Origins and early development
Punk rock emerged in the mid-1970s and is rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock. Early influences cited include glam and pub rock in the UK and acts such as the Velvet Underground and the New York Dolls. By the mid-1970s the term became associated with several regional underground scenes, including the MC5 and the Stooges in Detroit; Television, Patti Smith, Suicide, the Dictators, Richard Hell and the Voidoids, and the Ramones in New York City; Rocket from the Tombs, Electric Eels and Dead Boys in Ohio; the Saints and Radio Birdman in Australia; and the Sex Pistols, the Clash, the Damned and the Buzzcocks in England.
Evolution or diversification
By late 1976 punk had become a major cultural phenomenon in the United Kingdom and by 1977 its influence had spread worldwide, taking root in a wide range of local scenes. During the late 1970s the movement proliferated into various subgenres and related movements such as post-punk, new wave, and art punk. In the early 1980s punk further diversified into subgenres including hardcore punk, Oi!, street punk, and anarcho-punk, and expanded through regional scenes in countries such as Japan, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Estonia, Greece, and Yugoslavia. The movement also inspired later developments including pop-punk, grunge, riot grrrl and alternative rock.
Cultural or musical significance
Punk rock rejected the overproduction and corporate nature of mainstream rock, favoring technical accessibility and a do it yourself ethic with many bands self-producing and releasing recordings on independent labels. The style is characterized by short fast-paced songs with rough stripped-down vocals and instrumentation, and it fostered networks of small venues and independent labels such as those that grew from UK pub rock. Following alternative rock's mainstream breakthrough in the 1990s, punk rock saw renewed major-label interest and broader mainstream appeal through bands from the United States and elsewhere.
