Punk Rock History
Punk rock was said to have originated back in the Sixties, and was created as a direct result of the corporate buying of bands and the mass commercialism of music. Now, however, it is more common to see someone "being a punk" rather than seeing someone "be punk".
Punk is different from other music genres because punk bands have a very "do-it- yourself" attitude, not wanting to be bought by large companies or corporations, but preferring to get to the top of the industry on their own. Contrary to popular opinion, punk music actually teaches kids that they are worth something, that they can fit in with the other "punkers".
Corporations in the late Sixties and early Seventies began to promote trends using music and spoon-feeding the public music whose sole purpose was to make lots of money. Examples of this kind of commercialistic music are any groups during this period that played disco and arena rock.
English: San Francisco's FLIPPER performing at the...
Siouxsie Sioux at the Edinburgh Tiffany's, 1980
English: The Pop Punk Power TrioThe backlash to this became known as "punk rock". Now people were seeing short, frenetic, aggressive songs, sometimes confrontational stage appearances, and angry messages against consumerism hit the stages.
Like pretty much every music genre, it is hard to pinpoint the actual place where punk began. Some of the early bands originated from places like New York and Pittsburgh. But it began in many places at once, and it even spread to the U.K. almost as fast as it sprang up here.
There is a lot of controversy about who was truly the first punk rock group, partly because some people have differing views on what punk means. However, it is generally acknowledged that some of the very first bands were New York Dolls, Talking Heads, Joy Division, The Clash, MC5, The Cramps ,The Stooges, and the first all-female group...