A Brief History of
Punk
By Rian Cooper
The Foundations of Punk Rock
The beginnings of punk rock are often furiously debated.
This is partially because everyone has different definition of punk rock, and
partially because its foundation stones are found in several places.
"Punk Rock" was originally used to describe the
garage musicians of the '60's. Bands like the Sonics were starting up and
playing out with no musical or vocal instruction, and often limited skill.
Because they didn't know the rules of music, they were able to break the rules.
The mid to late '60s saw the appearance of the Stooges and
the MC5 in Detroit. They were raw, crude and often political. Their concerts
were often violent affairs, and they were opening the eyes of the music world.
The Velvet Underground is the next piece in the puzzle. The
Velvet Underground, managed by Andy Warhol, were producing music that often
bordered on noise. They were expanding the definitions of music without even
realizing it.
The final primary influence is found in the foundations of
Glam Rock. Artists like David Bowie and the New York Dolls were dressing
outrageously, living extravagantly and producing loud trashy rock and roll.
Glam would end up splitting up its influence, doling out portions to hard rock,
"hair metal" and punk rock.
New York: The First Punk Rock Scene
The Ramones
The first concrete punk rock scene appeared in the mid '70s
in New York. Bands like The Ramones, Wayne County, Johnny Thunders and the
Heartbreakers, Blondie and the Talking Heads were playing regularly in the
Bowery District, most notably at CBGB.
The bands were unified by their location, camaraderie, and
shared musical influences. They would all go on to develop their own styles and
many would shift away from punk rock.
While the New York scene was reaching its heyday, punk was
undergoing a separate creation story in London.
Meanwhile, Across the Pond
Malcolm McClaren
England's punk scene had political and economic roots. The
economy in the United Kingdom was in poor shape, and unemployment rates were at
an all-time high. England's youth were angry, rebellious and out of work. They
had strong opinions and a lot of free time.
This is where the beginnings of punk fashion as we know it
emerged, and they centered out of one shop. The shop was simply called SEX, and
it was owned by Malcolm McClaren.
Malcolm McClaren had recently returned to London from the
U.S., where he had unsuccessfully tried to reinvent the New York Dolls to sell
his clothing. He was determined to do it again, but this time looked to the
youths who worked and hung out in his shop to be his next project. This project
would become the Sex Pistols, and they would develop a large following very
quickly.
Enter The Bromley Contingent
Among the fans of the Sex Pistols was an outrageous bunch of
young punks known as the Bromley Contingent. Named after the neighborhood they
all came from, they were at the first Sex Pistols shows, and quickly realized
they could do it themselves.
The Clash
Within a year, the Bromleys had formed a large portion of
the London Punk scene, including The Clash, The Slits, Siouxsie & the
Banshees, Generation X (fronted by a young Billy Idol) and X-Ray Spex. The
British punk scene was now in full swing.
The Punk Rock Explosion
By the late '70s, punk had finished its beginning and had
emerged as a solid musical force. With its rise in popularity, punk began to
split into numerous sub-genres. New musicians embraced the DIY movement and
began to create their own individual scenes with specific sounds.
In order to better see the evolution of punk, check out all
of the subgenres that punk split off into. It's a list that's constantly
evolving, and it's only a matter of time before more categories appear.
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