Punk Performers & Theories Of Ideology ('Punk Mass' 1970 - )

The Ramones are among the many punk groups that wrote songs explicitly referencing some of their favourite science-fiction, fantasy and horror movies. In this sense, they were building on the work of proto-punk bands like Chrome and the Dictators. Towards the end of their recording career, the Ramones fully embraced the world of genre movies with albums like 'Animal Boy' (1986), 'Halfway To Sanity' (1987), 'Brain Drain' (1989) and 'Mondo Bizarro' (1992) which featured songs like 'Freak Of Nature', 'Worm Man', 'Pet Sematary' and 'Zero Zero UFO'.

On the New York scene, Blondie were also dedicated pop culture nuts. At their early live shows, b-movie fans would call out for songs like 'Attack Of The Giant Ants', 'Kung Fu Girls', 'Bermuda Triangle Blues (Flight 45)' and 'Contact In Red Square'.

The Plasmatics were devotees of all forms of "exploitation" cinema. This informed their sound, their look, their lyrics and their stage shows. Bassist Jean Beauvoir worked in various capacities with the Ramones and later co-wrote the horror anthem 'Shocker' which was recorded by hair metal supergroup the Dudes Of Wrath.

"I don't object to the term "exploitation" in any way. That's what they were called, and I accept the word. B-movies, classically, meant the second half of a double-bill of pictures that were made in the '30s to bring the audiences in during the Depression and give them two pictures for the price of one. So, from a technical standpoint, I never made a B-movie in my life. However, today the term "B-movie" is applied to low-budget films, so, on that basis, I guess I did make B-movies."

The Ohio invasion injected fresh streams of pop culture junkiedom into the New York underground's multimedia playground. Hailing from Cleveland, Dead Boys and Pere Ubu were committed genre fans and this was evident in the work of their parent group, Rocket From The Tombs. Pere Ubu would later compose underscores for experimental horror movies including Herk Harvey's 'Carnival Of Souls' (1962) and Roger Corman's 'The Man With The X-Ray Eyes' (1963).

Over in Akron, Devo were in many ways an extension of science-fiction cinema. Gerald Casale and Mark Mothersbaugh both went into film scoring, composing music for films like 'Doctor Detroit' (1983), 'Fright Night' (1985) and 'Slaughterhouse Rock' (1988). Several years on from Circle Jerks portraying a lounge act in Alex Cox's science-fiction sleeper 'Repo Man' (1984), Devo played the mysterious Ministry of Science in 'The Spirit Of '76' (1990).

Devo's fellow Akronite Chrissie Hynde led the Pretenders through the sonic instrumental 'Space Invader' which riffed on sound effects created for the popular arcade game 'Space Invaders' which was launched commercially in 1978.

California had the advantage of being home to Hollywood and this was amply demonstrated by the state's punk music. In Los Angeles, the Skirts were a hardcore horror band led by guitarist Linnea Quigley, one of the horror genre's leading exponents. The Skirts rehearsed next door to the Go-Go's who referenced folklore, fairy tales and mythology within their lyrics, as suggested by the wordplay behind the title of their debut album, 'Beauty And The Beat' (1981).

Oingo Boingo emerged as the musical wing of the street theatre troupe, Mystic Knights Of The Oingo Boingo. Troupe founder Richard Elfman went on to become a horror filmmaker, as did his creative associate Matthew Bright. Band members Steve Bartek, Danny Elfman and Richard Gibbs all went on to compose music for television and cinema.

Hardcore attractions Social Distortion and T.S.O.L. (True Sounds Of Liberty) became purveyors of bouncy deathrock. They were gothic-leaning but fun and unafraid to get political. Contemporaries Adolescents explored science-fiction themes in songs, skate punks Agent Orange displayed their own gothic tendencies and Christian Death slowed things down a bit to produce a murkier form of hardcore gothic sludge.

Over in San Francisco, the Nuns built their ornate spirituals with the aid of authentic gothic machinery and crafted post-apocalyptic soundscapes dripping in nihilistic, sado-masochistic imagery, some of which drew from sacrilegious films condemned by the Catholic Church. They gained a hard-earned reputation as being the San Francisco underground's doom merchants, a band whose pervasive gloom was alleviated only by their musical prowess.

Dead Kennedys were similarly pop culture junkies with a passion for genre cinema. The Kennedys' controversial third album was greeted with intense hostility within sections of America's bible belt; it's called 'Frankenchrist' (1985).

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At times surreal, at others supernatural, Suicide's desperate working-class anthems would take lengthy detours into purgatory, hell and parallel worlds. Lydia Lunch was a dedicated fan. Here in the U K, the Damned, Siouxsie And The Banshees, the Cure, Buzzcocks, Magazine and Joy Division are among the punk bands that employed icy keyboards in the wake of Suicide's work. As the gothic scene became increasingly more electronic, bands experimented in ever-darker guises.

Like their contemporaries in New York and Ohio, Suicide were pop culture fanatics. Their early club anthem 'Ghost Rider', for example, is based on a Marvel comic book. The outfit most commonly credited with coining the phrase "punk music" in relation to their own music were also among the scene's ultimate nerds.

The Cramps are often referred to as the godfathers of psychobilly having influenced a generation of sedentary roots rockers to tune out and punk it up. Their journey was an unusual one, leading to the development of a rock 'n' roll unit that California, Ohio and New York can all lay claim to.

Frontman Lux Interior was from the industrial city of Akron, nicknamed "the rubber capital of the world". Accordingly, his ring attire consisted largely of black leather, latex, polyvinyl chloride and rubber. The Cramps' majestic rhythms allowed Interior to masquerade madness while pleasuring his microphone and gyrating for the audience. He was a skilled painter, photographer and visual artist.

Guitarist and bassist Poison Ivy was a musical stylist and technical virtuoso from San Bernardino, California. Her interest in design prompted her to showcase the shape and arches of her stringed instruments. She exposed the feral qualities they possessed beneath furbished refinement while exploring the deep valleys that connected neck and body. Her heightened sense of dynamics and demonic shudder guitar reflected a base interest in hipsway and booty-shaking.

Guitarist Bryan Gregory was a science-fiction, fantasy and horror fan with a passion for monster movies and creature features. He designed jewelry, clothing and horror costumes at his base in Cleveland, Ohio and was also an active make-up artist. A Catholic, Gregory was also a human rights activist.

Miriam Linna was an instinctive drummer. Linna was also a fanzine writer and a paperback book collector. She's now recognised as being one of America's leading authorities on juvenile delinquent fiction and has a keen interest in "jd" cinema too. When Linna departed, Nick Knox of the Electric Eels took over the drum stool. Knox laid down the mammoth beats that became the foundation of the Cramps' deep psychedelic trance. Knox nailed down every beat with control, economy and authority.

There are rare examples of symbiosis behind the playing of the B-52's that can become positively infectious. They weren't all long for this world but they were all multi-talented, well-seasoned and extremely well-rehearsed. Fred Schneider, Ricky Wilson, Cindy Wilson, Keith Strickland and Kate Pierson powered a beat combo that captured the raw energy of the drive-in and did so through manic episodes of inter-galactic space travel. To see Pierson playing synthesiser melodies with her right hand and bass patterns with her left hand while using her voice as a harmonic instrument, is just about as good as it gets.

The Misfits are generally regarded as the godfathers of the horror punk subgenre. They hail from the hard-nosed, horror-loving state of New Jersey, home to two fifths of the B-52's (the three fifths are from the state of Georgia where the band was established).

In 1999, longtime bassist Jerry Only and the rest of the then-Misfits line-up enjoyed a brief stint in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), one of sports entertainment's leading promotions. They aligned themselves with the wrestler Vampiro. I believe Only competed against Dr. Death in a steel cage match and won. That's a measure of the Misfits who also appeared in the science-fiction drugs drama 'Animal Room' (1995) and George Romero's mystical horror 'Bruiser' (2000) around this time.

In their early punk days, few bands could keep up with the ferocity of the Misfits who gave hardcore bands a run for their money. New Jersey became the de facto capital for horror punk as the Misfits birthed such unholy abominations as Kryst The Conqueror, Rosemary's Babies, Samhain and the Undead.