Encyclopedia of Punk Music and Culture . (original) (raw)

Molloy College professor Dr. Brian Cogan defines punk as "a movement or series of cultural movements involving music, ideology, fashion, oppositional politics, and a DIY (do-it-yourself) and anti-mainstream sensibility that is generally agreed to have been solidified in the early 1970s in New York City and in London�Although many considered it to have ended in a specific time period, it continued in different forms, such as postpunk and hardcore." Among the topics he explores in this well-researched, wide-ranging reference work are Punk Rock Personalities, Zines and Magazines, Punk Genres, Punk Books, Punk Films and Television, Punk Record Labels, Punk Clubs and Locations, Punk Culture, and Punk Bands and Songs.

Cogan succinctly, though perceptively, examines such important groups as the Sex Pistols, the Ramones, the Clash, the Buzzcocks, Television, Richard Hell and the Voidoids, Black Flag, X, Sonic Youth, and the Damned. Fronted by the "charismatic" Johnny Rotten, the Sex Pistols "pioneered a sound, look, and aesthetic that was enormously influential on both the British and U.S. punk rock scenes�Their first and only proper record, 'Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols,' is one of the most imitated and well known of punk [albums] and features some of the most famous songs in punk history: 'God Save the Queen,' 'Anarchy in the UK,' and 'Pretty Vacant.' The group was equally well known for its provocative lyrics and the controversy, chaos, and confusion caused by the band wherever it went."

Cogan also analyzes many leading punk rockers, including Dee Dee Ramone, John Doe, Sid Vicious, Joe Strummer, Darby Crash, Lydia Lunch, Jello Biafra, Henry Rollins, Patti Smith, and Johnny Thunders. Dee Dee Ramone, born Douglas Glenn Colvin, played bass and wrote many "of the Ramones' most influential songs," which "referenced his [struggles] with substance abuse and mental illness." He "will be remembered as a pioneer of punk whose songs were essential to the [band's] success and also, sadly, as a poster boy for the rock star as dissolute artist struggling with a drug problem." Tragically, Dee Dee died of a heroin overdose in 2002, not long "after the Ramones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame."

Furthermore, Dr. Cogan evaluates the significance of such forerunners of punk (or "protopunks," as he labels them) as the MC5, the Modern Lovers, the Dictators, the Velvet Underground, the Seeds, the Monks, and Iggy Pop. Born James Osterberg, Pop "along with his 1960s band the Stooges is considered by most to be the godfather of punk rock. He is well known for such iconic songs as 'Search and Destroy,' 'Now I Wanna Be Your Dog,' 'Loose,' and 'Lust for Life.' Since his start as a drummer in the mid-1960s," Professor Cogan observes, "Iggy Pop has remained a true original, influencing generations of punks and countless front men who usually emulate his earlier excessive behavior (rolling in glass and peanut butter, fighting with the audience) as opposed to his creativity and electric dynamism."

During the 1980s, of course, many punks berated Ronald Reagan. A number of bands, including Intensified Chaos and Suicidal Tendencies, excoriated him in their songs. Moreover, Cogan avers, an "anarchistic punk band took the title Reagan Youth�and in the mid-1980s a notorious campaign of civil disobedience by punks in the Washington, D.C., scene opposed Reagan's foreign and domestic policies through open protest�creative graffiti, and posters that decried various members of the Reagan administration."

Fans of Texas punk rock will be happy to discover that Dr. Cogan also discusses several bands from the Lone Star State, including the Dicks, MDC, and the Big Boys, all from Austin, and San Antonio's Butthole Surfers. (Intriguingly, Gibby Haynes, front man for the latter group, was the son of Mr. Peppermint, the beloved children's television show host from Dallas!) Cogan asserts that the Butthole Surfers "toured relentlessly more as a circus sideshow than as a band, sometimes blinding the audience with strobe lights, showing films of medical experiments in the background, or throwing thousands of photocopies of roaches into the audience during gigs. The band eventually signed to a major label, and although they had a surprise hit with the relatively tame song 'Pepper,' they were eventually dropped by a record label that had difficulty promoting a band that many radio stations refused to play based solely on [their] name." Professor Cogan contends that MDC "was among the most militant of the hardcore bands of the 1980s." Known for their "uncompromising and fierce" music, "MDC was unrelenting in its full-on attack on capitalism, homophobia, police brutality, [and] racism."

Entertaining, informative, and insightful, this terrific volume belongs in the collection of every punk rock enthusiast. "God save the Queen/she ain't no human being/There is no future/In England's dreaming."

Note: Readers interested in learning more about the lively Texas punk scene should consult photographer Pat Blashill's superb TEXAS IS THE REASON: THE MAVERICKS OF LONE STAR PUNK (2020). PITCHFORK magazine declares that the book is "teeming with subversive bands, cheap beer, and slam dancing�Blashill also captures the music scene's intimacy and camaraderie." And the NEW YORK TIMES states that Blashill "captures the energy and anarchy of Austin's burgeoning scene between 1979 and 1987."

Review by

Dr. Kirk Bane, Central Texas Historical Association