What is punk, what caused it to be punk and how did it evolve in to a sub-culture? There are so many questions to answer. But one should take two steps back and have a proper rundown of the chronological history.
I wouldn’t say my taste in music has a typical genre, although I do like to stay within the realm of Mod-Punk-Skins. Obviously, there's a significant Mod influence in me from my older siblings. I guess I was fortunate enough to grow up around some classic Mod Rock and Motown records, but I never had the 1st hand opportunity to witness or experience anything from that time line. If you dig far enough you would notice from The Beatles to The Stones and from The Who to The Led Zeppelin they were all heavily influenced by a wide spectrum of Mississippi Delta Blues artists to Motown musicians from the 40’s and the 50’s – a straight import from America. They even openly admitted how they have channeled artists such as Howling Wolf, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Bo Didly and others in their music, but it’s definitely not stealing or borrowing. I believe every artist or band of every stripe builds on that which was done by their predecessors. It's only the great artists who manage to take things to a new level, in new directions.
Even, during the 60’s there was a lot happening in America comprised of topical and political issues. Civil Rights movement, Vietnam war, sending man on the moon, the Kennedy Brothers assassination, The Cold War, Cuba Missile Crisis, the Bay of Pigs Invasion, women suffrages, rise of the anti-government parties Weather Underground and Black Panther, etc. As you can see, singer/song writers have enough material to paint the 60’s canvas.
Meanwhile, in England things were not that chaotic in the 60’s. There were English artists who wrote songs inspired by other global issues, but not so much issues within England other than the Peace and Love movement and often about LSD as well. But, towards the mid 70’s the wind was shifted - England sided with the U.S. Govt. in the Cold War issue, and the OPEC oil price disaster led to so many businesses shut down all over the UK. People started to feel the wrath of the grim future and by the late 70’s it was an utter disaster. The Tories won the election, more factories and coal mines shut down, massive redundancy all across the Britain followed by the Falklands War in ’82. I mean we literally hated Maggie TWAT Thatcher, yet her way of governing the UK caused many good punk bands to come out of the woodwork. We were too young to comprehend what was happening around us, but the two things that made any sense to us were MUSIC and FOOTBALL.
Kids were depressed. There was this inner rage that just wanted to scream out and participate in some massive destruction, but everywhere you look it had already been torn down or destroyed. Kids could no longer afford to look like a Modstar unless you are a rich kid or a thieving drug dealing bastard. There was a growing movement to take music to a different level and not categorize it and create a sub-culture that everyone can fit in. Geeks, Goths, Freaks, Skinheads, Rude Boys/Girls, Shoegazers, The Social Rejects and even the Artsy kind found comfort under this massive umbrella known as Punk.
Punk was not all about the style of music; it had lot to do with the lifestyle that was lived by certain creeds. Nowadays we see these self-proclaimed punk bands spending more time on photo shoots, clothing endorsements, interviews and other publicity than actually being in the studio. They are headlining these big venues or fests sponsored by major corporations. But that’s completely opposite to the punk ideology: The people who make art their business are mostly imposters.
The truest form of Punk always remained either in the basement or someone’s backyard or in an abandoned warehouse. We didn’t want it to be so big where corporate would take over and major sponsors would get in the way of creativity. From the stage handlers to the sound check guys and from the venue organizers to the regular show goers, everybody knew everyone; it was an OPEN sacred community. There was no rock-star famed status where you have to wait on the queue to meet the bands or even mingle with them. We were all tired of hearing those high profile bands with their extravagant music compositions. We didn’t want to hear a 10-minute guitar solo or a 20-minute long symphonic or operatic rock, all we wanted to hear amplified loud distorted guitar sound coming out of those monstrous speakers and exhale our rage towards the depressed society .
Definitely, I was clearly one of the youngest show goers hanging out with my older sisters. Being a young kid back then meant I was constantly poor. Levi’s 501 folded bottomed Jeans, a plane white t-shirt, my brother’s Harrington jacket and a pair of 2nd hand high-top red Docs was all I could afford back then. Although I’m a Chelsea FC fan, but my sister got me an ICF (Inner City Firm) card from the legendary Cass Pennant (then Hammers’ Top Boy) to get student discounts on shows and on bus fares…that’s a soul brother for you.
Some of my fondest memories were seeing Ian Dury hitting the venue security guy in the back of his head with his crutch for not letting this kid get on the stage. Later that evening he even threatened to abandon the show if the show organizers didn’t let the kids get on the stage to sing and dance with the band. He literary did that and got his arse sacked that night…that’s typical Dury for you though. Another occasion, seeing eccentric Billy Childish with his old band The Mighty Caesars slagging off the Tories in between their songs, yet very articulate with his sarcasm.
Noticeably the punk movement started to die down in the early 90’s, guess there’s a lot had to do with the rave scene and massive amount of Ecstasy hitting the clubs and other venues. For those of us who are proper punk fans, we felt punk was a slaughtered lamb. There’s no use of it, it’s done serving its people. We waited over a decade to see that light of hope on the horizon. There’s a flock of new acts not labeling themselves as punk bands beginning to appear in the mid 2000’s, but massively influenced by punk acts/musicians from the 70’s and 80’s. Some have even hunted down their Punk heroes and had the opportunities to collaborate with them. With this being very encouraging, some of the classic punk bands such as The Damned, Gang of Four, The Ruts, Sham 69, The Fall, Adam and the Ants, etc. have started to emerge from an extended hiatus and started cutting some new records with new materials. Coincidentally, the Tories are back in the driving seat, unemployment rate is record high and our involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq war will give punk a new meaning to flourish again. I personally don’t think this new punk movement will embody its previous form, but that’s ok it’s a new era full of new purposes.
© Words - Shahriar Islam/ ZANI Media Ltd
Top Photography used by Kind Permission of Gavin Watson
