Semantron 20 Summer 2020

UK punk and politics 1975 – 84

In order to make sense of the key beliefs of British Punk, one must first understand the political and social discontents of the 1970s. These discontents gave birth to the movement and appeared in two different forms: (1) frustrations with the musical status quo; and (2) outrage at the lack of opportunities for the young generation. 2 The musical status quo. The primary inspiration for the birth of punk came from the state of mainstream pop music. The record industry was stagnating. Professional musicians no longer pushed music boundaries, but stuck to ‘tried and tested’ formulas in the name of profits and rec ord deals. Eriksen argues that in an ‘ . . . attempt to justify their own drift away from the raw energy and youthful exuberance of early rock’n’roll . . . many rock stars produced ghastly hybrids of pretentious lyrics’. 3 mainstreammusic was increasingly c ommercial, elitist and condescending to the ‘faceless crowd’. The punk attitude to the band Pink Floyd illustrates this. Punks found their records to be overproduced and lacking the raw energy that appealed to the new generation. Johnny Rotten and Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols famously wore Pink Floyd T- shirts altered to state ‘I HATE PINK FLOYD’.

Johnny Rotten and Paul Cook from the Sex Pistols wearing the famous ‘ I Hate Pink Floyd’ shirt.

The youth of the 1970s tired of sophisticated and pret entious idea of ‘high art’. Record companies, owing to lack of finance, would not take risks with lesser-known bands or anyone with radical new ideas. This complacency prevented new bands from emerging. Frustrations from this musical status quo led to a ne w type of band. Eriksen describes this as the ‘ideology of the garage band’ built upon DIY ethos to counter lack of support from the music industry. 4 Lack of opportunity. Discontent with the musical status quo contributed significantly to the birth of punk, but lack of social and economic opportunity for young people was of critical importance. The music industry was a microcosm of broader social issues of the 1970s. Eriksen argues that punks were ‘consciously aware of the extreme contradictions existing inmodern society’ and that the genre is built around ‘the angry protest’ of the youth population. 5 The lack of opportunity, an abundance of ‘dead - end’ jobs and the infamous ‘Winter of Discontent (1978 - 79)’ contributed to a rise in nihilistic beliefs.

2 Ibid. sec. 13, para. 5. 3 Ibid. sec.13, para. 5. 4 Ibid. sec. 13, para. 6. 5 Ibid. sec.13, para. 11.

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