Punk History
You'll never be 16 again...
There's no shortage of people wanting to claim punk as their own so here's an attempt to trace its roots. You'll meet some surprising people, weird bands, scary people and probably disagree with a lot of what I say but do I care ? Do I f**k ! Coz this basically is a chance for me to present some of the music that I love listening to and sometimes take the piss. Its also an attempt to put the UK punk scene in some sort of context instead of just an isolated style.
Music can be beautiful, music can be throw away.. the stuff we sing in showers. It can be dancey and be so positive. I like all that but like a lot of others I'm drawn to the negative possibilities of rock'n'roll. I'm drawn to the Nihilism and iconoclasm of rock. Big words but what do they mean ? Iconoclasm is the desire to smash all that's gone before and kill your idols and Nihilism is the rejection of current moral and established beliefs without offering or seeking solutions to change it. Its the domain of the young who hope to die before they get old. In short its saying 'f**k you!' which we have all done at some time. As we look down the last 50 years all the good bands have embraced nihilism and still do. It links the Who to The Pistols to Nirvana. FromMy Generation to Pretty Vacant to Smells Like Teen Spirit the leap ain't that great. And why should they offer solutions ? The world will never change from a song. As Rotten once sang ..."Anger is an energy"... All these great songs by these bands have been simple, direct and infused with for want of a better phrase 'teen spirit'. Its why these bands live on because when you first pick up a guitar these are the songs you can play quickly and identify with. You try playing along to Zeppelins 'Achilles Last Stand' maaaaaan !!!!!
No matter how angry or politicised you are though its the music that's counts and trouble always comes when people confuse music and politics or try and read too much into a band and its output (hi Charlie Manson to name but one). Nearly every band in the world has just wanted one thing and that is to make music and music needs at least one listener whether to hate it or like it (even these arty bands). The artist is stuck really. Bands want in varying amounts the following: to make records that sell, fame and fortune, a career, to mean something, to be recognised, drugs and women and a rock star lifestyle. Often when they get it they implode ( Sid Vicious, Kurt Cobain) or struggle to come to terms (The Who), or make a career (Stones) pass out of view as fashions change (Stranglers), change direction (U2) realise they have nothing more to offer (Eater) or go too far (Hendrix, Brian Jones ad infinitum)
The problem most bands have found however is that you can only be angry for so long and what do you do afterwards before you become boring. The best bands have been short and sweet and then f****d off. Its hard being a rebel inside the machine. If you want to get your message across then you have to be in the machine and you have to play the game and the game changes all the time...Who's controlling who ? McLaren's incendiary publicity techniques are now part of the publicists armoury. You can't be a rebel and win... I'm sorry to say. You can win little battles but you still need to sell records and so you lose the war. Crass came close tho I'll dispute they were musical but how did they finish ? Bankrupted because they forgot to charge VAT. What a revolution !
Messages stink in music.... anger and frustration is a common currency and the best punk toons have them. But lets face it we need all the crap in music and all the varied sounds and images coz then the good stuff stands out. I'd hate to have punk every day. Variety really is the spice of life.
So where did it all start then..... well f**k The Stooges and f**k the Dolls ....lets go back to the beginning.....
Inside each part is a wealth of information with links to more detailed pages on some of the bands and subcultures.
