Amcult Exam 2, Lecture 18 And 19

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2 combined definitions of punk

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Definitions
Punk is probably the most elusive of our groups to define for a number of reasons:
Punk has variously been described as being
nihilistic, anarchistic, socialistic, and, in contrast racist, sexist, homophobic, or even far-right, as in Nazi-Punk
And, Punks themselves especially don’t like definitions
2) Punk is the quintessential DIY culture in which anything goes, and anything can be meant to “mean” anything
1) There are so many varying stylistics within Punk:

There really doesn’t seem to be an overarching unifying characteristic to Punk, except for that DIY mentality and antiauthoritarian stance .
But if Punk can be seen as any one thing, perhaps it can be seen as a reaction against the youth scene of the hippies and the 60s.
This is a new idea, because the hippies were, in many ways, an extension, or technological outgrowth of the Beats. Hippies never rejected the Beats, but as we know embraced many of the Beats as their tribal elders.
Punks, on the other hand, rejected much of what the hippie scene had turned into, and so for the first time we have youth rejecting youth. Whereas the mainstream had always been the enemy, to that Punks added their immediate predecessors – hippies.

Front 2

origins of punk

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The origin of the term Punk seems to have come, not from within the movement, as did Beat (since there was no Punk movement when the term was coined) , nor fully from outside like the word Hippie.
Rather, critic Dave Marsh coined the term in a review of the band ? And the Mysterians in 1971.
Then in 1972 Lenny Kaye (who would be in Patti Smith’s band) wrote liner notes for a compilation album in which he described the music as being “young… unprofessional… more at home practicing (than touring)”
Origins

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7 cultural contexts of punk

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So… unlike their hip predecessors, Punk was, from its inception, linked to music.
Why? What cultural context(s) might have changed to evolve to allow this?
1) The Beats “liked” jazz, but they didn’t make it
4) The Beatles turned everyone onto the idea that anyone could make a rock and roll band again.
2) Rock and roll entered the scene in the early-mid 50s as a voice for a new youth. (note: not a youth “movement” yet)
3) By the late 50s rock had been co-opted or the main artists were no longer active

5) Hippies came of age with The Beatles, but their own music started out as just a by-product of the psychedelic scene
6) 60s music ultimately became commodified and too virtuosic separating the music from the audience, performer from community.
7) By the early 70sTo rebel against commodi-rock one had to be a “punk” in all the senses of that word.

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DIY culture

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DIY Culture
In a DIY culture, reacting to a mainstream co-optation of “hipness” one of the primary tools one has is to take the very imagery of mass culture and turning it into something that can be inspected, and probably ridiculed.
Probably no one was ever better at that than Andy Warhol and it was his constant use of mass culture as a means of commenting on itself that made him a natural matrix for the DIY punk scene.
As Leland states: “If corporate brands produced marketing that acted like culture, the new underground…” headed by Warhol… “produced culture that acted like marketing.”

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Warhol's factory

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Warhol’s Factory
The idea of “punk” may have been born in Warhol’s Factory during the mid-late 1960s. The Factory was a single room covered in tin foil on W 47th St in New York. It was Warhol’s base of operations.

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the velvet underground and warhol

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The Velvet Underground had already been formed by Lou Reed in 1965 but weren’t going anywhere.
saw the band, fell in love with Lou Reed, and thought Warhol could make money combining his films with a rock band.
One of Warhol’s Factory “stars” Gerard Malanga…
…who created his alter-ego of Candy Darling

The Velvet Underground become a pet project of Warhol.
Originally they were rough, extremely loud, and deliberately anti-commercial
They write songs about sexual deviancy, drug addiction, violence, and social alienation. Reed and John Cale write highly experimental and self-conscious music.
Warhol thinks they need some “glamour” so he insists they add the German model Nico as their front person

Front 7

proto punk, AA style

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More Proto Punk
(Ann Arbor Style)
The MC5 were formed in Lincoln Park in 1964.
Wayne Kramer and Fred "Sonic" Smith (guitars) Michael
Davis (bass), Rob Tyner (vocals), and Dennis Thompson
(drums).
The band quickly developed a huge following in Detroit basically becoming the house
band at Russ Gibb’s Grande Ballroom.
Openly espousing radical left-wing politics, open drug use, and free sex, the heat in
Detroit became too much for the band and they moved to Ann Arbor.

Front 8

the stooges

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The Stooges, formed here in Ann Arbor in 1967, were the working class antithesis
of the Velvet Underground. They wore leather jackets and had outrageous stage
performances. Iggy Pop, their lead singer, sang largely about the depression of
unemployed Michigan youth. A great example is their song 1969.
The Stooges

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the new york dolls

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Formed in NYC in 1971 the Dolls were an
American response to the British Glam movement.
The New York Dolls
Although establishing certain core features of the punk movement (they are
always cited as the main influence on British punk), drugs quickly took them out
of the scene.
Their first gig was at a homeless shelter in NYC.
Their music was critically described as: “hard
rock with a self-conscious wit, a celebration of
camp and kitsch that retains a menacing,
malevolent edge.”

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70s didn't start out too great

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The 70s don’t start out so great
either
The war in Viet Nam rages on
The Black Panthers espouse violence
The Weathermen create urban terrorism
Jim Morrison is dead - 1971
4 Dead in Ohio - Kent State - 1970
The Beatles break up - 1970
The Watergate break-in - 1972
Watergate hearings - 1973
Spiro Agnew resigns as Vice President - 1973
Nixon resigns - 1974
Economic recession is in high gear - 1974

Front 11

night fever-disco

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Night Fever - Disco
The disco scene was an overt alternative to rock music.
It was focused on dancing, which rock was not
It was anti album-as-art
It was anti musician-as-star
Disco was made possible by a number of contextual factors:
Inspiration of Black pop music (Motown, soul, funk)
The rise of social dancing
New technologies (synthesizers, mixers, drum machines, etc.)
Influence of Hollywood in promoting musical trends
Recession of the 1970s that caused club owners to not hire live acts

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night fever-punk

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(they only come out at) Night Fever -
Punk
The punk scene was an overt alternative to rock music.
It was focused on the audience, which rock was not
It was anti album-as-art
It was anti musician-as-star
Punk was made possible by a number of contextual factors:
Inspiration of early Black music (hard core rock and roll)
The rise of a new social scene for outsiders
A rejection of new technologies (synthesizers, mixers, drum machines, etc.)
A fascination with Hollywood and pop culture iconography
Recession of the 1970s that caused a harsher life style

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new york and such

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New York
As San Francisco was to the Hippie scene, New York was to Punk
As the Haight was to San Francisco, the Bowery was to New York
As the Fillmore and Avalon were to Hippie music, CBGBs was to Punk

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cbgb

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CBGB
CBGB stood for Country, Blue Grass, and Blues
(the OMFUG - and Other Music For the
Underground Gourmandiser - was added later)
was opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal.
Hilly originally intended it to feature the three
types of music mentioned in C BG B
Hilly allowed local musicians who had no place else to play to perform there,
and, legend tells us, that in March of 1974, Television became the first band to
bring “punk” music into the club.

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a movement is born with cbgb

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A Movement is Born
By the time CBGB begins to flourish Punk had risen to embody many of
the same characteristics that we’ve discussed all semester:
The bands and the scene all share a common bond: the hung out in the
same places, knew each other, shared band members
There was no emphasis on actually being musically accomplished. It was
enough just to play what they wanted.
Many of the early scene and band members were art students
And other members of the scene were middle-class kids frustrated and
discontented with the world.

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coed punk

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Coed Punk
Rock, with the exception of the “girl groups” of the 60s, was a male bastion.
The few exceptions, Janis Joplin and Grace Slick, were seen as different
entities. Even Grace was not accorded the same credibility as was Janis.
Women just weren’t taken seriously in rock, until Punk.
Mainstream rock had a male superstructure: indie rock is far more female than
the corporate labels. As such, women played a bigger role in punk than in
mainstream rock.
Just like the male proto punk bands there were important female proto punk
bands.

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patti smith

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Patti Smith
Patti Smith was born in 1946.
From the late 60s through the early 70s she was
heavily involved in theater, poetry, painting. Among
her NY friends were the artist/photographer Robert
Mapplethorpe and actor/playwrite Sam Shepard, and
Allen Ginsberg.
She was deeply influenced by the French poet Artur
Rimbaud.
By 1974 she had a full band and in 1975 she was
signed to Arista Records.
She’s been inducted onto the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and was voted by
Rolling Stone magazine #47 of the 100 greatest artists of all time.

Front 18

the ramones

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The Ramones
The Ramones were the first true punk band and formed in NYC
in 1974. They too were loud and deliberately projected a street
tough image (even though they all came from middle class
homes). They began playing at CBGBs in 1975 and soon had a
contract with Sire Records. When touring England in 1876 they
created a British invasion in reverse by influencing almost all the
bands there.