Amencan Punk Counterculture, 1968-1 985 by Sean Marchetto A
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UNlVERSlTV OF CALGARY Tune In, Turn On, Go Punk: Amencan Punk Counterculture, 1968-1 985 BY Sean Marchetto A THESlS SUBMIlTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY CALGARY, ALBERTA JULY, 2001 National Library Biiiotheque nab'onaie du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliiraphic Services senices bibliographiques The author has granteci a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence aliowing the exchisive pezmettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distciite or sell reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microfoxm, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de rnicrofiche/fdm, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyxight in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. ABSTRACT This thesis explores areas of social and intellectual continuity within the American counterculture circa 1968-1985. It demonstrate that the punk counterculture of the 1970s had its mots in the hippie counterculture of the 1960s and was not a separate Malphenomenon. The punk counterculture developed in three periods: 1968-1975, when punks and hippies shared bohemian neighbourhoods. like New York's East Village, and an ideology that rejected capitalism and rniddleclass lives; 1975-1980, when punk gained public notice and began to develop its own institutions like the night dub, the fanzine, and the independent record label; and 19804985, as punk rediscovered the political aitique made by dissenting groups of the 1960s. such as the New Left, with the ernergenœ of hatdmre punk. This thesis uses 298 letters printed in Flipsde and MaximumRock'n'Roll magazines during the period of 1983-1985 to demonstrate the grass-mots conœrns of punks as they evolved through these periods. iii ACKNOVVLEDGEMENTS There is no way I could have managed this project without the help and sacrifice of my wife Aiana. In many ways this effort is as rnuch hers as it is mine, and I owe her so much for the last two years of homble screeching (and not always from the stereo). I also owe a huge debt to my advisor, Dr. Elizabeth Jameson, whose guidance, suggestions, and editing have brought this project a long way. I would also like to thank Billie Aui at the State Library of New York for al1 her help wi-th the Fadsheet Five Archive. and the University of Calgary ûffice of the Vice- President (Research) for the funds to get there. This thesis evolved out of my wondeml adventure at CJSW and al1 the people who helped open new musical doors for me, and with whom I have discussed significant portions of this work in one form or another. They are (in no particular order): Don McSwiney, Brad Simm, James Martin, lan Chiclo, Zoltan Varadi, Russell Gragg, Elizabeth Chomey. Jason May, Derek McEwan, Chad Saunders, Aiex DiNinno, Jamie Frederick, Andrew Wedderburn, and everyone who ever phoned in to the lzmAve Paylot (1994-1999) to make a request or share an opinion. "This is for me and everyone I knaw knows it" - Blonde Redhead, In an Expression of the Inexpressible, Toucb 8 Go. 1997 .. Approval page ...................................................................................................... II... Abstract ................... ,.. .... ..*......... .................................................*....................lll Acknowledgements .................... .., .................................................................. iv Dedication ............................................................................................................. v Table of Contents vi ................................................................................................. .. List of Tables ...................................................................................................... MI CHAPTER ONE: Ail Hopped Up and Ready to Go: The Birth of Punk................. 1 Confusion is Next: What is the Counterculture?..................................... 11 Liars Beware: Rethinking Punk ................................................................. 15 Stepping Stone: An Outline....................................................................... 28 CHAPTER MIO: Your Pretty Theories Are Going To Hell: Revising the Origins of Punk..................... Down At The Rock And Roll Club: Punk Institutions ................................ 42 Full Speed Ahead: Changes in Punk ....................................................... 53 Get In The Van: The Emergence of Hardoore Punk............................... -58 CHAPTER THREE: Teenage Riot: The Politics of Hardcore Punk .....................65 Punk as Fu&: Punk as Transgression ................................................... -78 A Whole Nation Full of Weirdos: Letters to Flipside .............................. 32 Hippies in Black Leather Jackets: Dissent, Cornrnodification and Punk Style......................................................................................... 91 No War, No KKK, No Fascist USA: The Politics of Hardcore Punk ........ -97 Art to Choke Hearts: The Role of Art in Fanzines................................... 100 Invisible Republic: Fanzines as Community ............................................ 103 CHAPTER FOUR: I Was A Hippie: Punk and an Evolving Counterculture...... -109 The Influence of Punk ............................................................................. 110 A Riot of One's Own: Punk and Feminism............... .. ........................ 1 15 Rise Above: Punk Post-Hardcore........................................................... 119 BIBLIOGRAPHY................................................................................................ 124 APPEN DIX A: Letten to Flipside and MaximumRocknRoll.. ............................. 134 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Themes ................... .. ................................ Table 2: Sex... ..................................................................................................... 134 Table 3: Location of Letter Writers ................................................................... -135 Table 4: Ideritity................................................................................................. 136 Table 5: ldentity by Sex ..................................................................................... 137 Table 6: Political Issues..................................................................................... 138 Table 7: Activities.............................................................................................. -139 Table 8: Themes by Sex .................................................................................... 140 .. fable 9: Politrcal Issues by Sex ......................................................................... 141 Table 10: Bands Mentioned.............................................................................. -142 vii Chapter One All Hopped Up and Ready to Go: The Birth of punk1 This year marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Ramones' debut album, an album that according to a celebratory Spin Magazine article 'inspired countiess disenfranchised teens to start punk bands."' The Ramones' debut album has been described as a critical moment not just in the history of music, but in what many American hisurians refer to as the "counterculture." However, the terni "counterculturen is often used in the plural, with each successive generation making its own revolt, be it Beat, Hippie or Punk, only to be overtaken by the ne* big thing. When punk first caugM the public eye, it was seen as nihilistic and doomed to bum itself out in apocaiyptic rage. Punk has not slipped quietly into the dustbin of history, though; 2001 marks ih twenty-fifth anniversary as well as the Ramones'. Since the 1970s, however, it has grown and developed into an extensive cultural system that extends beyond music to offer critiques of American politics and economic policy, while being an advmte for feminist, minority, and environmental politics? Punk may have burst ont0 the musical sœne in 1976, but its actual gestation extends back much further, for its development was continuous with 1 Line from the Ramones' first single, and the first bonafide punk song, "Blitzkrieg Bop", from Ramones, Sire Records, 1976. Eric Weisbard, '25 Yean of PunK. Spin Magazine (May ZW?): 87. that of the countercuIture of the 1960s. Punk ernerged out of many of the same urban neighbourhoods that nurtured the hippies throughout the 1960s. Thus. while many aspects of the punk and hippie countercultures were different and unique to themseives, they also shared many cornrnonalities. The focus of this thesis will be on the simifarities between theca two cultures in order to link them socially and ideologically. Oral histones of the early punk sœnes reveat that punks fek a strong cunnection with the hippie cuuntercuiture. Furthermore. as punk developed it rediscovered the economic, political, and social critiques of the 1960s. Through the study of amateur punk magazines in the early 1980s, this shKfy will endeavor to add to the understanding of the deof non-musicians