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If want to go back to a quick history lesson of Punk, you'd have to back to 1969 when The Stooges emerged.
The Stooges fronted by Iggy Pop were raw, simple and a big change of pace to what was happening in the world then. Vietnam, Nixon, the late hippie movement and the arrival of the New Yardbirds/Led Zeppelin.

The Stooges remained fairly in the underground. There were other bands starting to emerge in the early 70's coming out the New York scene. The Ramones and The New York Dolls.

But it wasn't until around 1976 when a band named the Sex Pistols arrived. Formed basically by Malcolm McClarren to promote his Adult Bookstore, The Sex Pistols comprised of John "Rotten" Lydon, Glenn Matlock, Steve Jones and Stu Cook.

The Sex Pistols hated everything about corporate Rock (Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones). They were the anti-establishment, anti-rock. There were other bands from that generation that followed. The Clash, Generation X, The Fall, Souxie and the Banshees. U.K. Subs, Cockney Rejects. This was considered the first wave of British punk.

In the states, punk didn't take off until around 1979-80 when bands like D.O.A., Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Minor Threat, Dead Kennedy's, T.S.O.L., Adolescents, Social Distortion, etc. took it a step further with a more thrashier and faster sound. The U.S. punk version got back to the U.K. where a second wave of punk took off. Bands like Discharge, G.B.H., Exploited, Vice Squad, Destructors, Varukers, Blitz, Partisans, 4 Skins, etc.

Punk seemed to slow down a bit by the mid 1980's when another version of its type took off again in the states. Speed/Thrash Metal emerged. Many punk bands grew their hair long and took on this type of music. Bands like Suicidal Tendencies, Bad Brains and the Misfits turned their sound to a more metal feel. But we also saw the arrival of speed/thrash metal artists like Metallica, Testament, Nuclear Assault, Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer.

Punk definitely changed the music scene for the better, but the unfortunate thing was that we were also left with a bunch of bands that called themselves punk, but they were far from it.

Learn more about this author, Todd Beaman.
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