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Maslow

"Sex, drugs, and rock and roll" was the rallying cry for a movement that changed American culture forever. Rock and

roll first startled the American scene in the mid-1950's, but no one then could have predicted the remarkable vitality and staying

power of this new music. The early tradition of rock has gone through many transitions. Provocative and outlandish stage attire

and behavior have been an important resource since the birth of rock and roll. Decades following the birth of rock and roll, many

have witnessed a steady ever changing parade of hair styles, costumes, gestures and props. As the level of tolerance and

acceptance grew, rock stars adopted more bizarre and shocking images. It is in this context that "punk" rock, seen by some as

a startling new direction in the late 1970's must be considered. Rock music achieved a new respectability and power at the

same time (Ward, Stokes, Tucker, Rock of Ages, 547). Punk was rock's most notable attempt in the late 1970's to inject angry,

rebellious, risk taking notations into the music.

The musical style called punk rock developed in the United States out of raw and energetic music played by the

garage bands of the mid-sixties. These bands were mainly teenagers playing basic guitar chords, and failing away at drums and

cymbals in their own garages. This resulted in sounds that were rough, raw, and musically undisciplined, which expressed their

interests and brought music to their level (Charlton, Rock Music, 204). Given that the greatest garage bands could barley play,

we may assume not only that virtuosity has nothing to do the form, but also that the Utopian dream of every man and artist can

come true right here, in our suburban land of opportunity-- the ultimate proof that rock and roll is the most democratic and

all-American of art forms (Miller, History of Rock & Roll, 261).

While teenage garage bands were becoming a hit and making it onto the pop...