University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies Legacy Theses 2001 Tune in, turn on, go punk: American punk counterculture, 1968-1985 Marchetto, Sean Marchetto, S. (2001). Tune in, turn on, go punk: American punk counterculture, 1968-1985 (Unpublished master's thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. doi:10.11575/PRISM/15837 http://hdl.handle.net/1880/40948 master thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Tune In, Turn On, Go Punk: American Punk Counterculture, 1968-1985 BY Sean Marchetto A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTlAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY CALGARY, ALBERTA JULY, 2001 O Sean Marchetto, 2001 National Library Biiiotheque nationale du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Biblibgraphic Services services bibliographiques 385wIQngknSlreet 395. rue weuingbtl -ON K1AM -O(J K1AW CMaQ Canada The author has granted a non- L'autew a accorde une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive pezmettant a la National Library of Canada to Biblioth&quenationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distciite or sell reproduire, preter, disbribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette these sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de rnicrofiche//film,de reproduction sur papier on sur format electronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriW du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protege cette these. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent Stre imprimes reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autoxisation. ABSTRACT This thesis explores areas of soda1 and intellectual continuity within the American counterculture circa 1968-1985. It demonstrate that the punk counterculture of the 1970s had its roots in the hippie counterculture of the 1960s and was not a separate soda1 phenomenon. 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 middle-class 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 1980-1985, as punk rediscovered the political aitique made by dissenting groups of the 1960s. such as the New Left, with the emergence of hardcore punk. This thesis uses 298 letters printed in Flipsde and MaximumRock'n'Roll magazines during the period of 1983-1985 to demonstrate the grass-roots concerns 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 Alana. In many ways this effort is as much hers as it is mine, and I owe her so much for the last two years of horrible 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 all her help wi-th the Factsheet Five Archive, and the University of Calgary Office of the Vice- President (Research) for the funds to get there. This thesis evolved out of my wonderful adventure at CJSW and all 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, Ian Chiclo, Zoltan Varadi, Russell Gragg, Elizabeth Chomey. Jason May, Derek McEwan, Chad Saunders, Alex 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 know knows ir - Blonde Redhead, ln an Expression of the Inexptessible, Toucb & Go, 1997 .. Approval page ..................................................................................................... -11... Abstract ................... ,.. .... .................................................................................. 111 Acknowledgements .................... .., .................................................................. iv Dedication ............................................................................................................. v vi Table of Contents ................................................................................................. .. List of Tables ...................................................................................................... -VII CHAPTER ONE: All 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 TWO: Your Pretty Theories Are Going To Hell: Revising the Origins of Punk.................................................................................................................... 31 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 Fuck: 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 DlX A: Letters to Flipside and MaximumRocknRoll.. ............................. 134 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Themes ................... .. ................................+ Table 2: Sex...................................................................................................... 134 Table 3: Location of Letter Writers ................................................................... -135 Table 4: Identity ................................................................................................. 136 Table 5: Identity by Sex .................................................................................... -137 Table 6: Political Issues ..................................................................................... 138 Table 7: Activities ............................................................................................... 139 Table 8: Themes by Sex ................................................................................... 140 Table 9: Political 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 countless 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 historians refer to as the "counterculture." However, the term "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 next big thing. When punk first caught the public eye, it was seen as nihilistic and doomed to bum itself out in apocalyptic rage. Punk has not slipped quietly into the dustbin of history, though; 2001 marks its 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.3 Punk may have burst onto the musical scene in 1976, but its actual gestation extends back much