History of Punk Rock
“You don’t choose punk rock. Punk rock chooses you. ... Punk rock is like that. ... Punk rock has come quite a long way from its not so humble beginnings to its current state, in which no punk can agree on what band is punk and which is just “posing.” But one thing is for sure; punk has made a lasting impact on rock and roll forever. The spirit of punk rock has always loomed in music, even before 1977, when it became a major musical and cultural movement. The punk edge in music first became evident through the ’50s rockabilly genre. Rockabilly was hard, fast, and left behind a trail of destruction that paved the way for some of the ‘60s antecedents of punk rock. The Velvet Underground and MC5 were some of those ‘60s antecedents, who were borderline punk rock. Chances are they would have been categorized into the ‘70s punk movement, had they entered the scene about a decade later. However, by far the biggest influence to punk rock was the Godfather of Punk himself, Iggy Pop. ... He formed his band the Stooges, who were just a group of “… juvenile delinquent kids who were running wild in America…” and from that point on, rock and roll would be forever changed (Alexander, 182). Much like David Bowie, by the early ‘70s rock was defiantly going though an identity crisis of its own. Rock and roll was basically in a downward spiral. “We were all pretty disgusted with the state of rock and roll when we started the band in 1974” (Ramone, 262). ... Unexciting, standard corporate rock was in. ... Rock needed someone to reassert what it was all about. ... The Stooges left a lasting impact on what soon would be punk rock. Now that punk rock had a strong band supporting, itself one of the only things it needed then was a place where all its bands shared a common ground, a place where they were all fighting for the same cause and having fun all at once. ... soon dominated New York’s underground rock scene after the Mercer Arts Center collapsed. ... , standing for Country, BlueGrass, Blues and Other Music For Uplifting Gormandizers is one of the most important parts to the development of punk rock. Its nickname, “The Home of Underground Rock,” explains it all. Bands knew that if they were to get any recognition in this thing called “punk,” they were going to have to first go through C.