"Why has nothing knocked punk rock off its pedestal?"

Maybe they're just easily unnerved. The Teletubbies made some on the evangelical right uncomfortable.

 

For a while, my wife and I would veg-out in front of the Teletubbies during a period of stressful times, professionally/financially. A very relaxing program.

 

Yes they did. Members of Parliament threatened to ban the 'God Save the Queen' single, and one said the Pistols' album was "a symptom of the way society is declining."

 

So, both Beyoncé and the Pistols triggered strong reactions from the powers that be, then.

 

So now multimillionaire prefab corporate product Beyoncé is "punk rock" and threatening to the powers-that-be, rather than just having briefly pissing some people off in her attempts to be "relevant" and get press. Oy vey, kill this thread now.

 

You mean when she lip-sinced at Obama's inauguration? I thought that had been smoothed over.

 

No, I meant the Superbowl half-time show.

 

Well no one could fault her rendition of "At Last" during the Inaugural Ball. Except maybe...
Beyoncé slammed by Etta James for performance at Barack Obama inauguration ball »

 

Punk Rock is Dead - Long Live Punk Rock.

Meaning: Punk was a unique event characterized by a dramatic shift in both music and culture. Yes there was antecedents, but Punk was the flowering of something new in what he listened to, and how we fitted in (or not!) with the world around us.

What has survived as punk today is the music. For me, the music divorced from everything else that was around in 76/77 is something else. Like, anyone can play three chords, but no-one can do it in 76 any more.

Of course, people have some of the same concerns today - but it's a bit like saying wearing a tie-dye T-Shirt and growing your heair makes you a hippy, it really doesn't.

Let's remember what happened to Punk. The whole Punk thing was, over a period of two years or so (76 and 77 being the heart of it) adopted, adapted, and regurgitated by the media and the music business. It was all fun and games when The Sex Pistols signed for major labels, along The Clash, The Stranglers, The Vibrators etc. but it was also the death-knell as the majors repackaged it for the masses. Essentially that's what get today. I'm sure are punk bands doing things right now, but it'll never be the same.

As such, Punk can't be "knocked off its pedestal" because it was far more than a style of music. It engulfed everything, it spilled into all the arts - from film editing to painting - and it was a clear demarcation between what went before and what came after.

Finally - talking about what is, and what is not punk, is a minefield. For example, to my mind The Clash made one punk album - their debut. Everything after that was essentially rock music. The Stranglers made three punk albums - their first three. The Vibrators were never punk really (although Pure Mania is absurdly good). I also maintain my pet peeve - whenever people talk about punk, and their reference is The Sex Pistols, my heart sinks. Over the years the Pistols hype machine has rolled on, and the victors write the history - but honestly, while the media pitched a fit, as a punk on the streets of London at the time, they really weren't the be-all and end-all. There were bands equally as good (at being bad), and they get ignored because of that media hype. As such, I've grown ambivalent about them. I wish conversations about Punk moved on from The Sex Pistols.

 

Beatles thread? You're awfully sensitive. Very punk. ;-)

 

Well that's super!

 

Punk was a culture. It wasn't just the music. New wave was the music that followed, which itself spawned new cultures , like the new romantics, followers of ska.

 

Was punk ever put on a pedestal? Are no other artists rebellious except for punk rockers?

 

ELP's Pirates: all the sex and pistols this 16-year-old boy needed in 1977.

 

I'm not quite sure what your point is, I think maybe you are displaying your ignorance, as in 1976 there were very few punk records actually released, in the UK maybe a couple of singles? So how do you expect that to be reflected in the charts??? Punk was still in small clubs in 1976.

I mean the list does absolutely show why punk was so necessary and had to happen - mainstream chart music was abysmal and 'serious' rock music had disappeared up its own **** hole and had no connection to it's audience. Punk was about getting back to the roots - 2 or 3 minute blasts of energy that kids could relate to. In the UK, along with the musical revolution, there was also a political/social revolution that was in the long run more important.

 

I'm not quite sure what your point is, I think maybe you are displaying your ignorance, as in 1976 there were very few punk records actually released, in the UK maybe a couple of singles? So how do you expect that to be reflected in the charts??? Punk was still in small clubs in 1976.

I mean the list does absolutely show why punk was so necessary and had to happen - mainstream chart music was abysmal and 'serious' rock music had disappeared up its own **** hole and had no connection to it's audience. Punk was about getting back to the roots - 2 or 3 minute blasts of energy that kids could relate to. In the UK, along with the musical revolution, there was also a political/social revolution that was in the long run more important.

 

They all form boy bands now, and try their luck on The X-Factor.

 

No, Beyoncé is not punk rock. She's part of a much longer tradition of African-American protest: Paul Robeson, Billie Holiday, James Brown, Marvin Gaye, etc.

 

I agree with you, but Beyoncé singing "s**k on my balls" during "Sorry" is very much in the punk tradition, because it's unexpected.

 

Today she is. She wasn't before.

Some of the best Black music in American history was of protest and sociopolitical commentary. Curtis Mayfield, Lyn Collins, Laura Lee, the O'Jays, and Gil Scott-Heron are also part of that long tradition. Fishbone is one of the few successful Black bands that I can think of that come close to punk, though.

 

Bad Brains?

 

1978

Rush
Scorpions
Judas Priest
UFO
Van Halen
Heart
Cheap Trick

Bruce Springsteen
Tom Petty
Jackson Browne
Bob Seger

 

Rebellion comes when it is needs and with each wave it has a different name. It's like earthquakes out here on the west coast. You know another one will come around. Hold on to your hats because the next one will likely throw the needle off the graph.

 

Punk is the single most overrated genre in music ever. Hip hop comes second

 

Why are you so averse to punk? Is it because it usually doesn't feature virtuosic musicianship? Can't you connect on a visceral level? I'm not sure how someone could not like songs like:

The Undertones - Teenage Kicks
Richard Hell - Blank Generation
The Adverts - Gary Gilmore's Eyes
The Saints - (I'm) Stranded
999 - Homicide
ad nauseam

It seems like if one just likes rock in general that they would like these songs...but what do I know?