1. Punk Rock Music

2. Punk rock typically means a fast, hard-edged style of music, often with
lyrics detailing anti-establishment sentiments. A good example of this
would be the song ‘God Save the Queen’ by the Sex Pistols.
Various sub-genres of rock use Punk to describe themselves. In fact,
the dating of the first use is still dubious.

3. The fame of the Punk Rock era is particularly apparent with the
television embodiment in The Young Ones in 1982.
The character Vyvyan Basterd is a ‘typical’ punk rocker, with four star
studs seemingly embedded in his skull, and in one episode it is
shown, he was ‘666’ on the back of his head, covered by his hair. He
is also shown to be, mannerless, loud, have very destructive
tendencies, including blowing things up, and a dislike for ‘niceness’
most people in general.

4. A list of somewhat influential Punk Rock Bands would be:
 The Ramones
 The Smiths
 The Clash
 The Sex Pistols
 Siouxsie & The Banshees
 The Undertones
 Dead Kennedys
 The Velvet Underground
 The Stooges
 Buzzcocks

5.  The main characteristics that make up a common punk rock song
consist of;
 A fast-paced, aggressive sound .
 Lyrics displaying anti-establishment or rebellious ideas, something
also prominent in the members themselves.
 The rejection of conformity and independence, ie releasing records
without signing to a record label, and the strong desire to make a
new sound.
 Often, band members had little skill as musicians, but felt the need to
express themselves.
 It was widely considered a movement as much as it was a musical
style.

6.  The instrument line-up is quite common for most styles or rock;
usually consisting of two guitars, a bass, drums and vocals.
 The songs themselves rarely span more than 2-3 minutes.
 There are not often guitar solos, but short, loud guitar breaks.
 Songs are often shouted rather than sung, however there are
acceptions such as Joe Strummer of The Clash, who was known for
his singing style.
 Often the vocalists shared a similar look, either performing shirtless,
or with cut-off jackets.

7. The Clash
 Formed in 1976, The Clash were subscribed many different genres
aside from Punk, their music incorporated elements
of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly.
 They combined their somewhat political and rebellious lyrics with a-
typically musical sound.
 Their most famous album is London Calling, released in 1979.

8. The Ramones
 They formed in 1974, and where often though to be the first punk-rock
group.
 They toured for 22 years, and became a large influence on many
bands.
 The logo has been adopted widely in the media.

9. The Sex Pistols
 Formed in 1975, the are world renowned for being the pioneers of
the British punk-rock scene.
 Their songs are notoriously anti-establishment, often denouncing
‘The Man’
 The band refused to attend a ceremony inducting them into the Rock
& Roll Hall of Fame
 They broke up in 1978 when Johnny Rotten left. Bassist Sid Vicious
overdosed a year later.

10. This is an excerpt from part of a documentary on the history of Punk
Rock. It depicts a famous interview the Sex Pistols did with Bill
Grundy in 1976 where they famously swore live on television before
the watershed. At the time this created a great deal of outrage.

11. Siouxsie and the Banshees
 Formed in 1976, they were a British rock band initially associated
with the English punk rock scene.
 The band evolved to create "a form of post-punk discord full of
daring rhythmic and sonic experimentation“
 They became inspirational in the creation and development of
the gothic rock genre.
 Their music also combined elements of pop and avant-garde.
 The Banshees disbanded in 1996, with Siouxsie and
drummer Budgie continuing to record music as The Creatures, a
second band they had formed in the early 1980s.
 In 2004, Siouxsie began a solo career.

12. Buzzcocks
 Formed in England in Bolton in 1976, they are an English punk-rock
band.
 They are regarded as an important influence on the Manchester
music scene, the independent record label movement, punk
rock, power pop, pop punk and indie rock.
 The name "Buzzcocks" was chosen by Howard Devoto and Pete
Shelley after reading the headline "it's the buzz, cocks!" in a review
of the TV series Rock Follies in Time Out magazine. The "buzz" is
the excitement of playing on stage; "cock" is Manchester slang
meaning "mate". They thought it captured the excitement of the Sex
Pistols and nascent punk scene.

13.  The label of ‘Punk Rock’ has become very popular, however very
little of the original style is kept.
 It has helped to spur the creation of the classification ‘alternative
rock’ which shares some of its ideals.
 ‘Emo’ is another sub-genre which has been derived from the left over
sound .
 ‘Indie’ bands tend to follow the same style, ie becoming independent
from record labels, and finding their own styles. They have become
almost a soft-core incarnation of the original Punk ideals.

14.  The lines to what is punk rock have become somewhat blurred, and
many derivatives of the genre have been formed.
 As I have mentioned, ‘Indie’ bands follow some of the original ideals.
 ‘Emo’ and the derivative ‘Scremo’ often follow some of the more anti-
establishment ideals, and more predominantly the style of music.
 Some bands are classed as derivatives of punk, but lean away from
that particular genre.
 An example of this would be Blink-182 who, admittedly, were often
classed as more of a pop-punk band rather than fully punk rock.
However, their signature style is that they don’t often take
themselves seriously, undermining their genre-grouping.

15.  Examples of some modern-day Punk Rock bands would be;
 Green Day
 Sum 41
 The Offspring
 Anti-Flag
 NOFX
 AFI
 Many of these bands formed around the late 1980s and early 1990s.

16.  John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten, singer, Sex Pistols, got his
signature look from the fact he contracted spinal meningitis when he
was seven years old, the treatment of which meant drawing fluid
from his spine. It left him with a permanent spinal curvature and what
he would later describe as the ‘Lydon Stare’
 Michael Ryan Pritchard III bassist, Greenday changed his name to
‘Mike Dirnt’ because he liked the sound his deadened bass strings
made when he played them.