just strum said:
As the desire to recapture through the return to simplicity, I think you captured its definition with the same.
The problem what I see with punk or really how punk is viewed is that it is associated far too often with the Sex Pistols and in John Lydon's eyes, they were the ONLY punk band. Punk was and is so much more, but as it was expanded, the core following felt it was a sell out. I look at it more as better musicians recognizing its importance and taking it to acceptance without wearing safety pins.
This is an astute observation, and supported by both musicological and historical factors.
First, let me relate a bit of my personal experiences with the punk rock as an observation. This all goes back to my basic premise that punk is an integral part of rock and roll and NOT some separate or fringe music genre.
I got into punk rock when records (some of which had been out for anywhere from 3 or 4 or more years) began to get enough press coverage (remember, no intranets) for me to become aware of them (since mainstream rock radio essentially banned them in the states) in the early 1980's. I still liked 60's rock (especially the first half, not so much the trippy/hippy/jammy or acid stuff) and some mainstream 70's rock that captured some of that (perfect example: hometown heroes Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers). I thought of "punk rock" and "punk rockers" as something totally separate and foreign.
Until, of course, I heard it, and met some punk rock people.
Keep in mind, I was not a "cool" person. At the time, I was in my first band. I did not have a lot of cool clothes (whether by punk or mainstream standards) or a cool (whether by punk or mainstream standards) haircut. Basically I was a nerdy honors-student type kid who was the antithesis of the rocker, even though I liked rock music. From what I read, if I went to a punk rock show I would be shunned as not hip enough. And lots of people would be spitting on each other.
To use a Britishism, it was all a load of bollocks.
The punk rockers I met, including groundbreaking local punk band Roach Motel, one of the handful of early Florida punbk rock bands, welcomed me with open arms. I never got one ounze of **** about not being hip enough. I got invited to crazy house parties. I heard the Roach Motel cover BTO's "Takin' Care of Business." When my band covered Thin Lizzy's "Jailbreak" at the the Roach Motel's unofficial HQ, the House of Death, no one booed or even ran for cover. When I went to a "punk rock" birthday party, I might hear a side of Aerosmith alongside the Ramones or 999.
A lot of my misunderstanding of punk rock has or had to do with what I call the "Britishism" of punk rock. I thought punk rock was something from the UK, the Ramones notwithstanding. Like so many others, I had it bass-ackwards. The Ramones predated the UK bands-- many of which had been inspired by the Ramones' July 4, 1976 performance in London at the Roundhouse , where members or future members of the Pistols and Clash were in attendance. Another groundbreaking American band was the NY Dolls, whom the Pistols' manager had purported to "manage" as they fell apart; the subsequent arrival in the UK of Dolls splinter band the Heartbreakers (no relation to Tom Petty) was another ealry influence there.
It's been my experience that UK people tend to see punk as an historical/youth trend movement first, and as a musical genre second. Americans, the other way round. The reasons for this are at least two-fold. First, in the UK punk was much more closely tied to fashion, and fashion is inherently short-lived . The Ramones dressed totally in American iconic clothing: straight-legged jeans, biker jackets, T-shirts, and Converses. No safety pins or trash bags.
Second, in the UK punk was wildly successful in the short-term. Number one on the pop charts (although those same charts refused to put the song title on the chart--instead leaving a blank). In the US, it was virtually impossible to even hear punk on the radio in the 70's. In the UK, punk was another flash-in-the pan like mods or Teds, or New Romantics to come. In the US punk was a commercial failure, and punk rock went back underground, establishing it's network of magazines (fanzines), clubs, even safe houses (crash pads).
:beer:
