By Maia Engelbrecht
Alternative music had long been revered and discussed heavily throughout previous decades, whether it would be taking on the form of obscure slam-beat poetry or obfuscating noise, brewed from the abnormal whims of artists to create something innovative. However far-fetched and experimental this music was, it was easier to classify these strange and dubious sounds as punk, the counterculture that lived by its fruition, despite social norms.
Many believe its origins to come from 60s garage rock from the United States. Musical groups such as the Stooges and the MC5 were recognized as prominent pioneers. The latter, managed by John Sinclair of the White Panther Party, was heavily influenced by the political climate of the time. Much of the music involved in the punk movement would similarly compare to the highly political nature of the MC5 in subsequent decades.
Throughout the 70s and 80s, when the movement grew popular, the image of this counterculture cultivated into something resembling artists such as Richard Hell. Hell’s appearance was characterised by generally abnormal tonsorial and sartorial styles such as ripped clothes and spikey hair. The ideology surrounding the punk movement, with a basis around individuality, had grown contradictory as these had gradually become customary within the counterculture. However ironic this ideal would become in retrospect, the intention for this style didn’t come from the inherent need for authenticity or rebellion. It was a medium onto which one could project their idealised selves. Richard Hell was a very prominent figure with this belief.
In 1978, music critic Lester Bangs conducted an Interview with Richard Hell. Bangs had brought up the assumptions made about Hell by journalists, that his outrageous appearance had constituted a sort of pose. “Part of the form of rock n roll is having the courage of your convictions as a teenager” Explained Hell “and doing stuff that would be outrageous and embarrassing to a lot of people, but constitutes a lot of your appeal…this whole style of dress and the way you look is just a means, just like the combination of colour you use in a painting.”
Throughout the interview, Bangs inquired further about the ethos of the punk movement and its involvement with self-hatred. “I think there’s a lot of basis for self-hatred.” He responded “To transcend something you’ve got to fully accept that it exists”
As the ethos of the punk movement developed, it subsequently came to represent a lifestyle of rebellion and liberties, often as a result of the youth engaging in it having a fixed sense of purpose against the establishment.
“Most punk rockers are very young” Continued Hell “and I’m sure there’s a certain number of them that will grasp the significance of what they’re saying and will demand enough of themselves as human beings to go on to finding something else they can affirm. Or else they’ll die.”
As a good majority of punk music followed themes that reflected the politics of their time, it was art placed on a pedestal, seen with a prophetic nature. Exhibiting this was the further journalism Lester Bangs had conducted on the Velvet Underground, especially on the way frontman Lou Reed carried himself. In previously unpublished notes later published by critic Greil Marcus, Bangs elaborated on his admiration for Reed.
“I’m a realist.” He explained. “That’s why I listen to Lou Reed. And that’s why I idolized him. Because the things he wrote and sang in the Velvet Underground were part of the beginning of a real revolution in the whole scheme between men and women, men and men, women and women, humans and humans. And I don’t mean clone, I mean diversity that extends to the stars.”
Bangs had previously expressed a similar sentiment about the Clash, admiring the group’s sense of community and willingness to engage with their fans on a human level, demolishing the superficial barrier between performer and audience.
When discussing punk music and the alternative scene, the focus is frequently on the politics within the art. However, when looking at artists such as The Velvet Underground and Richard Hell, respected for their poetic lyricism that’s more often ambiguous in political subject matter, understanding shifts. It changes to be a simple recognition of the nuance of people, rather than the authenticity of a style of dress or a specific persistent belief.
This style of music, however it chooses to present itself, is not confined to any political or class system. It is a kind that holds itself with the belief and conviction of something greater than itself, something that recognizes and connects with the morass of society and the complexity of people.
The people just have to die for the music. People are dying for everything else, so why not music? Die for it. Isn’t it pretty? Wouldn’t you die for something pretty? Perhaps I should die. After all, all great blues singers did die. But life is getting better now. I don’t want to die. Do I? Lou Reed, Please Kill me 1996