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Explain punk "credibility"?

#64
john_martin_sai said:
This writer hits it on the head.

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The bands of the late-70's such as Sex Pistols, The Clash, Black Flag, Dead Kennedys etc..gave a new sound and a new voice of protest stemming from the 1960's counterculture and became the harder edge that woke up the world.

I wish I could say that it still exists today but, the so-called bands who claim to be punk, sing merely about pointless issues of how they thrashed their skateboard or about a girl/boy that broke their heart. (Avril Levigne, Green Day, etc)

These posers are tatted from head to toe sporting Mohawks and claim to be punk? Come on. You're not 'Punk',...You're a corporate puppet and conformist who follows every command (such as fashion) and lives only by the philosophy of 'what sells' to the masses. This is not the ideology that started the revolution.

In Punk there are no rules, no regulations, no politically correct statements - just sheer protest and a voice that has no limits or boundaries. These were the ideals of the pioneers of Punk and maybe there are a few hopefuls that still are out there, not selling out but, ultimately, I'm afraid that the truth remains : Punk is dead. Maybe solely by definition but, its legend still reigns and while others may claim to be it, they haven't got a clue what defined it.

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And punk in the sense of pure-straight-up-punk died before the end of the 70s. Lots of bands in the 80s tried to flog the punk horse, but they invariably sucked.

If you look at the so-called indie nowadays, it's just boring safe hipster music.

Which brings us to the later movement known as pop-punk. In the early 90s, bands such as Green Day, Blink-182 and the Offspring took punk and Nirvana and made it lighter, friendlier, more immature and (arguably) catchier. They started up a new sound, different from punk but it became known as punk anyway, and appealled to a generation of kids...

A style can never die, obviously. It can just be done so much that anyone who tries it is only being derivative of what has come before. But a movement can die.

____________________

If you're going to 'Punk' Tour Shows that have huge Corporate Sponsorships - It is not Punk.
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Some good points that. But I don't think punk has ever been anything more than a clever gimmick for the impressionable kids market. McClaren knew exactly what he was doing when he presented the Pistols to the masses. Punk was the perfect consumer product - cheap and easy to make, fashionable enough at the time to attract a lot of coin from eager purchasers.

I'm not saying that all punk was lousy, by the way. The punk subculture's attitude resulted in some great records at the time, even though for most of the artists it was an adopted pose to make themselves marketable. And yes, to some extent it was a breath of fresh air after the pompous excess of some aspects of the 70s.
 
#65
bassybill said:
Some good points that. But I don't think punk has ever been anything more than a clever gimmick for the impressionable kids market. McClaren knew exactly what he was doing when he presented the Pistols to the masses. Punk was the perfect consumer product - cheap and easy to make, fashionable enough at the time to attract a lot of coin from eager purchasers.

I'm not saying that all punk was lousy, by the way. The punk subculture's attitude resulted in some great records at the time, even though for most of the artists it was an adopted pose to make themselves marketable. And yes, to some extent it was a breath of fresh air after the pompous excess of some aspects of the 70s.
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Good post. Even though I didn't like much of the music (with some exceptions), I did like the attitude of some of those bands. Especially their attitude towards Rock & Roll being controlled by huge corporate owned record companies. Of course there was money to be made, so the record companies were quick to jump on the punk bandwagon. Ironically, those same multinational corporations found a way, not only to cash in, but control the very movement that was railing against them.
 
#68
MarkMgibson said:
Good post. Even though I didn't like much of the music (with some exceptions), I did like the attitude of some of those bands. Especially their attitude towards Rock & Roll being controlled by huge corporate owned record companies. Of course there was money to be made, so the record companies were quick to jump on the punk bandwagon. Ironically, those same multinational corporations found a way, not only to cash in, but control the very movement that was railing against them.
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How true.

Iggy Pop's "Lust for Life" is on commercials for a cruise ship company, the Buzzcocks are on a commercial for AARP, and Levi's features the Clash on an ad.

It's not just punk. "Revolultion" being used by Nike cracks me up in a sad way.
 
#69
jive1 said:
How true.

Iggy Pop's "Lust for Life" is on commercials for a cruise ship company, the Buzzcocks are on a commercial for AARP, and Levi's features the Clash on an ad.

It's not just punk. "Revolultion" being used by Nike cracks me up in a sad way.
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Yeah, that's something that's always annoyed the hell out of me too. Do they really need the money that badly? It's just not Rock & Roll either.
 
#73
saw the sex pistols in our local pub ' (Halfway Hotel, Goldthorpe, Yorkshire ) , when mclaren sent them up north to toughen them up a bit . Got to agree with Bassybill, Mclaren was superb at marketing. To be perfectly honest i thought they weren't v. good . J .Rotten was drinking at the bar and asked what i thought ..... told him i thought they were gonna struggle ! How wrong can you be ? At least i got a pint out of him !
 
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#74
Pacman said:
The best thing about being a Mod is being able to see deleted posts. This thread delivered!
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I wish I could see some of the replies!

This is an interesting thread. Funny, also. Trying to pick apart and define "punk". As it was said, punk is DIY, no more, no less. Most of the punk bands never sought to be known as punk bands, they just wanted to be heard and sing about things they knew, whether others could relate to them or not.
 
#75
Bert Slide said:
Here's Henry Rollins take on punk bands selling out. Interesting perspective:

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I like Henry Rollins, but I disagree with him. When I see people who you know have plenty of money allowing their music to be used to sell KFC or the latest hideous pair of $200 sneakers, I agree with Neil Young ("This Note's For You") and Bruce Springsteen (who made some scathing comments about the issue some years ago). It's greed over integrity, and greed seems to win most of the time.
 
#77
MarkMgibson said:
I like Henry Rollins, but I disagree with him. When I see people who you know have plenty of money allowing their music to be used to sell KFC or the latest hideous pair of $200 sneakers, I agree with Neil Young ("This Note's For You") and Bruce Springsteen (who made some scathing comments about the issue some years ago). It's greed over integrity, and greed seems to win most of the time.
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I'd rather hear Zeppelin in a caddy ad or Iggy in a cruise ad than used as filler for AM talk radio or cable news TV. I have to laugh after the initial vomit in mouth taste goes away when Faux News uses songs by old hippie bands for intro and exit segues.
 
#78
Bert Slide said:
I'd rather hear Zeppelin in a caddy ad or Iggy in a cruise ad than used as filler for AM talk radio or cable news TV. I have to laugh after the initial vomit in mouth taste goes away when Faux News uses songs by old hippie bands for intro and exit segues.
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Surely you're not suggesting that Pox News has a conservative bent? I'm shocked! Don't forget their logo: "We Report, You let us Decide". :rolleyes:

I know what you mean though; I heard them play "Gimme Shelter" after an Iraq war story. Talk about irony.
 
#79
MarkMgibson said:
Surely you're not suggesting that Pox News has a conservative bent? I'm shocked! Don't forget their logo: "We Report, You let us Decide". :rolleyes:

I know what you mean though; I heard them play "Gimme Shelter" after an Iraq war story. Talk about irony.
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It's really interesting how music that was once subversive is now so mainstream and the ironies it creates are endless. Most recent one to crack me up was Tom Morello's response to Paul Ryan when he found our Rage was his favorite band.
 

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