When Punk Got the Funk
As punks were looking for some potential pathways out of the cul-de-sacs of their limited soundscapes, they saw in funk a way to expand the punk palette without sacrificing either their ethos or idea(l)s.
Iain Ellis
Born in Manchester and raised east of London, Iain Ellis spent his formative years playing, performing, and consuming a heavy (if not healthy) diet of punk rock music and football. Little has changed since. In 1986, the young man went west to find his dreams in Bowling Green, Ohio. Instead, he picked up a PhD in American Culture Studies, writing his dissertation on 1980s American Punk Culture. In 2000, he traveled further west, settling in Lawrence, Kansas, where he currently teaches English and Youth Culture Studies at the University of Kansas. An avowed arrested adolescent, Iain continues to follow music and sports with a passion, performing and recording periodically with his Ohio-based Britpop band, piss artists, and playing weekly with his Lawrence football team, The Sweepers. When he grows up, Dr. Ellis hopes to head further west. You may also enjoy his book, Rebels Wit Attitude: Subversive Rock Humorists.
The Deep and Distant Roots of the Ska-Punk Hybrid
Many only recognize ska-punk as a fad of 1990s US pop music, but its emanation and roots run much deeper and spread far wider than one may think.
Unite and Fight! England’s Punk-Reggae Hybrid
When Bob Marley went to London in 1977 he discovered, documented, and reveled in the punky reggae party.
Punk and Metal: Frenemies for Life
Worlds collided when punk and metal realized they were opposite sides of the same coin. Who knew they would be frenemies for life?
Punk Hybrids: Wham! Bam! Glam-Punk!
Glam Punk is "Rock 'n' roll with lipstick on," sneered John Lennon.
Punk Hybrids: Back in the Garage
Punk's idea(l)s may have been fostered in Art schools, but its musical foundations were cultivated in garages.
Rebelling Against the Rebellion: British Punk’s Second Coming
Louder, faster, angrier, and harder than punk ever sounded, second-wave punk in 1979 Britain kept the core instrumental ingredients but used and produced them in ways that boiled off any subtleties or sophistication.
Darkness Illuminates: Goth Punk’s Great Escapism
While goth punk’s theatricality dramatizes concerns about depression and suicide, its safe spaces are inviting to the otherwise alienated and ostracized.
Industrial Punk: Here’s a Finger, Now Form a Band!
For Throbbing Gristle's Genesis P-Orridge, punk's sonic harshness was welcome but it did not go far enough.
When You Speak to Your Muse, Does It Answer? It Does in ‘Boss Broad’
Wild rebellion and reckless combat are increasingly less valued than ethical wit and spiritual sustenance in Megan Volpert's entertaining and insightful Boss Broad.
Post-Punk: The Cerebral Genre
The punk spirit would likely have died but for the theoretical questions post-punk forced bands into answering.
New Wave: Turning Rebellion into Money
If 1977 was New Wave's breakout year, by 1979 it had become an industry force, all but replacing punk as a viable vehicle or term of currency.