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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 |
punk rock is an significant phenomenon in the history of Rock music
a return-to-simplicity movement
begins to bubble up in an underground scene way off the radar at the beginning of the 1970s
then explodes on the scene in the UK in 1977 with the Sex Pistols
New Wave becomes the adaptation of the punk attitude
a push back against the ideas of professionalism and musical ambition which are part of the hippy aesthetic
both punk and disco were rejections of the hippy aesthetic
a music about confrontation
about rejecting the status quo
not only culturally but musically
first group to break through into a punk scene
The Velvet Underground, late 60s
in the period of psychedelia they had influence but not much
they had more influence on punk in the New York punk scene
formed by Lou Reed, song writer in New York
John Cale, avant garde music
associated with Andy Warhol
he would have artist happenings
not tie-die, hippy happenings
more uptown, on the cusp of artistic development kind of events
one of them was called "The Exploding Plastic Inevitable" and the Velvet Underground did the music for it
1967 The Velvet Underground and Nico
Nico was Andy Warhol's idea
"Heroin" and "Venus in Furs"
didn't resonate with the happy, flower-power vibe of the day
1970 The Stooges, Fun House
Iggy Pop was influenced by Lou Reed
"I heard Velvet Underground and I thought, that guy can't sing, I can't sing, I think I want to do music"
a crazy performer who would do all kind of things
smear his body with peanut butter
walk out into the crowd and have them hold him up with their hands
live shows were happenings
lots of energy, profanity
managed by John Sinclair
refused to say that he managed a group because that seemed to controlling
raw, aggressive approach to music
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
MC5 was being gritty without the polish
creates a connection between the Velvet Underground and what was happening in punk
1973 The New York Dolls
glam meets the gritty city
the first to put on lipstick and wigs and put on cowboy outfits
they dressed it up to seem weird and shocking in various kinds of ways
there was a sexual, drunken, drug undertone to a lot of what they did
never had very big success
but very important to other artists who came after them
situated around a single club: CBGB
Country Blue Grass Blues
the best they could do at first was to get a Sunday night at CBGB, a slow night
more of a poet than a singer
teaming together with Lenny Kaye
garage band singles called nuggets
garage band became an influence on the punk sing
Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee, Tommy
1976 Romones, "Blitzkrieg Bop"
outside of the punk community they were largely unknown
went on to have commercial success
obvsiously doing a kind of Marylin Monrow
took the past and put it in ironic quotation marks
nobody really knew about it unless you went down to those clubs and saw what was going on
without the New York punk scene, the UK punk scene with the Sex Pistols, would never have happened
safety pins on clothes and through skin
trademark hairstyle being the Mohawk
did everything themselves
done on small scale, not corporate, not even organized