On Andrew Marr the delicious Chrissie Hynde - one of the great voices of the 70s - said Punk started in Britain, definitely not in New York.

I think bands like the Ramones and venues like CeeBeeGeeBees were the birthplace of punk.

Opinions?

Punk as a musical form / genre started in Akron (Devo), Ann Arbour (Stooges), Detroit (MC5) and New York (Television et al.) in the early 70s. Or maybe even in the mid-60s with the bands like The Seeds, 13th Floor Elevator, The Standels.

Punk as a social force (whatever that means) started with the british Bands.

British Punk was finished when the (disappointing) Sex Pistol LP was released in late 77. Then came all the copycats (music/image/ideology), which all looked & sounded the same.

MC5 and Iggy Pop...energy & street lyrics...then musicianship - the Who...The Pretty Things...? McLaren stylised it, gave it a name, made dosh...but punk has always bin there....Elvis..? Gene Vincent? Ramones...updating 60s garage with Beach boys type tunes - brilliant!before them - New York Dolls..?Gimme this anyday above The Feeling, Maroon 5 Linkin Park and all the other lame nonsense!

You have to carefully wind back the clock. Punk was a fashion long before it was a musical genre and the traditional punk look actually came along after punk was established, the early look being old school ties and torn shirts rather than Mohicans and biker jackets.

Punk, and new wave, evolved more from Kilburn and the Highroads and Dr Feelgood than it did from the New York bands. Look no further than Down By the Jetty, released in 1974, the antidote to prog rock and a massive influence on The Clash, The Pistols, The Jam and the Damned.

Huge amount of views on this and quite a few intelligent posts.

My favourite ever punk track?

Richard Hell And The Voidoids - Blank Generation.

what about the New York Dolls? they were around before the British punk scene...

Surely Johnny Reggae was the first punk song!!. Agree about Blank Generation. Wonderful song. Met Richard Hell at Pompey Guildhall back in the seventies. He was a really quiet and likeable man.

So quiet he didn't even sing Blank!

Not that quiet JK.We all expected him to be a foul mouthed beer swilling hellraiser, what we got was a very polite and softly spoken american only on stage was he the former. We provincial punk wannabees in Pompey only knew Blank Generation and the wonderful Love Comes In Spurts which had been on the missnamed "New Wave" compo put out on Mercury in mid 77.It was a good bill with Elvis Costello headlining and the great John Cooper Clarke third on the bill. December 28th 1978.. JCC hasnt changed much in thirty years and was recently passed over once again when the Poet Laureate was announced. A month before this show The Tubes had been banned from Pompey Guildhall. The show was due to take place on Rememberance Sunday and the council thought that not right and banned the show. This they did after their all expenses paid trip to Birmingham to see the band.Typicall councillors. They came back telling us how much they had enjoyed it but we couldnt see it. Ever done any shows in Portsmouth over the course of your career JK? The Birdgage club perhaps?