FROM THE BEGINNING ; The Roots Of Punk Rock
To some peoples disillusion, the punk rock movement did not start with The Sex Pistols. Yet when it did begin, nobody knew it by that name. Nor did they know what they were doing would be considered an alternative to the top 40 they grew up to love. I do believe that some of these trendsetters did know they were breaking new ground and developing a new style of rock and roll. The first "punk" song I can really think of is probably "Rave On" by the brilliant Buddy Holly. Not only was he unconventional for his time, but he was the author of his songs. this in itself makes Buddy Holly different then most others in his dispensation. A little after that came songs like "The Big Hurt" by Miss Toni Fisher and "The End Of The World" by Skeeter Davis. These songs I believe were accidents, but I see a little of those songs in modern artists such as Sinead O'Conner. Then there was The Beatles, who completely changed the face of music as we knew it at the time. But in my humble opinion, the first real punk band was probably The Who. Never before were antics like theirs being performed on stage, nor was the angst they portrayed done by any other act at the time. It wasn't until Jimi Hendrix did we see the same instrument bashing used by The Who. Then came The Velvet Underground and Iggy Pop and The Stooges. David Bowie, MC5, Roxy Music, T. Rex, The New York Dolls and Big Star followed. Since then the chronilogical order is unimportant. We seen Television, Talking Heads, Sex Pistols, The Ramones, Magazine and other bands begin to define the Punk and New Wave genres. Then the market was in full swing and we recieved many great bands that have forever left their mark in the history of music. Devo, Joy Division, Mission Of Burma, Richard Hell and The Voidoids, The Cure, Depeche Mode, Patti Smith, 20/20, Fischer-Z, The Clash, X Ray Spex, X, The Dead Kennedys, The Dead Milkmen, Black Flag, Meat Puppets, and so on. Do I need to go on?
Rock critic Dave Marsh, in his old "Cream" magazine days defined "Punk" by the attitude of the band toward their audience.
Marsh, who also was the first person to use the term "Punk Rock" in 1970 in referencing a concert by "Question Mark and The Mysterians" (96 Tears), was looking for a term for a band that acted like they could give a sh*t.
The Stooges and the MC5 had already been around a little while in Marsh's Detroit by 1970. Iggy wasn't considered punk until they ran out of catagories to put him in. Now some people call him the Father of Punk. He may hold a piece of that crown, but he's got a lot of people to share it with.
I do agree with Marsh about the attitude of the band being the #1 ingredient of Punk. (spitting on the audience and flipping cigarettes into the crowd made you instantly qualified).
As for your choice of Buddy Hollys "Rave On" as having that first punk "feel", my first pick would have been Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues". You could go all the way back to Ray Charles rendition of "I've Got A Woman" if you wanted to. He took a LOT of heat for that.
In 1985 Dave Marsh added to his characterization of "Punk" as... "bands playing in basements and garages for beer blasts and sockhops with marginal competence, great naivte' and a willingness to try anything. Tough-guy looks and the longest hair in the neighborhood didn't hurt."
Although most punk rockers do not have long hair.