Skate punk is a skater subculture and punk rock subgenre that developed in the 1980s. Originally a form of hardcore punk that had been closely associated with skate culture, skate punk evolved into a more melodic genre of punk rock in the 1990s similar to pop punk. Since then, it has predominately featured fast tempos, lead guitar playing, fast drumming, and singing. Occasionally, skate punk also combines the fast tempos of hardcore punk and melodic hardcore with the catchy hooks of pop-punk.
Men Without Hats are a Canadian new wave and synth-pop band, originally from Montreal, Quebec. Their music is characterized by the baritone voice of their lead singer Ivan Doroschuk, as well as their elaborate use of synthesizers and electronic processing. They achieved their greatest popularity in the 1980s with "The Safety Dance", a worldwide top ten hit, and "Pop Goes the World". After a hiatus for most of the 1990s and 2000s, Doroschuk reformed the band in 2010, and released Love in the Age of War (2012). The group, based in Vancouver, has continued to perform, including tour dates announced in support of the release of two studio albums, Men Without Hats Again , in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
Brian James is an English punk rock guitarist, who is best known for being a founding member of The Damned as well as of The Lords of the New Church.
Iron Cross was a Oi!/hardcore band from Washington D.C. They played a rough form of Oi! and were the first band in the US to adopt the skinhead look and the Oi! musical style. Some of its members had close ties to the Washington hardcore punk subculture, due to its relationship with other hardcore bands, with Ian Mackaye, and with Dischord Records. Singer Sab Grey was one of the many roommates in the Dischord House in Arlington, Virginia. The band's name, and the fact that most of its members were skinheads, led to accusations of fascism, which Grey and others in the band and the original D.C. skins, always denied, declaring that they "hate Nazis".
Anti System is an English punk rock band from Bradford, West Yorkshire, England.
All Systems Go! was a Canadian punk rock supergroup with members from Big Drill Car, Doughboys, the Asexuals The Carnations, Descendents, C'mon and The Weakerthans.
Doughboys were a Canadian alternative rock band founded in 1987 that were active in the late 1980s and early/mid-1990s. The band was renowned for its musical blend of punk and pop-style melodies.
The Effigies were an American punk band from Chicago. The band played its first show in 1980 and was active initially for approximately a decade, undergoing multiple personnel changes with frontman John Kezdy the only constant, before disbanding in 1990. The band released 5 albums and several EPs, most on the record label they founded in 1981, Ruthless Records, which was distributed by Enigma. Later albums were on the Fever Records and Roadkill Records labels. They toured the U.S. and Canada and played notable venues, including CBGB, Maxwell's, First Avenue, Mabuhay Gardens, Paycheck's (Detroit), Exit (Chicago) and The Rathskeller, among others. They also received a significant amount of national airplay on college radio at a time when it was the only medium for alternative music.
Genetic Control is a Canadian hardcore punk band from Montreal, Quebec, whose "First Impressions" single is a sought after disc for punk record collectors worldwide. They existed from 1983 to 1985, and reunited in 1998. They played with many bands such as the Dead Kennedys, GBH and Suicidal Tendencies. They were known for the comical disguises they wore on stage.
The Stupids are an English hardcore punk band formed in the 1980s by Tom Withers.
The Nils are a Montreal punk rock band formed in 1978 by Alex Soria. The Nils first gained local notoriety upon the 1982 release of a five-song demo entitled Now. Their self-titled debut album was released to critical acclaim in 1987, and earned praise from Rolling Stone and contemporary punk rock bands, including Hüsker Dü. The Nils disbanded and reformed on various occasions in the 1990s and early 2000s, until the death of Alex Soria in 2004. In 2010 Carlos Soria reformed the band, and in 2015 The Nils released Shadows and Ghosts, their first album of new material in over 25 years.
Heresy were a hardcore punk band from Nottingham, England, formed in 1985 and active until late 1989. They released three albums and recorded three sessions for John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show.
The first punk rock bands in Canada emerged during the late 1970s, in the wake of the US bands Ramones, The New York Dolls, and Blondie, and the UK band Sex Pistols. The Viletones, the Diodes and the Demics were among the pioneers, together with the Skulls from Vancouver, and Hamilton's Teenage Head, whose records and live shows earned them the nickname "Canada's Ramones". Vibrant local punk scenes sprung up in Toronto and Vancouver and other Canadian cities.
The 222s was a Canadian punk band active from 1978 to 2018. They are among the first original Canadian punk bands and the first to emerge from Montreal. They are best known for their 1979 single I Love Susan.
Alex Soria (1965–2004) was a rock and roll musician and songwriter from Montreal. He was the founding member of the power pop/punk rock groups The Nils (1978–2004) and Chino (1999).
Canadian hardcore punk originated in the early 1980s. It was harder, faster, and heavier than the Canadian punk rock that preceded it. Hardcore punk is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A. may have helped to popularize the term with the title of their 1981 album, Hardcore '81. Hardcore historian Steven Blush said that the term "hardcore" is also a reference to the sense of being "fed up" with the existing punk and new wave music. Blush also states that the term refers to "an extreme: the absolute most Punk." An article in Drowned in Sound argues that 1980s-era "hardcore is the true spirit of punk", because "after all the poseurs and fashionistas fucked off to the next trend of skinny pink ties with New Romantic haircuts, singing wimpy lyrics", the punk scene consisted only of people "completely dedicated to the DIY ethics". One definition of the genre is "a form of exceptionally harsh punk rock."
Psyche Industry Records was the leading alternative, punk and hardcore independent record label in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in the beginning of the 80's. The music label was established in 1984 on Cartier Street by show promoter Dan Webster and Randy Boyd and released mostly records by Montreal bands, but with many exceptions, some artists who appeared on compilations including Porcelain Forehead and Direct Action, as well as most of the artists on It Came from the Pit, and solo releases by Groovy Religion and NoMeansNo.
Jean-Guy "John" Kastner is a Canadian musician and composer born in Beaconsfield, Quebec. He was the singer for Montreal hardcore punk band the Asexuals as well as singer-guitarist for Montreal alternative band Doughboys and alternative band All Systems Go!. He is also the manager and former rhythm guitarist for the band Men Without Hats.
The Angry Samoans is an American punk rock band from the first wave of American punk, formed in August 1978 in Los Angeles, California, by early 1970s rock writer "Metal" Mike Saunders, his sibling lead guitarist Bonze Blayk and Gregg Turner, along with original recruits Todd Homer (bass) and Bill Vockeroth (drums).
Revenge of the Psychotronic Man are an English punk band with hardcore influences based in Manchester and formed in 2004. They are sometimes referred to as Revenge Of..., Revenge, or RPM. The band has had music released in the UK, mainland Europe, and the US, and has toured the UK and Europe extensively. At the start of 2018, the band announced they would be splitting up in December of that year, but would be playing dates for the remainder of the year. Their final gig was at Rebellion in their hometown of Manchester, which sold out four months in advance.
