10 Most Important Acts That Shaped Punk Rock Music
3. The Clash
The Clash's legacy has come to represent the absolute cream of British rock music during the '70s and '80s. Although, they started off as one of the pioneers of the British punk rock scene, their musical style encompassed reggae, ska, blues and new wave sounds. They would go on to inform the sound of British indie and alternative movements in the decades following.
These guys were running around with members of the Sex Pistols during the time when Britain was becoming a dystopian nightmare for the working and middle classes. Many bands of these era spat out lyrics containing politically charged and anti-establishment messages, but The Clash were the most savvy in their understanding of contemporary issues.
Their first record contained the track, White Riot (1977) - a song calling for the white and black working class to join together and protest the oppressive reining classes - this song represented the band at their most quintessentially 'punk'. But, they soon developed a far more nuanced and sophisticated style. Later tracks like Bankrobber (1980) and Straight To Hell (1982) took on the forms of reggae and new-wave.