Punk … for credit

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Dr. Medulla
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Punk … for credit

Post by Dr. Medulla »

So it looks I've got the go-ahead for my punk class next year. While I have a bucketload of ideas for various topics to pursue—far more than music; I'm thinking politics, race, sex, fashion, business, cinema, zine culture, etc—I thought I'd canvas this fine community for possibilities. Feel free to be creative and go wide. Thanks in advance!
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

Heston
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Re: Punk … for credit

Post by Heston »

criss.jpg
criss.jpg (14.26 KiB) Viewed 5830 times
There's a tiny, tiny hopeful part of me that says you guys are running a Kaufmanesque long con on the board

Marky Dread
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Re: Punk … for credit

Post by Marky Dread »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
09 Mar 2020, 4:15pm
So it looks I've got the go-ahead for my punk class next year. While I have a bucketload of ideas for various topics to pursue—far more than music; I'm thinking politics, race, sex, fashion, business, cinema, zine culture, etc—I thought I'd canvas this fine community for possibilities. Feel free to be creative and go wide. Thanks in advance!
UK punk set out to destroy rock n roll but only ended up affirming it.

The media watering down it's initial impact until it became just another safe product.

It's inspiration and attitude that informed some amazing music that followed.
Image

Forces have been looting
My humanity
Curfews have been curbing
The end of liberty


We're the flowers in the dustbin...
No fuchsias for you.

"Without the common people you're nothing"

Nos Sumus Una Familia

Marky Dread
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Re: Punk … for credit

Post by Marky Dread »

Heston wrote:
09 Mar 2020, 4:41pm
criss.jpg
Yep he looks like he takes it up the Gary. Definitely a punk. :shifty:
Image

Forces have been looting
My humanity
Curfews have been curbing
The end of liberty


We're the flowers in the dustbin...
No fuchsias for you.

"Without the common people you're nothing"

Nos Sumus Una Familia

revbob
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Re: Punk … for credit

Post by revbob »

You must show this:


gkbill
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Re: Punk … for credit

Post by gkbill »

Marky Dread wrote:
09 Mar 2020, 4:41pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
09 Mar 2020, 4:15pm
So it looks I've got the go-ahead for my punk class next year. While I have a bucketload of ideas for various topics to pursue—far more than music; I'm thinking politics, race, sex, fashion, business, cinema, zine culture, etc—I thought I'd canvas this fine community for possibilities. Feel free to be creative and go wide. Thanks in advance!
UK punk set out to destroy rock n roll but only ended up affirming it.

The media watering down it's initial impact until it became just another safe product.

It's inspiration and attitude that informed some amazing music that followed.
Hello,

I think Marky's idea of learning how the record/music business hated/mocked punk initially, then approved of it when it saw the financial potential behind it important for students to understand - Malcolm's (and others') Cash from Chaos ethic. Art becomes product in many cases.

Marky Dread
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Re: Punk … for credit

Post by Marky Dread »

revbob wrote:
09 Mar 2020, 4:47pm
You must show this:

Yep and that Sumner of Sam movie where the key character loves The Who.
Image

Forces have been looting
My humanity
Curfews have been curbing
The end of liberty


We're the flowers in the dustbin...
No fuchsias for you.

"Without the common people you're nothing"

Nos Sumus Una Familia

Dr. Medulla
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Re: Punk … for credit

Post by Dr. Medulla »

gkbill wrote:
09 Mar 2020, 4:49pm
Marky Dread wrote:
09 Mar 2020, 4:41pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
09 Mar 2020, 4:15pm
So it looks I've got the go-ahead for my punk class next year. While I have a bucketload of ideas for various topics to pursue—far more than music; I'm thinking politics, race, sex, fashion, business, cinema, zine culture, etc—I thought I'd canvas this fine community for possibilities. Feel free to be creative and go wide. Thanks in advance!
UK punk set out to destroy rock n roll but only ended up affirming it.

The media watering down it's initial impact until it became just another safe product.

It's inspiration and attitude that informed some amazing music that followed.
Hello,

I think Marky's idea of learning how the record/music business hated/mocked punk initially, then approved of it when it saw the financial potential behind it important for students to understand - Malcolm's (and others') Cash from Chaos ethic. Art becomes product in many cases.
Yeah, I'd like to try to set aside one class for some kind of comparison between how majors have treated punk versus indie labels like Dischord or AT, chiefly to ask whether there is a meaningful punk business approach. Contrasting it with mainstream labels would aid that.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

revbob
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Re: Punk … for credit

Post by revbob »

So, why punk? As in why do people make this sort of music, what are their motives? , same for the listeners. Why do you listen to it? Obviously you have a ton of ground to cover. Will the class be offered online? That would be cool.

Dr. Medulla
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Re: Punk … for credit

Post by Dr. Medulla »

revbob wrote:
09 Mar 2020, 5:02pm
So, why punk? As in why do people make this sort of music, what are their motives? , same for the listeners. Why do you listen to it?
That's the basic premise. If punk means more than just music—that it reflects a worldview and behaviour and expression—then what does it mean to each student, and what does it offer society more generally? I have my own ideas, but that's not the point. I want to encourage students to think widely—what is a punk politics or activism? what is a punk fashion? what is a punk cinema? etc etc—to treat the concept as more than just music. I'm keen on this because I'm teaching in an interdisciplinary program, and I could never do something like this in a strict department. So I really want students to be creative. One of my ideas for a research project is, rather than a standard term paper, to have them construct a zine on a subject that means a lot to them. That is, apply punk expression. How I'd grade something that would be tough, tho (what standards could I apply?).
Obviously you have a ton of ground to cover. Will the class be offered online? That would be cool.
It'll be a seminar format—reading and discussion. Tho I might investigate whether I can do a Skype session with a musician who could speak and do a Q & A.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

Dr. Medulla
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Re: Punk … for credit

Post by Dr. Medulla »

Thought: Can anyone recommend any novels or short stories that they would consider punk? I have a few ideas here, too, but always up for others.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

Kory
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Re: Punk … for credit

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I think a lot about how critical people are of punk bands, considering they were ages 19–22 at the time (14 or whatever in the case of Dee Generate). How much of punk was just youthful idealism/nihilism that sticks with some into adulthood, and how much of it was directly controlled by svengalis/media/record labels? Is the reason we have such trouble clarifying what punk was/is here because it's basically the half-baked ideas of a bunch of kids? I don't know, but it informs almost everything I do.
"Suck our Earth dick, Martians!" —Doc

101Walterton
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Re: Punk … for credit

Post by 101Walterton »

Kory wrote:
09 Mar 2020, 7:05pm
I think a lot about how critical people are of punk bands, considering they were ages 19–22 at the time (14 or whatever in the case of Dee Generate). How much of punk was just youthful idealism/nihilism that sticks with some into adulthood, and how much of it was directly controlled by svengalis/media/record labels? Is the reason we have such trouble clarifying what punk was/is here because it's basically the half-baked ideas of a bunch of kids? I don't know, but it informs almost everything I do.
Everyone was in a band because you didn’t have to be able to play (much) to be a band and have fun. That is why so many young people were involved. Obviously the bands that could play went on to sign deals and release records but that didn’t stop every school kid having a go.

Kory
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Re: Punk … for credit

Post by Kory »

101Walterton wrote:
09 Mar 2020, 7:08pm
Kory wrote:
09 Mar 2020, 7:05pm
I think a lot about how critical people are of punk bands, considering they were ages 19–22 at the time (14 or whatever in the case of Dee Generate). How much of punk was just youthful idealism/nihilism that sticks with some into adulthood, and how much of it was directly controlled by svengalis/media/record labels? Is the reason we have such trouble clarifying what punk was/is here because it's basically the half-baked ideas of a bunch of kids? I don't know, but it informs almost everything I do.
Everyone was in a band because you didn’t have to be able to play (much) to be a band and have fun. That is why so many young people were involved. Obviously the bands that could play went on to sign deals and release records but that didn’t stop every school kid having a go.
I'm talking more about the ideals of punk as a philosophy (such as it is, whatever it is) rather than the general explosion of bands.
"Suck our Earth dick, Martians!" —Doc

Dr. Medulla
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Re: Punk … for credit

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Kory wrote:
09 Mar 2020, 7:05pm
I think a lot about how critical people are of punk bands, considering they were ages 19–22 at the time (14 or whatever in the case of Dee Generate). How much of punk was just youthful idealism/nihilism that sticks with some into adulthood, and how much of it was directly controlled by svengalis/media/record labels? Is the reason we have such trouble clarifying what punk was/is here because it's basically the half-baked ideas of a bunch of kids? I don't know, but it informs almost everything I do.
That's pretty much where I am. There's a lot of silly shit in there, but because of that willingness to burn it all to the ground first and then start up, and then you get fresh (and sometimes not fresh) ideas. We're not obliged to accept everything or not be critical. One of the things I've taken from punk—and really pains me to see students not embrace—is the very idea of going in strange directions just to see what happens. I can't say that I've had that many really good ideas, but the ones that I have had were from just following weird ideas and hunches. Christ, I once wrote a really dumb defence of Nixon and Watergate just to follow thru on a goofy idea. It's that rejection of convention and pre-judged authority. I always tell students that I won't pop up in thirty years, just before they become prime minister, to say they had a flaky idea in a seminar. The idea of possibility is what keeps me going, and I credit that to punk.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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