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No Future

London's Burning - The Clash
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The Clash's debut album signaled the arrival of a raw new sound that would define the era.

 

The Clash, The Sex Pistols and the Damned were at the forefront of the London punk scene of the 1970s. These bands took aim at the political and cultural landscape of the time. Originating in Great Britain, the United States, and Australia between 1974 and 1976, punk rock finds roots in 1960's Detroit bands like the Stooges, MC5 and Death.

God Save the Queen - The Sex Pistols
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The Sex Pistols released the song God Save the Queen during the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in 1977. The song was quickly banned from British radio.

 

God Save the Queen was a track from the album Never Mind the Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols. Despite it being the band's first and only album, it is considered by many to be one of the greatest albums of all time.

Gimme Danger - The Stooges
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In the late 1960s, Detroit's Stooges were making music far ahead of their time. The Stooges and bands like the MC5 were punk's forerunners.

 

Photo by Tom Copi

Inspired by blues musicians during a stay in Chicago, Iggy Pop appropriated some of their musical forms and began playing with the Asheton brothers in Detroit. Iggy's explosive stage antics were unlike anything audiences had seen.

Rockaway Beach - Ramones
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The fast-paced, stripped-down sound of New York's Ramones was full of energy and urgency.

 

photo by Ian Dickson, 1977

The Ramones formed in Queens in 1974. The band helped shape the punk rock movement in the 1970's. Punk magazine editor John Holmstrom described punk as "rock and roll by people who didn't have very many skills as musicians but still felt the need to express themselves through music."

FURTHER. . .

READ:

England's Dreaming by John Savage

Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain

Let Fury Have the Hour: The Punk Rock Politics of Joe Strummer edited by Antonio D'Ambrosi

Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution by Sara Marcus

Pretty in Punk: Girl's Gender Resistance in a Boy's Subculture by Lauraine LeBlanc

The Riot Grrrl Collection,edited by Lisa Darms

Sex Pistols: Poison in the Machine by John Scanlon

Punk Avenue: Inside the New York City Underground, 1972-1982 by Phil Marcade

LISTEN:

London's Calling, The Clash

Sandanista, The Clash

Demolcion!, Los Saicos

Ramones, Rocket to Russia, Ramones

Damned Damned Damned, The Damned

Kick Out the Jams, MC5

Raw Power, The Stooges

Bikini Kill, Bikini Kill

Damaged, Black Flag

Complete Discography, Minor Threat

Repeater, Fugazi

VIEW:

The Punk Singer

The Other F Word

Punk’s Not Dead

End of the Century: Story of the Ramones

Gimme Danger: Story of the Stooges

The Damned: Don't You Wish That We Were Dead

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“Punk rock is just another word for freedom."  -Patti Smith

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