The Punk, just a line of demarcation (1)

(One file in four parts) Literature on English-language popular music was not born yesterday. Often it related to the same times and the same subjects. For this reason, I liked recently Will Hermes' book “New York 1973-1977”, which paints a portrait of the American city in a time of an animated transition when, at the end of the 1960s, a depression reigned. It was due to global circumstances but also to the musical situation, of which the number one fact was the separation of the Beatles. But other events made of this time a kind of desert that this book denies, showing that these years were like a vivid preparation for the emergence of a new New York scene. If the so-called punk movement has known many books, it has not been so long that many works of different languages have focused mainly on the post punk (about 1977-1984), the pre punk, (1974-1977), see even the protopunk, towards the end of the 60s with MC5, excellent group a little lost sight, The Sonics and of course Iggy Pop and the Stooges, maybe the true and unique punk group in the general acceptance of the term. The journalist Lester Bangs had already called these bands 'punk' sixties, but the future forced them to change the term. These works, mainly on post punk, follow today the taste of the fifty-year-old public, but also teenager, as if nothing had qualitatively surpassed this decade. I don’t believe in “it was better before”, but it was perceived differently. Since the 90s, if we can recognize a grunge scene, a revival of britpop, many English bands no longer rank as before. As we know, the music market has changed, but I do not believe that this caused any influence. Popular music has had new artists since the 1990s, but, like oil on canvas, it is difficult to invent something surprising or new. Even bands such as Radiohead, Coldplay, or more recently The National, Father John Misty, cannot avoid comparison with old artists and styles.  

Jack White may be one of the most innovative, but perhaps that is the reason for his great musical culture. The last record of his group The Raconteur, remains one of the most exciting of this year, but it will not prevent us from finding references. But let’s come back to the “punk”, which for the past few weeks I’ve been telling you it didn’t exist as we think. First it was an adjective that meant something “worthless” or thug. In Brazil today, the word appears in common language to mean that the situation was hot, tense and that it almost went wrong. In New York, the word came back into the musical milieu to define a wave of new artists around 1973, which was far from the progressive rock of a Genesis, ELP, Pink Floyd or Yes. The magazine «Punk» was born in 1975 and it designates with this word this handful of excellent bands in the making such as Blondie, Talking Heads, Television, Suicide, The Ramones, Patty Smith, who played in the club CBGB, without having a common musical link.

Talking Head at the CBGB,77

But it was not a question of safety pin, piercing, green iroquois crest, or trousers too tight and perforated everywhere without forgetting the return of the leather perfecto, adorned with swastika, Which was absurd since the punks called themselves anti-fascists. Let us not forget the phenomenon that was the New York Dolls, a group close to the glam of musicians dressed as girls and sowing the hustle and bustle where they passed.  

The New York Dolls

All these groups visited very different genres, from the intellectual rock or arty, to the self-destructive rockabilly of Suicide, the band of Alan Vega. Only The Ramones played a basic rock at lightning speed equivalent to two minutes a song, and their not-so-elegant rocker look combined with what they offered Americans. It is important to say that violence between fans did not exist, already that they were the regulars of the famous CBGB