"Rock Against Reagan": the Punk Movement, Cultural Hegemony, and Reaganism in the Eighties
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
University of Northern Iowa UNI ScholarWorks Dissertations and Theses @ UNI Student Work 2016 "Rock against Reagan": The punk movement, cultural hegemony, and Reaganism in the eighties Johnathan Kyle Williams University of Northern Iowa Let us know how access to this document benefits ouy Copyright ©2016 Johnathan Kyle Williams Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd Part of the Cultural History Commons Recommended Citation Williams, Johnathan Kyle, ""Rock against Reagan": The punk movement, cultural hegemony, and Reaganism in the eighties" (2016). Dissertations and Theses @ UNI. 239. https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd/239 This Open Access Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Work at UNI ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses @ UNI by an authorized administrator of UNI ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Copyright by JOHNATHAN KYLE WILLIAMS 2015 All Rights Reserved “ROCK AGAINST REAGAN”: THE PUNK MOVEMENT, CULTURAL HEGEMONY, AND REAGANISM IN THE EIGHTIES An Abstract of a Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts Johnathan Kyle Williams University of Northern Iowa May, 2016 ABSTRACT Despite scholars’ growing interest in the cultural movement known as punk, there has been a lack of focus on the movement’s relationship to its historical context. Punk meant rebellion, and this research looks at how the rebellion of the American punk movement during the eighties [1978 to 1992], was aimed at the president Ronald Reagan. Their dissent, however, was not only directed towards Reagan, but the culture that he encompassed. Under this influence, American culture gave way to Reaganism: a culture of individualism, greed, power, and symbols. Adding to the work by historian Dewar MacLeod and others who have focused on punk rock in major urban settings like New York and Los Angeles, this project will look beyond those centers. By using fanzines (underground magazine publications), songs, oral histories, interviews, video recordings, and popular news media sources, this research explores: the influence of the Atlantic littoral in the development and politics of punk; a regional focus on the Midwest and how the youth of the region created a punk community in an unlikely location; the “Rock Against Reagan” tour and political activism within punk that challenged Reagan’s bid for a second presidential term; censorship and the charges of “distributing harmful matter to a minor” against the Dead Kennedys’ 1985 Frankenchrist album; and how the punk movement adapted to a new decade, and what can be seen as a new century in the 1990s. Filling a missing gap for research, this project helps to better understand the punk movement, Reagan, and the culture of the eighties. “ROCK AGAINST REAGAN”: THE PUNK MOVEMENT, CULTURAL HEGEMONY, AND REAGANISM IN THE EIGHTIES A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts Johnathan Kyle Williams University of Northern Iowa May, 2016 ii This Study by: Johnathan Kyle Williams Entitled: “Rock Against Reagan”: The Punk Movement, Cultural Hegemony, and Reaganism in the Eighties has been approved as meeting the thesis requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts ___________ _____________________________________________________ Date Dr. Brian Roberts, Chair, Thesis Committee ___________ _____________________________________________________ Date Dr. Fernando Calderon, Thesis Committee Member ___________ _____________________________________________________ Date Dr. Michael Childers, Thesis Committee Member ___________ _____________________________________________________ Date Dr. Kavita R. Dhanwada, Dean, Graduate College iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Although unknown at the time, this project began over a decade ago when I first discovered punk rock. Mom and dad, thank you for turning up the radio during car drives and buying your teenage son albums with titles like Take Your Pants Off and Jacket by Blink 182. To my first bandmate and longtime friend James, you introduced me to some great bands and our discussions on music, history, and growing up together have helped shape this project along the way. To my committee, I owe much to each of you for helping to make me the young historian I am. Your teachings are something that I will carry with me beyond my time at UNI. Lastly, thank you Kate for all the encouragement, patience, and support. Somehow we managed to survive graduate school, getting married, and raising our rambunctious young pup, Smalls. I have come a long way since you first met me and cannot thank you enough for everything you have done. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................v INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................1 CHAPTER I. “THE GREAT ACCEPTANCE” ................................................................21 CHAPTER II. “ROCK AGAINST REAGAN” .................................................................50 CHAPTER III. “THE RECLINE OF MIDWESTERN CIVILIZATION” .......................90 CHAPTER IV. “CULTURAL TERRORIST”: ...............................................................124 CHAPTER V. “PUNK’S NOT DEAD, IT JUST DESERVES TO DIE” .......................153 AFTERWORD .................................................................................................................195 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................198 v LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE PAGE 1 Reagan’s Support of World Peace .........................................................................26 2 “Was It Good for You Too?” .................................................................................26 3 “Rock Against Reagan” Tour Ad, 1983 ................................................................65 4 “Rock Against Reagan” Tour Ad, 1984 ................................................................65 5 “If the G.O.P Won’t Stop the War . .” .................................................................83 6 “What You See and What You Get”......................................................................88 7 “Serena Dank Says: Murder Punks!” ...................................................................103 8 Serena Dank Comic Strip.....................................................................................104 9 Album Art for Die Kreuzen’s 1982 7” Cows and Beer .......................................113 10 Cover for the Descendents’ 1982 Album Milo Goes to College .........................172 1 INTRODUCTION The 2010 Saturday Night Live skit “Punk Band Reunion at the Wedding,” revived the spirit of 1980s punk rock at an unlikely location. Featuring an impressive lineup, Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, Ashton Kutcher, and Dave Grohl―the former drummer of the band, Nirvana, one of the most recognized groups of the 1990s that emerged from the late- 1980s punk scene―formed the fictional punk band “Crisis of Conformity.” Making a speech at his daughter’s wedding, the father of the bride (Armisen) brought his former group on stage to perform their first gig in decades. Playing a song called “Fistfight in the Parking Lot,” the lyrics shouted out against Ronald Reagan and symbols of Americana. Their short performance ended with a destroyed wedding reception and Armisen diving into the wedding cake. The audience was stunned at such a sight, except for the father of groom (Jason Sudeikis), who seemed as if he just relived the excitement of 1980s punk rock.1 Aired three decades following Ronald Reagan’s first presidential campaign victory, the Saturday Night Live skit demonstrated how Reagan and punk rock have remained relevant in recent times. But what was it that linked the two together? Out of historical context, the skit demonstrated how the rebellion of punk has been defused by popular culture. Punk, from whatever perspective one wants to explain, meant rebellion; and for the United States, that rebellion was aimed at the face of the 1980s, Ronald Reagan. The Saturday Night Live skit, although of a fictional band and song, displayed a 1 Saturday Night Live, “Punk Band Reunion at the Wedding,” Season 35, 2010, www.nbc.com /saturday- night-live/video (n12715). 2 hint of reality by showing how punk’s rebellion was not just Reagan, however, but the culture that he represented. Mentioning “white picket fences,” “Happy Meals,” “Alexander Haig,” and putting on a “suit and tie,” the song highlighted multiple targets of 1980s punk rockers. More importantly, these targets were symbols of nostalgia, suburban white America, militarism, and the idolization of the businessman, part of the very essence behind the culture of Reaganism.2 As a specific genre of popular music, punk or punk rock emerged in the mid- 1970s. Rejecting the overproduced, derivative sounds of the music industry―disco on one hand, and the once Counterculture rebels turned to rock & roll superstars on the other―punk countered with a striped-down, simplistic, and aggressive sound that reflected the uncertain decade.3 Punk music focused on creativity and encouraged groups to create their own unique sound. Because of this characteristic, punk rock adopted styles from other musical genres, such as, but not limited to, early rock & roll, reggae, and heavy metal. The fusing of these