
Rules of the Tribe: Hardcore Punks and Hair Metal in the 1980s (2013) - tintinnabula
http://theappendix.net/issues/2013/7/rules-of-the-tribe-hardcore-punks-and-hair-metal-in-the-1980s
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ilamont
I was just getting into punk in the mid 80s. A few former punk bands who went
for a completely different audience/sound (Beastie Boys) found success, just
as a few former punk acts had discovered in the late 70s with new wave and
even disco (such as Blondie).

Crossing over to metal AND trying to keep your old audience was regarded with
suspicion. Metal had a bad rap thanks to the factors mentioned in the article,
and if you did the hair metal/glam thing it seemed very pretentious. If you
just played standard metal without the attitude, it was merely regarded as
irrelevant. I remember going to see the Straw Dogs -- which included former
members of the classic Boston punk band The F.U.s -- and it was boring. No one
was throwing stuff at them, though.

Metal bands that played faster and harder than standard three-chord punk rock
could cultivate an audience in the punk/underground scene. This included
thrash-metal bands like Slayer and emerging hardcore bands with a metal edge
like Agnostic Front.

Playing other genres at that time risked alienating their existing audiences.
I saw 7 Seconds in the late 80s when they were recording more radio friendly
stuff, which no one liked at the time (that would change with the rise of pop-
punk in the 90s with Green Day, All, Blink 182, etc.). And Bad Brains
(mentioned in the article) incorporated more and more reggae into their live
shows as time went on, which people put up with as long as they played harder
stuff, too.

Looking back now, that was one of the drawbacks of the 80s punk/hardcore music
scene: People were _way_ too sensitive about appearances and different styles
of music, and were unable to appreciate that some bands just wanted to evolve
and do something different. It all seems kind of silly now.

~~~
wolfspider
It’s weird there’s a real gray area. If you started as Metal many later punk
bands had reverence for you if say you happened to be Ozzy or Lemmy. Then,
just as the article suggests, many of the Metal bands claimed Punk as an
influence. I’ve even heard a punk band angrily do a bunch of Slayer covers
back to back because me and my friends weren’t into them enough. Needless to
say there is some competitiveness between purist DIY aggression and hedonism
taken to another level.

~~~
ilamont
Funny you should mention Ozzy and Lemmy. Motorhead was grouped in the thrash
metal camp and got lots of respect for never selling out; mid-80s Ozzy on the
other hand was seen as pop metal has-been pandering to the hair metal masses.
That may have changed as people rediscovered early Black Sabbath and gained a
grudging respect for Ozzy's work with Randy Rhoads.

Another interesting case is Glen Danzig after he left The Misfits. I saw
Danzig perform in 1988 and was warned it would be "metal" but it was really
heavy and slow, more like Black Sabbath and played by guys who looked like
snarling barbarians. Even though all these kids had on their Misfit T shirts
the crowd was really into it, because it was so good.

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mrspeaker
Fucking fantastic article! Just really great writing: hooks you immediately,
and can't stop until the end.

I find that as I get older I generally have to stop _reading_ about music:
because the writing makes things sound so intriguing and inventive and crazy -
and then I end up listening to it and go "oh, ok - it's just that." That's the
problem with good music writers!

~~~
pessimizer
Discharge is worth listening to. The reason their turn was hated so much is
because what they were was loved so much.

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vondur
I remember they got heckled pretty bad down here at Fender's in Long Beach Ca.
I didn't go to that show, but knew people who did. They certainly tried
something different.

