Punk

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

This is a question for people who didn't experience punk firsthand (sorry o wise eldersaurs!)

How did the ideas/legacy/presence of punk affect your listening to and thinking about music?

(I didn't say it was a small question)

And do you still feel it as a presence within pop music and culture? Does it affect current music? Does it affect how you approach the music that came before it?

I'm interested in 'my' generation of listeners (30somethings) but also especially in 20somethings and younger - and in British people especially.

Comments

[sbp.livejournal.com]

I remember a slightly older neighbourhood kid showing me the cover of Frigging in the Rigging back in the day. But I was in Hong Kong until the middle of '77, so didn't directly experience anything before that.

I didn't mind the music (once I was a bit older), as I regarded it as a sped up loud version of '50s rock'n'roll which I liked. But I didn't particularly like the obnoxiousness, faux or otherwise. It's so-called DIY ethic didn't really rub off because when I was an young teenager we were doing it ourselves anyway, and we were more influenced by rock and early metal. And I preferred ska to punk anyway.

If it inspired people to form bands and write songs, then great, but it was more of a short-lived hyped-up fashion statement. On the other hand, it was a time when there were a lot of people about who really couldn't see how the '80s was going to be any better than the '70s, so the "no future" thing appealed to them.

The bands who became most successful starting in the punk era only really adopted it as a fashion statement before going on to do their own thing - e.g. the Police. Apart from the Sex Pistols (where music wasn't really the primary driver) I can't think of any really successful bands in the genre. Perhaps success wasn't the point, but you'd think there would be some longer-running and financially sound punk bands if it were a serious genre, especially given all the '80s bands/singers touring their hits in the past few years. Maybe it's harder to differentiate the music from various styles of rock.

I remember CRASS and Dead Kennedys, but neither of those were really UK punk bands. I guess The Damned did OK in the genre, but weren't really what I'd call a punk band. Exploited and the Anti Nowhere League are more what I'd call punk bands, but they didn't really get anywhere and the mysogynist lyrics probably didn't help.

(I'm not talking about American punk rock cos that's a whole other scene).

[sbp.livejournal.com]

So do the Clash count as punk, or the "going on to do their own thing" part of my argument?