The Definition Of Punk.

ewal

I was listening to a podcast this morning featuring the mighty Will Sergeant from The Bunnymen where by coincidence what is/was punk was discussed. Now there's a guy that knows his stuff. Perhaps to actually care whether something is punk or not, is in itself not very punk?

pintspiller

Rocker said:

As I understand it, punk was more or less confined to London, Dublin and Glasgow.  There were a number of punk bands from Dublin, The Boomtown Rats being the best known.  Attitude and a rebellious nature combined with irreverence for the music business defines punk in my opinion.

I thought The Rats were Irish living in London, rather than from Dublin. The Undertones are probably the only Irish act not to have eventually moved to England for the business, preferring their mothers' home-cooking.

NickL

pintspiller said:

Rocker said:

As I understand it, punk was more or less confined to London, Dublin and Glasgow.  There were a number of punk bands from Dublin, The Boomtown Rats being the best known.  Attitude and a rebellious nature combined with irreverence for the music business defines punk in my opinion.

I thought The Rats were Irish living in London, rather than from Dublin. The Undertones are probably the only Irish act not to have eventually moved to England for the business, preferring their mothers' home-cooking.

...as opposed to U2 who moved their business, if not themselves, to the Netherlands, preferring their tax loopholes.

UnclePsychosis

Never really been into musical gatekeeping, so I tend to see punk as an ethos and an attitude more than a genre. 

As a teenager in the 90s I discovered "The Best Punk Album In The World...Ever" which despite being a horrible commercial exercise ended up as a wonderful gateway. As well as all the usual suspects being introduced to bands like The Ruts, Killing Joke, Wire, Devo, Jonathan Richmond, Talking Heads and Television sent me down all sorts of amazing musical rabbit holes, most of which I'm still exploring to this day. 

Out of the "original" British punks from 1977 my favourites will always be The Clash, but an honorable mention for Stiff Little Fingers. As the quote went: "When It comes to punk: New York has the haircuts, London Has the trousers, but Belfast has the Reason"

 

UnclePsychosis

This video is great as well:

jonnyburgo

Punk to me is about a DIY ethic, arguably beginning with the mid 60s Garage bands in places like Texas. Lenny Kaye's Nuggets compilation is a great reference point.

Its actually a broad church though. For example The Minutemen were well punk but totally different to their peers. You had nihilistic stuff and empowering stuff like Bad Brains, Black Flag, which are hardcore bands but still under the umbrella of Punk.

Rocker

pintspiller said:

Rocker said:

As I understand it, punk was more or less confined to London, Dublin and Glasgow.  There were a number of punk bands from Dublin, The Boomtown Rats being the best known.  Attitude and a rebellious nature combined with irreverence for the music business defines punk in my opinion.

I thought The Rats were Irish living in London, rather than from Dublin. The Undertones are probably the only Irish act not to have eventually moved to England for the business, preferring their mothers' home-cooking.

You are right @pintspiller.  Most bands moved to London as there was a bigger market there than in Ireland.  Even so there were a number of Irish punk rock, later New Wave, that stayed in Ireland.  But for the chance to make it big, London was the place to move to.

WiresDreamDisasters

The definition of punk is threatening to hit people on online forums because you feel inadequate about your opinions.

Reverend

WiresDreamDisasters said:

The definition of punk is threatening to hit people on online forums because you feel inadequate about your opinions.

say that again and I'll give you a Chinese burn.

Funkfingers

CUE MUSIC: The Tubes - I Was A Punk Before You Were A Punk

prowla

You've just got to say you hate Prog rock and pretend you only know a major bar chord.

Jfingers

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned The Cramps, also part of the CBGB's crowd.

breakstuff

Jfingers said:

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned The Cramps, also part of the CBGB's crowd.

I'd definitely classify them as punk if we're talking attitude/doing your own thing and to hell if you make any money at it. They're probably more known for starting, or at least influencing, the upcoming pychobilly scene which, of course, had lots of punk elements too. 

Great band also.

R.I.P  Lux. 

Kilgore

AC/DC were often given the "punk" label at the beginning of their career. I don't think Angus had much time for it, insisting "we're just a Rock & Roll band". 

I think in AC/DC's case "punk" was often more of a cynical attempt by promoters, etc to jump on the punk bandwagon.

 They did play at CBGB once so I suppose somebody thought they were sufficiently "punk". 

EricTheWeary

prowla said:

You've just got to say you hate Prog rock and pretend you only know a major bar chord.

that does sound like me. I'll have to see if I can still fit in my bondage trousers...