Punk rock

Punk Rock is an anti-establishment music movement that began about 1976 (although precursors can be found several years earlier), exemplified by The Damned, The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, and The Clash. The term is also used to describe subsequent music scenes that share key characteristics with those first-generation "punks". The term is sometimes also applied to the fashions or the irreverent "DIY" ("do it yourself") attitude associated with this musical movement.

Origins

The phrase "punk rock" (from "", meaning worthless or snotty, often applied to a street hustler or a young person who is disrespectful of authority; also meaning a beginner or novice http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=punk&x=0&y=0) was originally applied to the untutored guitar-and-vocals-based rock and roll of United States bands of the mid-1960s such as The Standells, The Sonics, and The Seeds, bands that now are more often categorized as "garage rock".

Related Topics:
Guitar - Vocals - Rock and roll - 1960s - The Standells - The Sonics - The Seeds - Garage rock

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The term was coined by rock critic Dave Marsh, who used it to describe the music of ? and the Mysterians in the May 1971 issue of Creem magazine, and it was adopted by many rock music journalists in the early 1970s. For example, in the liner notes of the 1972 anthology album Nuggets, critic and guitarist Lenny Kaye uses the term "punk-rock" to refer to the Sixties "garage rock" groups, as well as some of the darker and more primitive practitioners of 1960s psychedelia. Shortly after the time of those notes, Lenny Kaye formed a band with avant-garde poet Patti Smith. Smith's group, and her first album, Horses, released in 1975, directly inspired many of the mid-1970s punk rockers, so this suggests one path by which the term migrated to the music we now know as punk.

Related Topics:
Dave Marsh - ? and the Mysterians - 1971 - Creem - 1970s - 1972 - Nuggets - Lenny Kaye - Garage rock - Psychedelia - Avant-garde - Patti Smith - Horses - 1975

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In addition to the inspiration of those "garage bands" of the 1960s, the roots of punk rock draw on the abrasive, dissonant style of The Velvet Underground; the snotty attitude and aggressive instrumentation of The Who and the early Rolling Stones; the sexually and politically confrontational Detroit bands The Stooges and MC5; the UK pub rock scene and political UK underground bands such as Mick Farren and the Deviants; the New York Dolls, and some British "glam rock" or "art rock" acts of the early 1970s, including David Bowie, Gary Glitter and Roxy Music.

Related Topics:
Garage band - 1960s - The Velvet Underground - The Who - Rolling Stones - The Stooges - MC5 - UK - Pub rock - UK underground - Mick Farren - Deviants - New York Dolls - Glam rock - Art rock - David Bowie - Gary Glitter - Roxy Music

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The British punk movement also found a precedent in the "do-it-yourself" attitude of the Skiffle craze that emerged amid the post-World War II austerity of 1950s Britain. Skiffle music led directly to the tremendous worldwide success of The Beatles (who began as a Skiffle group) and the subsequent British Invasion of the U.S. record charts. Punk rock in Britain coincided with the rise of Thatcherism, and nearly all British punk bands expressed an attitude of angry social alienation.

Related Topics:
Skiffle - World War II - 1950s - The Beatles - British Invasion - Thatcherism

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In a sense merely listing musical precursors to punk music is misleading, because, as rock critic Jon Savage has pointed out, punk drew on all pre-existing popular music genres. So, in a subterranean fashion the influence of, for example, glam rock, funk, rockabilly and (especially) reggae and ska can also be heard in many of the bands we now term punk.

Related Topics:
Jon Savage - Glam rock - Funk - Rockabilly - Reggae - Ska

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The cultural critique and strategies for revolutionary action offered by the European Situationist movement of the 1950s and 1960s were another influence on the vanguard of the British punk movement, particularly the Sex Pistols. Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren consciously embraced situationist ideas, which are also reflected in the clothing designed for the band by Vivienne Westwood and the visual artwork of the Situationist-affiliated Jamie Reid, who designed many of the band's graphics.

Related Topics:
Europe - Situationist - Malcolm McLaren - Vivienne Westwood - Jamie Reid

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See the Timeline of punk rock

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