Punk Rock (band)

Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced short, fast-paced songs with hard-edged melodies and singing styles, stripped-down instrumentation, and often shouted political, anti-establishment lyrics. Punk embraces a DIY ethic; many bands self-produce recordings and distribute them through independent record 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 was to come. Glam rock in the UK and the New York Dolls from New York have also been cited as key influences. When the movement now bearing the name developed from 1974 to 1976, prominent acts included Television, Patti Smith, and the Ramones in New York City; the Saints in Brisbane; and the Sex Pistols, the Clash, and the Damned in London, and the Buzzcocks in Manchester. By late 1976, punk became a major cultural phenomenon in the UK. It led to a punk subculture expressing youthful rebellion through distinctive styles of clothing, such as deliberately offensive T-shirts, leather jackets, studded or spiked bands and jewellery, 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 were not 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. the Exploited) and anarcho-punk (e.g. Crass) became the predominant modes of punk rock. Many musicians identifying with or inspired by punk went on to pursue other musical directions, giving rise to movements such as post-punk, new wave, and alternative rock. Following alternative rock's mainstream breakthrough in the 1990s with Nirvana, punk rock saw renewed major label interest and mainstream appeal with the rise of the California bands Green Day, Social Distortion, Rancid, the Offspring, Bad Religion, and NOFX.

Characteristics

Outlook

The first wave of punk rock was "aggressively modern" and differed from what came before.Robb (2006), p. xi. According to Ramones drummer Tommy 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 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 the rock scene had become so tame that ctslike 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."

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 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 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, the broader culture it represented, and their music 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".Reynolds (2005), p. 4. 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 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 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 to 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".

Musical and lyrical elements

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 a traditional rock 'n' roll verse-chorus form and 4/4 time signature. However, later bands often broke from this format. Blush, Steven, "Move Over My Chemical Romance: The Dynamic Beginnings of US Punk," ''Uncut'', January 2007.

The vocals are sometimes nasal, and the lyrics often shouted in an "arrogant snarl", rather than conventionally sung.Shuker (2002), p. 159.Laing, Dave. ''One Chord Wonders: Power and Meaning in Punk Rock''. PM Press, 2015. p. 21 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 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; 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 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 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 the poetic terms of 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 led to some 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."

Visual and other elements

The classic punk rock look among male American musicians harkens back to 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 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 to rip his shirt, and Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious as 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".Strohm (2004), p. 188. 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, 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.

Precursors

Garage rock and beat

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, 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 the mid-1960s garage genre, as well as for subsequent acts perceived to be in that stylistic tradition, such as the Stooges and others.

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 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 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". Red Krayola are another band that were later assessed as pioneers of punk rock, as can be heard on The Parable of Arable Land and God Bless the Red Krayola and All Who Sail With It, Texas Monthly later wrote about the latter LP that "...with no song topping 3 minutes. A generation on, healbum would be a blueprint for punk rock." Additionally, Mark Deming of AllMusic wrote that the album bore "precious little resemblance to anything else that appeared at the time; it would take a few decades of post-punk experimentalism before Mayo Thompson's vision would have a truly suitable context

Proto-punk

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, 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, minimalistic style gained attention. In 1974, as well, 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 the Krautrock tradition of groups such as Can. In Japan, the anti-establishment (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, the Saints evoked the live sound of the British Pretty Things, who had toured Australia and New Zealand in 1975.

Etymology

Between the late 16th and 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 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 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 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 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.Houghton, Mick, "White Punks on Coke," ''Let It Rock''. December 1975. Nick Kent referred to Iggy Pop as the "Punk Messiah of 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 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 was largely devoted to discussion of 1960s garage and psychedelic acts.
– 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.

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 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.Savage (1991), p. 131. As the scene at New York's CBGB club attracted notice, a name was sought for 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 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."

1974–1976: Early history

North America

New York City

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 the CBGB club, also in Lower Manhattan. At its core was Television, described by critic John Walker as "the ultimate garage band with pretensions".Walker (1991), p. 662. 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 the basis for punk rock visual style.Savage (1992), p. 89. 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 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 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 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 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 unkbands". That April, 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 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 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.

United Kingdom

After a brief period unofficially managing the New York Dolls, Briton Malcolm McLaren returned to London in May 1975, inspired by 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 the job. Adopting a new name, the group played its first gig as the Sex Pistols on 6 November 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 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 the Clash, which was joined by Joe Strummer. On 4 June 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, 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 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 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 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 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 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.

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 26 November 1976, the Sex Pistols' released their debut single "Anarchy in the U.K.", which succeeded in its goal of becoming 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.Pardo (2004), p. 245. On 1 December 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 Steve Severin, filled a vacancy for Queen on the early evening Thames Television London television show '' Today'' to be interviewed by host Bill Grundy. When Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones was goaded by Grundy to "say something outrageous", Jones proceeded to call Grundy a "dirty bastard", a "dirty fucker", and a "fucking rotter" on live television, triggering a media controversy. 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.

Australia

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 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 n 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 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.

1977–1978: Second wave

A second wave of punk rock emerged in 1977. These bands often sounded very different from each other.Reynolds (2005), p. 211. While punk remained largely an underground phenomenon in the US, in the UK it had become a major sensation.

North America

The California punk scene was fully developed by early 1977. In Los Angeles, there were: the Weirdos, the Zeros, the Bags, Black Randy and the Metrosquad, the Germs, Fear, The Go-Go's, X, the Dickies, and the relocated Tupperwares, now dubbed the Screamers. Black Flag, then-Panic, formed in Hermosa Beach in 1976. 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 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 Dead Boys' debut LP, '' Young, Loud and Snotty'', was released at the end of August.Gimarc (2005), p. 86 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.'' - Documentary from a three-part TV series produced by the BBC
* '' The Punk Rock Movie'' (1978, dir. Don Letts) - The early punk scene in London
* ''The Punk Rock Singer'' (2013, dir. Sini Anderson) - Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill and riot grrrl
* ''Salad Days: A Decade of Punk in Washington, DC'' (2014, dir. Scott Crawford) - DC punk bands and Dischord Records
*'' X: The Unheard Music'' (1986, dir. W. T. Morgan) - Los Angeles band X

Notes

References

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* Bockris, Victor, and Roberta Bayley (1999). ''Patti Smith: An Unauthorized Biography'' (New York: Simon & Schuster).
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*

External links

Fales Library of NYU Downtown Collection
archival collection with the personal papers of NYC punk figures.


1990 essay by rock critic A.S. Van Dorston

"We Have to Deal With It: Punk England Report"
by Robert Christgau, '' The Village Voice'', January 9, 1978

Black Punk Time: Blacks in Punk, New Wave and Hardcore 1976-1984 by James Porter and Jake Austen and many other contributors Roctober Magazine 2002

Southend Punk Rock History 1976 - 1986, a detailed site containing information on the Punk Rock explosion as experienced by Southend-on-Sea, Essex, UK

''Schmock'' Fanzine, 1984
Germany's first english-language punk rock fanzine from Wildberg, West Germany

{{DEFAULTSORT:Punk Rock

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