Fifty years ago, a series of events on both sides of the Atlantic conspired to give birth to a new strain of rock that was paradoxically both revolutionary and reactionary.
asserted
that → conspire → rock
It was branded as “punk rock.”
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It → brand → rock
Over about 12 months, it demonstrated an aesthetic, an attitude and a sense of fashion, although punk split into two distinct flavours.
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punk → demonstrate → flavours
NYC punk’s epicentre back then was CBGB, a former biker bar on the ground floor of a flophouse hotel filled with the broken, addicted and indigent.
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epicentre → fill → broken
From a small scene that began coalescing in late 1973 and early 1974, many a legend was born.
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legend → begin → 1973
Together with Britain’s spin on things, the punk of 1976 was the Big Bang for the creation of what we now call “alternative rock.”
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we → call → what
He’s chronicled things for years, starting with a ‘zine called Punk (more on that in a moment) along with a series of books, most notably Please Kill Me a 1996 oral history of the era co-created with Gillian McCain.
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He → chronicle → McCain
It’s a must-read for anyone interested in music history.
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It → ’ → history
Legs’ new book is Resident Punk: How I Smoked, Drank, and Stumbled My Way Through the ’70s Punk Scene and Beyond.
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I → smoke → Scene
I had a chance to speak with him about it.
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I → have → it
How would you describe this book?
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you → describe → book
I hated being labeled a music journalist.
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I → hat → ?
I still hate it.
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I → hate → it
I never wanted to be a rock critic.
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I → want → ?
I wanted the people who actually did it, who were in the room, to tell the story.
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who → want → story
And I did that.
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I → do → that
It’s snapshots.
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It → ’ → ?
I thought I’d put down different snapshots of my life, like Polaroids.
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I → think → Polaroids
I thought of it as taking Polaroids.
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I → think → Polaroids
Remember, people used to take Polaroids in the ’70s and that was all the rage.
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that → remember → 70s
Andy Warhol used to take them all the time.
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Warhol → use → them
And I thought, Oh, I’ll just write little Polaroids.
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I → think → Polaroids
Can we agree, more or less, that 1976 is the beginning of what the public would call punk rock?
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public → agree → what
Who came up with the word “punk”?
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Who → come → word
I did.
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I → do → ?
Legs McNeil: Because that’s what I’d been called my whole life.
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I → ’ → what
It just seemed obvious.
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It → seem → ?
What I wanted to do, and I think what Holmstrom wanted to do, was create a new Mad magazine, because John’s teachers at the School of Visual Arts were Will Eisner and Harvey Kurtzman.
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teachers → want → Arts
One of those guys had gotten John a job at Scholastic, where John had a comic strip called Joe.
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John → get → strip
We were paid $300, and I was still in high school.
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I → pay → school
If I wrote a four-panel Joe comic, I got paid $150.
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I → write → 150
So John and I had already been working together off and on.
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John → work → ?
Here’s the story I’ve heard: The first issue of Punk comes out with Lou Reed on the cover.
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issue → ’ → cover
It’s called Punk, and then you go around interviewing other musicians, artists and creators who were part of that scene in ’75 and early ’76.
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who → call → 75
And it came to pass that any musician who was featured in Punk magazine was a punk rocker.
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who → come → magazine
None of the people, including the Ramones, wanted to be called a punk rock band.
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None → include → Ramones
In fact, Johnny Ramone asked Holmstrom to cross out the word “punk” in every magazine.
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Ramone → ask → magazine
No one wanted to be called punk when we put out the magazine.
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we → want → magazine
So why did the term stick?
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term → stick → ?
I have no idea.
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I → have → idea
…and 61 more, not listed.
The Aporia
