The Punk History of the Universe

The universe began as an eternal, formless void where nothing was happening on a Saturday night. 

If there was a Big Bang, then that was the very first punk act. A rejection of the status quo; a willingness to try something new without worrying about upsetting the neighbors. The mother of all guitar chords – BBBRRAAAAAANGG!! - still echoing down to this day.

Yet, since then, no human creative or social movement has begun in just one place or at one time. It is always building on or reacting to what has come before.

So it is with punk. The wild flowering of music and action that burned so brightly in the U.K. in 1976 and 1977 was just one episode in a seething continuum of musical and social history. 

Let me give a tiny example.

1976 Punks would spit at the band to show that audience and performer were both equal. 

Was this their invention? Or did it go back to June 14th 1381, a particularly hot London day? The Peasant’s Revolt was in full swing. Crowds marched on London to complain about unfair taxes and harsh conditions. The leader of the revolt, Wat Tyler, was granted audience to speak to King Richard II. He demanded a flagon of water to wet his dry mouth. He proceeded to spit the water contemptuously near the king (There is no historical record as to whether he was pogoing at the same time). What is recorded, is that Tyler was summarily decapitated. 

Was Wat Tyler the first punk? 

Or was he just one more Johnny Rotten in a long line through history, who paid a heavy price for calling out the world around them? Wat’s head ended up at the southern gatehouse of London Bridge, on top of a twenty-foot pike, dipped in tar and boiled to preserve it against the wind and rain, so as to remind the peasants of their place.

Nearly 600 years later, on June 7th 1976, the Sex Pistols would boat down that same river, bringing the angry sounds of Anarchy in the UK to the Houses of Parliament that towered above them. No heads rolled that day, though the police forced their boat to dock and arrested everyone they could get their hands on.

The punk rock that emerged in the mid-1970s was a raw response to mainstream music and societal norms. Initially gaining traction in both New York and London, punk rejected the polished, extravagant rock music of the era in favor of fast, aggressive, and stripped-down sounds. Bands like the Ramones, Sex Pistols, and The Clash became iconic for their short, energetic songs and anti-establishment lyrics. 

Punk was more than just a musical style—it was a subculture that embraced DIY (do-it-yourself) ethics, anarchism, and individualism.

In London, punk tapped into the frustrations of working-class youth amid economic stagnation, while in New York, it developed out of the artistic counterculture centered around clubs like CBGB. By the late 1970s and early 1980s, punk had spawned numerous subgenres like hardcore and post-punk, with bands like Black Flag and Joy Division leading the way. 

One chord guitar songs led to one finger synthesizer songs.

The movement's influence has extended far beyond music, impacting fashion, art, and politics. Although the 1976/77 wave was short-lived, punk’s spirit of rebellion and self-expression continues to resonate, influencing everything from indie rock to political activism.

And so the waves build and crash, retreat, then form themselves anew.

Here's to your wave.

Erik Talkin

2024