Great Debate: Is Punk Rock Dead?

Comment on “Great Debate: Is Punk Rock Dead?”

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1. Dale Stewart Says:
   August 16th, 2007 at 14:27

   Whatever it was we had back in '84 is gone. There are bits and pieces of punk here and there in different scenes. The spirit of DIY lives on mightily in the Indie scene, slam-dancing is popular in the Hardcore scene and Mohawks are everywhere. The term 'Punk' can be hijacked and co-opted by just about any group because the leadership that existed in Punk Rock in the 80's is long gone. That leadership tried at least to lay the law down about what was punk and what was not. Tim Yohannon of Maximumrocknroll was always trying to at least define what wasn't punk so the movement could move forward in a positive way. In my opinion, it's more than just a coincidence that 80's punk died at about the same time he passed away in 1998.

1. Ontario Emperor Says:
   October 15th, 2007 at 02:27

   It's all probably a matter of semantics. Unlike Dale Stewart, I classify "hardcore" as separate from "punk," since hardcore never would have existed without punk to precede it.
   
   As for Maximumrocknroll, I remember an issue in which letter writers were strenuously arguing that the Beastie Boys could not be hardcore because they were sexist and who knows what. The letters made hardcore sound like a straitjacket of conformity - perhaps Dove the Band of Love should have performed at some purist hardcore shows.

1. Polly Says:
   November 24th, 2007 at 12:27

   Punk is dead and should be, what people wear doesen't define the person, so that shit about mohawks ain't going to do it. Punk was an accident created and labled by media, punk was about being individual not copyng what Sid Vicious was wearing, also it came for an specific generation specific period of time for people there in the working class parts. It was a kinda ¨you-had-to-be-there¨ joke. So stop saying punk ani't dead. let it rest in peace. Invent something new to entretain yourself and us. and SHUT THE FUCK UP you losers who know nothing about music!!!!

1. Nirvana Says:
   April 10th, 2008 at 10:06

   Punk is and will remain.Go listen what kurt cobain use to say about punk and u will know why punk will not DIE.
   
   PUNK'S NOT DEAD
   NIRVANA FOR LIFE

1. mickey c Says:
   April 12th, 2008 at 21:15

   Punk is dead. Punk was supposed to be about freedom but there are various guidelines a person has to follow to be punk. If not following these guidelines the person is called a poser. There's no freedom in trying to "outpunk" everyone else. There's no freedom in basing your beliefs on what Joe Strummer said. He thought for himself. There's no freedom in having your punk uniform make you look like a member of the sex pistols. It's stupid bullshit. Just be yourself, listen to what sounds good, belive what you think is right, and don't worry about labelling every goddamn thing. But, of course, you could just keep listening to bands that a majority of people agree are punk whether you like them or not and not listening to bands you initially like but hear some small-minded prick put down and say they're posers and all this other bullshit those guys ramble on about. Who gives a fuck if Green Day is labelled under punk, metal, or fucking gangster rap? They're just a band. If you like them listen to them and if you don't like them then don't listen to them. Fuck the Sex Pistols. Sid was only in the band because of his image. Lame. Iggy Pop is the king of rock n' roll.

1. Jerry Gebhart Says:
   May 4th, 2008 at 00:32

   Punk has died but is yet to be re-born the raw days of bad music have come back with boring songs and shit for brain artists that the record companines can not make any money on soon the time will call for a new kind of music that will match the times that we are living in and it will be called punk rock everything comes in cycles but the hay days of the 80's punk rock is gone for ever so it will be short lived for punk but it will come back soon.

1. mike Says:
   May 8th, 2008 at 04:46

   look guys punk really is dead but not its having a stroke for about a couple of years! ive been to many places wear punk still is the same shit it was back then my uncle used to go touring with many punks bands back in the day! and he is still alive and goes touring with many underground bands! thats right the underground has always kept it real and if you ever go to cali toronto chicago any city and you would see that there are still punks who get arrested for waving a black flag and burning the the name of capitalism! god how can you say punk is dead you dont own it no one does its all up to the fans scratch that shit out its the people! there will always be a punk rocker who will stay to his roots! its just this crappy ass fake scene emo type crap thats making people think its dead all those bands that call them selves punk let them who cares about them i dont because i know what real punk is and i dont care what you guys think the attitude will always be alive the lifestyle whatever you think punk is will always be alive! and if it does DIE ill still be what i am i dont give a 2 flying fuck say what you guys want but it will never go away and one day who knows if it comes back even more stronger because what i see in these shows is really hate! hate for what is going on in the world and just look at the many riots and and all that type of stuff the media is growing and many other subcultures cant take it the time will come again when punk will get its name back! you bets believe it and if you dont i dont care! peace

1. victor Says:
   May 18th, 2008 at 20:26

   Punk is dead..... Metal grew and tore it apart with no problem.

1. Jay Says:
   May 18th, 2008 at 20:27

   I certainly don't think punk is dead. The style and sound has changed, but the soul of punk will never die. As long as there are those in power pushing others around and as long as freedoms are taken away from us, the anger and desire to revolt will always remain. Bands that go around talking about how bad life sucks and how they want to die because not everything is their life is fucking peachy are not punk, their emo fags that are targeting the ever so depressed youth of America. There are still plenty of really good underground 'punk' bands as well as a few mainstream and I can only hope the popularity grows. I'm so sick of stupid people listening to stupid music about stupid subjects. Something new needs to surface and hopefully it will echo with the original passion and motives that punk was about.

1. sam Says:
   June 20th, 2008 at 23:24

   Punk is dead
   The main idea of punk is not selling out, like the Clash
   The Dead Kennedys and Crass are punk rock
   The Dead Kennedys were embarrised they were making ANY money, they gave it to other punk rock bands to start out

1. Jerry Gebhart Salina Kansas Says:
   June 27th, 2008 at 15:24

   I have come back here to see if this place was still alive.................???? And yes it is!!!!! That's a good sign! Now to the question.... Is Punk DEAD?????????? By what I see here... the answer is no. The people have spoken and this is good. I like to call it free speech...LOL Well.......... as our world gets to be a; not so good camp ground to camp in, I feel this will bring the punk movment back....as we hold on to that little part of nothing WE CALL FREEDOM...I now understand. As I said before, sometimes the worst times brings out the best in a person and now is the time for the new punk bands to bring this to light in their music.....cause to me punk is FREEDOM. thank you now is the time.

1. Steve Says:
   June 28th, 2008 at 15:25

   Punk's been dead since the early eighties.And it was the drugs,violence and Tim Yohannon,Jeff Bale,Jello Biafra,Ruth Schwartz,Tony Parsons and Julie Burchill who helped kill it.I'm from S.F and was in bands at the time(I'm even on the not so quiet album with a song that's a put down of these clowns but they never figured it out).Yohannon and the rest where old hippies who saw punk as a chance to reinfect a bunch of young,mostly upper middle class kids with their left wing dogma.And between the radio program and magazine they had the power to pull it off.
   
   They saw in England the power Tony Parsons and Julie Burchill in combination with the rock against racism crowd which was a front for the socialist workers party,used to establish a list of do's and dont's for punks and most people followed it to a T.MRR banned "White Girl" by X because they assumed it had white in the title it must be racist ! It's about adultery.The F-UPs,The Viktims among others were banned by these hippie creeps.
   
   Punk is something that occurred at a certain time in certain places,any attempt to recreate it is amateur anthropology.Also the original Pistols weren't poseurs,the Clash were,study up.

1. Steve Says:
   June 29th, 2008 at 18:12

   Jello use to go on Maximum Communist Bull and complain about the L.A and English bands about what large guarantees they were asking for playing.He would call them sell outs and capitalists.I got to know some promoters from various parts of the countryand to a one they all said the band that asked for the highest guarantee when doing a show was guess who? The Dead Kennedys.And as far as giving money away look at what did to his bandmates screwing them out of pennies.He was also known for using his money to buy up every collectible record in the bay area.He supposedly had like fifty copies of the first minor threat and misfits singles cause he figured they'd be worth a fortune someday(and he was right)so screw the kid in the street who wants a minor threat single unless he wants to pay jello five hundred bucks or something.
   Now that"s capitalism.Anyone in the bay area punk scene that knew jello thought he was a anal asshole.
   
   "That leadership tried at least to lay the law down about what was punk and what was not. Tim Yohannon of Maximumrocknroll was always trying to at least define what wasn't punk so the movement could move forward in a positive way."
   
   First of all who gave them the keys to the kingdom.Secondly did you ever meet Yohannon he was this midget jewish guy well into his fifties back in 1981.What was he even doing in this youth subculture telling people what and what not to do?Jeff Bale was was no spring chicken either.Punk wasn't about listening to Crass it was about being Crass.
   I'm not saying punk couln't be political,but it wasn't meant to be either.Originally it was about the music and getting it back to the way it use to sound.Punk died musically when it went from early harcore(Germs,Black Flag,Adolescents,Social D,Flipper,etc) to thrash(all those horrible bands from 82' on) to speed metal(D.R.I,S.S Decontroll etc)
   
   Create Something New
   Don't Imitate
   P.S-Punk was about alot of things,being positive wasn't one of them.
   Take it from the bad brains they wrote the book on it.
   
   

1. Sid Says:
   July 2nd, 2008 at 12:58

   Punk was true to its A.D.D. speed fueled roots, it was a short lived explosion, Far too obscene to survive in the public eye and therefore as a mainstream event it was effectively killed. That said there always be poor and angry kids and therefor punk will never be forgotten, there will always be back room shows in halls in ugly cities everywhere. It will never be what it was however every so often when wander into the right dark room I'm reminded of why it ment so much.
   
   So thats my BS way of saying I can't decide, Punk is dead but it keeps on coming back... thats my 2 cents
   
   Always read your contracts and always tip your bartender
   Later

1. Paul\\\'s not dead Says:
   July 24th, 2008 at 03:52

   greenday suck.
   
   punk is dead.
   
   so is kurt kobain.
   oh well, NEVERMIND
   
   we are all doomed.
   

1. Jerry Gebhart Salina kansas Says:
   July 27th, 2008 at 01:19

   Is Punk Dead??? I have come back again…LOL I see allot of critics here saying it is and some saying it not. I think we all have to take in to consecration the fact that technology has change over the years. With the advent of the computer age, and everybody downloading free music, major music labels have went down the crapper, the big money of yesterday are gone…..therefore labels are not going to invest in something that can’t make a return for their money. The only way punk will return and I think it will is they have to be like Nirvana, they have to get out and work their asses off and get the majors to take notice. The days of calling your self punk or new wave and getting signed are over….but the punk scene is still out there as many of you have pointed this out. I can only say if you like a new and up coming punk band and they bring a message across in true punk nature than take notice, support them call your local radio stations and request them, even let the major labels no that they are there. We live in the greatest country in the world where we the people can make a change and difference, but if I ask most of you do you ever vote you would most likely say no. So here is something you all can do….get out and support your local punk bands…let other people no about them. May be we can start a spark that will turn into a fire…let’s see.

1. Tom Knight Says:
   August 27th, 2008 at 21:04

   For those of you that think punk is dead please read this. I live in Oklahoma City and recently a friend of mine told me about a group that I should check out, (he seen them in Colorado). The name of the group is the Beaver Snakes; the front man is an old dude from back in the punk days he claims to have played with many great punk bands. The rest of the group is a mixture of Insane Clown Posses and Gallagher almost a Jerry Springer atmosphere. Tons of flying food and water very entertaining, but when the front man, (the old dude), hit that first cord and the word, (that we could understand), days of the sex pistols and much more started to emerge. I can’t say it put me in a purple haze but there is something there, if not for just the short set that they played it did put the crowd in an uproar. So for all you that think punk is dead just look around, it is alive and well in towns right here in Oklahoma.

1. William Chaos Says:
   October 27th, 2008 at 16:12

   Punk is absolutely not dead. I was listening to Black Flag while setting an enemies car on fire just last week. Nobody hears about the anarchy, or at least when they do they don't know that it's anarchy. They think it's terrorism or some crazy gang activity. They will never again know that the punk ideals thriving in there communities are more dangerous than they could imagine. They think their sons and daughters who shop at hot topic and wear edgy expensive clothes and black eye liner are punks. Fuck that. You want punk. Throw on a swastika t-shirt and walk down rodeo drive. You thought this was a free country. Think again. There will be another civil war and heres a message for all of you who choose socialist, capitalist, communism. I'll be waiting for you with a molotov cocktail. Have a lovely day.

1. SHUTTHEFUCKUP Says:
   November 10th, 2008 at 14:06

   Since the Governments Economy is in the shitter, looks like anti-capitalist movements are in our future. Punk rose becuase the economy was bad and people were tired of a the perfect little plastic life. So when our money was good....Punk slowly died and had nothing to talk about, but since war rose and becuase were in the shitter financially, Punk will come back and stronger than ever....

1. Jerry Gebhart, Salina Kansas Says:
   November 14th, 2008 at 10:50

   I could not agree more with shutthefuckup, the economy is in the shitter, this has the masses looking for a new answer, Bush is now on his way out, the door has opened, the cat is out of the bag, the movment will start on the internet, and the like all good things it will go public from there, the art of punk music is out of the bottle, now is the time to start the movement, the war will get worse before it gets better, food lines will start up, many will lose there jobs, and this will put them in a state of shock, some will become numb by all this, and they will open there minds to the new punk movment, this will all start after the first of the new year....2009. May God save the Queen...cuz nobody else will...........

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