The Word “Punk”

Here is some ancient punk rock history.  Every wonder how the word “punk” came to describe a certain style and attitude in rock’n’roll?  Here’s one possible story.

In early 1975, a fanzine was started up by an 18 year-old fan of weird rock music.  Leggs McNeil was into the kind of music mainstream magazines wouldn’t touch.  That meant stories on the Velvet Underground, the New York Dolls, Iggy Pop and the Stooges and the Ramones.

He called the ‘zine Punk, inspired by a picture of his favourite band—a New York group called the Dictators--posing in some leather jackets.  Naturally, his search for stories took him to CBGBs, the new music club that was just starting to happen.  

The ‘zine caught on with fans and pretty soon, any band that was featured in the ‘zine was being referred to as a “Punk” band.