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Punk Rock
I was only nine years old when the Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Damned, the UK Subs, and all of the other first generation punk bands burst onto the music scene in 1976/77. I remember my dad taking me into the city centre and there were all of these punk rockers standing around in the square. It was all very exciting, rebellious and colourful, and I was attracted to it like a magnet to a fridge door.
By the time I came of age and got into punk it had evolved into the hardcore punk movement with bands like Crass, Discharge, Conflict, GBH et al. The music had become faster, harder, and more aggressive, and the subject matter of the bands lyrical content had become almost exclusively political in nature. It wasn't called "Anarcho-punk" at the time, that label was created in subsequent years to label that specific genre, and it could easily have been tagged as "political punk", as that is essentially what it was.
Despite being heavily influenced by hardcore political punk bands such as Crass, what I took issue with was that many of them criticised bands like the Pistols and the Clash; accusing them of being "pop-stars", "sell-outs", and "only in it for the money". Many viewed the Pistols as puppets manipulated by Malcolm McClaren, and the Clash as dupes of the big record companies. Crass even sang "Punk is dead", which essentially condemned the whole punk movement as a farce which had sold out to big business.
Crass were Anarchists in the classic sense of the word. They were ideologically motivated and weren't really a punk band in the popular conception of the genre, they were more of a political machine which used musical instruments as a vehicle to promote their political ideals. Despite having all their albums, I wasn't really that keen on the Crass sound, it was more their politics, imagery, the shroud of mystery in which they enveloped themselves, and the esoteric nature of this band which I found alluring. Listening to Crass made you feel that you were being informed about the inherent corruption of society; something which the general population were in total ignorance of and not interested in, preferring to keep their heads buried in the sand.
But I didn't like Crass's attacks on the first generation of punk bands such as the Sex Pistols and The Clash, as without these bands there would have been no Crass and no Anarcho-punk. The Sex Pistols and The Clash et al. were the progenitors of the punk movement. They were rock revolutionaries, and their music and attitude influenced a generation; including Steve Ignorant of Crass.
Crass took a chip off the old punk rock block and created their own sub-genre: politicising punk to the point of political overload; virtually eliminating the fun element of punk and making it all very dark, cynical, and serious-minded. Don't get me wrong, I appreciated Crass, as they provided the punk movement with depth, substance, and political clout; but I also loved the more light-hearted nature of the Sex Pistols and all of the first generation of punks bands, and still do.
These bands may not have liked eachother, but I liked them both. They were two sides of the same coin, and both had something to offer. If you've never heard of "Crass", it's probably because they were strictly anti-commercial, opposed to the mainstream record industry, and promoted themselves through their own independent record label, thus staying outside of the musical mainstream. They had their faults (some might suggest that their music was one of them), but as Anarchists, they practiced what they preached, and attempted to transform punk into a way of life, as opposed to just another passing fad.
I'll be 44 years old this year (that's a bit scary!), and I still love and listen to punk rock, as it has an authenticity, spirit, and energy found in very few other musical genres, and despite no longer being the biggest Anarchist in the UK, I still try to live my life in line with those ideals; continuing to reject capitalism and materialism for a simple way of life.
What are your memories of punk? Did it mean anything to you? Who were your favourite bands? And do you still listen to punk?
By the time I came of age and got into punk it had evolved into the hardcore punk movement with bands like Crass, Discharge, Conflict, GBH et al. The music had become faster, harder, and more aggressive, and the subject matter of the bands lyrical content had become almost exclusively political in nature. It wasn't called "Anarcho-punk" at the time, that label was created in subsequent years to label that specific genre, and it could easily have been tagged as "political punk", as that is essentially what it was.
Despite being heavily influenced by hardcore political punk bands such as Crass, what I took issue with was that many of them criticised bands like the Pistols and the Clash; accusing them of being "pop-stars", "sell-outs", and "only in it for the money". Many viewed the Pistols as puppets manipulated by Malcolm McClaren, and the Clash as dupes of the big record companies. Crass even sang "Punk is dead", which essentially condemned the whole punk movement as a farce which had sold out to big business.
Crass were Anarchists in the classic sense of the word. They were ideologically motivated and weren't really a punk band in the popular conception of the genre, they were more of a political machine which used musical instruments as a vehicle to promote their political ideals. Despite having all their albums, I wasn't really that keen on the Crass sound, it was more their politics, imagery, the shroud of mystery in which they enveloped themselves, and the esoteric nature of this band which I found alluring. Listening to Crass made you feel that you were being informed about the inherent corruption of society; something which the general population were in total ignorance of and not interested in, preferring to keep their heads buried in the sand.
But I didn't like Crass's attacks on the first generation of punk bands such as the Sex Pistols and The Clash, as without these bands there would have been no Crass and no Anarcho-punk. The Sex Pistols and The Clash et al. were the progenitors of the punk movement. They were rock revolutionaries, and their music and attitude influenced a generation; including Steve Ignorant of Crass.
Crass took a chip off the old punk rock block and created their own sub-genre: politicising punk to the point of political overload; virtually eliminating the fun element of punk and making it all very dark, cynical, and serious-minded. Don't get me wrong, I appreciated Crass, as they provided the punk movement with depth, substance, and political clout; but I also loved the more light-hearted nature of the Sex Pistols and all of the first generation of punks bands, and still do.
These bands may not have liked eachother, but I liked them both. They were two sides of the same coin, and both had something to offer. If you've never heard of "Crass", it's probably because they were strictly anti-commercial, opposed to the mainstream record industry, and promoted themselves through their own independent record label, thus staying outside of the musical mainstream. They had their faults (some might suggest that their music was one of them), but as Anarchists, they practiced what they preached, and attempted to transform punk into a way of life, as opposed to just another passing fad.
I'll be 44 years old this year (that's a bit scary!), and I still love and listen to punk rock, as it has an authenticity, spirit, and energy found in very few other musical genres, and despite no longer being the biggest Anarchist in the UK, I still try to live my life in line with those ideals; continuing to reject capitalism and materialism for a simple way of life.
What are your memories of punk? Did it mean anything to you? Who were your favourite bands? And do you still listen to punk?
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