Punk RIP

[Dave W]

Sure, we accepted that it was musically left for dead many years ago, but this list shows how much it's become mainstream chic. Punkmatch dot com? puh-leeze! The end is near.

23 Pieces Of Evidence That Punk Is Dead

[SKATE RAT]

ha, my first time back and the first thing i see is Punk R.I.P.? i shouldn't have strayed Dave. but  that article has nothing to do with the kinda Punk i play.

[fur85]

Some of those are sad but I think the Bieber/Black Flag t-shirt is pretty funny.

[Hörnisse]

I remember Punk.  When I moved to Austin The Big Boys and The Dicks were the bands to see.

[gweimer]

#3, #10  snicker, snicker.   

[Psycho Bass Guy]

I never was much of a fan of the 'punk scene;' even 30 years ago, it seemed like a fashion statement. There's some good music there, though. Oh... and most of the people appearing on that page should be killed for good of humanity.

[Granny Gremlin]

Funny.... but punk will never die.  What is dead is the marketing horse the music/fashion/etc industries are still beating.

Punk (which is not an aesthetic genre, but that's another discussion - the industy has tried to coopt the aesthetic, or what they perceive/distilled as the aesthetic, without the substance and that is the source of the fail) has permeated music culture; the rise of the indie music scene is (part of) it's legacy.  .... and if you look for it, there are still kids starting proper punk bands (whatever you consider that to be, hardcore or otherwise), the scene is just under the radar a bit vs this 'pop punk' re-explosion, and I think they like it that way.

.... and yes, Psycho has a good point, even back in the day ("first wave"  - whatever) there were 'punk' kids who didn't get it either, or who (appeared to be) focused on the parts of punk that were of lesser importance (how one dresses was important to punk, but not in the typical way, and not above all else).  I mean, the Clash even documented  that (see White Man in Hammersmith Palais), while themselves being rather punked out.... and that sort of paradox is part of human nature anyway.

[leftybass]

In 1977 Punk was my doorway into music.

[Dave W]

#16 made me laugh.

The John Lydon butter ad shouldn't be on the list. He's always wanted to capitalize on his fame.

[uwe]

There were good and not so good punk bands like in any other genre. The political side of it was immature and nihilistic and in fact apolitical. Not sure what the Sex Pistols could have contributed to Martin Luther King's I have a Dream speech had they been around to be invited. Maybe Joan Baez with her acoustic guitar was more poignant after all.

The most annoying thing about punk was its elitism as to all other types of music. The most pretentious prog bands in their mothers' gowns never claimed that their music was the only thing worthwhile to the exclusion of everything else. Punk reeked of musical insecurity and intolerance.

And measured against its self perception/delusion, the first wave of punk (and don't pull that trick of defining The New York Dolls, The MC 5 and The Stooges as punk, before 1976/7 all three were found in the hard and heavy rock bins of the record stores, I was there) has left very few musical landmarks other than a few singles. There is no punk Sgt. Pepper, no punk Made in Japan live classic, no punk Blonde on Blonde and no punk Dark Side of the Moon. Heck, there isn't even a punk Frampton Comes Alive and ole Pete, even with hair, never claimed to be relevant to the world at large. He thought he just played music a few people liked.

The Clash's London Calling and the Ramones' debut (though the Ramones were to me more bubblegun than punk and I don't mean that negatively, I like them to this day) are exceptions, I grant you that.

[Dave W]

This thread made me realize I hadn't listened to certain albums in a while, so today's playlist included the Heartbreakers' L.A.M.F.

[uwe]

That's not punk either, Dave, just urban rock'n'roll.

[Nocturnal]

This thread made me realize I hadn't listened to certain albums in a while, so today's playlist included the Heartbreakers' L.A.M.F.

Real punk or not, a good choice 

[uwe]

I liked the Heartbreakers, but missed David Johansen's leer. But I heard nothing on their debut that made me cry out "punk"! They didn't have that chugging sawblade sound and looked way too cool to be punk, not ratty enough. Also the junkie image, never thought heroin a particularly "punk" drug, never mind Sid Vicious, he was the end of punk, not the beginning. Last but not least: The Heartbreakers' were just not angry enough to be punk.

I could never for the life of me hear what was supposed to be punk about The Stranglers and Television either. And American punk is generally too athletic and not miserable enough.

And I owned New York Dolls albums and MC5 ones long before I had even read the word punk anywhere (other than in The Sweet's 1975 single Turn it Down where Steve Priest has a "some kind of punk" one liner, I first heard of/read the term in the NME sometime around the summer of 1976). I marvelled at the fact why my former hard rock heroes New York Dolls and MC5 should all of the sudden be regarded as punk when they had never used that term. "Kick out the Jams" was for me prototype heavy metal.

[Nocturnal]

The Stranglers and Television may have just been lumped in with punk just by being new or different than normal at the time punk was really emerging.