Protopunk
Encyclopedia
Protopunk is a term used retrospectively to describe a number of musicians who were important precursors of punk rock
in the late 1960s to mid-1970s, or who have been cited by early punk musicians as influential. Typically, these artists were not themselves considered punk; furthermore, the typification is not widely regarded to have been the result of a distinct musical genre as these precursors came from a wide array of backgrounds, styles, and influences.
American acts like The Velvet Underground
, MC5
, The Stooges
, The Modern Lovers
, The Sonics
, New York Dolls
, Lou Reed
, Television
, Death
, Captain Beefheart
, Patti Smith
, Richard Hell
, and Rocket from the Tombs
, Love
, German Neu!
, and from Britain David Bowie
, The Kinks
, The Who
, Roxy Music
, Doctors of Madness
and Hawkwind
are commonly cited as the most noteworthy artists that would ultimately influence punk.
, a garage band from Portland, Oregon, had a breakout hit with their 1963 cover of "Louie, Louie", cited as "punk rock's defining ur-text
".The surf rock craze popularized and developed by The Beach Boys
and Dick Dale
, began to influence garage and later punk rock, with it's lighter, twangier guitar tone. The minimalist sound of many garage rock bands was influenced by the harder-edged wing of the British Invasion
. The Kinks
' hit singles of 1964, "You Really Got Me
" and "All Day and All of the Night
", have been described as "predecessors of the whole three-chord genre—the Ramones' 1978 'I Don't Want You,' for instance, was pure Kinks-by-proxy". In 1965, The Who
quickly progressed from their debut single, "I Can't Explain
", a virtual Kinks clone, to "My Generation". Though it had little impact on the American charts, The Who's mod anthem presaged a more cerebral mix of musical ferocity and rebellious posture that characterized much early British punk rock: John Reed describes The Clash's emergence as a "tight ball of energy with both an image and rhetoric reminiscent of a young Pete Townshend
—speed obsession, pop-art clothing, art school ambition". The Who and fellow mods The Small Faces
were among the few rock elders acknowledged by the Sex Pistols. By 1966, mod was already in decline. U.S. garage rock began to lose steam within a couple of years, but the raw sound and outsider attitude of "garage psych
" bands like The Seeds
presaged the style of bands that would become known as the archetypal figures of protopunk. With garage leanings, Love
's first two albums Love
(1966) and in particular Da Capo
(1967), began developing a proto-punk sound with songs such as "7 and 7 Is
"; which happened to be their only hit single. Love's Arthur Lee
has been regarded as "the first punk rocker". But Lee wasn't flattered by the phrase because the term punk meant "being somebody's bitch or something like that".
-based bands appeared that are commonly regarded as the central protopunk records. In January, Detroit's MC5
released Kick Out the Jams
. "Musically the group is intentionally crude and aggressively raw", wrote critic Lester Bangs
in Rolling Stone
.
That August, The Stooges
, from Ann Arbor
, premiered with a self-titled album
. According to critic Greil Marcus
, the band, led by singer Iggy Pop
, created "the sound of Chuck Berry
's Airmobile
—after thieves stripped it for parts". The album was produced by John Cale
, a former member of New York's experimental rock group The Velvet Underground
. Having earned a "reputation as the first underground rock band", The Velvet Underground inspired, directly or indirectly, many of those involved in the creation of punk rock.
In the early 1970s, the New York Dolls
updated the original wildness of 1950s rock 'n' roll in a fashion that later became known as glam punk
. The New York duo Suicide
played spare, experimental music with a confrontational stage act inspired by that of The Stooges. At the Coventry club in the New York City borough of Queens
, The Dictators
used rock as a vehicle for wise-ass attitude and humor. In Boston, The Modern Lovers
, led by Velvet Underground devotee Jonathan Richman
, gained attention with a minimalistic style. In 1974, an updated garage rock scene began to coalesce around the newly opened Rathskeller
club in Kenmore Square
. Among the leading acts were the Real Kids, founded by former Modern Lover John Felice; Willie Alexander and the Boom Boom Band
, whose frontman had been a member of the Velvet Underground for a few months in 1971; and Mickey Clean and the Mezz. In 1974, as well, the Detroit band Death
—made up of three African-American brothers—recorded "scorching blasts of feral ur-punk", but couldn't arrange a release deal. In Ohio, a small but influential underground rock scene emerged, led by Devo
in Akron
and Kent
and by Cleveland's The Electric Eels
, Mirrors and Rocket from the Tombs
. In 1975, Rocket from the Tombs split into Pere Ubu
and Frankenstein
. The Electric Eels and Mirrors both broke up, and The Styrenes
emerged from the fallout.
, which carried on in a similar vein. With his Ziggy Stardust
persona, David Bowie
made artifice and exaggeration central—elements, again, that were picked up by the Sex Pistols and certain other punk acts. The Doctors of Madness
built on Bowie's presentation concepts, while moving musically in the direction that would become identified with punk. Bands in London's pub rock
scene stripped the music back to its basics, playing hard, R&B-influenced rock 'n' roll. By 1974, the scene's top act, Dr. Feelgood
, was paving the way for others such as The Stranglers
and Cock Sparrer
that would play a role in the punk explosion. Among the pub rock bands that formed that year was The 101'ers
, whose lead singer would soon adopt the name Joe Strummer.
Bands anticipating the forthcoming movement were appearing as far afield as Düsseldorf
, West Germany, where "punk before punk" band NEU!
formed in 1971, building on the Krautrock
tradition of groups such as Can
. Simply Saucer
formed in Hamilton, Canada in 1973 and have been called "Canada's first proto-punk band" , blending garage rock, kraut rock, psychedelia and other influences to produce a sound that was later described as having a "frequent punk snarl." In Japan, the anti-establishment Zunō Keisatsu (Brain Police) mixed garage psych and folk. The combo regularly faced censorship challenges, their live act at least once including onstage masturbation. A new generation of Australian garage rock bands, inspired mainly by The Stooges and MC5, was coming even closer to the sound that would soon be called "punk": In Brisbane
, The Saints
also recalled the raw live sound of the British Pretty Things
, who had made a notorious tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1965. Radio Birdman
, cofounded by Detroit expatriate Deniz Tek
in 1974, was playing gigs to a small but fanatical following in Sydney
.
who used it in 1970 to describe the group Question Mark & the Mysterians, who scored a major hit with their song "96 Tears
." Over the next few years, the term was used occasionally to describe a number of American bands, mostly active in the mid-to-late '60s, playing music that today would be classified as garage rock
: a ragged, highly energetic, often amateurish form of rock and roll
.
In 1976 and 1977, punk rock became a worldwide phenomenon, with centers of activity in New York City
, London
, and Los Angeles
; though pockets of similarly-minded musicians could be found worldwide.
In later years, historians and critics began exploring the roots of punk, and the term "proto-punk" was coined to describe early, pre-punk influences.
Most musicians classified as protopunk are rock and roll performers of the 1960s and early-1970s, with garage rock often cited as an influence. Some protopunk bands, particularly in the United Kingdom, also fall into the categories of glam
, pub
, and prog rock
(Roxy Music
, for example, who straddled the line between glam and prog, and Peter Hammill
, of Van der Graaf Generator
, whose solo album Nadir's Big Chance
was cited by John Lydon
as an influence).
Songs such as "Communication Breakdown
" by Led Zeppelin
, "I'm Eighteen
" by Alice Cooper
, and "Paranoid
" by Black Sabbath
have been labeled protopunk.
Though of lesser importance, influence has come from outside rock and roll. Genres such as classical music
, the avant garde, outsider music
, reggae
(especially influential on English
punk), traditional Irish music
(especially Rebel songs) and free jazz
influenced punk rock and later post-punk
bands like Wire
, Crass and Public Image Ltd. In an interview with Trackmarx, a punk and indie webzine, Penny Rimbaud
of the anarcho-punk
band Crass said that they were more influenced by classical composers Benjamin Britten
, John Cage
and the avant garde than rock 'n' roll. This, however, does not make John Cage, for example, a proto-punk artist.
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
in the late 1960s to mid-1970s, or who have been cited by early punk musicians as influential. Typically, these artists were not themselves considered punk; furthermore, the typification is not widely regarded to have been the result of a distinct musical genre as these precursors came from a wide array of backgrounds, styles, and influences.
American acts like The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City. First active from 1964 to 1973, their best-known members were Lou Reed and John Cale, who both went on to find success as solo artists. Although experiencing little commercial success while together, the band is often cited...
, MC5
MC5
The MC5 is an American rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan and originally active from 1964 to 1972. The original band line-up consisted of vocalist Rob Tyner, guitarists Wayne Kramer and Fred "Sonic" Smith, bassist Michael Davis, and drummer Dennis Thompson...
, The Stooges
The Stooges
The Stooges are an American rock band from Ann Arbor, Michigan first active from 1967 to 1974, and later reformed in 2003...
, The Modern Lovers
The Modern Lovers
The Modern Lovers were an American rock band led by Jonathan Richman in the 1970s and 1980s. The original band existed from 1970–74 but their recordings were not released until 1976 or later. It featured Richman and bassist Ernie Brooks with drummer David Robinson and keyboardist Jerry Harrison...
, The Sonics
The Sonics
The Sonics are an American garage rock band from Tacoma, Washington, originating from the early and mid-1960s. Among The Sonics' contemporaries were The Kingsmen, The Wailers, The Dynamics, The Regents, and Paul Revere & the Raiders...
, New York Dolls
New York Dolls
The New York Dolls is an American rock band, formed in New York in 1971. The band's protopunk sound prefigured much of what was to come in the punk rock era; their visual style influenced the look of many new wave and 1980s-era glam metal groups, and they began the local New York scene that later...
, Lou Reed
Lou Reed
Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...
, Television
Television (band)
Television was an American rock band, formed in New York City in 1973. They are best known for the album Marquee Moon and widely regarded as one of the founders of "punk" and New Wave music. Television was part of the early 1970s New York underground rock scene, along with bands like the Patti...
, Death
Death (punk band)
Death was a garage rock and punk rock demo band formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1971 by the brothers Bobby , David , and Dannis Hackney. The African American trio started out as an R&B band but switched to rock after seeing an Alice Cooper show...
, Captain Beefheart
Captain Beefheart
Don Van Vliet January 15, 1941 December 17, 2010) was an American musician, singer-songwriter and artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. His musical work was conducted with a rotating ensemble of musicians called The Magic Band, active between 1965 and 1982, with whom he recorded 12...
, Patti Smith
Patti Smith
Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....
, Richard Hell
Richard Hell
Richard Hell is a singer, songwriter, bass guitarist, and writer.Richard Hell was an innovator of punk music and fashion. He was one of the first to spike his hair and wear torn, cut and drawn-on shirts, often held together with safety pins...
, and Rocket from the Tombs
Rocket From The Tombs
Rocket From the Tombs is an American rock music band originally active from mid-1974 to mid-1975 in Cleveland, Ohio.Heralded as an important protopunk group, they were little known during their lifetime, though various members later achieved renown in Pere Ubu and the Dead Boys...
, Love
Love (band)
Love was an American rock group of the late 1960s and early 1970s. They were led by singer/songwriter Arthur Lee and lead guitarist Johnny Echols...
, German Neu!
Neu!
Neu! was a German band formed by Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother after their split from Kraftwerk in the early 1970s...
, and from Britain David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
, The Kinks
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion band, The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a...
, The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
, Roxy Music
Roxy Music
Roxy Music was a British art rock band formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry, who became the group's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson. The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson . Former members include Brian Eno , and Eddie Jobson...
, Doctors of Madness
Doctors of Madness
Doctors of Madness were a British protopunk art rock band formed in 1974 in a cellar in Brixton, south London by the composer and lead singer/guitarist Richard Strange, known as ‘Kid’ Strange...
and Hawkwind
Hawkwind
Hawkwind are an English rock band, one of the earliest space rock groups. Their lyrics favour urban and science fiction themes. They are also a noted precursor to punk rock and now are considered a link between the hippie and punk cultures....
are commonly cited as the most noteworthy artists that would ultimately influence punk.
Origins
In the early and mid-1960s, garage rock bands that came to be recognized as punk rock's progenitors began springing up in many different locations around North America. The KingsmenThe Kingsmen
The Kingsmen is a 1960s garage rock band from Portland, Oregon, United States. They are best known for their 1963 recording of Richard Berry's "Louie Louie", which held the #2 spot on the Billboard charts for six weeks...
, a garage band from Portland, Oregon, had a breakout hit with their 1963 cover of "Louie, Louie", cited as "punk rock's defining ur-text
Urtext
Urtext is a word of German origin; ur- means "original," and text is as in English.In the humanities and social sciences, the word is often used in a metaphorical fashion to refer to a primitive, seminal, or prototypical example of an artistic genre or the basis of an ideological movement...
".The surf rock craze popularized and developed by The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
and Dick Dale
Dick Dale
Dick Dale is an American surf rock guitarist, known as The King of the Surf Guitar. He experimented with reverberation and made use of custom made Fender amplifiers, including the first-ever 100-watt guitar amplifier.-Early life:Dale was born in South Boston, Massachusetts and lived in nearby...
, began to influence garage and later punk rock, with it's lighter, twangier guitar tone. The minimalist sound of many garage rock bands was influenced by the harder-edged wing of the British Invasion
British Invasion
The British Invasion is a term used to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat, rock, and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States during the time period from 1964 through 1966.- Background :...
. The Kinks
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion band, The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a...
' hit singles of 1964, "You Really Got Me
You Really Got Me
"You Really Got Me" is a rock song written by Ray Davies and performed by his band, The Kinks. It was released on 4th August 1964 as the group's third single, and reached Number 1 on the UK singles chart the next month, remaining for two weeks...
" and "All Day and All of the Night
All Day and All of the Night
"All Day and All of the Night" is a song by the British band The Kinks from 1964. It can be found on their debut album "Kinks". It reached #2 on the UK Singles Chart and #7 on Billboards United States chart in 1965....
", have been described as "predecessors of the whole three-chord genre—the Ramones' 1978 'I Don't Want You,' for instance, was pure Kinks-by-proxy". In 1965, The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
quickly progressed from their debut single, "I Can't Explain
I Can't Explain
"I Can't Explain" is a song by the English rock band The Who, written by Pete Townshend, and produced by Shel Talmy. The song was issued as a single in December 1964 in the United States and on 15 January 1965 in the United Kingdom.-Background:...
", a virtual Kinks clone, to "My Generation". Though it had little impact on the American charts, The Who's mod anthem presaged a more cerebral mix of musical ferocity and rebellious posture that characterized much early British punk rock: John Reed describes The Clash's emergence as a "tight ball of energy with both an image and rhetoric reminiscent of a young Pete Townshend
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...
—speed obsession, pop-art clothing, art school ambition". The Who and fellow mods The Small Faces
The Small Faces
The Small Faces were an English rock and roll band from East London, heavily influenced by American rhythm and blues. The group was founded in 1965 by members Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones, and Jimmy Winston, although by 1966 Winston was replaced by Ian McLagan as the band's...
were among the few rock elders acknowledged by the Sex Pistols. By 1966, mod was already in decline. U.S. garage rock began to lose steam within a couple of years, but the raw sound and outsider attitude of "garage psych
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
" bands like The Seeds
The Seeds
The Seeds were an American rock band. The group, whose repertoire spread between garage rock and acid rock, are considered one of the pioneers of punk rock.-History:...
presaged the style of bands that would become known as the archetypal figures of protopunk. With garage leanings, Love
Love (band)
Love was an American rock group of the late 1960s and early 1970s. They were led by singer/songwriter Arthur Lee and lead guitarist Johnny Echols...
's first two albums Love
Love (Love album)
Love is the eponymous debut by the Los Angeles-based rock band Love. Twelve of the album's fourteen tracks were recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders in Hollywood on January 24–27, 1966...
(1966) and in particular Da Capo
Da Capo (Love album)
Da Capo is the second album by American rock group Love, released in January 1967 by Elektra Records. The bulk of Da Capo was recorded between September 27 and October 2, 1966. "7 and 7 Is" was recorded on June 20, and had been released as a single in July of 1966 backed with "No. Fourteen", an...
(1967), began developing a proto-punk sound with songs such as "7 and 7 Is
7 and 7 Is
"7 and 7 Is" is a song written by Arthur Lee and recorded by his band Love on June 20, 1966, at Sunset Sound Recorders in Hollywood. It was produced by Jac Holzman and engineered by Bruce Botnick....
"; which happened to be their only hit single. Love's Arthur Lee
Arthur Lee
Arthur Lee may refer to:*Arthur Lee , U.S. envoy to France*Arthur Lee, 1st Viscount Lee of Fareham , British soldier and diplomat*Arthur Lee , American psychedelic-rock musician...
has been regarded as "the first punk rocker". But Lee wasn't flattered by the phrase because the term punk meant "being somebody's bitch or something like that".
Development in the USA
In 1969, debut albums by two MichiganMichigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
-based bands appeared that are commonly regarded as the central protopunk records. In January, Detroit's MC5
MC5
The MC5 is an American rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan and originally active from 1964 to 1972. The original band line-up consisted of vocalist Rob Tyner, guitarists Wayne Kramer and Fred "Sonic" Smith, bassist Michael Davis, and drummer Dennis Thompson...
released Kick Out the Jams
Kick Out the Jams
Kick Out the Jams is the first album by Detroit protopunkers MC5, released in 1969. It was recorded live at Detroit's Grande Ballroom over two nights, Devil's Night and Halloween, 1968. In 2003, the album was ranked number 294 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time...
. "Musically the group is intentionally crude and aggressively raw", wrote critic Lester Bangs
Lester Bangs
Leslie Conway "Lester" Bangs was an American music journalist, author and musician. He wrote for Creem and Rolling Stone magazines, and was known for his leading influence in rock 'n' roll criticism....
in Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
.
That August, The Stooges
The Stooges
The Stooges are an American rock band from Ann Arbor, Michigan first active from 1967 to 1974, and later reformed in 2003...
, from Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...
, premiered with a self-titled album
The Stooges (album)
The Stooges is the self-titled debut of the rock band The Stooges. It was released in August 1969 and peaked at number 106 on the Billboard album charts. Two songs, "I Wanna Be Your Dog" and "1969", were released as singles. It is widely considered as one of the best proto punk albums...
. According to critic Greil Marcus
Greil Marcus
Greil Marcus is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in a much broader framework of culture and politics than is customary in pop music journalism.-Life and career:Marcus was born in San Francisco...
, the band, led by singer Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Though considered an innovator of punk rock, Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues...
, created "the sound of Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" , "Roll Over Beethoven" , "Rock and Roll Music" and "Johnny B...
's Airmobile
You Can't Catch Me
"You Can't Catch Me" is a song written and performed by Chuck Berry, released as a single in 1956. The song's lyrics mention racing a souped-up "air-mobile" down the New Jersey Turnpike...
—after thieves stripped it for parts". The album was produced by John Cale
John Cale
John Davies Cale, OBE is a Welsh musician, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the experimental rock band The Velvet Underground....
, a former member of New York's experimental rock group The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City. First active from 1964 to 1973, their best-known members were Lou Reed and John Cale, who both went on to find success as solo artists. Although experiencing little commercial success while together, the band is often cited...
. Having earned a "reputation as the first underground rock band", The Velvet Underground inspired, directly or indirectly, many of those involved in the creation of punk rock.
In the early 1970s, the New York Dolls
New York Dolls
The New York Dolls is an American rock band, formed in New York in 1971. The band's protopunk sound prefigured much of what was to come in the punk rock era; their visual style influenced the look of many new wave and 1980s-era glam metal groups, and they began the local New York scene that later...
updated the original wildness of 1950s rock 'n' roll in a fashion that later became known as glam punk
Glam punk
Glam Punk is a music genre that mixes elements of glam rock with protopunk or punk rock ....
. The New York duo Suicide
Suicide (band)
Suicide is an American electronic protopunk musical duo, intermittently active since 1970 and composed of vocalist Alan Vega and Martin Rev on synthesizers and drum machines. They are an early synthesizer/vocal musical duo....
played spare, experimental music with a confrontational stage act inspired by that of The Stooges. At the Coventry club in the New York City borough of Queens
Queens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
, The Dictators
The Dictators
The Dictators are an American punk rock band formed in New York City in 1973. Critic John Dougan said that they were "one of the finest and most influential proto-punk bands to walk the earth." The Dictators are represented in the "Punk Wing" of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in Cleveland, Ohio...
used rock as a vehicle for wise-ass attitude and humor. In Boston, The Modern Lovers
The Modern Lovers
The Modern Lovers were an American rock band led by Jonathan Richman in the 1970s and 1980s. The original band existed from 1970–74 but their recordings were not released until 1976 or later. It featured Richman and bassist Ernie Brooks with drummer David Robinson and keyboardist Jerry Harrison...
, led by Velvet Underground devotee Jonathan Richman
Jonathan Richman
Jonathan Michael Richman is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. In 1970 he founded The Modern Lovers, an influential proto-punk band. Since the mid-1970s, Richman has worked either solo or with low-key, generally acoustic backing...
, gained attention with a minimalistic style. In 1974, an updated garage rock scene began to coalesce around the newly opened Rathskeller
The Rathskeller
The Rathskeller was a Kenmore Square live music venue in Boston, Massachusetts that was open from 1974 to 1997. As implied by its name "Ratskeller" , the Rathskeller was a dimly-lit establishment...
club in Kenmore Square
Kenmore Square
Kenmore Square is a square in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, consisting of the intersection of several main avenues as well as several other cross streets, and Kenmore Station, an MBTA subway stop. Kenmore Square is close to or abuts Boston University, Fenway Park, and Lansdowne Street, a...
. Among the leading acts were the Real Kids, founded by former Modern Lover John Felice; Willie Alexander and the Boom Boom Band
Willie Alexander
For the football player of the same name see Willie Alexander .Willie "Loco" Alexander is an American singer and keyboard player based in Gloucester, Massachusetts....
, whose frontman had been a member of the Velvet Underground for a few months in 1971; and Mickey Clean and the Mezz. In 1974, as well, the Detroit band Death
Death (punk band)
Death was a garage rock and punk rock demo band formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1971 by the brothers Bobby , David , and Dannis Hackney. The African American trio started out as an R&B band but switched to rock after seeing an Alice Cooper show...
—made up of three African-American brothers—recorded "scorching blasts of feral ur-punk", but couldn't arrange a release deal. In Ohio, a small but influential underground rock scene emerged, led by Devo
Devo
Devo is an American band formed in 1973 consisting of members from Kent and Akron, Ohio. The classic line-up of the band includes two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs and the Casales . The band had a #14 Billboard chart hit in 1980 with the single "Whip It", and has maintained a cult...
in Akron
Akron, Ohio
Akron , is the fifth largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Summit County. It is located in the Great Lakes region approximately south of Lake Erie along the Little Cuyahoga River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 199,110. The Akron Metropolitan...
and Kent
Kent, Ohio
Kent is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the largest city in Portage County. It is located along the Cuyahoga River in Northeastern Ohio on the western edge of the county. The population was 27,906 at the 2000 United States Census and 28,904 in the 2010 Census...
and by Cleveland's The Electric Eels
Electric Eels (band)
The electric eels were a protopunk band active between 1972 and 1975. They formed in Cleveland, Ohio....
, Mirrors and Rocket from the Tombs
Rocket From The Tombs
Rocket From the Tombs is an American rock music band originally active from mid-1974 to mid-1975 in Cleveland, Ohio.Heralded as an important protopunk group, they were little known during their lifetime, though various members later achieved renown in Pere Ubu and the Dead Boys...
. In 1975, Rocket from the Tombs split into Pere Ubu
Pere Ubu
Pere Ubu is an experimental rock music group from Cleveland, Ohio.Père Ubu may also refer to:* Ubu, the enigmatic central figure of a series of French plays by Alfred Jarry, including Ubu Roi, and subsequent plays Ubu Cocu and Ubu Enchaîné...
and Frankenstein
The Dead Boys
The Dead Boys were an American punk rock band from Cleveland, Ohio. Among the first wave of early punk bands, the Dead Boys were initially active from 1976 to 1979, briefly reuniting in 1987, 2004 and 2005.-Formation and 1970s punk rock era:...
. The Electric Eels and Mirrors both broke up, and The Styrenes
The Styrenes
The Styrenes are an American proto-punk rock band, formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1975, by former members of other local underground scene bands, electric eels and Mirrors.-Members:* Paul Marotta − vocals, guitar, piano*UK Rattay − guitar...
emerged from the fallout.
International development
Britain's Deviants, in the late 1960s, played in a range of psychedelic styles with a satiric, anarchic edge and a penchant for situationist-style spectacle presaging the Sex Pistols by almost a decade. In 1970, the act evolved into the Pink FairiesPink Fairies
Pink Fairies were an English rock band active in the London underground and psychedelic scene of the early 1970s. They promoted free music, drug taking and anarchy and often performed impromptu gigs and other agitprop stunts, such as playing for free outside the gates at the Bath and Isle of Wight...
, which carried on in a similar vein. With his Ziggy Stardust
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars is a 1972 concept album by English musician David Bowie, which is loosely based on a story of a rock star named Ziggy Stardust. It peaked at number five in the United Kingdom and number 75 in the United States on the Billboard Music...
persona, David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
made artifice and exaggeration central—elements, again, that were picked up by the Sex Pistols and certain other punk acts. The Doctors of Madness
Doctors of Madness
Doctors of Madness were a British protopunk art rock band formed in 1974 in a cellar in Brixton, south London by the composer and lead singer/guitarist Richard Strange, known as ‘Kid’ Strange...
built on Bowie's presentation concepts, while moving musically in the direction that would become identified with punk. Bands in London's pub rock
Pub rock (UK)
Pub rock was a rock music genre that developed in the mid 1970s in the United Kingdom. A back-to-basics movement, pub rock was a reaction against progressive and glam rock. Although short-lived, pub rock was notable for rejecting stadium venues and for returning live rock to the small pubs and...
scene stripped the music back to its basics, playing hard, R&B-influenced rock 'n' roll. By 1974, the scene's top act, Dr. Feelgood
Dr. Feelgood
Dr. Feelgood may refer to:In music:*Dr. Feelgood , an album by American band Mötley Crüe**"Dr. Feelgood" , a single and the title track from that album*"Dr. Feel Good", a song by Travie McCoy on the album Lazarus...
, was paving the way for others such as The Stranglers
The Stranglers
The Stranglers are an English punk/rock music group.Scoring some 23 UK top 40 singles and 17 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are the longest-surviving and most "continuously successful" band to have originated in the UK punk scene of the mid to late 1970s...
and Cock Sparrer
Cock Sparrer
Cock Sparrer are a punk rock band formed in 1972 in the East End of London, England. Although they never enjoyed much commercial success, they are considered one of the most influential streetpunk bands, helping pave the way for the late-1970s punk scene and the Oi! subgenre...
that would play a role in the punk explosion. Among the pub rock bands that formed that year was The 101'ers
The 101ers
The 101ers were a pub rock band from the 1970s, notable as being the band that Joe Strummer left to join The Clash. Formed in London in May 1974, the 101ers made their performing debut on 7 September at the Telegraph pub in Brixton, under the name El Huaso and the 101 All Stars. The name would...
, whose lead singer would soon adopt the name Joe Strummer.
Bands anticipating the forthcoming movement were appearing as far afield as Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
, West Germany, where "punk before punk" band NEU!
Neu!
Neu! was a German band formed by Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother after their split from Kraftwerk in the early 1970s...
formed in 1971, building on the Krautrock
Krautrock
Krautrock is a generic name for the experimental music scenes that appeared in Germany in the late 1960s and gained popularity throughout the 1970s, especially in Britain. The term is a result of the English-speaking world's reception of the music at the time and not a reference to any one...
tradition of groups such as Can
Can (band)
Can was an experimental rock band formed in Cologne, West Germany in 1968. Later labeled as one of the first "krautrock" groups, they transcended mainstream influences and incorporated strong minimalist and world music elements into their often psychedelic music.Can constructed their music largely...
. Simply Saucer
Simply Saucer
Simply Saucer was a Canadian rock band, active in the 1970s. Based in Hamilton, Ontario, the band consisted of guitarist and vocalist Edgar Breau, keyboardist John LaPlante , bass guitarist Kevin Christoff and drummer Neil DeMarchant...
formed in Hamilton, Canada in 1973 and have been called "Canada's first proto-punk band" , blending garage rock, kraut rock, psychedelia and other influences to produce a sound that was later described as having a "frequent punk snarl." In Japan, the anti-establishment Zunō Keisatsu (Brain Police) mixed garage psych and folk. The combo regularly faced censorship challenges, their live act at least once including onstage masturbation. A new generation of Australian garage rock bands, inspired mainly by The Stooges and MC5, was coming even closer to the sound that would soon be called "punk": In Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, The Saints
The Saints (band)
The Saints are an Australian rock band, which formed in Brisbane in 1974 as punk rockers. Founders were Chris Bailey , Ivor Hay , and Ed Kuepper . Alongside mainstay Bailey, the group has had numerous line-ups...
also recalled the raw live sound of the British Pretty Things
Pretty Things
The Pretty Things are an English rock and roll band from London, who originally formed in 1963. They took their name from Bo Diddley's 1955 song "Pretty Thing" and, in their early days, were dubbed by the British press the "uglier cousins of the Rolling Stones". Their most commercially successful...
, who had made a notorious tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1965. Radio Birdman
Radio Birdman
Radio Birdman was one of the first punk bands in Australia along with The Saints. Deniz Tek and Rob Younger formed the group in Sydney, Australia in 1974...
, cofounded by Detroit expatriate Deniz Tek
Deniz Tek
Deniz Tek is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter and a founding member of Australian group Radio Birdman who broke up, for the last time, after their last European tour in 2007...
in 1974, was playing gigs to a small but fanatical following in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
.
Punk rock
The invention of the term "punk rock" is generally credited to critic Dave MarshDave Marsh
Dave Marsh is an American music critic, author, editor and radio talk show host. He was a formative editor of Creem magazine, has written for various publications such as Newsday, The Village Voice, and Rolling Stone, and has published numerous books about music and musicians, mostly focused on...
who used it in 1970 to describe the group Question Mark & the Mysterians, who scored a major hit with their song "96 Tears
96 Tears
"96 Tears" is a popular song recorded by ? in 1966. It hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. and on the RPM 100 in Canada and is ranked #210 on the Rolling Stone list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.-History:...
." Over the next few years, the term was used occasionally to describe a number of American bands, mostly active in the mid-to-late '60s, playing music that today would be classified as garage rock
Garage rock
Garage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name...
: a ragged, highly energetic, often amateurish form of rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
.
In 1976 and 1977, punk rock became a worldwide phenomenon, with centers of activity in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
; though pockets of similarly-minded musicians could be found worldwide.
In later years, historians and critics began exploring the roots of punk, and the term "proto-punk" was coined to describe early, pre-punk influences.
Categorization
The term "protopunk" is of uncertain origins, and has proven difficult to define, and many widely different groups have been so dubbed. Most had a certain attitude or appearance seen as important, as opposed to any specific musical tendencies. According to the Allmusic guide:Proto-punk was never a cohesive movement, nor was there a readily identifiable proto-punk sound that made its artists seem related at the time. What ties proto-punk together is a certain provocative sensibility that didn't fit the prevailing counterculture of the time ... It was consciously subversive and fully aware of its outsider status ... In terms of its lasting influence, much proto-punk was primitive and stripped-down, even when it wasn't aggressive, and its production was usually just as unpolished. It also frequently dealt with taboo subject matter, depicting society's grimy underbelly in great detail, and venting alienation that was more intense and personal than ever before.
Most musicians classified as protopunk are rock and roll performers of the 1960s and early-1970s, with garage rock often cited as an influence. Some protopunk bands, particularly in the United Kingdom, also fall into the categories of glam
Glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...
, pub
Pub rock (UK)
Pub rock was a rock music genre that developed in the mid 1970s in the United Kingdom. A back-to-basics movement, pub rock was a reaction against progressive and glam rock. Although short-lived, pub rock was notable for rejecting stadium venues and for returning live rock to the small pubs and...
, and prog rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
(Roxy Music
Roxy Music
Roxy Music was a British art rock band formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry, who became the group's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson. The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson . Former members include Brian Eno , and Eddie Jobson...
, for example, who straddled the line between glam and prog, and Peter Hammill
Peter Hammill
Peter Joseph Andrew Hammill is an English singer-songwriter, and a founding member of the progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. Most noted for his vocal abilities, his main instruments are guitar and piano...
, of Van der Graaf Generator
Van der Graaf Generator
Van der Graaf Generator are an English progressive rock band, formed in 1967 in Manchester. They were the first act signed to Charisma Records. The band achieved considerable success in Italy during the 1970s...
, whose solo album Nadir's Big Chance
Nadir's Big Chance
Nadir's Big Chance was the fifth solo album by Peter Hammill, released on Charisma Records in 1975.It was recorded shortly after a decision to re-form the band Van der Graaf Generator , and Nadir's Big Chance is actually performed by the reformed Van der Graaf Generator line-up.The album's songs...
was cited by John Lydon
John Lydon
John Joseph Lydon , also known by the former stage name Johnny Rotten, is a singer-songwriter and television presenter, best known as the lead singer of punk rock band the Sex Pistols from 1975 until 1978, and again for various revivals during the 1990s and 2000s...
as an influence).
Songs such as "Communication Breakdown
Communication Breakdown
"Communication Breakdown" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, from their 1969 debut album Led Zeppelin.- Structure :The pounding guitar riff was played by Page through a small, miked Supro amplifier throughout; and ran his Fender Telecaster through a fully closed Vox wah pedal to...
" by Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
, "I'm Eighteen
I'm Eighteen
"I'm Eighteen" is a 1970 song by rock band Alice Cooper, featured on their first major label release album Love It to Death. It was released in November 1970, 3 months prior to the album, and became the band's breakthrough hit.-Achievements:...
" by Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
, and "Paranoid
Paranoid (song)
"Paranoid" is a song by the British heavy metal band Black Sabbath, featured on their second album Paranoid . It is the first single from the album, while the B-side is the song "The Wizard". It reached number 4 on the UK Singles Chart and number 61 on the Billboard Hot 100...
" by Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
have been labeled protopunk.
Though of lesser importance, influence has come from outside rock and roll. Genres such as classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
, the avant garde, outsider music
Outsider music
Outsider music, a term coined by Irwin Chusid in the mid-1990s, are songs and compositions by musicians who are not part of the commercial music industry who write songs that ignore standard musical or lyrical conventions, either because they have no formal training or because they disagree with...
, reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
(especially influential on English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
punk), traditional Irish music
Music of Ireland
Irish Music is the generic term for music that has been created in various genres on the island of Ireland.The indigenous music of the island is termed Irish traditional music. It has remained vibrant through the 20th, and into the 21st century, despite globalizing cultural forces...
(especially Rebel songs) and free jazz
Free jazz
Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...
influenced punk rock and later post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
bands like Wire
Wire (band)
Wire are an English rock band, formed in London in October 1976 by Colin Newman , Graham Lewis , Bruce Gilbert , and Robert Gotobed...
, Crass and Public Image Ltd. In an interview with Trackmarx, a punk and indie webzine, Penny Rimbaud
Penny Rimbaud
Jeremy John Ratter , better known under his pseudonym of Penny Rimbaud, is a drummer, writer, poet, former member of performance art groups EXIT and Ceres Confusion, and co-founder of the anarchist punk band Crass with Steve Ignorant in 1977.-Biography:Rimbaud Jeremy John Ratter (born 8 June 1943,...
of the anarcho-punk
Anarcho-punk
Anarcho-punk is punk rock that promotes anarchism. The term anarcho-punk is sometimes applied exclusively to bands that were part of the original anarcho-punk movement in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s and early 1980s...
band Crass said that they were more influenced by classical composers Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
, John Cage
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
and the avant garde than rock 'n' roll. This, however, does not make John Cage, for example, a proto-punk artist.
Further reading
- Einarson, John. Forever Changes: Arthur Lee and the Book of Love. (Jawbone (1 May 2010)). ISBN 1906002312
- Schinder, Scott; Schwartz, Andy. Icons of Rock: Elvis Presley ; Ray Charles; Chuck Berry ; Buddy Holly ; The Beach Boys ; James Brown ; The Beatles ; Bob Dylan ; The Rolling Stones ; The Who ; The Byrds ; Jimi Hendrix.(ABC-CLIO, 2008). ISBN 0313338469
- Unterberger, RichieRichie UnterbergerRichie Unterberger is a US author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing.-Life and writing:Having worked as a DJ at WXPN in Philadelphia, he started reviewing records for Op magazine in 1983...
(1999). Music USA: The Rough Guide (London: Rough Guides). ISBN 1-85828-421-X - Unterberger, Richie (2002). "British Punk", in All Music Guide to Rock: The Definitive Guide to Rock, Pop, and Soul, 3d ed., ed. Vladimir Bogdanov, Chris Woodstra, and Stephen Thomas Erlewine (San Francisco: Backbeat). ISBN 0-879-30653-X
- Taylor, Steven (2003). False Prophet: Field Notes from the Punk Underground (Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press). ISBN 0-8195-6668-3
- Taylor, Steve (2004). The A to X of Alternative Music (London and New York: Continuum). ISBN 0-8264-8217-1
- Marcus, GreilGreil MarcusGreil Marcus is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in a much broader framework of culture and politics than is customary in pop music journalism.-Life and career:Marcus was born in San Francisco...
, ed. (1979). Stranded: Rock and Roll for a Desert Island (New York: Knopf). ISBN 0-394-73827-6 - Marcus, Greil (1989). Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of the Twentieth Century (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press). ISBN 0-674-53581-2
- Reed, John (2005). Paul Weller: My Ever Changing Moods (London et al.: Omnibus Press). ISBN 1-84449-491-8
- Bessman, Jim (1993). Ramones: An American Band (New York: St. Martin's). ISBN 0-312-09369-1