This is a timeline of punk rock, from its beginnings in the 1960s to the present day. Bands or albums listed either side of 1976 are of diverse genres and are retrospectively called by their genre name that was used during the era of their release.
Proto-punk
1960s
1960 Bands formed The Sonics Songs "Rollin' Rock" by the Tielman Brothers
1961 Bands formed Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs
1962 Bands formed ? and the Mysterians The Standells Songs "The Girl Can't Dance"
1963 Bands formed The Kinks The Iguanas The Rockin' Ramrods Songs "Surfin' Bird" by the Trashmen
1964 Bands formed Amboy Dukes Alice Cooper Los Saicos The Bad Seeds Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band The Fugs The Hangmen The Haunted MC5 The Monks The Mothers of Invention The Pleasure Seekers Los Saicos The Shadows of Knight Them The Troggs The Who The Velvet Underground Songs "You Really Got Me" by the Kinks "All Day and All of the Night" by the Kinks "The Witch" by the Sonics
1965 Bands formed Small Faces Stack Waddy Love The Chocolate Watchband The Seeds Flamin' Groovies The 13th Floor Elevators Evil The Night Walkers Songs "Demolición" by Los Saicos "My Generation" by the Who "The Train Kept A-Rollin' "What A Way To Die" by The Pleasure Seekers "Wooly Bully" by Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs Albums The Who – My Generation The Sonics – Here Are the Sonics The Fugs – The Fugs First Album The Rolling Stones – December's Children
1966 Bands formed John's Children The Deviants The Music Machine The Squires The Moving Sidewalks The Zakary Thaks Blue Cheer Albums The 13th Floor Elevators – The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators Question Mark & the Mysterians – 96 Tears Love – Love The Monks – Black Monk Time The Music Machine – (Turn On) The Music Machine The Fugs – The Fugs Second Album Songs "Bad Girl" "Kill For Peace"
1967 Bands formed T. Rex David Peel & the Lower East Side Band The Stooges The Up Albums The Doors – The Doors The Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground & Nico
1968 Bands formed Edgar Broughton Band The Dogs Can Black Sabbath Albums The Amboy Dukes – Journey to the Center of the Mind Blue Cheer – Vincebus Eruptum The Deviants – Ptooff! and Disposable The Velvet Underground – White Light/White Heat
1969 Bands formed Hawkwind Crushed Butler Albums MC5 – Kick Out the Jams The Stooges – The Stooges Events The Stooges and MC5, widely regarded as seminal leading pioneers of proto-punk, released their debut albums.
1970s
1970 – heavy metal Bands formed Blast Pink Fairies Shagrat Third World War Kilburn and the High Roads The Modern Lovers Suicide Figures of Light Ton Steine Scherben Albums MC5 – Back in the USA The Stooges – Funhouse Black Sabbath – Paranoid
1971
Bands formed New York Dolls Death NEU!
1972 Bands formed Cock Sparrer Electric Eels Neon Boys Swell Maps Sniper The Real Kids Albums NEU! – NEU! Slade – Slayed?
1973 Bands formed The Saints Simply Saucer Television The Punks Zolar X Albums New York Dolls – New York Dolls The Stooges – Raw Power
1974 Bands formed Blondie The Dictators Patti Smith Group Pure Hell Rocket from the Tombs Ramones The Stranglers Tiger Lily (later became Ultravox!) Radio Birdman The 101'ers Albums New York Dolls – Too Much Too Soon Events Television and the Ramones start performing at CBGB.
1975 Bands formed The Adicts Big Balls and the Great White Idiot The Boomtown Rats Cherry Vanilla The Heartbreakers London SS Motörhead Negative Trend The Nuns Pere Ubu The Runaways The Screamers Sex Pistols Sham 69 The Suicide Commandos Talking Heads Teenage Head The Undertones Slaughter & the Dogs The Weirdos Albums Peter Hammill – Nadir's Big Chance The Dictators – Go Girl Crazy! Patti Smith – Horses Disbandments Rocket from the Tombs Events Television demo tape with Brian Eno is passed by Island Records. Richard Hell leaves. Sex Pistols play first gig opening for Bazooka Joe . Bazooka Joe singer Stuart Goddard changes name to Adam Ant, forms Adam and the Ants.
Punk rock
1976 Bands formed Abrasive Wheels The Adverts Alternative TV The Art Attacks The Boys Black Flag Buzzcocks Chelsea The Clash The Cramps Crime The Damned Dead Boys DMZ Eater The Fall The Flowers of Romance Gang of Four Generation X The Jam Johnny Moped London The Lurkers Madness Masters of the Backside The Mekons Métal Urbain Paraf Penetration Pork Dukes The Prefects The Rezillos Richard Hell and the Voidoids Siouxsie and the Banshees Skrewdriver The Slickee Boys The Slits Subway Sect Throbbing Gristle U2 UK Subs Ultravox! The Vibrators VOM Warsaw (later to become Joy Division) Wire X-Ray Spex The Zeros Albums the Ramones – Ramones The Runaways – The Runaways Blondie – Blondie Singles the Ramones – "Blitzkrieg Bop" February The Saints – "(I'm) Stranded" September Sex Pistols – "Anarchy in the U.K." October The Damned – "New Rose" October The Slickee Boys – Hot and Cool Disbandments The 101ers Events the Ramones & Sex Pistols release their first singles, giving birth to true punk rock. the Ramones first non-US appearance supporting Flamin' Groovies. Considered as a galvanizing event for UK punk scene. Sniffin' Glue, Mark Perry's punk fanzine published. Perry soon formed band, Alternative TV. Stiff Records is created in London signing almost exclusively punk and punk-inspired musicians. Sex Pistols, Damned, and the Clash begin Anarchy Tour. Most of the previously booked gigs refuse to let the bands play. Malcolm McLaren organizes the two-day 100 Club Punk Festival in London; performances include: Subway Sect, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Clash, Sex Pistols, Stinky Toys, Vibrators, the Damned, and Buzzcocks. Sex Pistols, members of Bromley Contingent (including Banshees Siouxsie Sioux, Steve Severin) appear live on ITV. Host Bill Grundy hits on Sioux, band unleashes a torrent of curse words. Daily Mirror runs headline "The Filth and the Fury!" A reaction to previous nights live ITV interview with Sex Pistols, Bromley Contingent.
1977 - The Year Punk Broke Bands formed 999 Adam and the Ants Angelic Upstarts Bad Brains Bags Big in Japan Black Randy and the Metrosquad The Blockheads Crass The Cravats Desperate Bicycles The Dickies Discharge Elvis Costello and the Attractions Fear Forgotten Rebels Germs Ebba Grön Illegales Nina Hagen Band KSU The Members Middle Class Misfits The Nipple Erectors The Pagans Pankrti Paraf The Police Mr. Unique and the Leisure Suits Radio Stars The Rich Kids The Ruts The Skids The Snivelling Shits SODS Stiff Little Fingers The Valves Wipers X (Australia) X (United States) Albums The Boomtown Rats – The Boomtown Rats The Boys – The Boys Buzzcocks – Spiral Scratch (EP) The Clash – The Clash (UK) The Damned – Damned Damned Damned The Damned – Music for Pleasure Dead Boys – Young Loud and Snotty The Dictators – Manifest Destiny Eater – The Album Elvis Costello – My Aim Is True Ian Dury and the Blockheads – New Boots and Panties!! The Heartbreakers – L.A.M.F. Richard Hell and the Voidoids – Blank Generation The Jam – In the City The Jam – This Is the Modern World Motörhead – Motörhead Ramones – Leave Home Ramones – Rocket to Russiaj The Saints – (I'm) Stranded Sex Pistols – Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols Skrewdriver – All Skrewed Up The Stranglers – Rattus Norvegicus The Stranglers – No More Heroes The Stranglers – The Stranglers (EP) Stinky Toys – Stinky Toys Suicide – Suicide Talking Heads – Talking Heads: 77 Television – Marquee Moon Throbbing Gristle – The Second Annual Report Ultravox! – Ha!-Ha!-Ha! Wire – Pink Flag Disbandments The Heartbreakers London Events Pioneers of industrial music – Throbbing Gristle and Suicide release their debuts. On 28 October, Sex Pistols' Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols is released by Virgin Records. Despite being banned by most of Britain's record shops, reaches number one on British charts. The Sex Pistols' single "God Save the Queen", released on 27 May, reaches number two on the British charts. Banned by BBC Radio 1, the title is left blank in the chart listings. In June, Sex Pistols rent a boat to traverse down the Thames during Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee anniversary celebration. Police force them to dock, several Pistols fans are arrested and injured in the meleé. Among those arrested are Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren, Vivienne Westwood, artist Jamie Reid, Tracie O'Keefe and Debbie Juvenile (Bromley Contingent). Sex Pistols bassist Glen Matlock is fired from the Sex Pistols and is replaced with Sid Vicious. Matlock forms the Rich Kids. Andy Czezowski opens The Roxy (London) venue in January solely for punk acts. The Clash perform opening night. In February Howard Devoto left Buzzcocks. Guitarist Pete Shelley became the vocalist. The Clash begin their White Riot tour, 1 March in Guilford, supported by the Jam, Buzzcocks, the Slits and Subway Sect. After a dispute the Jam leave the tour in March. The Stranglers embark on a three-month nationwide tour in May. They are supported by the band London. The Boomtown Rats appear on Top of the Pops. The first punk/new wave band to appear. Roxy deejay Don Letts begins filming The Punk Rock Movie, taking London punk scene video footage and editing it into a documentary. In December, Elvis Costello is banned from Saturday Night Live and NBC. The studio pressured Elvis to play his single, "Less Than Zero", he instead performed his anti-media anthem "Radio Radio".
1978 Bands formed Angry Samoans Charged GBH Cardiac Kidz Dead Kennedys Dangerous Rhythm Descendents D.O.A. Fastbacks Fatal Microbes Fol Jazik The Go-Go's Killing Joke Nervous Gender Pekinška Patka Peter and the Test Tube Babies The Plasmatics Public Image Ltd The Reactionaries The Ruts The Scientists T.S.O.L Social Distortion Splodgenessabounds Vice Squad Albums The Avengers – Avengers (EP) The Adverts – Crossing the Red Sea with the Adverts Big in Japan – From Y to Z and Never Again (EP) Blondie – Parallel Lines The Boomtown Rats – A Tonic for the Troops Buzzcocks – Another Music in a Different Kitchen The Clash – Give 'Em Enough Rope The Dickies – The Incredible Shrinking Dickies Crass – The Feeding of the Five Thousand Dead Boys – We Have Come for Your Children Elvis Costello and the Attractions – This Year's Model Forgotten Rebels – Burn the Flag (EP) Generation X – Generation X Germs – Lexicon Devil (EP) GG Allin and the Jabbers – Always Was, Is and Always Shall Be The Jolt – The Jolt London – Animal Games The Lurkers – Fulham Fallout Misfits – Static Age No New York Pere Ubu – The Modern Dance The Police – Outlandos d'Amour Public Image Ltd – Public Image Ramones – Road to Ruin The Rezillos – Can't Stand the Rezillos The Rich Kids – Ghosts of Princes in Towers The Saints – Eternally Yours Sham 69 – Tell Us the Truth Sham 69 – That's Life Siouxsie and the Banshees – The Scream The Suicide Commandos – Make A Record The Stranglers- Black and White Talking Heads – More Songs About Buildings and Food Television – Adventure Throbbing Gristle – D.o.A. The Third And Final Report Various – Live Stiffs Live The Vibrators – Pure Mania Wire – Chairs Missing Wreckless Eric – Wreckless Eric Wreckless Eric – The Wonderful World of Wreckless Eric X-Ray Spex – Germfree Adolescents Disbandments Dead Boys Johnny Moped Sex Pistols The Suicide Commandos Ultravox! Television Events SST Records is established. Black Flag, Greg Ginn (guitarist/founder) creative outlet to release his band's music. Sex Pistols' disastrous January US tour ends. Johnny Rotten walks off stage at Winterland in San Francisco, famously uttering "Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?"