Transcript Chapter 16: Punk Rock and New Wave

Chapter 16 – Punk Rock
and New Wave
“The reason punk felt so good was: not only was
music really powerful and exciting then… but it
was a great weapon to attack everyone else with”
Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Copyright © 2011 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Early Influences on the Development
of Punk
Garage bands of the mid-sixties
Anger at America as expressed by Beat poets and writers,
Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs, and
others
The Velvet Underground’s songs about drug addiction,
sadomasochism, and other problems in street life in
New York
Lou Reed, singer, songwriter, guitarist, keyboard player
John Cale, piano, viola, and bass
Sterling Morrison, guitarist
Maureen Tucker, drummer
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Listening Guide
“Heroin” by the Velvet Underground (1966)
Tempo: Beginning and ending, 72 beats per minute, 4 beats per bar
Gradual speeding up to 96 beats per minute, then A sections that speed up again
to 144 beats per minute
The introduction opens with a pulse on the half-beats (eighth notes)
Form: Three 30-bar A sections, then a final A extended to over double that length and
includes chaotic sound effects created by electric guitars and electric viola
Features: Even beat subdivisions
No backbeat
The bass drum is hit on beat four of each bar in the introduction, then at irregular
intervals and on half-beats to support the intensity of the faster sections
The rhythm guitar enters on the first beat of the second bar of the introduction,
then plays on the first beat of every bar, alternating between two chords
Lyrics: The song portrays the effect heroin has on the addict, sung from the addict’s
point of view. Increases in tempo express exhilaration as the drug enters his body.
The addict knows the drug has caused his alienation from society, and knows it will
kill him, but he cannot do without it.
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Garage Bands from Detroit
MC5 (the Motor City Five) formed in 1965
Fast throbbing pulse of the guitar and/or bass and much
distortion
Shouted vocals expressing anger
Played to those who rioted at the 1968 Democratic
Convention in Chicago
First album, Kick Out the Jams (1969), criticized and refused
airplay for obscene lyrics
Iggy and the Stooges, formed in 1967
Iggy Pop acted out disgust with society by hitting and
cutting himself, sometimes called the Godfather of Punk
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New York Punk
The New York Dolls, formed in 1971
Combined loud, raw, rebellious, pounding sound of MC5
and Stooges with Rolling Stones-like rhythm and blues and
added makeup and dress of glitter movement
Songs about “bad” girls, drugs, and New York street life, but
with less serious attitude than the MC5 or Iggy Pop
CBGB’s night club
Television
Richard Hell
Patti Smith
The Ramones
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Listening Guide
“Personality Crisis” by the New York Dolls (1973)
Tempo: 155 beats per minute, 4 beats per bar
Form: 16-bar instrumental introduction
Honky-tonk style piano at bar 4
AABA, with 8-bar periods, the B sections repeat lyrics about the
frustrations of having a “personality crisis.”
A short break (silence) occurs between the second and third of the AABA
sections
Features: Evenly subdivided beats throb a pulse at double the speed of the
basic beat
The fast pulse is created by the guitar, chords on the piano, and the
drummer on cymbals
Backbeat on the bass drum
Vocals are shouted almost in a monotone
Lyrics: A person who plays a role dictated by society during the day, goes wild
at night in an effort to shake off the day’s frustrations
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British Punk
Mid-seventies economic problems in Britain
Without jobs or money to spend, young people could not relate to
grandiose rock acts by progressive or glitter bands
Attitude of anger, frustration, violence, against government, monarchy,
society, and fashion
Raw, pounding music of the New York Dolls and the Ramones
represented the music young people wanted
1976 - Malcolm McLaren formed the Sex Pistols to meet the need
Sex Pistols
Johnny Rotten (John Lydon), vocals
Steve Jones, guitar
Glen Matlock, bass – replaced by Sid Vicious (John Ritchie), bass
Paul Cook, drums
Highly emotional anger in music and lyrics
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Listening Guide
“God Save the Queen” by the Sex Pistols (1977)
Tempo: 145 beats per minute, 4 beats per bar, with each beat subdivided
into two equal parts creating a constant, throbbing pulse
Form: Begins with a 4-bar vamp followed by an 8-bar instrumental
introduction
8-bar periods in AABA song form with added C sections
A sections begin with the song’s title
C periods based on repetitions of words from earlier B periods
Features: The fast pulse is kept by guitar, drums, and loud, repeated bass
notes
Backbeat in drums
Guitar heavily distorted creating a mood of anarchy and disorder
Most vocals shouted in monotone by Johnny Rotten, with groups joining in
at C sections
Lyrics: Depressed view of Britain’s economy, social system, and government,
emphasizing that there is no hope for anything positive in the future
Charts: British hits, #2
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Other British Punk Bands
The Damned, formed by McLaren in 1976
The Clash
Joe Strummer, vocals and guitar
Mick Jones, guitar
Paul Simonon, bass
Tory Crimes (Terry Chimes), drums
Songs zeroed in on central causes of punk rebellion:
Youth unemployment
Anti-immigrant racism
Police Brutality
Billy Idol with Generation X
X-Ray Spex
The Buzzcocks
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Hard-core Punk on the West Coast
Punk in California inspired by tour of the Sex Pistols and the Damned
Attitudes of California punks different from British because the economies were
different
California bands expressed anger about:
Ex-hippie parents’ worn-out or sold out values
U.S. government’s involvement in politics of Asian and South American countries
U.S. government’s support of oppressive regime in South Africa
The Dead Kennedys formed in San Francisco in 1978
Lead singer, Eric Boucher, named himself Jello Biafra when he heard that the U.S.
government had sent Jell-O to starving people of Biafra, Africa, calling it foreign aid
Punk bands from L.A.:
Black Flag
X
The Germs
Catholic Disciplines
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Listening Guide
“Kill the Poor” by the Dead Kennedys (1980)
Tempo: 96 beats per minute in introduction, then sudden jump to 208 beats
per minute, 4 beats per bar
Form: Slow introduction with vocals intoned by Biafra is one 8-bar period,
then one 7-bar period
A 4-bar instrumental vamp establishes a faster tempo
Series of A and B periods separated by instrumental vamps, the B periods
feature constant repetition of “kill the poor”
Features: Even beat subdivisions
Repeated bass note pulse in fast section
More complex harmonies than in much other punk
Lyrics: Satirical praise for the U.S. government’s development of a bomb that
can kill people while leaving property undamaged, with the suggestion
that money wasted on welfare could be saved by using the bomb to kill
poor people
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American New Wave
Punk too violent and anti-establishment to appeal to a mass audience,
but punk’s energy was welcome
Punk’s more commercial alternative called New Wave and often
included:
Throbbing half-beat pulse
Monotone vocals
Emotional alienation from problems
Devo formed in 1975 with name that represented “de-evolution” of
mankind in the modern world
Other New Wave bands of late seventies:
Talking Heads
Blondie
The Cars
The B-52’s
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Listening Guide
“Jocko Homo” by Devo (1976)
Tempo: First section, 240 beats per minute, 7 beats per bar
Second section, 120 beats per minute, 4 beats per bar
Form and Features:
An electronic introduction has 4 bars of 7 beats accented as 4+3, then 4 bars of 7
beats accented as 3+4, establishing a feeling of instability
Even beat subdivisions
No backbeat accented
Monotone vocals with group exchange declaring that members of Devo are not
human
Parts of the introduction are repeated between the second and third vocal periods
Some repetition of instrumental introduction at different pitch levels, each one
higher than the previous one
Pulsating repeated notes in bass in slower 4-beat meter
The fast 7-bar pattern returns at the end
Lyrics: The coldness of the modern world has had a dehumanizing effect on mankind
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British New Wave
Pub Rock an early seventies English back-to-the-roots of rock
movement
Pubs are small and forced return to intimate performances when
progressive and glitter ones had become large, theatrical
extravaganzas
Pub Rock performers became the basis of British New Wave style:
Elvis Costello
Brinsley Schwarz
Ducks Deluxe
Rockpile
Rumour
Nick Lowe
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Listening Guide
“Radio Radio” by Elvis Costello and the Attractions (1978)
Tempo: 144 beats per minute, 4 beats per bar
Form: 8-bar instrumental introduction made up of a 2-bar pattern
played four times
AABCAAB, A’s are 8 bars, B’s are 16 bars, C is 8 bars
Features: Bass uses repeated notes to establish a fast (eighth-note)
pulse
Strong backbeat in drums during A sections, no back beat in B
sections
Contrasting C section in a minor key, at a higher pitch, with a lighter
vocal tone quality and organ in background
Lyrics: Dependence of some teens on the radio for entertainment and
advice and a bitterness toward people who control radio
Charts: British hits, #29
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Discussion Questions
Punk is angry music, and it is the most effective
when the anger is directed at some particular
issue, person, or practice. Could a positive
message, a religious one, for example, be
delivered in a punk style and be taken seriously?
What about new wave, which is generally fairly
alienated from emotion? Could it express a
positive message effectively?
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