Punk; Thirty Years On (1/3) By Bekki Stephenson

(1/3), (2/3), (3/3).

Thirty years ago, gig tickets cost 50p, a pint of beer 15p and 20 cigarettes 30p. There were only three television channels, all of which shut down at midnight and the greatest fashion accessories were 4-inch, break-your-neck platforms. Indeed, in 1976 the world of iPods, satellite navigation, X boxes, and video phones seemed almost impossible. Perhaps not half as impossible however as coming to terms with the fact that thirty years ago your parents were the same age as you. But it was thirty years ago, in 1976 that Punk first began in Britain.

In 1976, tucked away in the gig listings of NME was an advertisement for a gig by The Sex Pistols. Unknown in the music world, little did society know that these four young lads (two west London yobs, a Beatles fanatic and a green-haired rocker) who sung only about themselves ands their own lives would cause mass anarchy, piss of the monarchy and pave the way for the pretty much every band in NME today.

It is extremely difficult to describe punk, unlike most genres of music and social groups; punk doesn't fit into a box. It cannot be pigeonholed into some green-haired, white male in a studded leather jacket with facial piercings listening to deafening music. Although punk may hold its roots in the likes of The Sex Pistols and The Buzzcocks, it is of course about so much more than the music. Punk was in the seventies and still pretty much is today a leap of faith. A belief that life matters, so don't fuck it up. It is these intangibles that bind punks together who have never spoken but simply met through websites such as MySpace to communicate their feelings and beliefs.

Beginning as a backlash against modern society, young punks of the seventies joined together to rebel. Unhappy with Britain's policies, values and rigid class structure they joined together, and instead of being isolated became quite the opposite.

While in today's modern world it may be more common to respond to dissatisfaction with crime, back then it was punk culture that became rebellious reaction. While punk may be an attitude, it was primarily expressed through clothing and music. Deliberately confrontational it questioned the establishment and challenged the status quo, generally posing the question; Why? While it may be a terrifying thought to imagine our parents wearing anti-establishment slogan tees and sporting outrageous Mohawks they were doing just the same as punks of today. Trying to shock the older generations to stand up and take notice, the youth wanted to define, annex and follow its own agenda.

Similarly this has lived on in our youth. Just last year Vivienne Westwood, who arguably along with Malcolm Mclaren (her husband and manager of The Sex Pistols) introduced punk fashion, created t-shirts bearing the slogan 'I am not a terrorist, please don't arrest me'. It is no longer such a torment to be an outcast in fact it is becoming increasingly more trendy. Those once tormented in the playground are now setting the trends of the future to which the playground bullies crave to be a part of and vice versa.

Continued ... Next Page (2/3)

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