1970s subcultures
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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History of subcultures and underground cultures in the 1970s.
In the 1970s, the hippie, mod and rocker cultures were in a process of transformation which temporarily took on the name of freaks (openly embracing the image of strangeness and otherliness). A growing awareness of identity politics combined with the legalisation of homosexuality and a huge amount of interest in science fiction and fantasy forms of speculative writing produced the autre with an attitude freak scene.
At some stage, though it's unclear when, some of the hacker/computer nerd subculture took on the derogatory word geek with pride, in the same way the freaks had done. Computer usage was still a very inaccessible secret world to most people in those days but lots of people were interested in computers because of their appearance in science fiction. The dream of one day owning a computer was a popular fantasy amongst science fiction fandom which had grown from a minor subculture in the first half of the 20th century to a quite large contingent by the 1970s, along with horror fandom, comics fandom and fantasy freaks.
Since the freak scene was connected to the revolutionary political ideas of the alternative society, the bands on the freak circuit cultivated an anti-capitalist, communal lifestyle. Freak bands like The Edgar Broughton Band or The Pink Fairies would play at free festivals, spurning more commercial venues. The music/fashion/subculture which the pop industry created as a commercial alternative to the freaks was glam rock. Glam was a continuation of the trendies of the mod culture in the 1960s, appealing to the androgynous trend of the 1970s.
Skinhead culture from the late 1960s continued into the 1970s, and some skinheads became influenced by the punk subculture. These skinheads became associated with the Oi! subculture, and some skinheads became involved with far right politics, creating the Nazi-Skinheads (despite the fact that the original 1960s skinheads were very influenced by black culture).
Disco, which had begun in gay dance clubs, became a really significant centre of subculture from about 1975 onward. However, in some sectors, particularly in the NYC area, where disco had seemingly "taken over" all aspects of youth life from fashion, to behavior, to music, to dance, an aggressive "counter disco" movement was born. In fact, NYC area rock radio stations as WPLJ and WPIX encouraged their listeners to destroy their disco records and embrace rock and roll. The artistic response to this anti-disco sentiment, in conjunction with an anti-hippy dippy movement, was the Punk Rock movement.
Musically and lyrically, punk rock was the intentional antithesis of the repetitive electronic disco music and the dated flower child wails of 1960s and 1970s. NYC Punk rock, as characterized early on by the Ramones or by more obscure bands such as the Day Glo Abortions, rejected both the continuation of the hippy peace-n-free love subculture and the notion of disco's polyester generation. Instead, early punks played aggressive, quick paced three chord riff rock-n-roll songs, singing of happy insanity, nihilism, and violence to small crowds.
Many of the early punks and early punk bands were considered actual lunatics, and incidents of extreme violence against band members and their following occurred, even in the clubs where they had created a community.
When punk was happening, some of the progressive rock elements took it as a challenge to live faster, harder and tougher than punk. They kept the long hair of the freak scene, adopted the black leather jacket as virtually a uniform and took on the name heavy metal (which is a phrase from the writings of William S. Burroughs).
The continuance of hippie ideas of spirituality and mysticism was in the New Age movement, which increased in size and influence.
Mods made a comeback in the 1970s as a post-punk mod revival phenomenon, inspired by rock band The Jam and the British film Quadrophenia.
In 1976, a hit song "Convoy" by C.W. McCall arrived in the pop charts and romanticised the Trucker and CB radio subculture. In 1978, the song inspired a film "Convoy" directed by Sam Peckinpah, and starring Kris Kristofferson, Ali MacGraw, Ernest Borgnine, and Burt Young. The word "convoy" and quotes from the song lyrics became part of a popular cultural image of people standing up for their freedom.
Gradually, from the 1960s, 1970s and through into the 1980s, the cultural influences of the Merry Pranksters, the Freak Scene, the New Age Movement and the Convoy idea seem to have coalesced into what became New age travellers.
In 1979, the Usenet was created as a medium of communication over the, still very primitive, internet of the time. The Usenet and the BBS subculture would become increasingly significant over the next few decades.
Also in 1979, Papa Wemba, a Rumba star in Zaire/Democratic Republic of the Congo, Africa began to be the leader of the Sapeur ('Société Ambianceurs et Persons Élégants' thus 'SAPE' for short), which he promoted as a youth cult. Papa Wemba's music has been influenced by previous stars of Rumba music in Zaire (such as Papa Wendo) and also by his visits to Europe and by the appearance, in 1974, of James Brown at the Rumble in the Jungle.
Wemba said: "The Sapeur cult promoted high standards of personal cleanliness, hygiene and smart dress, to a whole generation of youth across Zaire. When I say well groomed, well shaven, well perfumed, it's a propriety that I am insisting on among the young. I don't care about their education, since education always comes first of all from the family." The Sape was centred around Papa Wemba and Viva La Musica and continued to be a controversial movement in Congolese society for years to come, making a virtual religion of clothes.
See also
- 1900-World War I subcultures
- World War I subcultures
- 1920s and 1930s subcultures
- 1940s subcultures
- 1950s subcultures
- 1960s subcultures
- 1970s subcultures
- 1980s subcultures
- 1990s subcultures
