Originally Posted by mr dave

Yeah... NO.

To say Iggy Pop had nothing to do with the establishment of punk rock is flat out wrong. They might not have called themselves The Punks but referring to themselves as The Stooges wasn't exactly better. It's like the difference between calling someone a bum or an ass or maybe a jerk or a prick. They're terms that more or less describe the same thing when used colloquially as they were back in their day.

But ultimately the musical style grew from the attitude of not giving a crap about perceived social and industry expectations for the artist's creation as well as presenting a creative output that forced the listener to consider unexpected perspectives.

Based on that attitude I'd say modern punk rock and its attitude exists as they do because of this guy:



Ornette Coleman is not just one of the Free Jazz pioneers. He's the badass mofo who INVENTED it. In 1959 his first album with Atlantic Records was released - 'The Shape of Jazz to Come', modern punks familiar with The Refused are recognizing a familiar album name right now. That album marked one of (if not the) first time a musical artist was able to release a full album of an untested style to the mainstream. It proved that a record that eschewed traditional methods and relied primarily on emotion and passion over technique and control could still be a commercially viable product thereby satisfying both the bean counters at the label and the creativity of the artist.

He might not be a 'punk' per se but if it weren't for Mr. Coleman's badassery up there, I really don't think we'd have nearly as much freedom of styles and techniques available in popular music today.