PUNK THOUGHTS

 

Was the punk scene/movement the last dance of youthful rebellion? given what came after, it may well have been the last movement that had a major influence on youth culture.

In it's wake came post punk, The Madchester scene, rave culture, Two Tone, Rock Against Racism, Girl Power, New Romantics and a "Punk" aesthetic that is used to refer to a number of things in popular culture.

Cynics say it was a manufactured performance art piece, but lets make a distinction. I'm not talking about the artistic pretentions of the Warhol influenced New York scene of Johnny Thunders, Tom Veraline, Patti Smith, Richard Hell, CBGBs and Max's Kansas. I am referring to the UK Scene.

My view is that the essential Punk band was The Sex Pistols, who in turn influenced the loosely connected likes of the Buzzcocks, The Clash, The Adverts, Generation X, Siouxsie And The Banshees, X-Ray Spex and the Damned. Yes, there were many bands that took the Ramones style as their blueprint but these acts were short lived.  If you look at some of the members of the audience present at The Pistols 1976 gigs at Manchester's Lesser Trade Hall you will see a some of the movers and shakers of what was to come.

The Sex Pistols were the light that burned twice as bright but lasted half as long. From their formation in 1975 there are many that say that it was all over by December 1976, despite the Barnstorming God Save The Queen, the Poptastically subversive Pretty Vacant and the generational touchstone of Never Mind The Bollocks being released in 1977.

Certainly with Glen Matlock's departure and the replacement of him by Sid Vicious the writing was on the wall.

What those who weren't around at the time maybe miss out on is the sheer exhilaration, excitement and power of the Sex Pistols in mid Seventies Britain. Being a teenager and hearing the Sex Pistols was inspiring and felt like something unique to us. There were those whose main criticism was that they couldn't play, or that they were yobs and enemies of the state. When you're a teenager those claims are heard with glee. Rock 'n' Roll is meant to be dangerous, teenagers love such thoughts. The look was great as well in those earlier days before the stereotypical Punk uniform and Jamie Reid's Sex Pistols artwork captured the mood perfectly.

The Clash are often given more love and it's easy to see why, but they had time to develop and expand. The Pistols were an explosion.

So many of the things that spoke to young people post '77 were based on the do it yourself idea, the ambition of youth regardless of background. This is the legacy.

The likes of PiL, The Cure, Joy Divsion and XTC have made some of the most interesting music to be produced in the UK and they owe much to Punk. The three minute thrash brigade were never going to have longevity and satellite bands that were 'Punk by association' were able to push careers forward.I won't go into the whole 'sell out' argument, after all music is a business, but there were many bands that didn't go mainstream and stayed as independent entities, Crass for example. The 'sell out' argument has always been used as a lazy way to complain about artists making a living. Most of the bands I mentioned have had pretty long careers and produced the music that they wanted to.

Like a lot of moments in time it's hard to cast an eye if you weren't there, but if you were in the right place at the right time back then it was a glorious time.