--- Dennis Perrin <dperrin at comcast.net> wrote:
> > The anti-disco moment of punk was full of racism
> and homophobia. Not in
> > every case, for sure, but it's there.
> >
> > Doug
>
> Which bands? John Lydon left the Sex Pistols to form
> PiL, which moved past
> rock music (which Lydon proclaimed was dead) to
> embrace various raw ethereal
> sounds from other cultures. The Clash, of course,
> mixed reggae, ska and yes,
> disco (and early rap) once they got the three-chord
> thang outta their
> system. The New York bands like Blondie and Talking
> Heads also did this,
> though in my view the Heads went further and did it
> better than Blondie. I
> wouldn't label X a racist or homophobic band, nor
> The Germs, whose lead
> singer Darby Crash was queer (and penned some great
> lyrics), nor Fear, who
> wrote hard-core ironical lyrics that trashed the
> whole jock mentality. And
> then there's the Dead Kennedys' "Nazi Punks Fuck
> Off," a short stabbing song
> that I doubt the NatRev kids would find comforting.
>
> Every genre has its idiots and knuckleheads,
> punk/New Wave included. But I
> can't think of a major, influential punk band that
> sang racist, queer-hating
> songs. Who am I missing?
>
> Dennis
>
But the mere fact that Jello felt compelled to write
"nazi punks" shows there was a problem. It wasn't the
bands as much as many of the punks themselves who were
racist and homophobic. Homophobia in particular was
rampant. I was a Clash freak back in the day and I
remember being appalled at how reactionary many of
their fans were.
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