“That’s white boy music” and, oh let’s not forget “Why are you trying to be white” are words every person of colour has heard a multitude of times when other people find out that they listen to rock. Sad because it places people in a box that they are unable to escape as they fear being annexed by their communities & sometimes the homes they grow up in. This article seeks to debunk the long-running stereotype that rock and all its subgenres are strictly for a white audience. It also seeks to highlight the efforts of Black bodies in the history of the genre and how their influence has seeped itself into not only rock but modern pop culture.
Rock ‘n’ Roll is a genre of music whose acts are known for living extraordinary lives filled with adventure, drugs & sex. This isn’t the only thing the genre should be known for as the genre has for decades provided a home to disenfranchised youth who feel forgotten or whose tears go unheard, those who are tired of living by the norms of their society & it provides them with the amplification they require to preach alternative lifestyles to the masses. Given this, it would not be uncommon for black youth, of any era or nationality, to be drawn to rock & its subgenre of punk.
Our earliest participation in the genre was in 1973 when a band of brothers known as Rock Fire Funk Express from Detroit decided to change genres, from the popular Motown sound. This was inspired by older brother David Hackely who had returned from a The Who show. Little did they know that their change would lead to them creating an early rendition of punk rock. They would now be known as Death which was inspired by the passing of their father in 1973, with this name they hoped to change the perception of the word & even refused to change it when they were offered a record deal in 1975 by Clive Davids of Arista Records.
The brothers were able to secure 500 units of 2 of their songs Politicians In My Eyes & Knock Knock in 1977 which they gave to friends & tried selling themselves until they put the rest in storage, thereafter creating gospel music as The 4th Movement. These songs & 5 other songs were made into an album …For The Whole World To See which was released 30 years later as a result of an online campaign by fans of the band who had heard the 2 songs that were released in 1977.
While Death struggled to get out of Detroit Pure Hell had migrated from Philadelphia & were made so much noise in New York that they often played at the CBGBs club which was the breathing ground for punks in the late 70s. They along with the New York Dolls can be seen as the co-establishers, of the Glam Rock aesthetics because they were a group of men who had colourful hair, wore leather jackets with skinny jeans or leather pants & wore makeup. They even played shows in the UK as they toured with Sid Vicious in 1978 but were sadly unable to be seen any less than a group of black guys who were making punk music, this even hindered their chances of signing a record deal in the UK. Their music, look & influence did not go unrecognized as they were earlier influences of a band that would be recognized as the first mainstream punk band, Bad Brains.
Known as your favourite band’s favourite band, Bad Brains has a body of work in which many have dipped their fingers as a source of inspiration & have influenced many notable bands like Nirvana, the Roots, Green Day & Living Color. They too changed their sound & name like Death before them as they were previously known as Mindpower, which they made Jazz Fusion. It’s only after they were introduced to the Dead Boys did they decided to change their name as well as sound to punk which they later infused with Ragge as they listened to Bob Marley when they weren’t making music for moshpits. Their music had their fans in Washington D.C losing their minds that they would damage the nightclubs they played at, this resulted in them being blacklisted by clubs in the area in 1979 thus resulting in them to relocate to New York where they too played the famous CBGBs club & would go on to have a legendary career.
With all this activity going on abroad here at home, a mix of white men who lived in Johannesburg & brothers from Soweto formed a band known as National Wake in 1976. Their formation was in defiance of the apartheid regime which had a stranglehold on the country. The band moved to a house in Parktwon where they would practice & would have interracial mingling as well as open interracial relationships within the house. The band was a blend of the two opposing worlds as they wrote & performed Maskandi songs as well as their punk ones, they sang of a South Africa rid of the shackles of apartheid where its people were free to mingle amongst each other as well as one which afforded all those who lived in it equal opportunity. They played in townships as well as the city to crowds of interracial South Africans who too were fed up with the political & social landscape of the country. After the release of their album, they were harassed by the police & later lost the house which they recorded & just like that the band ended.
They might have been able to create a single body of work but their spirit has made its way to the modern day, even though many might not know of their existence. Today there are a plethora of acts that take inspiration from the above-mentioned bands whether consciously or unconsciously & they are the people who laid the foundation for the house that is continuing to be built by acts like Club Valley, Hugo Pooe & Internet Girl. Our punk roots have even seeped into Hip-Hop with some, if not most, of its leading acts lending from the punk aesthetic by wearing chokers, skinny/leather jeans and they are making use of guitar solos in their music.
Black bodies have always taken up space in this “white boy music”; they were just cast aside or made side notes by the media of the time hence why the stereotype has been prevalent for so many years within communities of colour. We are punk…then, now & forever.
