I once read an article on Green Day where the writer compared Green Day, Offspring and other such bands as "punk you can buy at the Gap." In other words, SELL OUT!

What are the veiws of others here? Does Punk have to be an "underground" thing to be legit?

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AKA Rain Taylor

Well, I don't know much about Punk Rock actually. But its always had an 'underground' kind of feel to it.. I guess that's why it's got that rep where if you aren't underground you aren't real.. People and their misconceptions...

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Sal Collaziano

[This message has been edited by Sal Collaziano (edited 05-10-2000).]

I don't know if it has to be underground to be legit. My fave punk band is The Ramones. I love them alot more than the Sex Pistols.

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What, no mention of the ultimate punk band of all time, The Clash!?!?!? They were definitely kicking hard in the 80's and had some pretty hardcore political slants besides good music. I have to admit, I do love Green Day and Rancid, but those guys do owe a lot to The Clash and the other 80's punk bands. I never wore a purple mohawk but I always wanted to!

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No mention of stuff like GBH, Agnostic Front, The Exploited, The Dicks, Circle Jerks, Big Boys, Black Flag, The Germs, X, Seven Seconds, COC, Day-Glo Abortions and numerous others? http://www.80sxchange.com/ubb/biggrin.gif There are so many that can be mentioned.

If you want a great CD of old-school punk, check out the remake of the Peace/War album that came out in the mid/late '80s. Dozens of bands. It's really hard to find. YOu might be able to find a copy of it in Maximum Rock-n-Roll fanzine.

I must admit, I like the old pop-punk sound of bands like Green Day. They owe their roots to the earlier bands, but they have their own sound all the same.

I was glad to see Ska come back, even if it *was* just for a few months.

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Thanks Mr Miata! I will certainly look into that. You mentioned some GREAT bands there. I miss alot of the "old school" punk that I used to listen to. I miss going to the clubs in London and Oxford to check out some of the unsigned acts that floated through town. I am not sure I recognise some of the acts you mentioned, though. GBH? When did I miss THAT?

Dirty Deeds! The Clash is like an unnamed certainty. When speaking of the 80's punk scene, you ARE speaking of the Clash! LOL!


Rain

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AKA Rain Taylor


[This message has been edited by Raine (edited 05-29-2000).]

GBH was a British mohawk and liberty spike band. We saw them open up for Agnostic Front back in, ummmmm... '85? We always joked that GBH meant Great Big Hairdos. This was before the whole skinhead/mohawk hate fests. You should have seen the skins that came out for Agnostic Front.

But I must admit, The Exploited was the ultimate show for me. The club only held about 500 people and it was one great big pit, full of slammers (no "moshing" back then.) One wild as hell ride.

I'll try and dig out the CD and refresh my memory again. I really miss the old-school stuff sometimes.

I still have several flyers for band like Descendants before they were very well known. They spent a summer in Houston. I saw the Sonic Youth show for free in downtown Houston as part of some festival.

I was a come-one, come-all punk. New Wave, New Romantic, Hardcore, it didn't matter. As long as it wasn't on Top 40 radio, I listened to it. http://www.80sxchange.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

And no, I don't really think punk has to be "underground" to be legit.

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Hi, Raine,
I apologize, I didn't know that you were so in touch with punk that The Clash were an unspoken certainty on this board! Ah, those were the days. I haven't been in a real mosh pit in ages (not the silly bash 'em ups the dumb jocks do at concerts nowadays). To answer the original question you set forth, I guess the spirit of punk is in the underground, nonconformist attitude but that doesn't mean you can't sell records. Maybe you could find Green Day or Offspring at the Gap one day but I still wouldn't consider them as sell outs. On the other hand, you definitely wouldn't find a group like Rancid at the Gap, so does that make them a more authentic punk band? Or are Green Day and Offspring not really punk to begin with? I'm just asking questions, not stating my opinion. So what do you think, Raine, and everybody else?

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I think we need a new smilie with a mohawk for this board, don't you think so?

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Well, I consider bands like Rancid, Green Day, Everclear, Offspring, etc... to be more of a pop punk. True punk is stuff you will *never* find in the mainstream. I mean, sheesh, Offspring is the main band in the Dreamcast game Crazy Taxi! Great music, the groove of a good pop punk song, but not the raw angst of bands like Cruci****s, Crass, Eugene Chadbourne, White Cross, etc...

I guess you have to have gone to real hardcore shows and experienced what a "slam dance" and not a "mosh" was like to really describe it. There was a certain feel in the early, mid and even late '80s to punk that is still there but is *way* underground.

I guess I've always considered real "punk" to be hardcore punk. That makes it a pretty narrow definition though. I like all sorts of music, and some feels "punker" than other sorts.

Punk is the way you are. It's not where you play. It's a non-conformist attitude. I never really called myself a punk. I was an "individualist." Libertarian to the core. http://www.80sxchange.com/ubb/biggrin.gif So yeah, in a circular logic kinda way, they play punk stuff. It's just not the pure, unadulterated form of punk. http://www.80sxchange.com/ubb/smile.gif

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I agree, Mr Miata! I was an "individualist" even when I shaved the side of my head in my senior year, and so did most of my "individualist" friends!
I guess it is kind of a life style than a "fad" or "stereotype" Punk is punk is punk. Kurt Cobain was more of a punk than Courtney Love could ever dream to be. He lived it, she visited.

Hello yourself, dirtydeeds! Glad you came back. Sorry if I came across odd up there, but I am a Clash fan. Didn't want you to think I had forgotten them! As for mosh pits, I always avoided them. I am allergic to pain and I am a chicken! http://www.80sxchange.com/ubb/smile.gif
When I was in High School, I started a band. We were, well we sucked, but it was basically metal. We covered Girlschool and such. For some reason, the punks loved us. They would open up a mosh pit in front of the stage and throw chairs and shit. Scared the hell out of me! One day, a really huge punk approached me (his mohawk must have put him at close to 7 feet tall) and said that I reminded him of Becki Bondage. I have no idea who this is, but I am assuming this was a compliment. Does anyone know who the hell she is?

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AKA Rain Taylor

Hi, Raine,
Sorry it's taken me a while to get back to you, but it's been a heck of a week! I have no idea who Becki Bondage is either but that's a heck of a name! And whoever heard of a punk giving out compliments! (Although in your case, I'm sure it's true!) So have we settled the case of the true essence of punk now since there aren't any new posts?

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Originally posted by dirtydeeds:
And whoever heard of a punk giving out compliments!

You are right, maybe Becki Bondage sucked! He hated me! Goddamnit!

No, no new posts. But, I don't know if we will ever TRUELY know the meaning of life....eerrrr, I mean punk!

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AKA Rain Taylor

Well, I did alittle looking and found out that Becki Bondage was the lead singer of a late '70's early '80's punk band called Vice Squad. I have never heard of them.
http://www.comnet.ca/~rina/vice_squad.html

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AKA Rain Taylor