PUNK CULTURE AND INFLUENCE

HOW PUNK ARE YOU? http://punkrock.org/ History of Punk What are some characteristics of “punk?”

Pre-70’s “punk”- term to describe a young, male hoodlum or gangster

Fast, hard music (often not pleasing) Short songs with stripped down instrumentation

Usually 2 electric guitars, bass guitar, drums and singers Distorted power chords by guitars, guitar solos are self-indulgent

and unnecessary. Relentlessly repetitive Bass rhythms. Lyrics often shouted and typically confrontational and to the point.

Vocal characterized by lack of variety and shifts in pitch. Political or nihilistic themes Youthful rebellion (anti-convention, anti-authority, androgyny) Do-It-Yourself attitude (connection to Gandhi) Wildly energetic performances

Destruction of instruments on stage Crowd pogos, body slams, body surfs Self mutilation and body contortions (Iggy Pop) Goading, Insulting the audience (Johnny Rotten)

SCHLEIM KEIMAKA SAUKERLE

Schleim Keim (Slimy Germs) YouTube Video Selection One of most popular E German bands and the first to release in West Otze (one of founders) once said: "In the beginning punk meant for

me: I stuck a safety pin in my cheek, hung a chain on it and thought, that rocks! And on my back I had an Elvis patch. We had heard two punk songs on the radio and we immediately tattooed 'punk' into our arms with a needle.“

Equipment: Klaus built his guitar himself, some wires from a bicycle had to do as strings; Their amplifiers were built from old radios. The band's first practice space was in the washroom of Otze's parents' farmhouse. Bassist Dippel said about this early stage: "Thinking back I have to say, I never heard such music, as it was played in that washroom back then, again!“

To buy instruments Drummer Otze sold brass knuckles to hooligans; They played their first gigs in churches; churches were the only place

were the authorities and the Stasi (Staatssicherheit, the secret police) had no power; resistance against the state was formed there! More rarely, they played art galleries or universities, because artists and students were sometimes involved with (illegal) civil rights movements and the likes.

OTHER GERMAN PUNK BANDS… Feeling B (YouTube Video Selection) Pankow (YouTube Video Selection) Die Skeptiker (YouTube Video

Selection)

THE SEX PISTOLS (YOUTUBE VIDE0 SELECTION)

Featuring Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious Short-lived career (3 years as this line-up), 4 singles

and one studio album the Sex Pistols have been described by the BBC as "the

definitive English punk rock band."[1] The Pistols are widely credited with initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom[2] and creating the first generation gap within rock and roll.[3]

The Sex Pistols emerged as a response to the "increasingly safe and bloated" progressive rock,[4] disco and manufactured pop music of the mid-1970s. The band created controversies which captivated Britain,[5] but often eclipsed their music.[6] Their shows and tours repeatedly faced difficulties with organizers and authorities, and public appearances often ended in mayhem. Their 1977 single "God Save the Queen" was regarded as an attack on the British monarchy and British nationalism.[7]

CBGB’S: HOME TO SOME MAJOR POP PUNK (POWER POP)

The Ramones (YouTube) Formed 1974 and believed by

many to be 1st punk band 2002 Rock N Roll Hall of Fame The band members adopted a

uniform look of long hair, leather jackets, t-shirts, torn jeans, and sneakers, which emphasized minimalism

Tommy Ramone recalled that, both musically and visually, "we were influenced by comic books, movies, the Andy Warhol scene, and avant-garde films. I was a big Mad Magazine fan myself."[39]

They were a loud-fast punk-pop band, mixing humor and horror in equal measure and giving their urbanized fans a way to purge all the pent-up energy that comes from living in a concrete jungle (a localized New York scene).

A Ramones set, especially in the early years, rarely lasted half an hour, and they might perform fifteen or more songs during the sonic blitzkrieg.

CBGB’S: HOME TO SOME MAJOR POP PUNK (POWER POP)

Blondie (YouTube) – scroll down for “X Offender” (more punk) and “In the Flesh” (more pop) Band originally called

“Angel and Snake” but changed to Blondie because that is what truck drivers called out their windows as they passed her.

According to their producer, she performed with "utter aplomb and involvement throughout: even when she's portraying a character consummately obnoxious and spaced-out, there is a wink of awareness that is comforting and amusing yet never condescending."

HIGH PUNK IN THE NEW YORK SCENE (1965-1970) (1970-1973)

Velvet Underground (YouTube Video Selections) Rolling Stone wrote of their seminal album, “The Velvet

Underground and Nico: the androgynous sexuality of glitter; punk's raw noir; the blackened-riff howl of grunge and noise rock. It is a record of fearless breadth and lyric depth.”

The instrumentation has an experimental quality Nico was a German model, who joined the Velvet Underground and

wanted to be as “ugly as possible.” She explains that she was judged and adored as

an object of beauty for so long that her quest to be ugly is a means of empowerment. Her lyric has almost a masculine strength to it.

The music functions in a way that creates a mood that opens the door to heightened awareness and challenges the sensibilities of musical conventions to that point. They often performed at Andy Warhol’s Warehouse

Warhol Shot a film in 1966 with title of the same name as the album above.

THE CLASH (YOUTUBE VIDEO SELECTIONS)

Paul Simonon came up with the band's name, The Clash, after they had considered alternatives including "The Weak Heartdrops" and "The Psychotic Negatives".

Simonon explained how he came up with the name, "It really came to my head when I start reading the newspapers and a word that kept recurring was the word 'clash', so I thought 'the Clash, what about that,' to the others. And they and Bernard they went for it.”

The music was often criticized for not being “radio friendly” The band's music was often charged by a leftist political ideology.

They are credited with pioneering the advocacy of radical politics in punk rock, and were known as the "Thinking Man's Yobs” by many simply for voicing a political slant other than anarchism.

They were never driven entirely by money; even at their peak, tickets to shows and souvenirs were reasonably priced.

GLAM PUNK: ZIGGY STARDUST (YOUTUBE) Gender Bending and Androgyny / Works against conventions of gender "Ziggy Stardust" is a Martian who comes to Earth to liberate humanity from

banality. It is the fictional rock superstar in Bowie’s 1972 album "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars" arrived with

the audacity of a slap in the face.   Bowie offered noise and glitz and sexual ambiguity as a statement - a finger up the nose of pop sincerity; a gob in the face of chart-fodder and froth; a boot in the collective sagging denim behind of hippie singer-songwhiners" - Rykodisc Sound+Vision booklet (1990)

"Ziggy, particularly, was created out of a certain arrogance. But, remember, at that time I was young and I was full of life, and that seemed like a very positive artistic statement. I thought that was a beautiful piece of art, I really did. I thought that was a grand kitsch painting. The whole guy." - Bowie (1977)

IGGY POP/THE STOOGES (YOUTUBE) Prior to first recording The Stooges performed 5 songs.

Believing that would be enough for the for their first album, the Stooges were told by Elektra that they needed more material. According to Iggy Pop, "We handed (the five-song version of the album) in and they refused it. They said, 'There aren't enough songs!' So we lied and said, 'That's OK, we've got lots more songs.'" (liner notes of 2005 reissue, p.9)

3 more songs written overnight “The Stooges” listed as 185 of 500 by Rolling Stone’s Best

Albums of All-Time Known for wild stage antics and provocation through shock

value (i.e. contortions and self-mutilation) Also glam punk (or proto punk)

NEW YORK GLAM PUNK

The New York Dolls (YouTube Video Selections) Also promoted androgyny Raw, loose style. They created a sound that critic Stephen

Thomas Erlewine wrote "doesn't really sound like anything that came before it. It's hard rock with a self-conscious wit, a celebration of camp and kitsch that retains a menacing, malevolent edge."

Had major influence on New Wave music and 80’s hair bands Other notable acts who have been described as glam punk

include Hanoi Rocks, Manic Street Preachers and D Generation.

PUNKS WITH A SATIRICAL SIDE… Die Toten Hosen YouTube Video Selection

Die Ärzte YouTube Video Selection

The Dead Milkmen YouTube Video Selection

Contemporary Punks - KMFDM

Kein Mitleid fuer die Mehrheit (no sympathy for the masses) German industrial band formed in the 80’s

and still going. KMFDM describes their sound as "the Ultra-

Heavy Beat" Bombastic beats with heavy synth riffs and

effected vocal The band claims its music is highly political,

anti-capitalism, anti-convention – many of its songs, however, seem more focused on self-aggrandizement and creating a “MOOD” for the “stompy” crowd that body slams and slings.

You might recognize some skin head types (Nazi Punks) in the violent scrum on the dance floor.

KMFDM (YouTube Selections)

IN THE PUNK SPIRIT Old school industrial frontrunners, Skinny Puppy perform their identity as animal rights and peace advocates.

Their politically and liberally charged music along with their stunning stage performances provoke and challenge.

Skinny Puppy (YouTube Selections)

Cyber Punks Continue to Provoke Social Consciousness

Tactical Sekt, an electro-industrial band from Germany, and other aggrotech bands like The Us Electric and Suicide Commando are anti-fascist, anti-oppression, anti-capitalism, etc.

Tactical Sekt have been called pessimists. We have been called negative. Two labels with which we disagree. What Tactical Sekt will say is that it has become discontent with guile. We will not stand by and watch the world eat itself up with its desire to play the part of God and forcing nature's hand to create the monstrosity that is immortality or the "perfect" child. Playing with the power of the human gene. Sentencing our fellow men to death. Life is a puzzle and these abominations are the pieces that Tactical Sekt wishes to lose.

Tactical Sekt is our way of shouting at the masses. It is our instrument of change. If this small voice is heard amidst the chaos then to us it is worth it.

Tactical Sekt (YouTube Selections) Suicide Commando (YouTube Selections)

SOURCES FOR THIS PRESENTATION

YouTube.com Various interviews, guest appearances and

performances http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki Individual Band Pages Rolling Stone Magazine Archival Materials BBC Nico Icon (1995) http://www.fastnbulbous.com/punk.htm Filth and Fury (2000)