“The hippie and punk scenes were not all that different. Most folks think hippie culture and punk culture were diametrically opposed, when in fact, they shared many of the same qualities: anti-establishment, rock and roll as religion, radical fashions, hair style as political statement, a sense of being part of an underground community, shaking up the status quo, guerilla theater. Rock and roll was central to both scenes. Is there really a whole lot of difference between the The Seeds, Mothers Of Invention, The Ramones and The Dictators? Or Television, Love, Patti Smith and The Doors. You can segue from The Music Machine right into The Clash without missing a beat. On the socio-political front, some say the hippies were idealists and the punks were nihilists. Ok, in this area, there are some significant differences between the hippies and punks and it boils down to drugs and spirituality. Hippies were into raising consciousness through spiritual paths and psychedelics and getting back to the land. The punk scene was more about booze, harder drugs, urban living and cynicism. But, the punk scene also had it’s Aquarian side, The Clash, Patti Smith and Dead Kennedys were idealists with visions of a better and more just world. Joe Strummer and Jello were once teenage hippies. Patti has always been a hippie. And even The Ramones had dreamed of a world redeemed by rock and roll. And Joey was a teenage hippie hanging in Greenwich village in the Sixties I’d argue (and I’d be right), that the hippie movement had a more profound and long lasting impact on culture than the punk scene. Both changed rock and roll. But, the hippies changed everything. Some assholes are loathe to admit it it, but hippies pioneered a new consciousness/dialogue that set certain movements into motion: environmentalism, political activism, awareness about what we eat and natural healing, sexual openness, tolerance, new art, new music, computer technology (most of the cats who developed computer technology were acidheads. The 60s changed the way we SEE things. We live in a world that got psychedelicized. You didn’t have to take acid to have been affected by it. Everybody got turned on whether they knew it or not.”
— Marc Campbell
RIP Marc, a true soul of light. Thank you for all the inspiration~
