Hardcore punk is a punk rock subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk scenes in San Francisco and Southern California which arose as a reaction against the still predominant hippie cultural climate of the time. It was also inspired by Washington, D.C., and New York punk rock and early proto-punk. Hardcore punk generally disavows commercialism, the established music industry and "anything similar to the characteristics of mainstream rock" and often addresses social and political topics with "confrontational, politically charged lyrics".
Bad Brains are an American rock band formed in Washington, D.C., in 1976. They are widely regarded as pioneers of hardcore punk, though the band's members have objected to the use of this term to describe their music. They are also an adept reggae band, while later recordings featured elements of other genres like funk, heavy metal, hip hop, and soul. Rolling Stone magazine called them "the mother of all black hard-rock bands", and they have been cited as a seminal influence to numerous other subgenres in addition to hardcore punk, including various subgenres of heavy metal, such as thrash/speed metal, alternative metal, and funk metal. Bad Brains are followers of the Rastafari movement.
Simon John Ritchie, better known by his stage name Sid Vicious, was an English musician, best known as the bassist for the punk rock band Sex Pistols. Despite dying in 1979 at age 21, he remains an icon of the punk subculture; one of his friends noted that he embodied "everything in punk that was dark, decadent and nihilistic."
Models are an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne, Victoria in August 1978. They went into hiatus in 1988, but re-formed in 2000, 2006 and 2008 to perform reunion concerts. The band began regularly performing again from 2010 onwards. "Out of Mind, Out of Sight", their only No. 1 hit, appeared on the Australian singles charts in July 1985. The related album, Out of Mind, Out of Sight, peaked at No. 3 on the Australian albums charts after its release in August. Out of Mind, Out of Sight appeared on the Billboard 200 albums chart, with the single, "Out of Mind, Out of Sight", peaking at No. 37 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. An earlier song from the same album, "Barbados", had peaked at No. 2 on the Australian singles chart.
Catharina "Nina" Hagen is a German singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her theatrical vocals and rise to prominence during the punk and Neue Deutsche Welle movements in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She is known as "The Godmother of German Punk".
Lydia Lunch is an American singer, poet, writer, actress and self-empowerment speaker. Her career began during the 1970s New York City no wave scene as the singer and guitarist of Teenage Jesus and the Jerks.
G.I.S.M. was a Japanese punk metal band formed in Tokyo in 1981. Although the guitar style resembled heavy metal in many aspects, GISM was one of the first Japanese hardcore bands, while at the same time drawing influence from the early industrial/avant-garde music scene—something uncommon in punk bands at that time. The acronym GISM has many different variations; they include: "Guerrilla Incendiary Sabotage Mutineer" (original), "God In the Schizoid Mind", "Grand Imperialism Social Murder", "Genocide Infanticide Suicide Menticide", "Gay Individual Social Mean", "Gothic Incest Sex Machine", "Grubby Incest Stripper Mastitis", "Gravity Impel Slaying Machine", "Get Incinerated Sorrow Mass", "Gore Impromptu Suicide Mine", "Grim Iconic Sadistic Mantra" and "Gnostic Idiosyncrasy Sonic Militant".
Subhumans were a Canadian punk rock band formed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1978.
Jack Grisham is an American rock singer from Southern California. He is the vocalist for the punk rock band T.S.O.L., which emerged from the late 1970s Los Angeles hardcore punk rock scene, along with Black Flag, Circle Jerks and Bad Religion. Grisham has also fronted the bands Vicious Circle, the Joykiller, Tender Fury and Cathedral of Tears. He records with T.S.O.L., the Joykiller and the Manic Low.
Die Skeptiker is a German punk band founded in 1986 in East Berlin. The band is one of the most significant punk bands in East Germany, and belongs to the group of punk bands known as die anderen Bands, along with Sandow, Die Art, Feeling B, Tausend Tonnen Obst, and Die Firma. Although they performed songs critical of the Wall, they were able to gain an official license to perform live shows (Spielerlaubnis) by the East German state by writing intelligent lyrics with criticism between the lines. They were also able to establish themselves in the broader German music scene after German reunification.
The Genitorturers are an American industrial metal band with influences extending into the 1990s hardcore punk and electronic music. They proclaim themselves to be "The World's Sexiest Rock Band".
Guns 'N' Wankers is a punk rock band, formed by ex-members of English punk band Snuff, and English rock band The Wildhearts in the early 1990s. The band consisted of Duncan Redmonds, Pat Walters and Joolz Dean. The three formed the band on the same day Snuff played their farewell gig at the Kilburn National, and Walters was relieved of duty with The Wildhearts. On the off chance, Duncan gave Walters a call, having seen him play in a band called The Milk Monitors a few years before. Walters called his friend Joolz Dean and the line-up was complete.
Vorkriegsjugend, abbreviated VKJ, was an influential Deutschpunk/hardcore punk band from the squatter scene in Berlin-Kreuzberg, West Berlin, Germany. Vorkriegsjugend existed as a band for only three years (1982–85), but is considered to be one of the most notable and influential German punk bands of the period.
Meret Becker is a German actress and singer.
Since the mid-1970s, California has had thriving regional punk rock movements. It primarily consists of bands from the Los Angeles, Orange County, Ventura County, San Diego, San Fernando Valley, San Francisco, Fresno, Bakersfield, Alameda County, Sacramento, Lake Tahoe, Oakland and Berkeley areas.
Duke Decter is an American entertainment producer, former 1980s American hardcore punk guitarist and current producer of the No Uncertain Terms podcast for the non-profit organization U.S. Term Limits.
Jingo de Lunch is a German punk band from Kreuzberg, Berlin. They formed in 1987, releasing five albums before temporary disbanding in 1996.
Nina Hagen Band is the debut studio album by Nina Hagen Band. It first was released only in West Berlin in August 1978 by CBS Records. The following month it was released in the rest of Germany. The album first entered the Official Albums Chart in Germany on 20 November 1978. It was the first release by German singer Nina Hagen after her 1976 expatriation from East Germany. When she arrived in Hamburg, her stepfather and singer-songwriter Wolf Biermann got her in touch with CBS. Hagen traveled to London where she was introduced to music genres such as punk and reggae, and befriended other artists including Ari Up of the band The Slits. After she returned to Germany, she met with musicians Herwig Mitteregger, Bernhard Potschka and Manfred Praeker. Joined by Reinhold Heil, they formed the Nina Hagen Band and in November 1977 signed a record deal with CBS. Nina Hagen Band was produced by the band with additional production by Tom Müller and Ralf Nowy. Most of the songs had been already written by Hagen in East Germany.
Spliff was a Neue Deutsche Welle rock band, active in the 1980s. Three of the members were already playing together in the political rock cabaret Lokomotive Kreuzberg before they were 'adopted' by Nina Hagen when she came to West Germany in 1977. They recorded two albums with her as the Nina Hagen Band before continuing under the name Spliff when Hagen went solo. Their characteristic sound was a mix of electronic music, reggae and punk rock. They recorded "The Spliff Radio Show" in 1980, their only album in English. After parting ways with vocalist Alf Klimek, the remaining members carried on in German sharing vocals between all four of them. Their album 85555 however was released in a limited English edition too. They had major hits on the German singles chart with "Carbonara", "Das Blech" and "Déjà vu". Despite their influential status, the band was short-lived.
Torcuato Zamora, better known as Tico Zamora, is a rock musician, songwriter and record producer.
