The unconventional, rebellious, and emotionally charged contemporary music genre, pushed beyond the accepted boundaries of rock and roll in the mid-1970s and caused revolution within the recording industry. A new breed of musician earned a place in rock history by defying industry standards and provided the impetus for a series of music styles that offered alternatives to what was perceived as the corporate control of rock music.
The development of punk music spans the decade of the 1970s in both the United States and Britain. In Britain, lower-class youth, many of them unemployed, expressed their rejection of established society through music, with a sound and style that were unprecedentedly violent, aggressive, and calculated to insult. Their counterparts in the United States were disenchanted with the prevailing conservative mood of the nation and with the middle-of-the-road type of music that long-established rock groups were recording and performing. In both countries the attitude that anyone could form a punk band and become a rock star prompted creative ideas and new talent to spring up at a furious rate.
The American group Velvet Underground, formed in 1966 by Lou Reed and John Cale, was among the forerunners of punk. This group was one of the first to gain media attention with its driven music and decadent lyrics glamorizing drugs and sex. It was the underlying emotional intensity of their music--not the musical talent--that attracted listeners.
In Britain during the 1970s, "glitter rock" represented an important transition to new-wave music. Such performers as David Bowie and Gary Glitter used bizarre costumes and makeup, creating the androgynous image that was characteristic of new-wave performers.
The exuberance and excitement of punk music attracted large followings in New York and London rock clubs by the mid-1970s. While major recording companies shunned punk artists and ridiculed their self-destructive and accosting image, independent companies realized their potential and began signing and promoting them, giving rise to a "do-it-yourself" attitude, which would resurface in the mid-1980s. Only after the commercial viability of this new wave of musicians had been proven by the independents did the major studios begin offering contracts.
The first commercially successful punk group was the Sex Pistols, formed in England in 1976. Other successful and influential British bands included the Clash and the Buzzcocks, along with songwriters Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson. In the United States, the punk scene was dominated by Patti Smith, the Ramones, Blondie, and the Talking Heads.
By the early 1980s, most of the older punk bands had moved in other directions or broken up. Some of the punk energy was taken up by new-wave groups and performers, such as the Cars and Devo in the United States, and the Police and the Pretenders in England. In addition, the creation of MTV had given rise to videogenic performers who took advantage of the developments in electronics and synthesizers to create a popular, danceable sound.
However, the spirit of punk was kept alive in the harder sounds of Los Angeles-based groups like X, Black Flag, and the Minutemen, and in the regional music scenes that began to develop all over the United States. Some of the attitude of punk music moved over to a style called hardcore, which was very loud and fast.
By the mid-1980s, small, independent record labels began releasing the music of local bands. These records were played on college radio stations, and a so-called alternative movement sprung up in cities such as Athens, Ga., Minneapolis, and Seattle. By the early 1990s, bands such as REM and Nirvana had huge hit records, fueled in part by the influence of videos shown on MTV. The punk sound, if not its attitude, has been revived by bands such as Green Day, whose music harks back to groups like the Buzzcocks.

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