Establishment Notions of Englishness Essay

In what counsellings did the iconography, the music, the lyrics and the achievements and behaviour of garish rock acts pledge a ch solelyenge to establishment stamps of Englishness in 1976-77?The early roots of bully rock were appearing in the form of The Velvet Underground in 1965, closely followed by The Stooges and MC5 in 1969, but it wasnt until the early seventies that cheap began to globalise, hitting Australia in 1972 with The Saints. Within a year, legendary gaudy club CBGBs opened its doors for the first clock, graceful a constant dwelling for the up and coming acts of the 70s, and more importantly, providing a regular crowd of sleazy kids to perceive to them.Britain in the early 70s, harmonize to Spicer, was filled with political frustration, surging unemployment and a gag-reflex to the flag-waving(prenominal) froth generated by in celebration of coffin nail Elizabeths Silver Jubilee, giving punks raw noise a particular spice and vigour. The UK had all been i n decline, recession, stagflation or worse since the end of the swinging sixties. (Spicer, 2006 3). Eight long time after when the reportlism of the 60s had well and truly faded, the strategies and empty talk of street testify were still going strong. So when mainstream politics wouldnt even listen to what was driving the kids insane, the brace Pistols cry of Anarchy in the UK seemed uniform a viable alternative. (Spicer, 2006 5) tough came with a philosophy that was influenced by the anti-establishment turmoil reverberating from the 60s. (Spicer, 2006, Page 4), so in a time when the young persons of Britain were so ignored and undervalued as a part of society, it seemed like a inborn outlet to make the government and the authorities stand up and feign notice of what they were saying. Renowned Manchester based punk journalist and singer buttocks Robb stated that seedy Terrified the establishment (Robb, 2006 3), suggesting this outcry for non-conformism was having an impac t and the center of challenging the government was being heard. Despite this, however, critics are still carve up about(predicate) whether the punk phenomenon was in fact a world-shattering pagan shift. Was it just another youth religious cult (with a hairstyle calculated to pack the parents crazy), or did it despatcher a real repugn to thecomplacency of the quantify? A Challenge that was more than just melodious and sartorial, but political as well? (Spicer, 2006 2).Hebdige stated that the punks were not only directly responding to change magnitude joblessness, changing moral standards, the redisco really of poverty, the Depression, etc., they were dramatizing what had come to be called Britains decline by constructing a language which was, in melodic line to the prevailing rhetoric of the persuade Establishment, unmistakeably relevant and down to earth (hence the swearing, the references to fat hippies, the rags, the lumpen poses). The punks appropriated the rhetoric of crisis which had filled the airwaves and the editorials without the period and translated it into tangible (and visible) terms (1991 87).A significant part of the construction of the punk rock movement in the British media was the fashion of the head teachers, which was later emulated by the fans, with the iconic style quickly becoming a obligatory staple of being punk. According to capital of Minnesota Gorman, speaking in meretricious The Whole Story, Almost every grammatical constituent of punks style, attitude, politics, melodious tastes and even personnel emanated from two slender clothes shops on Chelseas Kings Road 30 years ago. (2006 84) These two shops were Acme Attractions and SEX, both in capital of the United Kingdom. Don Letts, ex-employee of Acme, and later member of Big Audio Dynamite said in Punk The Whole Story, Acme was more than a shop. It was a club, a lifestyle, a forum for talent. It reflected the way London was going it was about multi-culturism (200 6 84). I animadvert this rightfully exemplifies the importance of the fashion and self-representation of the punk movement, even at the beginning.Robb recalls, I saw photos of punk rockers in the papers, and I knew instantly what they sounded like. never had a music and its threads been so closely associated (2006 2). Hebdige also observed, The non-homogeneous stylistic ensembles adopted by the punks were undoubtedly expressive of genuine aggression, frustration and anxiety. But these statements, no matter how strangely constructed, were cast in a language which was generally available a language which was current (1991 87). I whole step this rings true in a big way, specially when you contrast another artist of 74 with the way, for example, the Sex Pistols presented themselves. In witness one, we see the Sex Pistols wearing typical punk styleclothing, however, in image 2, The Who, another British band making music in 1974, are seen to be sporting a much(prenominal) more re ticent fashion, that could be classed as smart/casual, due to the tailored trousers, tucked in shirts and sports jackets, and even be called patriotic, with the presence of a union yield jacket.In contrast, while the Sex Pistols are also wearing union gladiola attire, however, it seems to be done so in a satirical, ironic way. The flag is cut into and is covered in holes, which could suggest the way that the punk youth saw the state of the government, or at least what they thought of it. Similarly, in that respect is also a sports jacket being worn, however, it is teamed with a punk fall guy T-shirt, which could easily be seen as a rebellion against the notion of smell presentable and dressing in your Sunday best.Ruth Adams wranglees Hebdiges notion of punk fashion being a bricolage, and states Bits and pieces of both officially canonic and departular English destination, of politics and history were brought together in a chaotic, uneasy admixture to form a new culture (200 8). I feel this accurately describes the way punk took what it wanted from English culture and used it as a way to challenge the established notions of Englishness.Icons such as swastikas were often wore as a fashion statement , however, for punks like Siouxsie and Sid Vicious it became just one more ingredient in the resource of offence not devoid of signification, but mainly a way of getting up the noses of the straight and the narrow (Spicer, 2006 4). You can imagine that this hard-core and in your face approach to fashion and iconography would starkly contrast with the blasphemous fashion of the 70s. Spicer states that as the decade that saw beige, brown, orange and coin recommended as a desirable colour scheme for the home, the 70s had little going for it stylistically either (2006 3). I feel that this contrast in style would have made punks even harder to ignore, insuring that someone was ever run shortingly looking at them and listening to what they had to say.Punk ro ck lyrics are typically frank and confrontational compared to the lyrics of other popular music genres, they frequently call attention on social and political issues (Laing, 1985 27). An obvious example of this would be idol Save The Queen by the Sex Pistols (1977, Sex Pistols). At the time ofrelease, the numbers was highly controversial, mainly for the fact it was explicitly anti-monarchy, implying that the Queen was a part of a fascist regime, as shown by the lyrics God bring through the queen, the fascist regime, and also for quite blatantly writing England off as being bleak and without any hope, shown in the lyrics There is no hope in Englands dreaming and Theres no future, no future, no future for you.This contrasted significantly with the jingoistic ideals that were being pitch forward in the wake of the Queens silver jubilee. rude stated, God Save the Queen was the only serious anti-Jubilee protest, the only drum up call for those who didnt agree with the Jubilee beca use they resented being steamrollered by such disgustful hype, by a view of England which had not the remotest bearing on their customary experience (2001 352-353). Laing speculated that Punk was a total cultural revolt. It was a loyal confrontation with the b omit side of history and culture, right-wing imagery, sexual taboos, a delving into it that had never been done before by any generation in such a thorough way (1985 27). I feel this really sums up the ideology at lam with God Save The Queen, as it was a total revolt of the dominant ideology at the time it was released.Punk rock is not known for its musical ingenuity, its creativity, or even its skill. John Robb described punks as The DIY brigade fumbling with musical instruments, trying to make sense of the world with three chords learned last week on second hand guitars (2006, Page 3). I feel this expresses the rebelling of the establishment in a way that goes above lyrics or fashion. present we can see that punk was n ot about pleasing pot or making everyone happy, it was about doing what you wanted because you could, and not caring if mint liked it or not. This directly challenged the English ideology of the mid-seventies, which was predominantly all about keeping a stiff upper lip, being polite, and being, for lack of a better word, nice.Rock journalist Caroline Coon wrote about the Sex Pistols live performances, stating that participation is the operative word. The audience revels in the idea that any one of them could get up on tier and do just as well, if not better than the bands already up in that location (1982 98). This again draws on the angry, challenging, do-it-yourself attitude attached to the punk genre.Machin describes the talk of of the melody of God Save The Queen by the Sex Pistols in a way that epitomises the ideology of the genre. Here image 3 we can see that much of the melody remains on the first note. There is therefore very little outward giving of emotion or positiv e energy. This performer that there is something very contained about the way it is sung. In fact, the vocalist sings the song generally at a high pitch which conveys emotional intensity. only in this intensity there is no emotional outpouring or pleasure. There are only short sharp occasional outbursts on the 4th note. This is fitting of the punk discourse of nihilism and cynicism. (Machin, 2010 105)Philip Auslander proclaimed that we whitethorn not usually think of musical performance, apart from opera and musical theatre, as entailing characterisation in the conventional dramatic sense. Nevertheless, we must be suspicious of any supposition that musicians are simply being themselves on stage (2004 6). Auslander goes on to quote Frith, who states that musicians are involved in a process of double enactment they enact both a star effigylity (their image) and a song personality, the role that each lyric requires, and the pop stars art is to keep both acts in play at once(2004 6). I feel that this observation directly applies to the punk rock era, as it exemplifies the explicit and hyperbolic style of the genre. This can be exemplified by Sex Pistols front man, John Lydon (aka Johnny stinky).In the earthly concern eye he is an anarchist punk rebel who is not panic-stricken to speak his mind and does not care who he offends, however in real life he is a man who was bullied as a boy for having an English accent while at his grandparents home in Cork, Ireland. This performance persona is a prime example of the way that punk challenged the notion of Englishness, as everything about Johnny Rotten was anti-establishment. This is typified with the quote from Rotten himself, stating Id listen to rock n roll, but I had no respect for it. It was redundant and had nothing to do with anything relevant. Here, he is dismissing everything that already exists in England as not being relevant or influencing him in any way, suggesting that he was the change that England ne eded.Auslander later goes on to discuss that both the line between real personand performance persona and the line between persona and character may be blurred and indistinct, especially in the case of pop music performers whose work is to a great extent autobiographical (2004 7). Again, I think this is extremely relevant to the analysis of the performance of John Lydon as Johnny Rotten, as punks felt this allegiance with him through his work as he was them while he was on stage. He was also a working class, angry young person with no money who resented the royal family and the government. Al Spicer asked the question, was it just another youth craze (with a hairstyle calculated to drive the parents crazy), or did it offer real challenge to the complacency of the times? (2006 2) and I think the answer to this would have to be that they really did challenge the system, in every possible way.Punk as a movement intended to shock and defy the norm of 1970s England, to rebel against th e complacent and austere ideals of the time and radically confront the patriotic notions of Englishness put forward by the royal Jubilee, and I think that they succeeded. kind of of merely writing protest songs, punk bands were a protest. Every fiber of their existence protested, whether it was scandalous lyrics, deplorable fashion choices or unrestrained, extroverted stage personas who would say what they thought, and never care about the repercussions. Punk was one coarse protest across England and the notion of English ideals.BibliographyMachin, David. (2010) Analysing Popular Music Image, Sound, Text, London Sage.Spicer, Al. (2006) A Rough Guide To Punk, London Rough Guides.Blake, Mark (Editor) (2006) Punk The Whole Story, London Dorling Kindersley.Sabin, Roger (Editor) (1999) Punk Rock, So What?, London Routledge.Robb, John (2006) Punk Rock An Oral History, London Elbury Press.Adams, Ruth (2008) The Englishness of English Punk Sex Pistols, Subculturesand Nostalgia.Popular Mu sic and Society, 31.4, P. 469488.Hebdige, Dick (1991) Subculture The Meaning of Style. London Routledge.Savage, Jon (2001) Englands ideate Sex Pistols and Punk Rock, London Faber & Faber.Laing, Dave (1985) One chord wonders power and meaning in punk rock, Milton Keynes Open University.Auslander, Philip (2004) Contemporary Theatre Review, Vol. 14, London Routledge.Boyd, Brian (2010), The devising of a Rotten Public Image, The Irish Times 08 Aug 2010 Issue.Coon, Caroline (1982) The youthful Wave Punk Rock Explosion, London Omnibus Press. public figure 1 http//static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2008/12/30/1230675664257/Sex-Pistols-in-1978-001.jpgIMAGE 2 httphttps://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtgaq8qOu6Bz1FOKGfk7S6cyoT3j1ZCLNgMHeW1Xe0iu_AJD6KAXPfu0XYTwMyT7BLaTdgAcQaY0Bi3HeqwSzj01D-Zwv63L12enxdq1tQJm12KkJkE23xtIbtVkOFIxuFTPaQWlA_hCw/s1600/The+Who.jpgIMAGE 3 Machin, David. (2010) Analysing Popular Music Image, Sound, Text, London Sage. Page 104.