In my series on the evolution of heavy metal and it's sub-genres this is another side jaunt into a style that is NOT heavy metal, but it has a large impact on many sub-genres of heavy metal. That style is known as Punk Rock though sometimes it is called Original Punk Rock because the style has had a resurgence and they sound quite different from each other. It is also a reaction to a trend in music. this is the 6th post in my Metal Tree series which began with this first post which has links to all of the other posts at the very bottom.

Unlike other documentarians on this subject I'm trying to keep these things reported somewhat in a chronological fashion to when they occurred. I believe that helps maintain a fluid view of history and how and why things evolved. If I do not approach it this way, I'll end up jumping back and forth in time. This may still happen as these are not fixed points in time, but more a BEGINNING point and in some cases they may not have actually ended yet.

I base a lot of my initial idea for this series on the work done by Sam Dunn in the Metal Evolution documentary series by Banger Films, yet this is one area he did not do an episode. It is these omissions that inspired me to try to document it and fill in some holes. I suspect had there been funding that Sam Dunn would have done this himself. He has made a lot of tremendous documentaries.

Other Sources

With that said there are other documentaries out there that document a lot of what happened in early Punk Rock. I'll share a few recommendations here if that is a journey you are interested in taking.

You can always consider the movie about the Sex Pistols called Sid & Nancy.

Though a more recent movie takes a look at the CBGB club where so many punk acts, and new wave would go on to get their starts. There is a 2013 CBGB movie on this. I thought it was pretty well made.

The 1981 movie The Decline of Western-Civilization focuses on the California area Punk Movement.

Those are some good starting places. I'm going to do a quick youtube search for history of punk so I can share some videos you can potentially watch right now. I have not watched these YET.

Anarchy in the World - A Brief History of Punk - 21:42

Let Us Begin

Prior to punk rock there was a growing trend of fabulous musicians in mainstream Rock and Roll, Progressive Rock, and even what could be considered early Heavy Metal. A common trait of these is that you really had to practice your instrument and skills and keep practicing to be able to perform them. In some areas ONE UPPING the guy who came before you became important. This is why you would see things like "Clapton is God!" as graffitti and then you'd hear the legends of how Hendrix cut Clapton (NOTE: Cut refers to head cutting which is a musicians challenge where they play until one cannot keep up with the other) This means each successive iteration of players was standing on the shoulders of those that came before them and reaching to higher and higher levels.

What if you were angry, needed an outlet, had music raging in your brain, could come up with lyrics and passion, but you couldn't play an instrument?

One answer is to make your own music. Punk Rock in most cases (except perhaps for the drummer) is rudimentary enough that some of it someone could be playing a week after they picked up a guitar. Punk Rock was the anti-thesis of what had been coming before. They didn't give a damn about how good someone was at their instrument. They cared about the attitude, the passion, the rebellion, and the energy.

While Punk Rock music is generally some of the easiest to learn and perform it DID introduce new things that had never been seen before. This would have a profound impact on heavy metal. I also think it is important to point this out as this type of movement would come again, but in a different style.

When Punk came onto the scene it exploded across the world. It was embraced widely. It showed that there were a ton of people tired of where things were going that finally felt like they had something that was saying what they had been wanting to say.

I can speak about this objectively though it was not a style I ever got that into, I had friends who were way into them. I was around and in early High School and Junior High School as this was getting very big in the world. I witnessed a lot of this happening. I also respect what they brought to the music. Without punk there is a chance several of my favorite sub-genres of heavy metal would never have come into existence.

NOTE: There were a lot of punk rock bands. One thing not having to be able to play your instruments well to be in a band does is open the flood gates to a lot of bands. I already have a pretty big list of bands here, but there were MANY MANY more than this. I cannot list them all. I'll list quite a lot of them though.

Also, many of these bands would go on to be eventually quite skilled at their instruments. That tends to happen with practice. In general though they did not start out that way as that is not the remotest of requirements for punk rock.

The Stooges

Band First Released: 1969
Nationality: United States of America.
I first wrote about The Stooges in the Metal Tree post on Early U.S. Metal as they didn't play just punk style, but they also played what could distinctly be considered metal style. The singer Iggy Pop perhaps invented a lot of the attitude and behaviors that would go with punk, though there are more that he did not. In fact, later on as a solo artist he would be predominantly considered punk. I believe The Stooges and Iggy Pop found a warm welcome in the Punk scene and they had a bigger presence there then what I would consider the early metal scene.

Iggy Pop Stooges documentary - rare old footage - 8:48

Iggy Pop & The Stooges - 1969 - 3:48

Ramones

Band First Released: 1976
Nationality: United States of America
These guys are quite different from a lot of Punk acts but still are considered one of the most important acts in the movement. They dress and appear totally different from other acts in the genre. They got their start at CBGBs. They had a musical movie made with them as an important facet of the movie in 1979 called Rock and Roll High School.

Joey Ramone - A Wonderful Life (Ramones Documentary) - 48:17

Ramones_VH1_Pt.1.avi - 9:03

This is an example of how they kind of defined the sound that would become Punk Rock.

The Ramones - Hey! Oh! Let's GO!!!!!! - 2:04

The Damned

Band First Released: 1977
Nationality: United Kingdoms
Considered the UK's very first Punk Band.

The Damned on TV (1977) - 7:06

Sex Pistols

Band First Released: 1977
Nationality: United Kingdoms
This is one of the more famous of Punk Rock bands primarily due to the extremes of singer Johnny Rotten and then the bassist being replaced by Sid Vicious. They burned VERY bright for two and a half years and influenced almost every other punk rock act.

Sex Pistols Documentary (USA) - 20:50

Sex Pistols - Anarchy In The UK 1976 - 3:31

The Clash

Band First Released: 1977
Nationality: United Kingdoms
I will admit I get a big kick out of the song Rock the Casbah whenever I hear it. The vocalists intentional yet controlled method of singing out of tune and with little warbles always makes me chuckle. In fact if he can repeat that then that is a sign of some vocal control and skill. This song appeals to me on a creative level. I would say The Clash is a punk rock band that has occasionally appealed to me. (I like experimentation and there is more than your typical punk musician skill in that song)

The Clash - bbc4 documentary 2014 - 1:15:18

The Clash - Rock the Casbah (Official Video) - 3:39

The Vibrators

Band First Released: 1977
Nationality: United Kingdom
These guys were not your typical punk band. They had a bit of musical skill hidden in their playing. They seem to be an example of some decent musicians that embraced punk because they like the sound.

The Vibrators (Punk) Old Grey Whistle Test BBC2 TV 4.4.1978 (full 4 songs) - 9:33

The Vibrators - Stitch you up - 2:42

The Saints

Band First Released: 1977
Nationality: Australia
This shows that Punk Rock seemed to be exploding across the world to countries with English as their primary language. There were punk rocks in every such country though perhaps not all nations will find a representative in this post. There is only so much space.

The Saints - Stranded - 3:22

STRANDED(The Saint's History) - an interesting thing they say it was happening simultaneously, but really it could go back to The Stooges which predated them all by almost a decade. Yet if you go by other release dates Ramones were the year before all of this blew up. Though it is very likely The Saints and what was happening in Australia, and UK were happening in parallel without requiring one to inspire the other. 1977 was an explosion of punk bands. Yet The Stooges were there considerably longer than that.

STRANDED(THE SAINTS HISTORY) - 56:14

The Dead Boys

Band First Released: 1977
Nationality: United States of America

Dead Boys - Live at CBGB's 1977 - 28:51

Sham 69

Band First Released: 1977
Nationality: United Kingdoms

Sham 69 - If The Kids Are United (Live, 1978) - 3:40

The Stranglers

Band First Released: 1977
Nationality: United Kingdoms

The Stranglers Documentray Part 1 - 8:46

The Stranglers Documentary Part 2 - 9:39

The Stranglers Documentary Part 3 - 7:26