EDWARD'S LECTURE NOTES:
More notes at http://tanguay.info/learntracker
C O U R S E
History of Rock, 1970-Present
John Covach, University of Rochester
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C O U R S E L E C T U R E U.S. Punk 1967-1975 Notes taken on December 23, 2015 by Edward Tanguay |
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punk rock is an significant phenomenon in the history of Rock music
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a return-to-simplicity movement
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begins to bubble up in an underground scene way off the radar at the beginning of the 1970s
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then explodes on the scene in the UK in 1977 with the Sex Pistols
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New Wave becomes the adaptation of the punk attitude
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a push back against the ideas of professionalism and musical ambition which are part of the hippy aesthetic
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both punk and disco were rejections of the hippy aesthetic
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roots of punk
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1960s in the states
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a music about confrontation
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about rejecting the status quo
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not only culturally but musically
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Sex Pistols
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British
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first group to break through into a punk scene
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U.S. punk roots
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The Velvet Underground, late 60s
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in the period of psychedelia they had influence but not much
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they had more influence on punk in the New York punk scene
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formed by Lou Reed, song writer in New York
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John Cale, avant garde music
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associated with Andy Warhol
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he would have artist happenings
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not tie-die, hippy happenings
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more uptown, on the cusp of artistic development kind of events
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one of them was called "The Exploding Plastic Inevitable" and the Velvet Underground did the music for it
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1967 The Velvet Underground and Nico
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Nico was Andy Warhol's idea
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"Heroin" and "Venus in Furs"
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dark and existential
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didn't resonate with the happy, flower-power vibe of the day
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Iggy Pop
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from Detroit
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1970 The Stooges, Fun House
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Iggy Pop was influenced by Lou Reed
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"I heard Velvet Underground and I thought, that guy can't sing, I can't sing, I think I want to do music"
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a crazy performer who would do all kind of things
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smear his body with peanut butter
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walk out into the crowd and have them hold him up with their hands
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live shows were happenings
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The MC5
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1969 Kick Out the Jams
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lots of energy, profanity
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managed by John Sinclair
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refused to say that he managed a group because that seemed to controlling
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raw, aggressive approach to music
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against what the groups stood for who were popular at the time, e.g. the hippie aesthetic and professionalism and polish, even though they were being gritty
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MC5 was being gritty without the polish
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The New York Dolls
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creates a connection between the Velvet Underground and what was happening in punk
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1973 The New York Dolls
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1974 Too Much Too Soon
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glam meets the gritty city
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the first to put on lipstick and wigs and put on cowboy outfits
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they dressed it up to seem weird and shocking in various kinds of ways
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there was a sexual, drunken, drug undertone to a lot of what they did
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never had very big success
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but very important to other artists who came after them
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New York Punk Scene
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situated around a single club: CBGB
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Country Blue Grass Blues
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also Max's Kansas City
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the best they could do at first was to get a Sunday night at CBGB, a slow night
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early groups like
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Patti Smith
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The Ramones
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Talking Heads
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underground groups
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Patti Smith Group
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more of a poet than a singer
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teaming together with Lenny Kaye
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garage band singles called nuggets
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garage band became an influence on the punk sing
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1975 Horses, "Gloria"
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Television
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1977 Marquee Moon
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The Ramones
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Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee, Tommy
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1976 Romones, "Blitzkrieg Bop"
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outside of the punk community they were largely unknown
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Blondie
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went on to have commercial success
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Debra Harry
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obvsiously doing a kind of Marylin Monrow
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took the past and put it in ironic quotation marks
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1978 Parallel Lines
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early 70s punk
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nobody really knew about it unless you went down to those clubs and saw what was going on
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without the New York punk scene, the UK punk scene with the Sex Pistols, would never have happened
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Punk fashion
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ripped jeans
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leather jackets
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safety pins on clothes and through skin
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trademark hairstyle being the Mohawk
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sometimes dyed
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DIY aesthetic
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did everything themselves
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recording
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promotion
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done on small scale, not corporate, not even organized