Ziggie Stardust was an exotic beacon of hope. ibid.
The fledgling Sex Pistols had happened upon a kind of vision. ibid.
It was Joe Strummer and his high octane performance people came out to see. ibid.
You could feel a change coming. ibid.
As harmless as they may have appeared, the Pistols were armed with something so violently new that any act with anything as much as a whiff with the old regime about them could now consider themselves as the enemy. ibid.
Punk’s time had come: the iceberg had cometh as Britain basked in record temperatures in the summer of ’76. ibid.
This spawning of this visceral ugly enticing beast to be loved or hated but impossible to ignore can only be traced back to your first time – the first time you saw the Sex Pistols. ibid.
The electrifying message of the Pistols was spreading. ibid.
They tapped the mood of violence simmering under the surface of boring Seventies’ Britain and would bare witness when it boiled over. ibid.
The Damned taught a generation that they weren’t stuck with their lot ... They were the Damned. ibid.
The same month The Damned’ New Rose was released, the Sex Pistols inked a deal with music business old farts EMI, and their debut single Anarchy in the UK. ibid.
Welcome to boring Britain. A young generation has been locked out. Punk Britannia II: Pre Punk 1976-1978
Swearing on prime time television just didn’t happen in 1976. ibid.
Almost overnight Punk had become Public Enemy Number 1. ibid.
To be a Punk in 1977 was to set yourself against society. ibid.
The Punk scene in 1977 was far from a happy family. ibid.
A young band from Woking: The Jam. ibid.
When The Clash signed for CBS, Punk was at a crossroads. ibid.
Punk and Reggae was beginning to find common cause. ibid.
The Sex Pistols prepared to release their second single God Save the Queen. ibid.
The band were getting sick of McLaren’s art-school pranks. ibid.
The Anti-Nazi League would clash violently with the National Front. ibid.
The gods of this second wave were a band called Sham ’69. ibid.
It was arguably the second wave of Punk bands that truly reflected the sound of Britain’s troubled streets in ’78. ibid.
Punk in Northern Ireland made sense because kids had something very real to rebel against. ibid.
There was a growing sense by 1978 that Punk’s nihilism and attitude was becoming nothing more than a costume. ibid.
Punk was becoming as orthodox as the world it had set out to destroy. ibid.
The Sex Pistols pushed the self-destruct button. ibid.
By 1978 Punk was becoming a parody of yobbish manners and three-chord thrash. Punk Britannia III: Post Punk 1978-1981
Its spirit would inspire a new generation of underground musicians. ibid.
Manchester-based Magazine set out to deconstruct the rules of Punk rock. ibid.
Post-Punk was characterised by refuseniks and malcontents. ibid.
Joy Division: they combined a brooding sound with the existential lyrics of Ian Curtis. ibid.
Public Image marked the moment Johnny Rotten stepped out of costume. ibid.
The Human League were so far removed. ibid.
In 1979 the Slits’ fusion of Punk and Reggae was a soundtrack for a new Britain. ibid.
Post-Punk was a flowering of creativity and idealism. ibid.
We Are Prostitutes: the ironic leaning Pop Group caught something of the rising monetary zeitgeist in October 1979 with this stinging take on consumerism. ibid.
Post-Punk’s poster boy [Ian Curtis] took his own life. ibid.
Two-Tone marked the moment when Post-Punk went positive. ibid.
1981: Ghost Town was Post-Punk’s God Save the Queen moment. ibid.
Post-Punk’s reinvigoration of pop was the apex of this generation’s story. ibid.
King Johnny remains the ever-contrarian spirit of Punk. ibid.
Where did this blast of fury come from? Teen Spirit: The Punk Explosion, 2016
Lorry-loads of attitude, outfits adorned with rips and safety pins and a fast angry soundtrack of loud music. ibid.
On December 1st 1976 they were gifted an open goal when the Sex Pistols appeared on tea-time TV and dropped a string of four-letter word bombs on Bill Grundy. ibid.
The Dolls played at the Mercer Arts Centre. (New York & Music & Punk) Once Upon a Time in New York: The Birth of Hip Hop, Disco & Punk, BBC 2007
Punk was originally the name of a Fanzine. ibid.
97,454. But a new form off politics was spreading, a youthful, vibrant movement loosely connected to music and anti-racism. The punk scene, which had started as an anarchic tantrum, even flirting with fascist insignia in an effort to cause outrage, was developing as an opposition movement … The amorphous blend of musical rebellion and political activism coalesced in the form of the Anti-Nazi Leagues, which was launched at the height of the punk period, and in particular at the ANL carnivals of 1978. Mark Steel, Reasons to be Cheerful
‘We had absolutely no illusions. We knew it was a rigged game.’ John Wardle, interview Punk 76
‘You start off in school and they take your soul away. They take your brains away. You’re not allowed to have an opinion that differs from theirs.’ ibid. John Lydon interview
‘This wonderful raucous energy.’ ibid. Malcolm McLaren
‘All that was on the radio was disco. We needed to change that.’ ibid. Joey Ramone
‘A typical Crass gig would be a big hall with banners everywhere, very dark, a lot of people milling around, drunk punks collapsed at the back, a few skinheads trying to cause trouble, a real atmosphere of tension, always on the lookout for trouble starting … ‘ Crass: There is No Authority But Yourself, 2006
‘Owe us a living? Of course they fucking do.’ ibid. song lyrics
‘We’ve done masses of projects, you know. Crass was the only project that ever became sort of renowned. It was a Punk band. Very very political. Our major statement was there is no authority but yourself.’ ibid. Penny Rimbauld (drummer) to artistic community
‘The whole way of that living like that was consideration for other people first.’ ibid. Steve Ignorant
… Yes that’s right, punk is dead
It’s just another cheap product for the consumers head.
Bubblegum rock on plastic transistors
Schoolboy sedition backed by big time promoters.
CBS promote the Clash
Ain’t for revolution, it’s just for cash.
Punk became a fashion just like hippy used to be
Ain't got a thing to do with your or me.
Movements are systems and systems kill.
Movements are expressions of the public will.
Punk became a movement cos we all felt lost
Leaders sold out and now we all pay the cost.
Punk narcissism was a social napalm
Steve Jones started doing real harm.
Preaching revolution, anarchy and change
Sucked from the system that had given him his name … Crass, Punk is Dead
Right now ha, ha, ha, ha, ha
I am an anti-Christ
I am an anarchist
Don’t know what I want
But I know how to get it
I want to destroy the passerby.
’Cause I want to be anarchy
No dogs body.
Anarchy for the UK
It’s coming sometime and maybe
I give a wrong time, stop a traffic line
Your future dream has sure been seen through.
’Cause I want to be anarchy … Sex Pistols: Anarchy for the UK