Punk Rock

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. 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 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.

Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll[2][3][4] 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 a DIY ethic; many bands self-produce recordings and distribute them through independent labels.

Characteristics

Outlook

The first wave of punk rock was "aggressively modern" and differed from what came before.[5] 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."[6] John Holmstrom, founding editor of Punk magazine, recalls feeling "punk rock had to come along because 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."[7] According to Robert Christgau, punk "scornfully rejected the political idealism and Californian flower-power silliness of hippie myth."[8]