Okay we all know punk music thrived in the 70s with groups like the Sex Pistols , the Ramones and of course the Clash. (I know there were more punk bands from the era but I only know a few) As soon as the 80s started the Clash were getting immensely popular you sort of knew their  music would eventually turn commercial. When 'Rock the Casbah' become a top ten hit some believed it killed punk music. Then again some say the Clash were no longer a punk band by the 80s. Punk bands still existed but it never received the same media attention due to the ascension of Micheal Jackson, Madonna , Heavy Metal, and other New Wave artists from MTV.

  Combat Rock was clearly fashioned for MTV.  Whether or not they sold out I leave to the haggling music geeks.  IOW, dunno...

  I'll take American punk, please...

 

Personally I never classified the "Clash" as punk.
& as for MTV..In Canada we have MUch & like a baby bird is fed ..........
Much/MTV like to REGURGITATE Their "WHAT WE TELL YOU WHATS POPULAR"

great TV for those who can't make up their own minds about The Good , The Bad , & The Ugly!
Tv for the atomoton droids

The Clash kind of reminded me of The Stranglers in the way they morphed from punk to commerciality (if that is what it's called). I think these bands in their hearts knew punk wasn't going to live forever.

I think Bobby's right, all musical styles change and adapt.

As for The Clash they started out as a raw edged punk band and just changed their style to what was more comercially acceptable.

"Punk" was done by '79 at the latest.......
The Clash help legitimize Punk as a genre.
I saw the Clash their first time in America and what you got live
was very, very different than a record. Definitely Punk !
Im not a big 'Rock the Casbah' fan but the Clash will always be
one of the greatest punk bands. My favorite music came from
the '77 - '79 English punk scene !
0i 0i 0i 0i !!!  http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/03/chicken.gif

"Punk" was done by '79 at the latest.......
The Clash help legitimize Punk as a genre.
I saw the Clash their first time in America and what you got live
was very, very different than a record. Definitely Punk !
Im not a big 'Rock the Casbah' fan but the Clash will always be
one of the greatest punk bands. My favorite music came from
the '77 - '79 English punk scene !
0i 0i 0i 0i !!!  http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/03/chicken.gif


I agree that Punk was done by '79 (from what I have read, lol).  And I also agree that the music had to evolve with the time.  If the music of the Clash did not evolve into different genres, they would have died out with the rest of the Punk bands. 

BTW, I am probably the only person who likes Combat Rock.  Yes, it is weird and dark, but I really like it.  :)

At least punk had a more dignified death, unlike the "Disco Sucks" riot - in the early 80s a new musical genre was spun off from it known as post-punk in the form of bands like Echo and the Bunnymen and Siouxsie and the Banshees.

At least punk had a more dignified death, unlike the "Disco Sucks" riot - in the early 80s a new musical genre was spun off from it known as post-punk in the form of bands like Echo and the Bunnymen and Siouxsie and the Banshees.


LOL.  And the "Disco Sucks" era really lasted until the 1990's when people thought the music was fun again.  Disco was really despised in the 80's.  I don't think Punk music was really despised as much.

Good question, I never really thought about that before. I love that song, but I'm not generally that familar with the Clash (beyond a surface level) so I can't really comment on that.

It seems like everything went pop starting around 1982/83, once MTV and the synth sound really caught on. I guess that's what "Rock the Casbah" seems like to me, a lite punk song that alot more people in the mainstream got into.

I don't think true punk would've been big in the 80s regardless, since the mainstream music was very cleancut and slick. It probably didn't have much of an effect either way. Green Day and the Offspring seemed to slowly start bringing it back circa 1994.

Good question, I never really thought about that before. I love that song, but I'm not generally that familar with the Clash (beyond a surface level) so I can't really comment on that.

It seems like everything went pop starting around 1982/83, once MTV and the synth sound really caught on. I guess that's what "Rock the Casbah" seems like to me, a lite punk song that alot more people in the mainstream got into.

I don't think true punk would've been big in the 80s regardless, since the mainstream music was very cleancut and slick. It probably didn't have much of an effect either way. Green Day and the Offspring seemed to slowly start bringing it back circa 1994.


Good points Marty.  Early 80's music was very polished and suave.  Perhaps, in rebellion to the raw punk sound of the 70s.  Green Day and Offspring were great in '94 when they came up.

There was Punk music in the 80s?

:D