I came of age in the mid-1970s, and at that time, punk rock was just starting, with bands like The Ramones in the US and The Damned in the UK. In those pre-Spotify days, most of the music you listened to was on the radio, and radio was dominated by record companies pushing their artists, and the big trends at the time were disco and arena rock. Unless you could get a college radio station, these over-produced songs were pretty much all that you could listen to.
Punk arose as a reaction to this stifling control of music. The original idea was DIY – do it yourself! Who cared if you couldn’t play guitar very well, or sing like an angel? Who cared if you didn’t have access to a studio with the latest recording equipment? It was the feeling and energy that mattered above all. Several punk bands started out very raw, but in time learned more about music, recording, and songwriting. They started experimenting with different styles in their songs, and some of the fans would have none of that. The most memorable example of that was when The Clash released their epic album London Calling: there were songs with horns, for crissake! This wasn’t punk! Punk can only have…
And this is where punks fell into their own trap. As a reaction to having to slavishly follow an established musical style, some were now insisting that their favorite bands adhere to this new musical style! They forgot the DIY part, and only thought about the fast, simple chord structures and relentless drumming. They wouldn’t allow these bands to grow and change.
Which brings me to my actual topic: Agile software development. I’ll have more to say in a follow-up post, but I’m sure most can already see the connection.
One thought on “Being Punk”