Protopunk

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Before there was Punk Rock, there was Protopunk (or Proto-punk), a largely retrospective term for a genre that blossomed between 1963 and 1976: a raw, energetic, frenetic relative of Garage Rock and Surf Rock where Three Chords and the Truth were the ammo and rebellion was the spirit. This retroactive sub-genre is difficult to define and was never a movement like Punk Rock was. When these bands were active, they were referred to as other genres such as Garage Rock or Glam Rock.

Protopunk bands didn't get much mainstream appraisal: critics called the minimalist, less polished sound "amateurish" or "sloppy", and the hippie crowd was turned off by the brutality and sleaziness. When Punk Rock broke to the mainstream in 1977, some of the rock bands before them began to be seen in a new light as the missing link between Rock and punk, thus the name protopunk. Protopunk would also exert a significant influence on the development of Alternative Rock in the '80s and beyond to this day, meaning that protopunk can also be considered "proto-alternative" as well.

Examples of protopunk musicians

• David Bowie
  • 1972 - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
  • 1973 - Aladdin Sane
  • 1973 - Pin Ups
  • 1974 - Diamond Dogs
  • 1976 - Changesonebowie
• Big Star (the Trope Maker for Power Pop)
• John Cale
• Can
• Captain Beefheart
• Eddie Cochran: Though technically not considered proto-punk, he has been cited as a significant influence on bands that can considered to be proto-punk or punk, (The Who, Johnny Rotten, Sid Vicious) to the point where some more modern punk musicians refer to him as the "Grandfather of Punk"
• Alice Cooper
  • 1971 - Love It to Death
• The Dave Clark Five: Rarely called as such and are moreso called "proto-Power Pop" or just pop rock, but they had all the elements. Raucous lead vocals, thundering drums, high energy, and an extremely loud volume.
• Dick Dale
• Death (the late 60s / early 70s Detroit band, absolutely not to be confused with the Death Metal pioneers of the same name)
• Destroy All Monsters
• The Dictators
• Doctors of Madness
• The Doors
  • 1967 - The Doors
  • 1967 - Strange Days
  • 1971 - L.A. Woman
• Electric Eels
• The Fugs
  • 1965 - The Fugs First Album
  • 1966 - The Fugs Second Album
  • 1968 - It Crawled Into My Hand, Honest
• Gary Glitter
• Hackamore Brick (Notable for being perhaps the earliest band to be heavily influenced by the The Velvet Underground)
• Hawkwind
• The Heartbreakers (also see New York Dolls, where Johnny Thunders came from)
• Richard Hell and the Voidoids
• Hollywood Brats (essentially the U.K. equivalent of New York Dolls)
• The Kingsmen
• The Kinks, in the early days at least.
• Love
  • 1967 - Forever Changes
• MC5
  • 1969 - Kick Out the Jams
• The Modern Lovers
• Monks (a band formed by former American G.I.s' based in West Germany, whose minimalist, repetitive take on garage rock served as a precursor to the Krautrock movement)
• Neu!
  • La Düsseldorf
• New York Dolls
• Nico
• Pere Ubu
• Iggy Pop
• Question Mark and the Mysterians
• Radio Birdman
• Lou Reed
  • 1972 - Transformer
  • 1973 - Berlin
  • 1975 - Metal Machine Music
• Paul Revere and the Raiders
• Rocket From the Tombs (Notable for containing future members of Pere Ubu, The Dead Boys and Devo)
• The Seeds
• Bob Seger (With his early garage rock bands, including Bob Seger System. By the time punk rock proper hit he had gotten big with the Silver Bullet Band and helped invent heartland rock.)
• The Shadows of Knight
• Simply Saucer
• The Small Faces
• Patti Smith
  • 1975 - Horses
• The Sonics
• The Standells
• The Stooges
  • 1969 - The Stooges
  • 1970 - Fun House
  • 1973 - Raw Power
• Suicide
• Television
  • 1977 - Marquee Moon
• The Trashmen
• The Troggs
• The Up
• The Velvet Underground
  • 1967 - The Velvet Underground & Nico ^note A collaboration with Nico
  • 1968 - White Light/White Heat
  • 1969 - The Velvet Underground
  • 1970 - Loaded
• The Who (to the point where Johnny Rotten, Johnny Ramone, and Joe Strummer all said something along the lines that punk wouldn't even exist without them)
  • 1965 - My Generation
  • 1966 - A Quick One
  • 1967 - The Who Sell Out
  • 1969 - Tommy
  • 1971 - Who's Next
  • 1973 - Quadrophenia
• The Yardbirds' approach to playing inspired punk bands in the next decade, notably The Buzzcocks.

Tropes Common In Proto Punk:

• Audience Participation: During concerts, the audience was often intentionally stirred up into a frenzy or provoked by the band members.
• Careful with That Axe: Singers are often very energetic, incorporating shouting and screaming into their vocals.
• Darker and Edgier: Artists liked to shock audiences with dark songs played at ear-splitting volume.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: The genre still had some lingering attachments to blues and psychedelic rock (easy to spot even in standards like the Pink Fairies' "Do It"), which later punkers deliberately excised (until the Post-Punk movement cyclically brought some of those elements back).
• Genre Roulette: It borrows elements from Surf Rock, Garage Rock, Rockabilly, Hard Rock, Pub Rock, and Glam Rock.
• Flyover Country: Many bands hailed from midwestern cities like Detroit (The Stooges, MC5) and Cleveland (Rocket from the Tombs, Pere Ubu).
• Intercourse with You: In contrast to the "peace & love" hippie crowd, protopunkers were very much about lust.
• Limited Lyrics Song: The overall sound and attitude are more important than writing insightful lyrics.
• Lower-Class Lout: A lot of bands, particularly The Stooges and New York Dolls, came from blue collar backgrounds in Rust Belt cities and were happy to play up this image to appear more menacing, thus distinguishing themselves from the hippie movement. This would influence the attitude of future punk rockers.
• Protest Song: Some bands were out for anarchy and shocking the establishment.
• Rated M for Manly: This is one genre where having balls is required.
• Stylistic Suck: Reacted against the overproduction of late '60s and early '70s Psychedelic Rock and Progressive Rock by bashing out loud, simple songs.
• Three Chords and the Truth: The sound is often primitive; the songs not very complicated to play.
• Trolling Creator: Performers liked to bait concert crowds into angry reactions.