Punk and New Wave

Instrumentation
Vocals (mainly male) Electric guitar Bass Drums Keyboards (occasionally)

Performance and Arrangement

Hard-edged, raw and chaotic stripped down, small ensembles Vocals often delivered at shouting level Simple melodies, covering a few pitches Simple chord structures Fast tempos Drums loud and trashy Songs often short around 2 minutes long

Technology and Production

DIY ethic to the production Bands used independent small studios and went for a raw unprocessed sound No clever production tricks Guitar sounds often distorted Effects were still used, but producers avoided the polished sound of disco and pop of the era No spacey, psychedelic use of effects like delay and flanging, and no lush reverbs

Main Artists
Sex pistols The Clash The Stranglers The Jam The Undertones Punk acts from the USA included the Ramones and the Patti Smith Group

Influences
Rock and Roll Hard Rock sounds of bands like The Who Early 1960s pop

Key Facts and Terminology

Started Around 1975 or 1976 in the US and UK; 1977 was the year punk exploded By 1980 most punk bands had split or moved in different directions Punk was a reaction against the excesses of technical, highly produced progressive rock Designed to be aggressive, anti-establishment, disposable music for the people Social and political commentary was often the main thrust of the lyrics; high unemployment and the battle between the unions and government over working conditions influenced punk

 Several bands or songs were banned from radio and TV play, venues got smashed up Many bands supported political movements such as The Anti-Nazi League and Rock Against Racism Chaotic dancing pogo-ing and spitting was common amongst fans at gigs

Fashion was important custom-made clothing covered with zips and safety pins, lots of black, kilts and tartan. Hairstyles included the Mohican, often spiked up and dyed bright colours

The Ramones
From New York, the Ramones are often referred to as the first punk band. Similarly to the development in the UK, in the USA there was a reaction against the perceived lack of edge to most pop. The Ramones were an important part of the music scene based at CBGBs club, where many other post-punk and new-wave acts developed their sound through live performances.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtUH2YSFlVU

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kU2SRNU955c

New Wave

Instrumentation
Vocals (male and female) Backing vocals Guitar Drums Percussion Bass keyboards

Performance and Arrangement

Fairly raw and unpolished Wide range of approaches due to varied stylistic influences, from edge power pop to reggae and disco, so delivery depended on style Song writing became more important, with some clever pop songs, but avoiding the complexity of progressive rock

Technology and Production

Similar to punk the aim was to achieve an energetic and unprocessed sound of real musicians The productions were still often a bit more polished than punk Use of keyboards and more variety in the arrangements often gave more depth to the sound than was usual for punk

Main Artists
Elvis Costello and the Attractions The Police The Pretenders Blondie

Influences
Punk Hard Rock Reggae Funk

Key Facts and Terminology

Started in the late 1970s Continued into the early 1980s, though many bands and artists went on to have successful careers as pop artists Many of the new-wave acts were signed to independent record companies such as Stiff The New York club CBGBs was an important venue for new wave, with bands like Blondie, New York Dolls and Talking Heads evolving their sound there through frequent gigs

 Lyrics dealt with social and political issues there was a lot of clever lyricists such as Ian Dury and Elvis Costello Many of the British new-wave bands did not gain success in the USA, although the Police, The Pretenders and Elvis Costello had moderate chart popularity Bands like Joy Division, The Cure and Psychedelic Furs emerged towards the end of new wave

Elvis Costello and the Attractions

Elvis Costello was a singer-songwriter who went on to explore many different styles including country, folk and big-band jazz throughout the 1980s, 1990s and into the new millennium. This early punk-influenced material also took stylistic features of reggae and classic pop

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