In the early 1970’s, bubble gum rock was on its way out the door. Different types of music were beginning to blossom; fusion, funk, hard rock, and of course punk rock. While rock and roll had always represented rebellious human experience, punk rock took that mold and broke it over its knee. Punk might very well be characterized as the “most deviant part of the human soul” expressed as music.

While rebellion is not a new concept, punk was the first style of music to take raw, angry, atom bomb emotions and put it into music. In the early and mid 1970’s, bands like Iggy Pop and the Stooges, The New York Dolls, and The Ramones set the anti- establishment mantra for a generation of teens. These punk rockers were famous for not giving a damn what magazines and media thought of them. As a matter of fact, they didn’t seek media attention, the media sought them. A big theme in punk music is anarchy or rebellion against anything that seeks to clamp down and force people to behave instead of thinking for yourself.

This included, and still includes, rebellion against authority, class or caste, pretension, religious hatred, snobbery in general, or anything else that imposed too much dogma on humanity. How do you beat these idiotic ideas? By appealing to the most basic part of human beings and their self interests. An angry song stirs up people and makes them think, but it has to shock your conscience. Iggy Pop smeared peanut butter on himself at one concert while he sang. Sid Vicious cut himself during one show and bled all over.