In Reply to: Start of New Wave was the rebirth of Rock IMO. posted by Elizabeth on July 8, 2012 at 18:01:22:
It was mid - 70s punk rock that changed everything, not New Wave bands like Duran Duran, Flock Of Seagulls, and The B-52s. Punk challenged mainstream rock's increasing emphasis on virtuosity and disconnect from the lives of its fans. By the time the Ramones formed, mainstream rock was rapidly becoming all about worshiping 20 minute guitar solos wrapped in stupid lyrics about starships while sitting on butt - numbing folding chairs in a hockey arena. Punk smashed all that by insisting that anybody could make great music, that feel and sincerity counted as much as skill, and that lyrics had to mean something again. Punk was also an argument for the primacy of songs over albums. Even the biggest bands on the planet like Led Zeppelin suddenly looked irrelevant and more than a little silly compared to the Sex Pistols, whose songs were so provocative that the band members were attacked in the streets and whose concerts were prohibited by town councils all over Britain.
One aspect of punk's legacy can be heard every day in the most mainstream music: punk made music fast. In 1976 I couldn't have imagined that a song that was faster than anything on the first Ramones album would one day be the theme song for a Disney (!) cartoon series called "Phineas and Ferb."
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Follow Ups
- Punk, not New Wave - Rob Doorack 11:32:11 07/10/12 (7)
- Yeah, but punk, as dynamic as it was, was not really much about music..was it? - Elizabeth 17:40:21 07/10/12 (6)
- Of course it was about music - Rob Doorack 20:11:53 07/10/12 (5)
- Yoou music, trouble was it was unlistenable. LOL - Elizabeth 22:45:28 07/10/12 (4)
- The first sign of turning into an old fart is ... - Rob Doorack 03:02:55 07/11/12 (3)
- Hey, I dismissed punk as c***p when I was in my 20s! - jult52 03:41:48 07/12/12 (1)
- RThe positive side of Punk was it's connection to actual feeling of artist. otherwise it was crap as music . - Elizabeth 06:32:47 07/12/12 (0)
- True. They HATED my playing opera at realistic levels.. nt - Elizabeth 04:49:59 07/11/12 (0)