Pygmalion Punks: The Shared Stitches of Puppetry and the Sex Pistols

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Cooley
Keyword(s):  
Author(s):  
Mike Dines

This chapter charts and explores the complex cultural origins of punk in Britain through three different case studies, beginning with an exploration of the influence of the Situationist International (SI) on the punk ethos and aesthetic around the Sex Pistols. Second, it looks at the musical and artistic trajectory of the anarcho-punk band Crass and, in particular, the contemporary classical music tradition that informed the work of Penny Rimbaud et al., from the late 1960s to the formation of Crass in the 1970s. Third, the chapter turns to the artistic influences of Neil Megson, later to be known as Genesis P-Orridge. Here, emphasis is placed on a timeline of artistic and political activities by P-Orridge, from his time in school, through his forming of COUM Transmissions in the early 1970s, to the early days of the innovative musical ensemble Throbbing Gristle (TG), formed in 1975. The case studies contribute to a wider understanding of the richer cultural references, practices, and traditions that early punk drew on.


Comhar ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 60 (10) ◽  
pp. 23
Author(s):  
Anton Mac Cába
Keyword(s):  

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 120-128
Author(s):  
Ondina Pires

One of the figures that stood out the most in the British punk counterculture scene, from 1976 to 1978, was the charismatic vocalist of Sex Pistols, Johnny Rotten, who shouted "Anarchy in the United Kingdom" or "There is no Future". As soon as the musical project devised by the late Malcom McLaren ended in 1978, Johnny Rotten returns to his baptismal name, John Lydon, and starts the experimental musical project Public Image Ltd, better known as PIL.Meanwhile, after about forty-one years of PIL's existence, John Lydon, residing in Los Angeles, USA, in 2020, made public his opinions about former American President Donald Trump, which were a reason for scandal and shock, especially among punk aficionados, most of whom are anti-racists and of left-wing political tendencies.Through this text and the caricatures we can observe a decadent trajectory of a musician who, apparently, is located in the antipodes of 1977. However, this turning point is legitimized by the political and cultural “gaps” of Democracy, a system that is always in danger precisely for its openness to different political views and to the continuous dialogue between ideological forces, often opposed. By using an “anarchy-fascism” dialectic, the author's points of view, based on films, songs and thinkers, evolve throughout her analysis. The aim is to open doors for broader analyzes in relation to democracy that do not contemplate the “black and white” view of the majorities in relation to current politics.


2007 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver Double

Punk rock performance consciously draws on popular theatre forms such as music hall and stand-up comedy – as was exemplified on the occasion when Max Wall appeared with Ian Dury at the Hammersmith Odeon. Oliver Double traces the historical and stylistic connections between punk, music hall and stand-up, and argues that punk shows can be considered a form of popular theatre in their own right. He examines a wide range of punk bands and performers – including The Sex Pistols, Iggy Pop, Devo, Spizz, The Ramones, The Clash, and Dead Kennedys – to consider how they use costume, staging, personae, characterization, and audience–performer relationships, arguing that these are as important and carefully considered as the music they play. Art movements such as Dada and Futurism were important influences on the early punk scene, and Double shows how, as with early twentieth-century cabaret, punk performance manages to include avant-garde elements within popular theatre forms. Oliver Double started his career performing a comedy act alongside anarchist punk bands in Exeter, going on to spend ten years on the alternative comedy circuit. Currently, he lectures in Drama at the University of Kent, and he is the author of Stand-Up! On Being a Comedian (Methuen, 1997) and Getting the Joke: the Inner Workings of Stand-Up Comedy (Methuen, 2005).


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