Punk is dead: it has become another marketing tool

[Anonymous]

Sex Pistols Manager’s Son Burns Punk Memorabilia Worth Millions

Joe Corre, son of former Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren and designer Vivienne Westwood, set fire to clothes and paraphernalia he valued at between 5 and 10 million pounds ($6.2 million - $12.5 million), on the 40th anniversary of the band’s debut single “Anarchy in the UK”.
Standing in front of flags bearing the names of global corporations, Corre also burned firework-stuffed effigies of Prime Minister Theresa May and her predecessors David Cameron and Tony Blair, dressed in Sex Pistols clothes.
“Punk was never meant to be nostalgic,” Corre said, addressing a crowd of around 100 people on the bank of the River Thames in the affluent Chelsea area of London.
“Punk has become another marketing tool to sell you something you don’t need,” said Corre, who himself co-founded lingerie brand Agent Provocateur.
He directed his “Burn Punk London” protest at a celebration of punk music backed by the Mayor of London and the British Council, called Punk.London.
Corre’s punk collection, which he began burning a few days ago and will continue to destroy over the coming weeks, includes rare Pistols recordings.
Sex Pistols guitarist Glen Matlock told Sky News that Corre’s protest was “dopey”.
“I want to paraphrase Monty Python - he’s not the savior, he’s a naughty boy. I think that Joe is not the anti-Christ, I think he’s a nincompoop,” Matlock said.

'Never mind the punk rock' protest

 

[countthree]

Judy is a punk

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

Judy was a punk

 

[caramel sea salt]

Punk = conformity through the illusion of rebellion

 

[countthree]

It became just another method of social control. Like police, law, school, TV, credit cards, fashion, armies, etc. But it's funny and nice, unlike other things that are boring or dangerous.

 

[Anonymous]

Punk and all its offshoots have never really been a super defined concept. It's meant different things to to people at different times and in different contexts. At some level it can universally mean a resistance but nothing's ever been completely non conformist or tried to be while still being interesting to anyone but the creator just as resistance for the sake of resistance is pointless as a shared concept and can't be the basis for a piece of art. Also I've never met a punk, in the artistic sense, in any shape or form that wasn't selling something

 

[Quando quando quando]

I voted no. Punk is not dead.
The most important idea behind it was a young generation doing it themselves in any way possible and fighting to be seen and heard. They knew there was NO Future for them and they were desperate. That always makes good art. Nothing to lose.

Rebellious, individual, personal and opposed against the haves, the superstars up there in a stadium without any real contact with their audience.
I know when the movement started to make waves anyone clever enough quickly jumped the bandwagon and were also very punk. They thought by copying certain superficial elements they suddenly were punk too.

But nevertheless, the real good punk music that created so much energy and enthusiasm was the music that was individual, personal, embarrassingly open, honest and therefore vulnerable too. It was direct and spontaneous.
Maybe a sort of punk revolution like the one we had will never occur again.

Maybe it will be in another form. But I do hope to hear and see something different. Something personal, individual, stubborn and true to the essence of what the drive is to express musically and in content.
It could be again an inspiration for other people to get on that stage and just sing or play your heart out.
Never mind the bollocks or the experts.

 

[Anonymous]

Punk = conformity through the illusion of rebellion

I was a punk in the mid 80s. It could be considered dead by then but punk is what made me into who I am today.

If you think I was willing to conform to anything you have another thing coming.

Being 15 years old and shaving your head in CA in 1984 was not an easy thing.

I didn't do it to conform to what punk was. I get your point. I didn't want to be like any of the 'punks'.

I don't understand most people. But there is no way you can say I was conforming to anything.