Abouttimothy sasscer Expertise I can answer question on the first generation of punk (1974-1981), both American (especially Cleveland and NYC) and English, post-punk bands of note from 1981 to present ,
and am quite knowledgable on reggae, especially 1971-1981
Experience 25 years as a musician/producer, avid concertgoer and inastiable reader/researcher on the subject
Publications perfect sound forever (online music zine), contributor to various other sites (Bob Marley, The Fall, Public Image, for example)
Question hi!
having a "discussion" with my girlfriend. she's claiming that Green Day started the 'geek chic' thing with wearing shirts and ties, and that the prevalence of this within the Punk Rock community (i.e., kids/fans) is due to Green Day.
i just don't know about that.
what do you think?
Answer Hi, Jerry, Thanks for writing...
Hope this helps fuel the 'discussion'
Fashion is cyclical; things go into and then out of fashion on a regular (almost predictable,as they are often reactions to current trends) cycle.
short answer: In the last three years or so there has been a resurgence (or a 'turning' of the great wheel of rock fashion) back to suits and ties, possibly related to the rise of the Strokes and nostalgia for the 1978-1981 downtown NYC rock scene. Not everyone then wore suits, nor were they the first, but the current trend seems to reference that period primarilly. By that time, there was almost a uniform for "new wave" rockers which included the skinny ties along with the suits (see the Knack, or the original geek punk, Elvis Costello, who modeled his look a bit on the original 'geek rocker', Buddy Holly).
Green Day know a lot about this period of rock, but their fans do not. Also, as Green Day get around and hang out occasionally with the local trendies, they may find it easier to pick up on fashion trends than their fans.
Unfortunately, many punk fans miss the central message of punk: DIY, which means Do It Yourself, and which has always included your own personal fashion statement regardless of what your musical heroes may or may not be waring this year. Green Day presumably have a fair amount of fans who haven't yet got to the point of thinking for themselves when they look in the closet.
long answer: Rock and rollers, especially when appearing on television, in the movies, or at prestigious shows, often wore suits or other 'stage clothes' acceptable to the show business establishment of the times, up to and including the early Beatles. While John Lennon ( and maybe many others) privately chafed at this, it arguably allowed them in doors that their long hair (!?) and beat music might have prohibited them from. It was The Rolling Stones, most famously, who ditched the corny show business trappings, and by the mid-sixties hippie bloom only "squares" wore suits.
True rebels ans true punks do whatever the fuck they want, and not everybody hippied out: Alice Cooper was a hippe-era suit wearer just because it was not cool. Typically, Soul and Blues artists, as well as later funksters retained the suits and show business clothing longer than the rockers did.
Punk fashion pretty much wiped out the hippe threads beginning around the mid 70's, but of course suits were only a fraction of the sartorial explosion; Richard Hell's cut-up art damaged t-shirts, bondage gear, the ubiquitous jeans, t-shirt and leather jacket, etc. all featured prominently then and still do today. (The Sex Pistols, a fashion band if there ever was one, hated flared jeans, which are all the rage now).
In the 80's, super slick suits came back in (Duranx2, Prince,etc) along with spandex if you were in a hair metal band and 3rd world funkiness if you ascribed to the Reggae beat. I'm simplifying a lot, but then grunge took over for a while, and If Mr. Cobain's fashion sense was all the rage, people were also listening to who he was listening to, and he frequently name-checked the no wave/new wave bands of the late 70's.
Coinciding with and even after grunge and Lollapalooza faded, it was back to the future again with the Ecstasy fueled hippies, and then the reaction to that is the current punk/fashion look.
