Rock in the 70s:
Punk and New Wave
PUNK
• Continuation of garage bands like The
Kingsmen
• Combined with “in your face” attitude,
rejection of commercial rock
• Rebellion against nearly all rock after early
1960s
Punk- The Beginning
• Surfaces in NYC 1974-75 at club CBGB OMFUG
– Country, Blue Grass, Blues, and Other Music
For Urban Gourmandizers
• First punk band: New York Dolls
– Modeled after English glam rockers like T. Rex,
David Bowie
– Performed in drag
– Limited musicianship
Punk - Style
Rock reduced to most basic elements
– Saturated eight beat - rock style beat
aggressively stated by every instrument
– Extremely fast tempos
• Rejection of overt moves to court
commercial popularity
• Talent optional; passion essential
The Ramones
• Surf band on speed
– Extremely fast tempos
– Repetitive, yet catchy lyrics
• Ex. Blitzkrieg Bop
The Sex Pistols
• English punk group, modeled after NY
Dolls
• Added to characteristics of Dolls, Ramones:
– Nihilistic attitude
– Gross antics and stage behavior
– Screamed, monotonous lyrics
The Sex Pistols
• Lyrics, behavior calculated to offend
• Songs like God Save the Queen, Anarchy in
the UK banned from BBC
– Tons of free publicity
– Shot Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex
Pistols to the top of UK charts
Anarchy in the UK
• Complete saturation of texture by eight beat rock
rhythm
– Rhythm guitar
– Bass
– Snare
• Screamed, aggressive vocal style
• Verse/refrain form
• Confrontational lyrics
Punk’s Demise
• Burns itself out in a few years
– After sparking trends in fashion, social
behavior
• Influence endures
– Brings certain drive back into rock
– Fuses with other influences to create…
New Wave
• Punk + other
• Wide variety of styles mix well with punk
– Punk + reggae
– Punk + pop
– Punk + art rock
Punk + Reggae
• Riff-based punk fuses particularly well with
reggae
– Political and social protest in both
– Rhythmic activity in reggae, especially
accented afterbeats
• Exs: The Clash
Elvis Costello
The Clash - The Guns of Brixton
• Eight-beat rhythm in drums, occasionally
divides to sixteen-beat
– Not saturated eight-beat
• Ska afterbeats in guitar
• Thin texture
• Rough, unmelodic vocal style
Punk + Pop
• Back-to-basics feel of punk revitalized pop
rock
• Bright, rhythmic feel of pop works with
saturated eight-beat texture
• Both employ stripped down, simple textures
• Exs: Blondie
B-52s
Elvis Costello
Punk + Art Rock
• Basic, stripped down textures of punk canvas for
artistic elaboration
• Can add
– Beat-type poetry
– World music
– Electronic music
– Or pretty much anything else
• Exs: Patti Smith
Devo
Talking Heads
Talking Heads - Psycho Killer
• Thin, transparent texture
• Eight-beat rhythm present as simple,
continuous rhythmic pulse
• “Behind the beat” feel from reggae
• Nearly monotone lyric delivery