Punk Rock Music

Punk rock dealt with topics like problems facing society, oppression of the lower classes, the threat of a nuclear war, and such. Often it was personal but no less critical: many songs concerned the individual's personal problems, such as being unemployed, or having particular emotional and/or mental issues (e.g. depression). Punk rock is a message to society that all is not well and all are not equal.

The first ongoing music scene that was assigned the "punk" label appeared in New York in 1974-1976, centered around bands that played regularly at the clubs Max's Kansas City and CBGB. This had been preceded by a nascent underground rock scene at the Mercer Arts Center, picking up from the demise of the Velvet Underground. The Mercer scene, forming in 1971, featured the New York Dolls and Suicide, but came to an abrupt end in 1973 when the building collapsed. The CBGB and Max's scene included The Ramones, Television, Blondie, Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers (fronted by a former New York Doll), Richard Hell and The Voidoids, and the Talking Heads. The "punk" title was applied to these groups by early 1976, when Punk Magazine first appeared, featuring these bands alongside articles on some of the immediate role models for the new groups, such as Lou Reed and Patti Smith (who were the cover subjects of the first and second issues, respectively).

At the same time, a less celebrated, but nonetheless highly influential, scene had appeared in Ohio, including The Electric Eels, Devo, and Rocket from the Tombs (who in 1975 split into Pere Ubu and The Dead Boys).

During this same period, bands that would later be recognized as "punk" were formed independently in other locations, such as The Saints in Brisbane, Australia, The Modern Lovers in Boston, and The Stranglers and the Sex Pistols in London. These early bands also operated within small "scenes", often facilitated by enthusiastic impresarios who either operated venues, such as clubs, or organised temporary venues. In other cases, the bands or their managers improvised their own venues, such as a house inhabited by The Saints in an inner suburb of Brisbane. The venues provided a showcase and meeting place for the emerging musicians (the 100 Club in London, CBGB in New York, and The Masque in Hollywood are among the best known early punk clubs).

While the London bands may have played a relatively minor role in determining the early punk sound, the London punk scene would come to define and epitomize the rebellious punk culture. After a brief stint managing the New York Dolls at the end of their career in the US, Englishman Malcolm McLaren returned to London in May 1975. He started a clothing store called SEX that was instrumental in creating the radical punk clothing style. He also began managing The Swankers, who would soon become the Sex Pistols. The Sex Pistols soon created a strong cult following in London, centered on a clique known as the Bromley Contingent (named after the suburb where many of them had grown up), who followed them around the country.
Cover of The Clash album London Calling (1979).

An oft-cited moment in punk rock's history is a July 4, 1976 concert by the Ramones (with The Stranglers) at the Roundhouse in London. Many of the future leaders of the UK punk rock scene were inspired by this show, and almost immediately afterward, the UK punk scene found its feet. By the end of 1976, many fans of the Sex Pistols had formed their own bands, including The Clash, Joy Division, Siouxsie & the Banshees, The Adverts, Generation X, The Slits, and X-Ray Spex. Other UK bands to emerge in this milieu included The Damned (the first to release a single, the classic "New Rose"), The Jam, The Vibrators, Buzzcocks, and the appropriately named London.

In December of 1976, the Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Damned, and Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers united for the Anarchy Tour, a series of gigs throughout the UK. Many of the gigs were cancelled by venue owners, after tabloid newspapers and other media seized on sensational stories regarding the antics of both the bands and their fans. The notoriety of punk rock in the UK was advanced by an infamous televised incident that was widely publicised in the tabloid press: on Thames Today, a London TV show, guitarist Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols was goaded into a verbal altercation by the host, Bill Grundy, swearing at him on live television in violation of then-accepted standards of propriety.

During 1977, a second wave of bands emerged, influenced by those mentioned above. Some, such as The Misfits (from New Jersey), The Exploited (from Scotland), GBH (from England) Black Flag (from Los Angeles), Stiff Little Fingers (from Northern Ireland), and Crass (from Essex) would go on to lead the move away from the original sound of punk rock, later spawning the Hardcore subgenre.

In the UK, punk interacted with the Jamaican reggae and ska subcultures. This reggae influence is evident in much of the music of The Clash and The Slits, for example. By the end of the 1970s, punk had spawned the 2 Tone ska revival movement, including bands such as The Beat (The English Beat in U.S.), The Specials, Madness, and The Selecter.

Gradually, punk became more varied and less minimalist, with bands such as The Clash incorporating other underground musical influences like ska and rockabilly and even jazz into their music, but the message of the music remained the same; it was subversive, counter-cultural, rebellious, politically incorrect and often anarchist.