5 Controversial Beliefs About Modern Music

3. Punk Changed The Face Of Music

If music has a face, it probably looks like Pete Postlethwaite€™s, you know, roomy, lived in, poetic and badly in need of an iron, yet in the early 70€™s, the face of music was seemingly changed forever by the arrival of a new genre of music known simply as punk. In many a magazine and blog has it been stated that punk changed music forever, killing the inflated, flatulent dinosaurs who had previously ruled the musical roost and establishing a new status quo more in line with the views of the average, downtrodden music fan. This is, of course, a beautiful idea, but is far from the truth. The first wave of punk bands, formed around New York City in the mid 70€™s barely registered a blip on the mainstream charts, Blondie being the first band of the era to break commercially and that was not until 1978 with a style of music far removed from their punk roots. In the UK, the Sex Pistols were the biggest mainstream success, their God Save The Queen single reaching number two on the mainstream charts, being kept off the top spot by Rod Stewart. Now, if there was ever a bigger sign that the mainstream was still very much in tact in the scabrous face of punk, then, surely, Rod Stewart is it. I mean, did bands such as Queen, The Rolling Stones or Fleetwood Mac hand up their instruments after facing the brief passing of punk rock? No. Not even close. They carried on regardless and when punk€™s brief but brilliant flame flared then died, there they remained. Of course, years later the influence would rear its head once more with a vengeance in the form of Nirvana, this time truly taking he world by storm, yet this time with music as opposed to spectacle. Still, surveying the current mainstream musical landscape, it is apparent that even this assault had little impact. Punk was never meant to change the world. It was meant to change the individual who was lucky enough to find it. No one who has ever truly discovered punk has been the same after. That€™s enough. VERDICT: False. Punk€™s face was too spotty to ever be loved by many.