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Punk Rock in Canada: Punks wearing pink

In 1977, a new form of underground music emerged from Canadian basements and garages. Journalists called it punk rock. It was kids with boot polish in their hair, playing out-of-tune guitars and questioning anything established — parents, government, The Beatles. Decades later, critics praised the once-criticized scene for starting a tradition of do-it-yourself indie rebel music.

Critics say pure punk rock groups died when the Sex Pistols called it quits on Jan. 14, 1979. The Pistols disbanded after a gig in the United States when frugal manager Malcolm McLaren "cheated" Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious out of a hotel room to stay in. By 1982 punk has evolved into a milder form - what journalists call "new wave." The Canadian record industry finds it easier to package and sell its less impudent acts.

Blondie's punkish wardrobe includes more pretty pink pants than ripped black leathers. Canada's CBS Records executive Brad Weir says marketing punk to suburbanites was difficult because of its strong connection to anger and protest. "What do you want them to do, go out and blow up their Lawn Boys?"
• New Wave, an offshoot of punk that emerged in the late 1970s, replaced the underground punk scene by 1980.
• Journalists borrowed the term from Françoise Giroud's nouvelle vague, which he coined to describe a group of late-1950s filmmakers.
• Although underground punk rock died before the 1980s, punk fashion remained popular with teenagers for another 10 years.

• The Mohawk haircut, known in Britain and France as the Mohican, was not nearly as popular with punkers as the spike-top.
• Punkers invented the spike-top hairdo — clumps of hair teased or gelled into spikes. It was an antithesis to the previous generation's long, flowing hippie hair.
Medium: Radio
Program: IDEAS
Broadcast Date: March 25, 1982
Guest(s): B.B. Gabor, Brad Weir
Duration: 2:28

Last updated: January 16, 2012

Page consulted on March 27, 2013

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