punk rock

Spiked Online on Art, Commerce, and Rebellion

by Ivan Osorio on January 8, 2010 · 1 comment

in Culture, Economy

At Spiked, Patrick West explains one of the most overlooked accomplishments of punk: the unabashed, open acknowledgment of commerce as necessary for the pursuit of art.

[A]rtists have always had their patrons, and have produced art in accordance to their patron’s or their government’s taste. William Shakespeare famously produced pro-Tudor propaganda (Richard III being the most notorious example) for the simple reason that he needed to earn his own ‘filthy lucre’. And while the Catholic Church would never have comissioned such dark, misanthropic plays as Hamlet orMacbeth, it is thanks to the Vatican’s patronage that we have many of the works of Michelangelo.

‘Government ’ and ‘corporations’ have always controlled art, and it is naive to think this is just a new phenomenon. One of the best things punk did was to draw our attention to this historical norm so starkly. Yes, Lydon’s bald cynicism may be frustrating. But it is worth keeping in mind that this Christmas just past, the UK number one slot was fought over between fans of a manufactured TV popstar, and those who favoured that teenage ‘No I WON’T clean up my room!’ anthem by Rage Against the Machine. With little regard for irony, fans of RATM even downloaded en masse a song about anti-conformity.

Unfortunately, as West notes, the commercialization of rebellion — or rather rebellious posing — is still too often lost on its consumers.

But there’s another important point to keep in mind — elitist complaints about the rise of mass culture can often translate into complaints about the masses having access to culture.

For more on why patronage is quite OK, see here.

Ron Asheton, RIP

by Ivan Osorio on January 6, 2009 · 1 comment

in Culture, Features, Zeitgeist

Ron Asheton, founding guitarist for proto-punk pioneers the Stooges, was found dead at his home this morning. Asheton’s buzzsaw guitar, combined with Iggy Pop’s snarling vocals, shaped the sound that would come to be known as punk rock, as other mold-breaking bands they influenced — including the Ramones and Sex Pistols — took up their mantle in the mid-70s. To me, he was one of the guitarists whose playing I sought to emulate — and I still stand in awe when I listen to Funhouse. Now he joins those two other great guitar influences, Johnny Thunders and Johnny Ramone, in that great smoky dive-bar gig in the sky.

And influence is what got the Stooges their notoriety. Missing out on commercial success in the late 1960s-early 1970s, their fame grew as bands they influenced drew attention to the original source — leading to a series of reunion shows in the last few years. I feel very lucky to have seen them — a couple of 60-year-olds who could still rock harder than most guys a third their age. Here are Iggy and Ron (and Ron’s brother Scott on drums), from a recent show, doing what they did best together (pardon the sound quality, but the Stooges live were never a pretty affair, anyhow) –