History Of Punk Rock Essay Research Paper

Did you know that the first commercially successful punk band

was the Sex Pistols? Then came groups like Black Flag, Husker Du,

and Bad Brains. Punk was invented in Britain in the mid Seventies.

The first American punk started in a New York club called CBGB’s.

CBGB’s would attract a crowd of about 500 with its Sunday-afternoon

hard-core matinees. The concerts would be over by a reasonable

time so kids could get home to eat dinner with their parents. In

this paper we will take a look at some history and aspects of punk

rock over the years. Slam Dancing Slam dancing has been popular through the history of punk.

You may have heard of called “mashing” or “stage diving.” Mashing

is just a big game of bumper cars like you played when you were a

kid. I think Natalie Jacobson who is dating the lead singer of

“Murphy’s Law” describes stage diving best when says, “It’s like

diving into a human carpet. Something like the old kids’ trust

game. Just my way of getting into it. Gospel people got their

thing, I got mine.”1 Politics Some punks consider themselves Nazis’, or are concerned with

issues like peace, racism, and nuclear war. Most punk is against

parental, musical, and political authorities. On the other hand

some isn’t. Bob Mould of Husker Du talks about politics quite

frequently in his songs.

I don’t write about politics because I’m not an expert.

Some bands find it very necessary to claim they’re

politically relevant when in actuality they don’t know

shit about politics. Not informing people is much better

than misinforming people. We’re sort of like reporters

in a way. Reporters of our own mental state. Reporters

of the state of the air. Consciousness. Of the day. We

make personal statements.2 Friends Most punks that live in small towns have trouble making

friends. They find it hard to relate to most people. Sixteen-

year-old Becca Levine finds it hard to make friends in her small

town. She comes from a family of divorced parents that never have

understood her. Her mother thinks it’s just a phase she’s going

through. As Becca Quotes, “Parents around here treat me like I’m

kind of weird.”3 She has met someone from New York City that

understands her. She meets with him at concerts at clubs like the

Ritz or CBGB’s. She met someone else also. Someone about 20

minutes away from her hometown who wrote an ad in a national

magazine looking for someone to associate with that would

understand him. He got a lot of responses, but when he saw the

letter from Becca he called her right up. They met for the first

time at a Hard-Core show in New York City. But still no one in her

hometown understands her. Fitting in with the New York hard-core

scene is one of her goals. Clothing Punk has its very own unique style. Although punk sports hard

edges, bright colors, shaved heads, leather jackets, Mohawks, and

army boots. You can’t really tell if a person is a punk by the way

they dress or do their hair. Wanda Draper, professor of psychiatry

and behavioral sciences at the University of Oklahoma says, “We

need to look at their reactions and responses to what goes on

around them in everyday life. When we know that this is a fad-that

it is an effort to be a part of the ‘group’-we can usually relax.”4 Development of Punk Through the years some punk has had influences from country to

the Grateful Dead. Some of this may not even be punk at all. Take

Rancid’s song “Time Bomb” off their latest album, “…And Out Come

the Wolves”5 for instance. It is their rendition of Reggae.

Most punk groups don’t make much money at all. Once in a

while a punk group will hit it big time but that is very rare.

Paul Westerbert, lead singer of the Replacements quotes,

“We are the hungriest band I’ve ever seen. We get in the

van and drive to a town, play, stay at a friend’s house.

Wake up when they throw us out. Drive the rest of the

day. Play the next night. We get fifteen dollars a day.

And when we’re home, we don’t get nothing. We’re way in

debt. We own a van, it breaks down, and you know when

you play that the gig money goes to pay for the broken-

down van. We’re used to it.6 Relation

Punk is also related to Hard-Core and Ska. Hard-Core is

usually heavier and more upbeat the regular punk. Ska is punk with

some trumpets or saxophones playing along. Punk Is Still Going Strong Drugs, rock star ego’s, and in some cases death ruined the

development of punk bands back around 1980 like the Sex Pistols,

Black Flag, and The Germs. It made a recent comeback in the early

nineties. Julia Sazbo quotes, “Music lovers will argue that it all

started in early 1993 when Rhino Records came out with D.I.Y. (Do

It Yourself), a nine-volume aural history of punk. They came tours

by the Ramones, the Stranglers, and Television.”7 Believe it or

not. Punk has been and still is surviving mostly on minor labels.

Endnotes 1 Blauner, Peter. “Hard-Core Kids.” New York. 26 May 1986:

41. 2 Goldberg, Micheal. “Punk Lives.” Rolling Stone. 18 July-1

August 1985: 30. 3 Blauner, Peter. “Hard-Core Kids.” New York. 26 May 1986:

40. 4 “Draper, Wanda. “Punk Look–Fad or Defiance?” USA Today.

April 1990: 14. 5 Song. “Time Bomb.” …And Out Come the Wolves. Performed

by Rancid. Epitaph, 86434-2, 1995. 6 Goldberg, Micheal. “Punk Lives.” Rolling Stone. 18 July-1

August 1985: 30. 7 Szabo, Julia. “Think Punk.” Harper’s Bazaar. November

1993: 53.

Blauner, Peter. “Hard-Core Kids.” New York. 26 May 1986: 41. Goldberg, Micheal. “Punk Lives.” Rolling Stone. 18 July-1

August 1985: 30. “Draper, Wanda. “Punk Look–Fad or Defiance?” USA Today. April

1990: 14. Song. “Time Bomb.” …And Out Come the Wolves. Performed by

Rancid. Epitaph, 86434-2, 1995. Szabo, Julia. “Think Punk.” Harper’s Bazaar. November 1993:

53.