''Punk'' was a music magazine and fanzine created by cartoonist John Holmstrom, publisher Ged Dunn, and "resident punk"

Legs McNeil Roderick Edward "Legs" McNeil (born January 27, 1956, in Cheshire, Connecticut, United States) is an American music journalist. He is one of the three original founders of the seminal ''Punk'' magazine that gave the movement its name; as well as b ...

in 1975. Its use of the term " punk rock", coined by writers for ''

Creem ''Creem'' (often stylized in all caps) is a monthly American music magazine, based in Detroit, whose main print run lasted from 1969 to 1989. It was first published in March 1969 by Barry Kramer and founding editor Tony Reay. Influential crit ...

'' magazine a few years earlier to describe the simplistic and crude style of '60s garage rock bands, further popularized the term. The founders were influenced by their affection for comic books and the music of

The Stooges The Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, also known as Iggy and the Stooges, was an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Da ...

, the New York Dolls, and

The Dictators The Dictators are an American punk rock band formed in New York City in 1973. Critic John Dougan said that they were "one of the finest and most influential proto-punk bands to walk the earth." Origins The band was formed in 1972 by Andy "Adn ...

. Holmstrom later called it "the print version of

The Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United S ...

". It was also the first publication to popularize the

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for '' Country'', '' BlueGrass'', and '' Blues'', Kr ...

scene. ''Punk'' published 15 issues between 1976 and 1979, as well as a special issue in 1981 (''The D.O.A. Filmbook''), a 25th anniversary special in 2001 and 3 final issues in 2007. ''Punk'' was a vehicle for examining the

underground music Underground music is music with practices perceived as outside, or somehow opposed to, mainstream popular music culture. Underground music is intimately tied to popular music culture as a whole, so there are important tensions within underground ...

scene in New York, and primarily for punk rock as found in clubs like CBGB, Zeppz, and

Max's Kansas City Max's Kansas City was a nightclub and restaurant at 213 Park Avenue South in New York City, which became a gathering spot for musicians, poets, artists and politicians in the 1960s and 1970s. It was opened by Mickey Ruskin (1933–1983) in Decembe ...

. It mixed ''

Mad Magazine Mad, mad, or MAD may refer to: Geography * Mad (village), a village in the Dunajská Streda District of Slovakia * Mád, a village in Hungary * Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport, by IATA airport code * Mad River (disambiguation), several ...

''-style cartooning by Holmstrom, Bobby London and a young

Peter Bagge Peter Bagge (pronounced , as in ''bag''; born December 11, 1957) is an American cartoonist whose best-known work includes the comics ''Hate'' and '' Neat Stuff''. His stories often use black humor and exaggerated cartooning to dramatize the reduce ...

with the more straightforward pop journalism of the kind found in ''Creem''. It also provided an outlet for female writers, artists and photographers who had been shut out of a male-dominated underground publishing scene. ''Punk'' magazine was home to (many of whom were being published for the first time) writers

Mary Harron Mary Harron (born January 12, 1953) is a Canadian filmmaker and screenwriter, and former entertainment critic. She gained recognition for her role in writing and directing several independent films, including '' I Shot Andy Warhol'' (1996), ''Am ...

, Steve Taylor,

Lester Bangs Leslie Conway "Lester" Bangs (December 14, 1948 – April 30, 1982) was an American music journalist, critic, author, and musician. He wrote for '' Creem'' and ''Rolling Stone'' magazines, and was known for his leading influence in rock music ...

Pam Brown Pamela Jane Barclay Brown (born 1948) is an Australian poet. Career Pam Brown was born in Seymour, Victoria. Most of her childhood was spent on military bases in Toowoomba and Brisbane. Since her early twenties, she has lived in Melbourne a ...

, artists Buz Vaultz, Anya Phillips, and

Screaming Mad George , known as Screaming Mad George (born October 7, 1956), is a Japanese special effects artist, film director, and former musician. He was born in Osaka, Japan, and emigrated to the United States, where he has become known for his surreal, gory spe ...

, and photographers

Bob Gruen Bob Gruen (born October 23, 1945) is an American author and photographer known for his rock 'n' roll photographs. By the mid 1970s Gruen was already regarded as one of the foremost photographers in music working with major artist such as John Len ...

, Barak Berkowitz, Roberta Bayley and David Godlis. After Dunn left in early 1977 and McNeil quit shortly afterwards, Bruce Carleton (art director, 1977–1979), Ken Weiner (contributor, 1977–79), and Elin Wilder, one of few African Americans involved in the early CBGB/punk rock scene, were added to the staff.

Issues

A complete list of issues There were no issues 9, 13 or 18

References

External links

* {{official website, http://www.punkmagazine.com/ * John Holmstrom Papers and Punk Magazine Records. General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Music magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1976 Magazines disestablished in 1979 Punk zines Defunct magazines published in the United States Magazines published in New York City Rock music mass media