Good morning, my name is Barbieru Vlad-Andrei, and today I am holding a presentation

regarding punk rock and its cultural impact in the United Kingdom.
I chose this genre of music as my graduation paper subject because I feel that its a genre that
has garnered a lot of negative reception from people around the globe.
As punk rock is a genre near and dear to my heart I felt that I should do something to help
people who dislike such music gain a deeper understanding of the genre and its subcultures,
and understand that its more than shameless rebelion with no artistic merit.
Many people immediately push away certain styles of music without having explored what it
has to offer. Not all styles will appeal or resonate with a person, but one may discover a new
part of ones self when you are open to all the possibilities.
The term "punk" was first used in relation to rock music by some American critics in the early
1970s, to describe garage bands and their devotees. By late 1976, bands such as the Sex
Pistols, The Clash and The Damned in London, and Television, Patti Smith, and
the Ramones in New York City were recognized as the vanguard of a new musical movement.
The following year saw punk rock spreading around the world, and it became a major cultural
phenomenon in the United Kingdom.
The first wave of punk rock aimed to be aggressively modern, distancing itself from the
bombast and sentimentality of early 1970s rock.
According to Ramones drummer Tommy Ramone, "In its initial form, a lot of [1960s] stuff
was innovative and exciting. Unfortunately, what happens is that people who could not hold a
candle to the likes of Hendrix started noodling away. Soon you had endless solos that went
nowhere. By 1973, I knew that what was needed was some pure, stripped down, rock 'n' roll."
John Holmstrom, founding editor of Punk magazine, recalls feeling "punk rock had to come
along because the rock scene had become so tame that [acts] like Billy Joel and Simon and
Garfunkel were being called rock and roll, when to me and other fans, rock and roll meant this
wild and rebellious music."1
Technical accessibility and a DIY spirit are prized in punk rock. In the early days of punk
rock, this ethic stood in marked contrast to what those in the scene regarded as the
ostentatious musical effects and technological demands of many mainstream rock bands.
Ironically enough, despite being fundamentally anti-estabilishment and anti-capitalism, punk
started when Briton Malcolm McLaren returned to London in May 1975, inspired by the new
scene he had witnessed at CBGB. The Kings Road clothing store he co-owned, recently
renamed Sex, was building a reputation with its outrageous "anti-fashion.2 Among those who
frequented the shop were members of a band called The Strand, which McLaren had also been
managing. In August, the group was seeking a new lead singer. Another Sex habitu, Johnny
Rotten, auditioned for and won the job. Adopting a new name, the group played its first gig as
the Sex Pistols on November 6, 1975, at Saint Martin's School of Art.3 In February 1976, the
band received its first significant press coverage; guitarist Steve Jones declared that the Sex
Pistols were not so much into music as they were "chaos". The band often provoked its
crowds into near-riots.4 Rotten announced to one audience, "Bet you don't hate us as much as
we hate you!"5 McLaren envisioned the Sex Pistols as central players in a new youth
movement, "hard and tough".
Bernard Rhodes, a sometime associate of McLaren and friend of the Sex Pistols, was
similarly aiming to make stars of the band London SS. Early in 1976, London SS broke up
1

McLaren, Malcolm, "Punk Celebrates 30 Years of Subversion", BBC News, August 18, 2006
"The Sex Pistols", Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock 'n' Roll (2001).
3
Gimarc (2005), p. 22; Robb (2006), p. 114; Savage (1992), p. 129.
4
Savage (1992), pp. 151152.
5
Quoted in Friedlander and Miller (2006), p. 252.
2

before ever performing publicly, spinning off two new bands: The Damned and The Clash,
which was joined by Joe Strummer, former lead singer of The 101'ers.6
On June 4, 1976, the Sex Pistols played Manchester's Lesser Free Trade Hall in what came to
be regarded as one of the most influential rock shows ever. Among the approximately forty
audience members were the two locals who organised the gigthey had formed
the Buzzcocks after seeing the Sex Pistols in February. Others in the small crowd went on to
form Joy Division, The Fall, andin the 1980sThe Smiths.7
In July, the Ramones crossed the Atlantic for two London shows that helped spark the nascent
UK punk scene and affected its musical style"instantly nearly every band speeded up".8
On July 4, they played with the Flamin' Groovies and The Stranglers before a crowd of 2,000
at the Roundhouse. That same night, The Clash debuted, opening for the Sex Pistols in
Sheffield. On July 5, members of both bands attended a Ramones club gig. The following
night, The Damned performed their first show, as the Sex Pistols opening act in London.
In critic Kurt Loder's description, the Sex Pistols purveyed a "calculated, arty nihilism,
[while] the Clash were unabashed idealists, proponents of a radical left-wing social critique of
a sort that reached back at least to ... Woody Guthrie in the 1940s".9

Despite the internal turmoil in the punk movement, punk rock made several things clear to
international audiences. Punk Rock, in its subculture, managed to break down many barriers
of expression and language. It made an indentation in the commericial music industry. It
provided a fresh alternative to a boring, stagnant music scene.
Therefore, punk was a manifestation of the frustration musicians and young adults felt when
confronted with a stagnating music industry. It was a breath of fresh air in a monotonous
society.
Most of all, punk's legacy lies in its introduction of self employment and activism. It
illustrated that anyone can do it themself, without reliance on the commercial media or the
luxury of having financial abundance. Against the backdrop of mass consumer conformity, the
punk rock movement made a statement of individuality that was heard worldwide.
Punk was such a huge innovation at the time that the aftershocks of its conception are still felt
today. It allowed a generation to vent their frustrations with the way society expected them to
act and feel, and taught people to do away with the monotony and convention of their
ordinary lifes and have some honest fun.

Savage (1992), pp. 124, 171, 172.

"Sex Pistols Gig: The Truth". BBC. 2006-06-27.
8
Taylor (2003), p. 56
9
Loder, Kurt (2003-03-10). "The Clash: Ducking Bottles, Asking Questions". MTV.com.
7