What Punk Rock artists/groups would you say had the most influence on the Genre, and music as a whole?
For some examples, I'd have to go with- Iggy Pop: Not only did he bring into existance, many common aspects of the genre. He was also one of THE pioneers. The Ramones: Were they the first? Who cares. They brought a easier-to-listen style to the people, and gave their music a Bubblegum quality that set them apart. Their styles can still be found in many big Pop-Punk outfits today. (See "Screeching Weasle") Glenn Danzig: One of the few examples of a real vocalist in a Punk Group. Helped spawn a new Sub-Genre, "Horror Punk". Went on to do great things with Heavy Metal.
Black Flag and Bad Brains more or less invented hardcore or hardcore punk, a genre that remains one of the most influential.
The Sex Pistols has a worldwide impact, a feat in itself back then when there wasn't all these avenues of exposure. Even more incredible when you consider or frowned upon they were.
Minor Threat would be there, although people argue they are the first emo (Emotive hardcore) band, which is also acceptable. They were just as much a punk band. Straight Edge created a movement that is still prominent in music and life in general.
minor threat and fugazi on the same list? that's stupid. just say ian mckaye
the sonics (heavy garage-punk back in sixty three)
velvet underground (abrasive)
stooges (loud and angry)
new york dolls (outrageous)
the ramones (brought it to england)
the sex pistols (brought it widespread)
the clash (made it smart-ish)
radio birdman/the saints (brought it to australia)
ian mckaye (hardcore messiah)
rites of spring/husker du (invented, then perfected emotive hardcore)
that's not including the ridiculous number of power pop/proto punk/garage guys that heavily influenced.
The Ramones were an influence for all the wrong reasons, namely pop-punk, which isn't punk at all, and in retrospect, neither were the Ramones. Time signatures don't define genres.
I'll just say MC5 because they, like the Sex Pistols, had a song that got them big, then more or less fizzled out, but still made their mark.
The Ramones were a pop band, "influences" aside. Any band can be an influence to another musician. There's hardly an instance that suggests that, at their roots, The Ramones were a punk band. They weren't political. They didn't dress the part. They weren't "rebelious". A clan of nice, albeit unkept, Jewish boys that played their music a little grungy and got caught up in a musical maelstrom.
...and American punk rock is dead. Has been for a long time. Those people grew up and now their kids listen to emo. Passive aggressives never get anywhere in music.
Last edited by Cory Chaos on Jan 21st, 2007 at 08:38 AM
to deny the influence of the ramones in the shaping of punk is to be completely, inexcusably ignorant. or at least obsessively contrary to public opinion.
bad brains, black flag, and minor threat? first of all, those bands did nothing but shape the DC hardcore scene, which wouldn't exist in the first place without the ramones. second off, the vast majority of those influenced by bad brains are other hardcore bands. third off, what the hell did black flag do for music that others didn't do damn better? in your lingo, black flag is the "beatles" of pre hardcore. (ie, black flag mostly sucked). and as for minor threat, fugazi-rites of spring-husker du blows them out of the water. (ie, minor threat mostly sucks in comparison).
you don't know very much about punk history, do you? first of all, punk wasn't initially political at all. it was in fact anti-politics, and completely apathetic. and the ramones were a far cry from nice, excluding joey. they didn't dress the part? are you ****ing with me? they are the prototype punk aesthetic. tight jeans, old shirts, leather jackets, dirty, messy hair. think about it.
without the ramones, punk would have no speed. they were the band that decided to bash through thirty songs in fifty minutes. by extension, hardcore is very fundamentally indebted to the ramones.
the ramones were the original harbingers of punk. deal with it.
suggested reading: please kill me, by legs mcneil. in case you were unawares, legs was a founder of PUNK magazine. you know. the magazine that coined PUNK, and essentially documented the entire four-year punk run?
do you loathe it unconditionally? because in some circumstances, it's a popular opinion because it's "true", insofar as opinions can be.
stop revealing your ignorance. they didn't play follow the leader in the least. they were the leaders. read up on the subject. and they barely got radio play during their career, and certainly never the first three years.
also i'm fairly sure they never struck it rich, by conventional standards. in fact...what the hell are you talking about?
Anti. Pro. Politics were at the root, I thought that was already implied. The Ramones "uniform" was more "slob" cum 50's greaser than anything. When you say punk. I think spiky, colored hair and trashy clothes. Not torn jeans, unkept locks, and leather jackets. I tend to think The Ramones songs were short because you can only write so much nonsense about being bored. Sorry if that sounds insensitive, but it's true. They made "punk" for people who didn't want to commit to the lifestyle. Punk, the term actually coined by Dave Marsh of Creem magazine in '70. You can Wiki that if you don't believe me.
The Ramones were a glorified, grungy version of The Beach Boys.
Popular opinion is still an opinion, and 1/2 of the people's input is baseless or uneducated. The Ramones being a "punk" band, a good example. They got lucky, sharing NONE of the characteristics of the true punk bands, other than fast guitars and drums.
Not much else I can say other than The Ramones, in theory, were not a punk band. Wether it defies popular opinion or not. It's educated opinion that prevails in the end, not predisposition by what you've been told all your life, or so convinced of.
They were influential. They were a band. Just one of the rock n' roll variety.
I forgot to add; I'm not really getting The Clash influence either. They drop a commercially successful album, a punk rock sin, 1/2 way through their careers, their biggest hit is a pop tune, and then the next year they fizzle.
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Jan 20th, 2007 06:24 AM
