Punk Music History

Punk music history is much debated because this rock genre has its foundations in several places. Punk rock is a musical category that best describes the garage singers and musicians of the 1960’s. Punk bands began playing with no vocal or musical talent and, sometimes, without instrument skills. Their lack of knowledge about musical rules determined them to break the rules often.

Punk music developed simultaneously in America and the UK. In the mid ‘60s, bands like the Stooges were playing raw, political and often crude songs in violent concerts that were usually finished with the appearance of some law enforcement entity. The Velvet Underground soon joined the pack by producing music that, most of the time, bordered on noise.

The first punk music bands appeared in New York. The Ramones were playing regularly in the Bowery District. While American punk bands were expanding their creativity, the London punk scene was being born from political and economical issues. The British punk scene was populated with rebellious youth who was out of work and angry at a government that was out of shape and fostered high unemployment rates. The punk music industry developed in London in the same time with the punk fashion industry. Punk fashion had its center in one shop called SEX and owned by Malcolm McClaren. His project will later develop into one of the most iconic punk bands of all times: the Sex Pistols. By the late 1970’s the punk movement had exploded into a real musical force. Most punk singers began embracing the DIY movement and creating their own individual style. Still, political lyrics and anti-establishment attitudes were stronger than ever. One of the most memorable names from the London punk scene include The Clash, The Slits, Generation X with its front man Billy Idol, X-Ray Spex and Siouxsie and the Banshees.