Pop Music in Practice Ben Dawson-Punshon: 70's Blog

This is my 70’s blog for Pop In Practice. For this presentation, I had the choice of either writing about;

Two Tone
Prog Rock
Punk
Funk
Disco

I have decided to write mine on Punk. As with previously, I shall be giving an overview of the genre.

Origins

The exact location of where Punk came from is a question for debate. Some say that it started in America (there is evidence that suggests this), and others claim that it started in Britain (it is undeniable that there was a strong Punk scene in Britain).

The reason behind the strong debate is because of the music which directly influenced the Punk scene. This music would go on to be post humorously refered to as ‘Protopunk’.

Some artists associated with the terminology include:

Iggy and the Stooges - (Iggy Pop is known as the “Godfather of Punk”, which shows how influencial he was on the Punk scene)
MC5
New York Dolls
Patti Smith
Neon Boys
Velvet Underground (their debut album “The Velvet Underground & Nico” didn’t sell well, but has been stated that nearly everyone who bought the album went on to form a band. This makes the band and the artist highly influencial)

Protopunk shares many similarities in terms of sound and look to punk (such as short, raw songs with shouty vocals, and the DIY ethic associated with the clothing), this has caused the confusion that I refered to about what the difference between the two is.

So, with that, we’ve identified that it’s hard to distinguish between the two. Because of this, I would say that the Protopunk artists are the musicians that influenced the artists of the primary Punk scene.

When I refer to the artists of the primary Punk scene, I refer to bands such as:

· The Sex Pistols (British)

· The Ramones (American)

· The Clash (British)

· The Buzzcocks (British)

· Siouxsie and The Banshees (British)

· The Jam (British)

One other major influence on the development of Punk would be 1950’s Rock ‘n’ Roll. The music of Punk is basically a faster, more aggressive version of Rock ‘n’ Roll, both made high use of a 1 4 5 chord pattern.

Fashion

The style associated with the Punk sub-culture as well as the bands who developed the music, can be traced back to two people, Malcolm McLaren (who became the manager for the Sex Pistols and the New York Dolls) and Vivienne Westwood (a fashion designer).

Malcolm McLaren owned a shop called “Let It Rock” in London which sold Teddy Boy memorabilia. However, he grew tired of the shop due to the bad press associated with the Teddy Boy culture, so he travelled around America. He came across bands who would later be known as Protopunk, specificly the Neon Boys, fronted by Richard Hell (who is reportedly the first person to wear paperclips).

When Malcom came back to Britain, he renamed his shop “Sex” and sold clothing designed by his partner, Vivienne Westwood, based on the clothing he had seen (members of the Sex Pistols claimed to be regular customers of the shop).

The look of Punk generally includes torn clothing, black leather, tartan trousers, hair dyed bright vibrant colours and then spiked with gel or hairspray.

(Malcolm Mclaren out side Sex - image provided by "Lemonbarley7" via Photobucket)

(A group of punks, demonstrating the fashion of the subculture - image provided by "findstuff22" via Photobucket)

Sound

The instruments used in Punk music was mostly:

Guitar (raw and distorted)
Vocals (shouty)
Bass
Drum Kit

The music of Punk had emphasis on fast and thrashy elements, and less emphasis on artful crafting or technical accuracy.

Punk was the total opposite with what was also going through the 70's with Prog Rock, which featured

a lot of musicianship from its members, and required much technical skill. Punk was abrasive, fast, easy and passionate.

The sound very much shared the DIY ethic of the look, which encouraged people to just stand out and make a noise.

Many of the bands spoke that their songs were about the social state of affairs at the time, a social commentary if you

will.

Some songs also seemed to have a political edge, like the song "White Riot" by The Clash, which was trying to encourage

white youths to find a worthy reason to rebel and riot, like the black people had.

Cultural Influence

The cultural influence behind the punk scene is immense, and has had a big impact on modern music of today.

By the time Punk hit the 80's in America, it had evolved into a new sub-genre known as Hardcore Punk, which shared

a lot of the same ideals and sounds of earlier Punk. However, Hardcore Punk was generally even faster and more aggressive.

It was this sub-genre that heavily influenced other genres such as:

Thrash Metal - (which took elements of the aggression and speed of Hardcore Punk and mixing it with the more complex musicianship of Metal)
Grunge - (slowed down Hardcore Punk and made it even heavier, but keeping the anti-establishment ethics)

I shall finish this blog now with showing a couple of videos to demonstrate some of the point I have made.