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Venus in Furs, Streetwalkin' Cheetahs, and other oddities: The Proto-Punks

© Jason C. Reeher

If the post-punk bands were eventually influenced by the DIY spirit of punk, the post-punk sound came almost directly from the "proto-punks" of the late 1960's and early 1970's. These influential bands included the Velvet Underground, the MC5, and the incendiary, Iggy Pop-led Stooges, plus the late 70's experimentation of David Bowie. The sound of proto-punk was a reaction to the hippie movement; the Velvets and the Stooges were esoteric, dark in mood, and decadent and foreboding in style. These groups were the exact opposite of the typically sunny, flower-power hippie bands of the day.

Joy Division - the most critically acclaimed of all post-punk bands - may have been formed after its members took in a Sex Pistols show, but their sound was heavily influenced by the proto-punks. Owing a great debt to Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, and a healthy dose of David Bowie's Berlin period, Joy Division were more like these artists than they were like the Pistols, no matter how influential Johnny Rotten's attitude and look may have been upon the nascent Manchester band.

As for the Velvet Underground, the Andy Warhol - led contingent from New York City was the first real art rock band, and by far the darkest musical group up to that point in rock history. By 1967, their immense influence was heard in e a debut album that sounded nothing like their Summer of Love contemporaries, dealing as it did with issues of crime, drugs, and urban poverty. These subjects would later be expanded upon by post-punks like The Cure, Teardrop Explodes, The Fall, and, of course, Joy Division, who were fond of covering the Velvets' grimy, bought-sex anthem, "Sister Ray" during live shows.

From Michigan, Iggy Pop and the Stooges were a turbo-charged, testosterone-fueled force with which to be reckoned. Anyone who took in the band during their heyday would have little doubt why the Stooges used slogans like "Raw Power" and "Search and Destroy." Led by Pop's ferocious, no-holds barred stage presence, the Stooges were a fantastic live spectacle of primal rock and roll. Pop writhed and jerked bare-chested, cutting himself with broken glass on occasion, while the band played thudding, nihilistic, and fearless behind him. If the Velvets taught future punks what to sing about, the Stooges showed them how to act while on stage.

Also from Michigan, the MC5 were in a league of their own in the early 1970's. Known for their over-the-top adoption of hippie slogans, and the twin guitar attack of Fred "Sonic" Smith and Wayne Kramer, the MC5 (for "Motor City 5") were the least commercial of the post-punk groups. Yet their influence still resonates today, particularly