History of Punk essays

History of Punk essays The British rock band manager, Malcolm MacLaren, once remarked that rock music remained the only form of culture that youth - those most receptive to radical ideas, who hold the most potential for social action - cared about. For the young, everything flowed through rock'n'roll: fashion, slang, sexual attitudes, drug habits, and poses. Once he realized the financial potential behind these sociological traits, the cunning MacLaren kept an eye on the rock music underground as a bell whether indicator for the British youth. It was here that MacLaren recognized the highly visible, wildly energetic and anti - social punk was the heir apparent for the youth of the UK. In order to capitalize on this new sound and evolving trend, he began promoting The Sex Pistols. As a savvy businessman, MacLaren knew that in order to succeed he and The Sex Pistols had to reach the largest number of pop culture participants in the most cost-effective manner available. This required a shift from the undergro und scene into the mainstream mass media. While their ploy was successful, success had its price. The deluge of manipulation and the waves of newly found fame forced on The Sex Pistols caused the original punk to become lost. In spite of placing punks on a worldwide stage, success was the end of the quintessential punk and the beginning of punk as a constructed image. An analysis of what punk was, in sociological terms, is rather more interesting than trying to determine what punk meant. This is because, as A.A. Gill of the London Times points out, punk was simply part of the "next" generations "fumbled attempts to get drunk, listen to the band, get laid and get the last bus home..." (Gill 3). Gill implies that punks were merely teenagers doing what came naturally: "We did it because we had to, we were genetically programmed to be adolescent and, anyway, there wasn't anything else to do on Friday night." (Gill 3). He goes on to say that "the kids were al...