Creative genius of punk rock explored in library's Sound Opinions program at Metropolis

What is punk music? What led to its creation? And what kind of parallels can we see today? These are just a few of the questions that were explored in the library's Sound Opinions program at Metropolis Performing Arts Centre.

Using a mix of historical perspective, video clips and an audience question-and-answer period, Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot discussed 1977, the year punk music emerged from London and New York, with a crowd of more than 150 music enthusiasts. Punk rock, which has proved influential on everything that's followed, erupted in those two cities out of an uneasy stew of economic inequality, political and racial tensions, budding anger, riots, unrest, and even blackouts and heat waves; and a sense that we all had "no future" - a time, in other words, not unlike today.

Punk is about having an "attitude of defiance" and wearing it proudly, said Kot. The guiding principle was to "take everything negative that's being thrown at us and throw it back at them." Bands like the Ramones, Sex Pistols, New York Dolls, Blondie, the Clash, Talking Heads and Wire epitomized this turbulent time in history. The Sound Opinions hosts discussed how "being punk" meant "you didn't want to be homogenized," and that this sensibility has repeated itself over time, from grunge to alternative to rap and DIY culture; with a subset of artists always seeking to break away from the norm and rebel.

Punk Rock 1997: The Sound of Genius was created for the library in partnership with Metropolis featuring the expertise of Kot, who has worked for the Chicago Tribune since 1990 as a music critic; and DeRogatis, who has worked for the Chicago Sun-Times as a music critic for 15 years and now lectures full-time at Columbia College. Together they brought more than 40 years of experience to this lively conversation examining the idea of particularly "magical" times and places that result in a creative explosion - themes echoed in The Geography of Genius: A Search for the World's Most Creative Places, from Ancient Athens to Silicon Valley, the selected title for this year's One Book, One Village community read.

WBEZ's Sound Opinions broadcasts to more than 120 radio stations across the country and has produced more than 550 episodes. It can be heard in the Chicago market on WBEZ on Fridays and Saturdays. For more information, visit soundopinions.org. For more information on this year's One Book, One Village community read and its related programs, visit ahml.info/onebook.