PIT TALK

history of
harcore
THROWBACK TO THE
BEGINNING OF HARDCORE
Words: Sabrina Shales Photo: Various
Here’s a little history lesson for all you people out
there who want to know where the hell hardcore
came from, because honestly, who doesn’t like a
bit of the ol’ history?
Hardcore originated in late 1970s, where a small part of society
finally said a massive ‘fuck off’ to the generic American life
of boring careers, materialistic objects and shit music. There
was a desire to stand out from the crowd and make music that
was going to leave people wondering what the hell they’d just
listened to.
By 1980, Punk wasn’t really going anywhere and the
industry wasn’t making much of an impact. Hardcore became
the predominant mode of punk rock which brought out a rawer
stripped down form of punk to shake up the industry. Hardcore
bands didn’t care that they weren’t making any money, or that
they weren’t maintaining a ‘real’ career, they lived and breathed
hardcore because it was what they fucking loved to do.
Even though punk rock and
hardcore never really ‘made it’, it
has influenced many sub-genres
to this day. Without Bad Brains,
there would be no Nirvana. Without
Black Flag, we wouldn’t have Red
Hot Chili Peppers. Without Minor
Threat, there would definitely be no
Slipknot, you get my drift.
“Normal people didn’t listen to
Hardcore, and we liked it that way”
Vic Bondi (Articles Of Faith)
To a lot of people, hardcore was much more
than just music, it was a movement. The music
was too honest and brutal to become part of the
mainstream, but it was a gateway for people to
express themselves. Authentic hardcore is an
unstoppable message, where there are no limits to
how rough you make it. Hardcore was, and still is, way more
than just an image; it’s become a massive part of music history
and has influenced some of the most successful bands of the
20th century.
In the early 1980s, members of well-known hardcore bands
started speaking out against the notion that punk rock should
be dark and promote heavy substance abuse. Whilst the
majority of people were making music based around getting
high, some young people were challenging mainstream culture
and looking for someone to say the opposite.
Straight edge was a feeling of ‘I’m not going to make the
same mistakes that other people made’. The term bases
around smart, hostile and sober living, and doesn’t engage in
activities that are harmful to their minds and bodies, such as
drugs, alcohol, and even one night stands.
The 1980s saw bands like The
Who, Fleetwood Mac and Lez Zeppelin all losing
their edge, it was forming a hatred for the mainstream and loathing
the fact that society was still listening to formulaic bands like The
Doors and The Beatles, whilst revolving their lives around flashy
cars, fashion and generic high end bullshit; this is when punk and
hardcore became the portal to the counter culture.
Bands like The Bad Brains and Black Flag were the faces
of rebellion and recklessness. They were rough and ready and
were all authentic madmen. Black Flag started off playing at
parties; they had an intense take on things in South California,
with a political agenda, an animal ferocity and strength for life,
they helped define what punk rock was going to be.
Bad Brains figured out their riffs and had the message
in their music, which made them so iconic in music history.
The Bad Brains were the band that everybody feared to play
with because they knew they would get their heads kicked in.
Being a tight, fitted and committed band, their powerful shows
exhibited an incredible and emotional vibe throughout America.
They were known for technically challenging rhythms, innovative
melodies and core patterns with extreme precision. The intensity
of the music and the soulful, screaming vocals is what made
hardcore so overwhelming in the 80s. They put on shows that
were just frustrated, mind melding basements of frustration, in
Bands like Minor Threat were short lived but had an iconic
DIY ethic for music distribution and promotion. Their song
Straight Edge became the basis of the straight edge movement,
with the realest lyrics ‘But I’ve got better things to do, than sit
around and fuck my head, hang out with the living dead, snort
white shit up my nose, pass out at the shows’, these bands were
for once encouraging teenagers to not do dumb shit, weird that
isn’t it?
40 PIT TALK
other words, fucking mayhem.
PIT TALK 41