Establishment Notions of Englishness Essay

In what tracks did the iconography, the music, the speechs and the deeds and behaviour of tinny oscillate acts present a challenge to establishment notions of Englishness in 1976-77?The previous(predicate) roots of lens hood 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 primordial 1970s that gimcrack began to globalise, hitting Australia in 1972 with The Saints. Within a year, legendary Punk club CBGBs opened its doors for the first time, becoming a constant d gooding for the up and coming acts of the 70s, and more importantly, providing a regular crowd of mettle kids to listen to them.Britain in the early 70s, according to Spicer, was fill with political frustration, surging unemployment and a gag-reflex to the patriotic froth generated by in celebration of Queen Elizabeths Silver Jubilee, giving punks naked as a jaybird noise a particular spice and vigour. The UK had either been in decline, recession, stagflation or worse since the end of the swinging sixties. (Spicer, 2006 3). Eight years later when the idealism of the 60s had well and truly faded, the strategies and rhetoric of street protest were still going strong. So when mainstream politics wouldnt horizontal listen to what was driving the kids insane, the Sex Pistols cry of outlawry in the UK commandmed like a viable alternative. (Spicer, 2006 5)Punk 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 youths of Britain were so ignored and undervalued as a part of society, it seemed like a natural outlet to make the government and the authorities stand up and take notice of what they were saying. Renowned Manchester based punk diary keeper and singer John Robb stated that Punk Terrified the establishment (Robb, 2006 3), suggesting this outcry for non-conformism was having an impact and the depicted object of challenging the government was macrocosm heard. Despite this, however, critics are still divided about whether the punk phenomenon was in fact a significant cultural shift. Was it righteous another youth craze (with a hairstyle calculated to drive the parents crazy), or did it offer a real challenge to thecomplacency of the times? A contest that was more than just musical and sartorial, but political as well? (Spicer, 2006 2).Hebdige stated that the punks were not only outright responding to increasing joblessness, changing moral standards, the rediscovery of poverty, the Depression, etc., they were dramatizing what had puzzle to be called Britains decline by constructing a quarrel which was, in contrast to the prevailing rhetoric of the jolt Establishment, unmistakeably relevant and down to earth (hence the swearing, the references to exposit hippies, the rags, the lumpen poses). The punks appropriated the rhetoric of crisis which had filled the airwaves and the e ditorials throughout the period and translated it into tangible (and visible) terms (1991 87).A significant part of the construction of the punk rock cause in the British media was the fashion of the stars, which was later emulated by the fans, with the iconic style quickly becoming a obligatory staple of being punk. tally to Paul Gorman, speaking in Punk The Whole Story, Almost every element of punks style, attitude, politics, musical tastes and even personnel emanated from two precise clothes shops on Chelseas Kings Road 30 years ago. (2006 84) These two shops were Acme Attractions and SEX, twain in capital of the United Kingdom. Don Letts, ex-employee of Acme, and later instalment of Big Audio Dynamite said in Punk The Whole Story, Acme was more than a shop. It was a club, a life-timestyle, a forum for talent. It reflected the way London was going it was about multi-culturism (2006 84). I think this really exemplifies the importance of the fashion and self-representation o f the punk movement, even at the beginning.Robb recalls, I saw photos of punk bikers 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 various 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 feel this rings true in a big way, especially when you contrast another artist of 74 with the way, for example, the Sex Pistols presented themselves. In image 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 a good deal more reserved 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 flag jacket.In contrast, while the Sex Pistols are also wearing union flag attire, however, it seems to be do 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, thither is also a sports jacket being worn, however, it is teamed with a punk print T-shirt, which could easily be seen as a rebellion against the notion of looking presentable and dressing in your Sunday best.Ruth Adams discusses Hebdiges notion of punk fashion being a bricolage, and states Bits and pieces of both officially sanctioned and popular English finishing, of politics and history were brought together in a chaotic, uneasy admixture to form a new culture (2008). 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 Eng lishness.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 imagery of crime not devoid of meaning, but mainly a way of getting up the noses of the straight and the narrow (Spicer, 2006 4). You can imagine that this explicit and in your eccentric approach to fashion and iconography would starkly contrast with the dreary fashion of the 70s. Spicer states that as the decade that saw beige, brown, orange and gold recommended as a preferred 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 do punks even harder to ignore, insuring that someone was always looking at them and listening to what they had to say.Punk rock lyrics are typically frank and confrontational compared to the lyrics of other popular music genres, they frequently comment on social and political issues (Laing, 1985 27). An ob vious example of this would be God retain The Queen by the Sex Pistols (1977, Sex Pistols). At the time ofrelease, the song 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 hold on the queen, the fascist regime, and also for quite blatantly writing England off as being bleak and without whatsoever forecast, 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 put forward in the wake of the Queens silver jubilee. Savage stated, God Save the Queen was the only serious anti-Jubilee protest, the only rallying call for those who didnt moderate with the Jubilee because they resented being steamrollered by such sickening hype, by a view of England which had not the remotest bearing on their everyday experience (2001 352-353). Laing speculated tha t Punk was a tot cultural revolt. It was a hardcore confrontation with the black 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 play 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 calendar 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. Here we can see that punk was not about pleasing people or making everyone happy, it was about doing what you wanted because you could, and not caring if people liked it or not. This directly challenged the Englis h ideology of the 1970s, 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 stage and do just as well, if not better than the bands already up there (1982 98). This again draws on the angry, challenging, do-it-yourself attitude attached to the punk genre.Machin describes the discourse 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 positive energy. This means 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 long suit. Yet in this int ensity 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 may not usually think of musical performance, apart from opera and musical theatre, as entailing characterisation in the constituted 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 knotty in a process of double enactment they enact both a star personality (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 Rotten) .In the public bosom he is an anarchist punk rebel who is not scared 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 needed.Auslander later goes on to discuss that both the line between real personand performance persona and the line between persona and character may be blurry and indistinct, especially in the case of pop music performers whose lap up is firmly 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 purple 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 jerking and defy the norm of 1970s England, to rebel against the 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. Instead of merely writing protest songs, punk bands were a protest . Every fibre of their existence protested, whether it was scandalous lyrics, deplorable fashion choices or unrestrained, upcoming stage personas who would say what they thought, and never care about the repercussions. Punk was one vast 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 Music and Society, 31.4, P. 469488.Hebdige, Dick (1991) Subculture The Meaning of Style. London Routledge.Savage, Jon (2001) Englands Dreaming 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 Making of a Rotten normal Image, The Irish Times 08 Aug 2010 Issue.Coon, Caroline (1982) The New Wave Punk Rock Explosion, London Omnibus Press.IMAGE 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/AVvXsEg08kZnT4Ei8DO_fDlXeAzv2q0JOxO8flt2y_Lx4AjP3O_2H869nM_v2q57dEBE3cDoU15DNLjtlp6qcfgpue75OQ5psH6gA46xO65lt735V_1JRl-hWAlCwX6XKor9JSHETJTjM54cOUk/s1600/The+Who.jpgIMAGE 3 Machin, David. (2010) Analysing Popular Music Image, Sound, Text, London Sage. Page 104.