought by drugs and alcohol, and unassuming fashion. American punk represented a new generation that combined bohemian atmosphere with an aggressive guitar distortion. The Dead Boys' debut LP, Young, Loud and Snotty , was released at the end of August. October saw two more debut albums from
12006-546: The Fall , and – in the 1980s — the Smiths . In July, the Ramones played two London shows that helped spark the nascent UK punk scene. Over the next several months, many new punk rock bands formed, often directly inspired by the Sex Pistols. In London, women were near the center of the scene—among the initial wave of bands were the female-fronted Siouxsie and the Banshees , X-Ray Spex , and
12180-537: The Fugs described his first solo album as "punk rock – redneck sentimentality". In 1969 Sanders recorded a song for an album called "Street Punk" but it was only released in 2008. In the December 1970 issue of Creem , Lester Bangs , mocking more mainstream rock musicians, ironically referred to Iggy Pop as "that Stooge punk". Suicide 's Alan Vega credits this usage with inspiring his duo to bill its gigs as "punk music" or
12354-522: The Heartbreakers' 1976 and 1977 tours of Britain, Thunders played a central role in popularizing heroin among the punk crowd there, as well.) The Ramones' third album, Rocket to Russia , appeared in November 1977. The Sex Pistols ' live TV skirmish with Bill Grundy on December 1, 1976, was the signal moment in British punk 's transformation into a major media phenomenon, even as some stores refused to stock
12528-515: The Jerks led what became known as no wave . The Misfits formed in nearby New Jersey. Still developing what would become their signature B movie –inspired style, later dubbed horror punk , they made their first appearance at CBGB in April 1977. The American youth were searching for authenticity and newcomers like The Ramone, The Clash and The Stooges. They brought their unique sound to venues like CBGB and
12702-462: The Mexican folk song " La Bamba ", due to the song's simplistic three chord song structure and the aggressive vocals relative to the time. He places it first in a lineage of influential tracks, which over time developed punk: the Kingsmen 's " Louie Louie " (1963); the Kinks " You Really Got Me " (1964) and the Stooges ' " No Fun " (1969). By the 1960s, garage rock a style of raw, loud and energetic rock music had developed significant scenes in both
12876-739: The Ramones", when nothing could have been further from the truth. In Perth , the Cheap Nasties formed in August. 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. "(I'm) Stranded" had limited impact at home, but the British music press recognized it as groundbreaking. A second wave of punk rock emerged in 1977. These bands often sounded very different from each other. While punk remained largely an underground phenomenon in
13050-460: The Ramones' debut album was released by Sire 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." The Cramps , whose core members were from Sacramento, California and Akron, Ohio , had debuted at CBGB in November 1976, opening for
13224-610: The Saints evoked the live sound of the British Pretty Things , who had toured Australia and New Zealand in 1975. The origins of New York's punk rock scene can be traced back to such sources as the late 1960s trash culture and an early 1970s underground rock movement centered on the Mercer Arts Center in Greenwich Village , where the New York Dolls performed. In early 1974, a new scene began to develop around
13398-405: The Sex Pistols as central players in a new youth movement, "hard and tough". As described by critic Jon 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". Bernard Rhodes , an associate of McLaren, similarly aimed to make stars of the band London SS , who became
13572-603: The Sex Pistols in The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle , and Social Distortion in Another State of Mind . Derek Jarman and Don Letts are notable punk filmmakers. Penelope Spheeris ' first instalment of the documentary trilogy " The Decline of Western Civilization " (1981) focuses on the early Los Angeles punk scene through interviews and early concert footage from bands including Black Flag , Circle Jerks , Germs , and Fear . The Decline of Western Civilization III " explores
13746-556: The Specials , the Beat , Madness , and the Selecter . 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 ". 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
13920-449: The T-shirt, motorcycle jacket, and jeans ensemble favored by American greasers of the 1950s associated with the rockabilly scene and by British rockers of the 1960s. In addition to the T-shirt, and leather jackets they wore ripped jeans and boots, typically Doc Martens . The punk look was inspired to shock people. Richard Hell 's more androgynous, ragamuffin look—and reputed invention of
14094-621: The Teenage Wasteland" in his review of the Stooges July 1972 performance at King's Cross Cinema in London for a British magazine called Cream (no relation to the more famous US publication). In the January 1973 Rolling Stone review of Nuggets , 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." In February 1973, Terry Atkinson of
14268-673: The UK. Many of the shows were cancelled by venue owners in response to the media outrage following the Grundy interview. A punk subculture began in Australia around the same time, centered around Radio Birdman and the Oxford Tavern in Sydney's Darlinghurst suburb. By 1976, the Saints were hiring Brisbane local halls to use as venues, or playing in "Club 76", their shared house in the inner suburb of Petrie Terrace . The band soon discovered that musicians were exploring similar paths in other parts of
14442-757: The US, in the UK it had become a major sensation. During this period punk music also spread beyond the English speaking world, inspiring local scenes in other countries. The California punk scene was fully developed by early 1977. In Los Angeles, there were: the Weirdos , The Dils , the Zeros , the Bags , Black Randy and the Metrosquad , the Germs , Fear , The Go-Go's , X , the Dickies , and
14616-410: The United States and United Kingdom. The Kingsmen and the Kinks both came from the UK's garage rock scene, with the former's cover of "Louie Louie" being described by academic Aneta Panek as "punk rock's ur-text ". Under the influence of "Louie Louie", the Kinks released " You Really Got Me " the following year, which was one of the earliest songs to make use of significant electric guitar distortion and
14790-416: The United States. The punk subculture advocates a do-it-yourself (DIY) ethic. During the subculture's infancy members were almost all from a lower economic class, and had become tired of the affluence that was associated with popular rock music at the time. Punks would publish their own music or sign with small independent labels, in hopes to combat what they saw as a money-hungry music industry. The DIY ethic
14964-405: The Velvet Underground and the earlier garage rock genre, with the sound then spreading to the United Kingdom, New York and Cleveland, Ohio. One of the earliest influences on both punk rock music and the punk subculture as a whole is folk musician Woody Guthrie . Beginning in the 1930s and becoming popular in the 1940s, Guthrie is often known as one of the first punks. In the United Kingdom,
15138-567: The album Radios Appear on its own Trafalgar label. By 1979, the hardcore punk movement was emerging in Southern 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
15312-625: The all-female the Slits . There were female bassists Gaye Advert in the Adverts and Shanne Bradley in the Nipple Erectors , while Sex store frontwoman Jordan not only managed Adam and the Ants but also performed screaming vocals on their song "Lou". Other groups included Subway Sect , Alternative TV , Wire , the Stranglers , Eater and Generation X . Farther afield, Sham 69 began practicing in
15486-538: The archetypal figures of proto-punk, other examples are the Electric Prunes (who writer Gath Cartwright states were "embraced by the punks" due to covers by the Damned and Wayne County & the Electric Chairs ), Red Crayola and Chocolate Watchband . The hit single " Psychotic Reaction " from 1966 by the garage band Count Five featured fuzztone guitars and blazed the trail for punk rock, influencing
15660-546: The band L7 , pulled out her tampon and threw it into the audience. Riot grrrl is an underground feminist hardcore punk movement that originated in the early 1990s in Washington, D.C., and the Pacific Northwest , especially Olympia, Washington . It is often associated with third-wave feminism , which is sometimes seen as its starting point. It has also been described as a musical genre that came out of indie rock, with
15834-415: The basis for punk rock visual style. In April 1974, Patti Smith came to CBGB for the first time to see the band perform. 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 guitarist Tom Verlaine ; released on her own Mer Records label, it heralded
16008-460: The beginning of the 2000s, militant straight edge punks had largely left the broader straight edge culture and movement. Punks come from all culture and economic classes. Compared to some subcultures, punk ideology is much closer to gender equality . Although the punk subculture is mostly anti-racist , it is overwhelmingly white. However, members of other groups (such as African Americans, other black people , Latinos, and Asians) have contributed to
16182-533: The broader culture it represented, and their musical predecessors: "No Elvis , Beatles or the Rolling Stones in 1977", declared the Clash song "1977". 1976, when the punk revolution began in Britain, became a musical and a cultural "Year Zero". As nostalgia was discarded, many in the scene adopted a nihilistic attitude summed up by the Sex Pistols ' slogan "No Future"; in the later words of one observer, amid
16356-556: The decade. A new generation of Australian garage rock bands, inspired mainly by the Stooges and MC5, came even closer to the sound that would soon be called "punk": in Brisbane , the Saints (formed in 1973) recalled the raw live sound of the British Pretty Things , who had made a notorious tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1965, while in Sydney , Radio Birdman , co-founded by Detroit expatriate Deniz Tek in 1974, began playing gigs to
16530-435: The developing sound. Club owner Hilly Kristal called the movement "Street rock" ; John Holmstrom credits Aquarian magazine with using punk "to describe what was going on at CBGBs". Holmstrom, Legs McNeil , and Ged Dunn's magazine Punk , which debuted at the end of 1975, was crucial in codifying the term. "It was pretty obvious that the word was getting very popular", Holmstrom later remarked. "We figured we'd take
16704-592: The development of a new musical style. Not only did the unconventional sound of proto-punk bands go against what was popular in the mainstream, but the visual styles of many bands were purposely contrasted with more popular, polished aesthetics found in more well known bands. Musically distinct from most other punk predecessors, New York's the Velvet Underground were not aggressive, instead influencing punk through their avant-garde take on rock, which incorporated dissonance and taboo lyrical topics such as urban decay , drug addiction and sadomasochism . A 2014 article by
16878-441: The development of the subculture. Substance abuse has sometimes been a part of the punk scene, with the notable exception of the straight edge movement. Violence has also sometimes appeared in the punk subculture, but has been opposed by some subsets of the subculture, such as the pacifist strain anarcho-punk . Punks often form a local scene, which can have as few as half a dozen members in a small town, or as many as thousands of in
17052-468: The earliest written uses of the term "punk rock" was by critic Dave Marsh who used it in 1970 to describe the garage rock group Question Mark & the Mysterians in the United States, who had scored a major hit with their song " 96 Tears " in 1966. While garage bands varied in style, the label of garage punk has been attributed by critic Michael Hann to the "toughest, angriest garage rockers" such as
17226-486: The early Who , the British punks also reflected the influence of glam rock and related artists and bands such as David Bowie , Slade , T.Rex , and Roxy Music . 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 ,
17400-514: The early 1970s to refer to mid-1960s garage acts. In the liner notes of the 1972 anthology LP, Nuggets , musician and rock journalist Lenny 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. Nick Kent referred to Iggy Pop as the "Punk Messiah of
17574-483: The early evening Thames Television London television show Today to be interviewed by host Bill 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. Jones proceeded to call Grundy
17748-497: The emergence of skiffle in the 1950s as a popular music movement is comparable to punk, in that skiffle similarly "stripped music to its core", with its simplistic instrumental setup that "[sending] out a clear anyone-can-do-it signal, and as the skiffle explosion proved, anyone could and did", according to PopMatters writer Ian Ellis. According to Aidan Smith in The Scotsman , popular skiffle musician Lonnie Donegan embodied
17922-454: The excesses of punk subculture. For some, this extends to refraining from engaging in promiscuous sex, following a vegetarian or vegan diet, and not drinking coffee or taking prescribed medicine. The term straight edge was adopted from the 1981 song " Straight Edge " by the hardcore punk band Minor Threat . Straight edge emerged amid the early-1980s hardcore punk scene. Since then, a wide variety of beliefs and ideas have been associated with
18096-477: The first known examples of punk literature. The punk subculture has inspired the cyberpunk and steampunk literature genres, and has even contributed (through Iggy Pop) to classical scholarship. Many punk-themed films have been made. The No Wave Cinema and Remodernist film movements owe much to punk aesthetics. Several famous punk bands have participated in movies, such as the Ramones in Rock 'n' Roll High School ,
18270-812: The first to use safety pins, 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. Early female punk musicians displayed styles ranging from Siouxsie Sioux 's bondage gear to Patti Smith 's "straight-from-the-gutter androgyny". The former proved much more influential on female fan styles. Over time, tattoos, piercings , and metal-studded and -spiked accessories became increasingly common elements of punk fashion among both musicians and fans,
18444-473: 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 as post-punk , new wave , thrash metal , and alternative rock . Following alternative rock's mainstream breakthrough in the 1990s with Nirvana , punk rock saw renewed major-label interest and mainstream appeal exemplified by
18618-455: The following years, this sound spread both domestically and internationally, leading to the formation of the New York Dolls and Electric Eels in the United States, Dr. Feelgood in England, and the Saints in Australia. The AllMusic guide defined it as "never a cohesive movement" but as "a certain provocative sensibility that didn't fit the prevailing counterculture of the time", most of
18792-460: The form of perzines . Important punk zines include Maximum RocknRoll , Punk Planet , No Cure , Cometbus , Flipside , and Search & Destroy . Several novels, biographies, autobiographies, and comic books have been written about punk. Love and Rockets is a comic with a plot involving the Los Angeles punk scene. Just as zines played an important role in spreading information in
18966-450: The forthcoming movement were appearing as far afield as Düsseldorf , West Germany, where "punk before punk" band NEU! formed in 1971, building on the krautrock tradition of groups such as Can . Simply Saucer formed in Hamilton, Canada in 1973 and have been called "Canada's first proto-punk band", blending garage rock, krautrock, psychedelia and other influences to produce a sound that
19140-499: The frivolities introduced in the later years of the original punk movement. The punk subculture influenced other underground music scenes such as alternative rock , indie music , crossover thrash , and the extreme subgenres of heavy metal (mainly thrash metal , death metal , speed metal , and the NWOBHM ). The punk subculture is centered on a loud, aggressive genre of rock music called punk rock, usually played by bands consisting of
19314-446: The garage phenomenon gathered momentum around the US. By 1965, the harder-edged sound of British acts, such as the Rolling Stones , the Kinks , and the Who , became increasingly influential with American garage bands. The raw sound of U.S. groups such as the Sonics and the Seeds predicted the style of later acts. In the early 1970s some rock critics used the term "punk rock" to refer to
19488-513: The grim realities of urban life. Especially in early British punk, a central goal was to outrage and shock the mainstream. 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 the Voidoids . Anomie , variously expressed in
19662-425: The idea of independent record labels , such as Stiff Records , which put out basic, low-cost records. 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. Musical virtuosity
19836-417: The idiosyncratic images of David Bowie and Roxy Music )". With his Ziggy Stardust persona, David Bowie made artifice and exaggeration central elements, that were later picked up by punk acts. The Doctors of Madness built on Bowie's presentation concepts, while moving conceptually in the direction that would The Guardian writer Simon Reynolds identified as "prophes[ying] punk". Bands anticipating
20010-523: The job. Adopting a new name, the group played its first gig as the Sex Pistols on November 6, 1975, at Saint Martin's School of Art , and soon attracted a small but dedicated following. In February 1976, the band received its first significant press coverage; guitarist Steve Jones declared that the Sex Pistols were not so much into music as they were "chaos". 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!" McLaren envisioned
20184-459: The kind of "cerebral mix of musical ferocity and rebellious posture" that would characterize much of the later British punk rock of the 1970s. The garage/beat phenomenon extended beyond North America and Britain. In America, the psychedelic rock movement birthed an array of garage bands that would later become influences on punk, the Austin Chronicle described the 13th Floor Elevators as
20358-496: 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 as hardcore punk (e.g., Minor Threat ), Oi! (e.g., Sham 69 ), street punk (e.g., the Exploited ), and anarcho-punk (e.g., Crass ), became some of the predominant modes of punk rock, while bands more similar in form to
20532-489: The mid-1960s garage genre, as well as for subsequent acts perceived to be in that stylistic tradition, such as the Stooges. In Britain, largely under the influence of the mod 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". In 1965, the Who released the mod anthem " My Generation ", which according to John Reed, anticipated
20706-489: The movement, including vegetarianism and animal rights. Ross Haenfler writes that as of the late 1990s, approximately three out of four straight edge participants were vegetarian or vegan. While the commonly expressed aspects of the straight edge subculture have been abstinence from alcohol, nicotine, and illegal drugs, there have been considerable variations on how far to take the interpretations of "abstaining from intoxicants" or "living drug-free". Disagreements often arise as to
20880-520: The movement: the Vibrators , formed as a pub rock–style act in February 1976, soon adopted a punk look and sound. A few even longer-active bands including Surrey neo-mods the Jam and pub rockers Eddie and the Hot Rods , the Stranglers , and Cock Sparrer also became associated with the punk rock scene. Alongside the musical roots shared with their American counterparts and the calculated confrontationalism of
21054-592: The name " punk " was borrowed from prison slang. Early punk had an abundance of antecedents and influences, and Jon Savage describes the subculture as a " bricolage " of almost every previous youth culture in the Western world since World War II, "stuck together with safety pins". In the late 1970s, the subculture began to diversify, which led to the proliferation of factions such as new wave , post-punk , 2 Tone , hardcore punk , no wave , street punk , and Oi! . Hardcore punk, street punk, and Oi! sought to do away with
21228-468: 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." 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 ". After the success of the British Invasion ,
21402-450: The new scene he had witnessed at CBGB. The King's Road clothing store he co-owned, recently renamed Sex , was building a reputation with its outrageous "anti-fashion". 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
21576-525: The notion of equal recognition, such as guitarist Viv Albertine , who stated that "the A&;R men, the bouncers, the sound mixers, no one took us seriously. So, no, we got no respect anywhere we went. People just didn't want us around." The anti-establishment stance of punk opened the space for women who were treated like outsiders in a male-dominated industry. Sonic Youth 's Kim Gordon states, "I think women are natural anarchists, because you're always operating in
21750-554: The original L.A. punk rock scene and to hardcore's popularity in the shoreline communities of South Bay and Orange County . Protopunk Proto-punk (or protopunk ) is rock music from the 1960s to mid-1970s that foreshadowed the punk rock movement. A retrospective label, the musicians involved were generally not originally associated with each other and came from a variety of backgrounds and styles; together, they anticipated many of punk's musical and thematic attributes. The tendency towards aggressive, simplistic rock songs
21924-490: 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. 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. Christgau said that "Punk is so tied up with the disillusions of growing up that punks do often age poorly." The classic punk rock look among male American musicians harkens back to
22098-468: The popular image of young punk women musicians as focused on the fashion aspects of the scene (fishnet stockings, spiky blond hair, etc.) was stereotypical. She states that many, if not most women punks were more interested in the ideology and socio-political implications, rather than the fashion. Music historian Caroline Coon contends that before punk, women in rock music were virtually invisible; in contrast, in punk, she argues "[i]t would be possible to write
22272-457: The primary reasons for living straight edge. Straight edge politics are primarily left-wing and revolutionary but there have been conservative offshoots. In 1999, William Tsitsos wrote that straight edge had gone through three eras since its founding in the early 1980s. Bent edge began as a counter-movement to straight edge by members of the Washington, D.C. hardcore scene who were frustrated by
22446-409: The punk and hardcore subcultures, members of the scene are often evaluated in terms of the authenticity of their commitment to the values or philosophies of the scene, which may range from political beliefs to lifestyle practices. In the punk subculture, the epithet poseur (or "poser") is used to describe "a person who habitually pretends to be something [they are] not." The term is used to refer to
22620-552: The punk era (e.g. British fanzines like Mark Perry's Sniffin Glue and Shane MacGowan's Bondage ), zines also played an important role in the hardcore scene. In the pre-Internet era, zines enabled readers to learn about bands, shows, clubs, and record labels. Zines typically included reviews of shows and records, interviews with bands, letters to the editor, and advertisements for records and labels. Zines were DIY products, "proudly amateur, usually handmade, and always independent", and during
22794-762: The punk movement." In the early 1970s, the UK underground counter-cultural scene centred on Ladbroke Grove in West London spawned a number of bands that have been considered proto-punk, including the Deviants , Pink Fairies , Hawkwind , Edgar Broughton Band , Stack Waddy , and Third World War ; contemporaries Crushed Butler have been called "Britain's first proto-punk band." According to Allmusic , glam rock also "inspired many future punks with its simple, crunchy guitar riffs, its outrageous sense of style, and its artists' willingness to sing with British accents (not to mention
22968-418: The punk scene in mid- and late 1970s encouraged women to participate. "That was the beauty of the punk thing," Chrissie Hynde later said. "[Sexual] discrimination didn't exist in that scene." This participation played a role in the historical development of punk music, especially in the US and UK at that time, and continues to influence and enable future generations. Rock historian Helen Reddington states that
23142-551: The punk scene matured, he observes, eventually "everyone got called a poseur". Cultural scholars and music journalists have often attributed ‘true’ punk rock as a movement and cultural fad confined to western world in the 1970’s and 1980’s. The early punk bands emulated the minimal musical arrangements of 1960s garage rock . 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. Most early punk rock songs retained
23316-431: The punk scene serving as an inspiration for a musical movement in which women could express themselves in the same way men had been doing for the past several years. Queercore is punk movement that focuses on LGBT issues. Queercore is an anti-establishment subculture based around a rejection of heteronormativity . This rejection extends beyond mainstream society and resists homophobia in the larger punk scene. Queercore
23490-471: The quintessential approach is a relentless, repetitive "forced rhythm", although some punk rock bass players—such as Mike Watt of the Minutemen and Firehose —emphasize more technical bass lines. Bassists often use a pick due to the rapid succession of notes, making fingerpicking impractical. Drums typically sound heavy and dry, and often have a minimal set-up. Compared to other forms of rock, syncopation
23664-521: The records and radio airplay was hard to come by. 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". 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 EP Spiral Scratch , self-released by Manchester's Buzzcocks ,
23838-753: The relocated Tupperwares, now dubbed the Screamers . Black Flag formed in Hermosa Beach in 1976 under the name Panic. They developed a hardcore punk sound and played their debut public performance in a garage in Redondo Beach in December 1977. San Francisco's second wave included the Avengers , The Nuns , Negative Trend , the Mutants , and the Sleepers. By mid-1977 in downtown New York, bands such as Teenage Jesus and
24012-473: The revival of stencil art, spearheaded by Crass . The Situationists also influenced the look of punk art, particularly that of the Sex Pistols created by Jamie Reid . Punk art often uses collage , exemplified by the art of Jamie Reid, Crass, The Clash, Dead Kennedys , and Winston Smith . John Holmstrom was a punk cartoonist who created work for the Ramones and Punk . Two dance styles associated with punk are pogo dancing and moshing . The pogo
24186-468: The rigidity and intolerance in the scene. During the youth crew era, which started in the mid-1980s, the influence of music on the straight edge scene was at an all-time high. By the early 1990s, militant straight edge was a well-known part of the wider punk scene. In the early to mid-1990s, straight edge spread from the United States to Northern Europe, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and South America. By
24360-615: The rise of the California bands Green Day , Social Distortion , Rancid , the Offspring , Bad Religion , and NOFX . The anti-government stance and nihilistic impression of the future provided by capitalism united the punk scene in the 1970’s in the United Kingdom as other bands emerged in the 70’s and 80’s like X-Ray Spex and Steel Pulse. The first wave of punk rock was "aggressively modern" and differed from what came before. According to Ramones drummer Tommy Ramone , "In its initial form,
24534-539: The rock scene had become so tame that [acts] like Billy Joel and Simon and Garfunkel were being called rock and roll, when to me and other fans, rock and roll meant this wild and rebellious music." According to Robert Christgau , punk "scornfully rejected the political idealism and Californian flower-power silliness of hippie myth." Hippies were rainbow extremists; punks are romantics of black-and-white. Hippies forced warmth; punks cultivate cool . Hippies kidded themselves about free love ; punks pretend that s&m
24708-530: The scene's DIY ethic and has often been cited as the first punk rock record. By August, Smith and Television were gigging together at Max's Kansas City . In Forest Hills, Queens , the Ramones drew on sources ranging from the Stooges to the Beatles and the Beach Boys to Herman's Hermits and 1960s girl groups, and condensed rock 'n' roll to its primal level: " '1–2–3–4!' bass-player Dee Dee Ramone shouted at
24882-409: The scene: Richard Hell and the Voidoids' first full-length, Blank Generation , and the Heartbreakers' L.A.M.F. 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. (During
25056-467: The second wave that presaged the post-punk phenomenon. Liverpool's first punk group, Big in Japan , moved in a glam, theatrical direction. The band did not survive long, but it spun off several well-known post-punk acts. The songs of London's Wire were characterized by sophisticated lyrics, minimalist arrangements, and extreme brevity. Alongside thirteen original songs that would define classic punk rock,
25230-411: The southeastern town of Hersham . In Durham , there was Penetration , with lead singer Pauline Murray . On September 20–21, the 100 Club Punk Festival in London featured the Sex Pistols, Clash, Damned, and Buzzcocks, as well as Paris's female-lead Stinky Toys . Siouxsie and the Banshees and Subway Sect debuted on the festival's first night. On the festival's second night, audience member Sid Vicious
25404-709: The standard hardcore punk clothing and styles included torn jeans, leather jackets, spiked armbands and dog collars, mohawk hairstyles, and DIY ornamentation of clothes with studs, painted band names, political statements, and patches. Yet another punk scholar describes the look that was common in the San Francisco hardcore scene as consisting of biker-style leather jackets, chains, studded wristbands, pierced noses and multiple piercings, painted or tattooed statements (e.g. an anarchy symbol), and hairstyles ranging from military-style haircuts dyed black or blonde to mohawks and shaved heads. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2013 hosted
25578-429: The start of every song as if the group could barely master the rudiments of rhythm." The band played its first show at CBGB in August 1974. By the end of the year, the Ramones had performed seventy-four shows, each about seventeen minutes long. "When I first saw the Ramones", critic Mary Harron later remembered, "I couldn't believe people were doing this. The dumb brattiness." That spring, Smith and Television shared
25752-464: The term in the May 1971 issue of Creem , where he described ? and the Mysterians as giving a "landmark exposition of punk rock". Later in 1971, in his fanzine Who 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.)". Lester Bangs used the term "punk rock" in several articles written in
25926-476: The time combined with a sound which was "primitive and stripped-down, even when it wasn't aggressive, and its production was usually just as unpolished". In contrast, in the book Screaming for Change (2010), it is defined as a specific sound which included simplistic instrumental work and amateurish compositions. The book cites this style as being pioneered in Detroit by the Stooges and MC5 , who were influenced by
26100-416: The type of art punks enjoy, usually with underground , minimalistic , iconoclastic , and satirical sensibilities. Punk artwork graces album covers , flyers for concerts, and punk zines . Usually straightforward with clear messages, punk art is often concerned with political issues such as social injustice and economic disparity. The use of images of suffering to shock and create feelings of empathy in
26274-405: The type of art punks enjoy, which typically has underground , minimalist , iconoclastic , and satirical sensibilities. Punk has generated a considerable amount of poetry and prose , and has its own underground press in the form of zines . Many punk-themed films have been made. The punk subculture emerged in the mid-1970s; in New York in 1974 and in the United Kingdom in 1976. Some suggest
26448-453: The unemployment and social unrest in 1977, "punk's nihilistic swagger was the most thrilling thing in England." While "self-imposed alienation " was common among "drunk punks" and "gutter punks", there was always a tension between their nihilistic outlook and the "radical leftist utopianism" of bands such as Crass , who found positive, liberating meaning in the movement. As a Clash associate describes singer Joe Strummer 's outlook, "Punk rock
26622-403: The viewer is common. Alternatively, punk artwork may contain images of selfishness, stupidity, or apathy to provoke contempt in the viewer. Much of the earlier artwork was black and white, because it was distributed in zines and reproduced by photocopying at work, school, or at copy shops. Punk art also uses the mass production aesthetic of Andy Warhol 's Factory studio. Punk played a hand in
26796-475: The way in which individuals in a nation dress, and the ideals of a traditionalist nation. This is most common in the post-1980s US hardcore punk scene, where members of the subculture often dressed in plain T-shirts and jeans, rather than the more elaborate outfits and spiked, dyed hair of their British counterparts. Many groups adopt a look based on street clothes and working-class outfits. Hardcore punk fans adopted
26970-462: The whole history of punk music without mentioning any male bands at all – and I think a lot of [people] would find that very surprising." Johnny Rotten wrote that 'During the Pistols era, women were out there playing with the men, taking us on in equal terms ... It wasn't combative, but compatible.' Women were involved in bands such as The Runaways , The Slits , The Raincoats , Mo-dettes , Dolly Mixture , and The Innocents . Others take issue with
27144-435: 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 a chord progression on that album that we used [...] and I thought, "Fuck. We're going to be labeled as influenced by
27318-561: Was Vivienne Westwood , who made clothes for Malcolm McLaren 's boutique in the King's Road , which became famous as " SEX ". Many punks wear tight "drainpipe" jeans, plaid/tartan trousers, kilts or skirts, T-shirts, leather jackets (often decorated with painted band logos, pins and buttons, and metal studs, chains or spikes), and footwear such as high-cut Chuck Taylors , trainers , skate shoes , brothel creepers , Dr. Martens boots, and army boots . Early punks occasionally wore clothes displaying
27492-467: Was a benchmark for both the DIY ethic and regionalism in the country's punk movement. The Clash 's self-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
27666-607: Was adopted by a number of New York bands, including the Stilettos , the Brats and Ruby and the Rednecks , and subsequently was the catalyst for the city's early punk rock scene, which included Television , Talking Heads , Patti Smith , the Ramones , Blondie and Richard Hell and the Voidoids . The Detroit proto-punk sound also spread to Cleveland Ohio by the middle of the decade, where influential proto-punk bands including Pere Ubu and
27840-418: Was adopted by punks because public perceptions of sniffing fitted in with their self-image. Originally used experimentally and as a cheap high, adult disgust and hostility encouraged punks to use glue sniffing as a way of shocking society." Model aeroplane glue and contact cement were among the numerous solvents and inhalants used by punks to achieve euphoria and intoxication. Glue was typically inhaled by placing
28014-398: Was an influential biker film , with a punk biker gang aesthetic that paved the way for Katsuhiro Otomo 's manga and anime franchise Akira (1982 debut). Ishii's next film was the frenetic Shuffle (1981), an unofficial short film adaptation of a manga comic strip by Otomo. The documentary film Afro-Punk covers the black experience in the punk DIY scene. " [Glue] sniffing
28188-504: 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. Some new bands, such as London's Ultravox !, Edinburgh's Rezillos , Manchester's the Fall, and Leamington 's the 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
28362-534: Was basically based on English fashion. But we had nothing to do with that. Black Flag and the Circle Jerks were so far from that. We looked like the kid who worked at the gas station or submarine shop." Henry Rollins echoes Morris' point, stating that for him getting dressed up meant putting on a black shirt and some dark pants; Rollins viewed an interest in fashion as being a distraction. Jimmy Gestapo from Murphy's Law describes his own transition from dressing in
28536-435: Was best expressed through masculinity, defining masculine as the "default", where gender did not exist or had no meaning. However, the main reasoning behind this argument equates femininity with popular conceptions of beauty. Everything that was normally supposed to be hidden was brought to the front, both literally and figuratively. This could mean anything from wearing bras and underwear on top of clothing to wearing nothing but
28710-442: Was held together by safety pins or wrapped with tape; ordinary clothing was customised by embellishing it with marker or adorning it with paint; a black bin liner became a dress, shirt or skirt; safety pins and razor blades were used as jewellery. Also popular have been leather, rubber, and PVC clothing that is often associated with transgressive sexuality , like BDSM and S&M . A designer associated with early UK punk fashion
28884-582: Was immediately influential for this reason. In the following years, this raw sound was being adopted by other British Invasion acts including the Who on their single " My Generation " (1965) and the Rolling Stones on their 1966 live album Got Live If You Want It! . In South America, the garage rock band Los Saicos formed in Lima , Peru in 1964, later being called "the world's first punk band" in Zona de Obras' book Spanish Dictionary of Punk and Hardcore . One of
29058-473: Was in danger of becoming a "meaningless fad" because people had stopped caring about what they saw as the core values of punk ("Change and caring are what's real"). In particular, metal bands, which were seen as an offshoot, they saw as not only as a sell-out, but as morally repugnant to the core values of punk saying labels were making money by signing "the most racist queerbashing bands they can find." Punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk )
29232-463: Was largely devoted to discussion of 1960s garage and psychedelic acts. In May 1974, Los Angeles Times critic Robert 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 since the Rolling Stones ' Exile on Main Street ." In
29406-564: Was later described as having a "frequent punk snarl." Debut albums by two key US proto-punk bands were released in 1969, both from Metro Detroit in Michigan ; Detroit 's MC5 released Kick Out the Jams in January, and the Stooges , from Ann Arbor , premiered with their self-titled album in August. The sound of these albums influenced a wave of subsequent bands in Michigan, which notably included
29580-447: 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". In December 1976, the English fanzine Sideburns published a now-famous illustration of three chords, captioned "This is a chord, this is another, this is a third. Now form a band". British punk rejected contemporary mainstream rock,
29754-464: Was published: The Boy Looked at Johnny , by Julie Burchill and Tony Parsons . In February 1977, EMI released the Saints ' debut album, (I'm) Stranded , which the band recorded in two days. The Saints had relocated to Sydney; in April, they and Radio Birdman united for a major gig at Paddington Town Hall . Last Words had also formed in the city. The following month, the Saints relocated again, to Great Britain. In June, Radio Birdman released
29928-505: Was seen as exemplifying the punk persona. The swearing during the Grundy interview and the controversy over "God Save the Queen" led to a moral panic . Scores of new punk groups formed around the United Kingdom, as far from London as Belfast 's Stiff Little Fingers and Dunfermline , Scotland's the Skids . Though most survived only briefly, perhaps recording a small-label single or two, others set off new trends. Crass , from Essex , merged
30102-401: Was the first person to use the word " motherfucker " in a song title and also directly influenced the Clash . In August 1969, the Stooges , from Ann Arbor , premiered with a self-titled album . According to critic Greil Marcus , the band, led by singer Iggy Pop , created "the sound of Chuck Berry 's Airmobile —after thieves stripped it for parts". The album was produced by John Cale ,
30276-435: Was to come. Glam rock in the UK and the 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 included Television , Patti Smith , and the Ramones in New York City; the Saints in Brisbane ; the Sex Pistols , the Clash , and the Damned in London, and the Buzzcocks in Manchester. By late 1976, punk had become
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