eavy metal, and many metalheads find punk rock an acceptable musical style. The grunge subculture resulted in large part from the fusion of punk and metal styles in the late 1980s. However, there have long been tensions between the two groups. In particular, metal's mainstream incarnations have proven anathema to punk. Hardcore and grunge developed in part as reactions against metal music popular during the 1980s.
Punks were once known for fighting Teddy Boys and sometimes Greaser/Bikers. Many older British punks also recall Skinheads at shows/gigs firstly beating anybody with long hair, then beating up the punks and then beating up each other. In punk's original heyday, punks faced harassment and even violent attacks, particularly in the U.K., where brawls with Teddy Boys or fans of rockabilly were often reported. In the U.S. punks sometimes faced abuse from rednecks and other right-wing groups such as the Nazi-Skinheads. In Sweden it was raggare that attacked punks.
There was considerable enmity between positive punks and the New Romantics.
Mainstream and popular culture Edit
Nowadays it is relatively acceptable to present oneself as a punk, and doing so is often merely a fashion statement among youth. Bryn Chamberlain writes, "By the mid 1980's the punk became publicly acceptable. The punk became intelligent, artistic and fun. This became the constructed punk: a sterilized figure, a shadow of his mindless adolescent ancestor."  Thus, some maintain that the punk scene has lost the very heart of its former nature as one of explosive creativity, rebellion, anger, and individualism, and that it has become a mere caricature of what once was. Others suggest that little has changed except the popularity of the genre. Disillusioned ex-punks see punk as outdated and obsolescent, especially as mass acceptance means that punk is now even influencing boy bands, albeit in a sanitised form.
Punk has influenced and has been influenced by popular culture in a number of ways. Since the beginning of the subculture, major label record labels, haute couture, and the mass media have attempted to use punk for profit. For the most part, punk has met this cultural appropriation with resistance because of the punk ethic of musical integrity which punks often feel is threatened by profit motivation. Many members of the original punk subculture, as well as some of the modern adherents, find the commercialization of punk disillusioning. They argue that punk is by definition unpopular (seeing "pop punk" as a contradiction in terms) and should remain that way because it provides a needed challenge to mainstream culture.
- Gehman, Pleasant (1993). In D.I.Y.: We're Desperate: The L.A. Scene (1976-79). (pp. 1) [CD liner notes]. Los Angeles: Rhino Records, Inc. ddd
- Swanepoel, Tara. Punk Subculture: Analysis of a Subculture Group: Punk. Retrieved June 28, 2006.
- Donny the Punk. "A Punk Primer". Retrieved July 2, 2006.
- Chamberlain, Bryn (1996). "The Quintessential Punk". Retrieved July 2, 2006.
- Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991 by Michael Azerrad
- Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung by Lester Bangs, ISBN 0679720456
- American Hardcore: A Tribal History by Steven Blush
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- A Punk Manifesto by Greg Graffin, Bad Times, 12/98
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- Subculture: The Meaning of Style D. Hebdige, ISBN 0415039495
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- From the Velvets to the Voidoids: The Birth of American Punk Rock by Clinton Heylin
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