(The) punk is dead

So, Malcolm McLaren - the first M 'n' M - is dead. I was surprised that John Lydon could bring himself to bury the hatchet (or the butter knife, perhaps) and join in the tributes to the Sex Pistols' ex-manager. I was even more surprised at the extent of the coverage in newspapers such as The Daily Telegraph, and the respectful tone of the obituaries. Does this mean that punk finally won its war against the establishment, and that we're all the inheritors of punk now? Or does it mean that it lost, was subsumed, and ultimately changed nothing?

To be honest, I haven't a clue. We ran a conference on punk at the university in 2001 (to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sex Pistols' gig at the 100 Club). And although we ripped off the name of the conference, the tag line and the promotional image from the Pistols, we didn't invite anyone associated with the band to speak. The Sex Pistols were a phenomenon, and although they were the public image of punk rock, they were in some ways too big an event to be part of the subculture. We were more interested in how punk changed social practices, structures, and relationships.

Punk remains a major musical movement, of course, even with the recent compromises, bastardisations, and blatant betrayals by those US bands who've claimed its mantle. When the conference page was still up on the university website, it got more traffic than almost any other page. Since it's now gone, I'll insert the poster image and tag line below.

If you can't work out why and how the images above are Pistols rip offs, then go away for a bit and read up on punk. Or watch this excellent documentary, chopped up on youtube.

Could anything like punk happen now, then? I don't just mean a controversial artist. Or the press going into a panic over the effects of gangsta rap, or emo. I mean a cultural movement which is essentially about challenging the ways in which society is organised, not just about getting more money out of the current system. Despite its apparent nihilism (and its kill a hippie attitude), punk was the last gasp of post-60s utopianism. Since then, it's all been a money and fame factory-line.