Kenneth Anger as 'Godfather of Punk Rock':

Anger has been given the lofty title of ‘Godfather of Punk’ (probably because Malcolm Mclaren played one of his favorite films, Scorpio Rising, at the Sex Pistols 1976 show The Screen on the Green) is a bit of an overextension as the origins of punk are well rooted in the New York scene.

The Punk Rock movement didn’t begin with the Sex Pistols or Scorpio Rising’s supposed influence on Vivienne Westwood / Malcolm McLaren’s choice of fashion for their shop Too Fast To Live, Too Young To Die (this shop carried biker wear). The shop was Too Fast Too Live in ’73 (three years before the Sex Pistol’s show at Screen on the Green and about two years before the Sex Pistols had been created); it went through its transformation, becoming Sex in ’74. Sex carried Westwood’s iconic bondage regalia, designs she appropriated from fetish mags and bondage catalogues. The Sex Pistols played their first show November 5, 1975. The opening of Sex preceded the birth of the Sex Pistols.

The origins of punk reach back to the Beats (Burroughs has been referred to as the ‘Grandfather of Punk’) and then to the Warholian 60s touching down with Warhol’s Factory and The Velvet Underground. Iggy Pop, The New York Dolls, Patti Smith and many others among the New York scene can be credited with the birth of Punk Rock. Not Malcolm McLaren’s contrivance.

Malcolm McLaren was an infamous culture vulture; he modeled the Pistols after The New York Dolls (in attitude, not style) and he modeled himself and his punk posse after Andy Warhol and his Factory (guess who played the part of Warhol). McLaren scavenged and devoured the New York subculture regurgitating his version of the Warholian Factory which very much included The Velvet Underground and their ‘Fuck You, We Hate Everything’ attitude.

The Factory had already adopted the leather jackets, black t-shirts, jeans, and speed as their uniform of choice. Leather, collars and chains had already been a part of the look among many of the New York pre-punk and punk bands. And Punks have never looked like bikers. Furthermore, a heavy dose of rebellion is the key ingredient to every sub-cultural movement dating back centuries. Giving Anger credit for rebellion is akin to giving God credit for Creation, a perpetuation of myth.

Anger’s book title Hollywood Babylon may have influenced the Misfits song title ‘Hollywood Babylon’, but none of the aforementioned would put Anger in the position of having influenced the movement itself.