The First Punk Bands
Punk rock has been a big part of my life since about 1992. Over the last 33 years, I’ve amassed a pretty good running internal history of how the genre came to be, but today it’s time to put that sketch to the test.
When I was first exposed to punk (way more about this in a future piece), it was through the lens of a high school kid who had just finished the 1980s. In other words, my environment was very much a product of our most selfish and plastic decade to date.
I was ready to rebel against all of it. I needed the right soundtrack.
Pop punk was a quick gateway drug, but my tastes quickly diverged away from the more melodic bands like NOFX or Bad Religion. The Misfits, by contrast, never left my listening rotation. Maybe that’s because they go all the way back to 1977 in Lodi, New Jersey.
It might also have something to do with me interviewing the Misfits in 1996, but honestly? Glenn Danzig wasn’t in the band any more, so I viewed them as a very good Misfits cover band at the time. I digress.
The Misfits were very early, but they weren’t the first punk band. Even as a kid, I knew the Sex Pistols and The Ramones predated them by at least a year, but I had very little knowledge beyond that as a pre-internet wannabe punk rocker. It turns out that the Sex Pistols really did get started very early. Their first gig was November 6th, 1975, at Saint Martin’s College of Art in London.
Sex Pistols then recorded a demo in May of 1976, followed by their first single Anarchy in the UK, November 26th, 1976. Pretty early!
The Ramones formed even earlier. Their first gig was actually in March 30th, 1974 at a small rehearsal space in New York City. Their CBGB debut later that year marked the beginning of that club’s punk rock fame and notoriety, and hundreds of punk bands would play there over the coming years.
I’m just gonna drop this little golden nugget here:
The Ramones recorded a demo in September of 1975—right as I was coming into the world. Maybe that’s why I gravitated toward pop-punk at first: the Ramones are widely considered to be the grandfathers of that genre.
That’s early, but the band Death predates even the Ramones.
That’s right! The punk sound first came together in a garage in Detroit, and—maybe even more surprisingly—the first record sounding this way was recorded on February 18, 1975 at United Sound Studios.
Like the contributions of a lot of Black Americans during the origin of rock and roll, Death’s incredible achievement seems to have been buried. The story goes that Columbia Records’ former president, Clive Davis funded the recording sessions, but implored the band to change its name to something more commercially palatable. The band said no.
Distorted guitars with fast, loud, repetitive drumbeats, minor chords, and righteous anger dominate the album. Friends, this record really shreds. There’s simply nothing like it from 1975 or earlier. Give it a listen if you’re even the tiniest bit into punk rock.
Even earlier than this, Death had recorded a few punk-sounding demo songs. I say “punk-sounding” because… well, nobody else sounded quite like this back then.
Now, some astute readers who are also fans of punk may point out that Iggy and the Stooges, MC5, and even Velvet Underground predate the band Death, and so maybe they should be considered the oldest punk bands. I know this is slippery territory, but I think Death was consistently punk sounding and extremely rebellious in a way that cut them off of mainstream society. I’m not sure I’d say the same of any of those other groups, though they all had individual moments of extreme punkness.
I guess I’m reiterating my earlier claim that punk rock was born around the same time as me, in 1975. If you see it differently, let’s get into it a little bit in the comments! I have my own view here, but there’s a lot more to say about this, and opinions can and should vary.
Want a quick follow-up piece that fits in nicely? I did this old-school punk primer with Brad Kyle all the way back in (gasp) 2023! Enjoy!
I'm bummed you didn't mention the punk band I formed in high school (in 1980). We were called Nuclear Waste.😂
Wonderful time! I saw my first punk band with my brother in Crocs, Rayleigh. That place was incredible and I used to walk there, always happily then trundle home a bit more slowly maybe due to alcohol 🥴 When it first opened in 1976 I used to love watching the crocodiles in their tank but not actually surprised they had to go… Band wise though - wow!!! Punk got me seeing bands but led me on to much more, well, both of us actually, but some bands played there for their early public event (Depeche Mode and Culture Club spring to mind) then became rather famous! We are slightly different over here and it’s rather interesting to read your tales! Always!