What’s the word ‘punk’ come to mean 50 years later? It’s been adopted by the very people it sought to unsettle. Chris Sullivan – DJ, club runner, lecturer, former band-leader – arrived in London just as it kicked off and looks back at a time when everything was a challenge, no-one apologised, outsiders linked up and fought for recognition, and pop culture could change overnight. We talk to him here about ‘Punk: the Last Word’ which traces its roots from Socrates to Soho, touching on…

… does ‘punk’ now mean conformity?

… is pop music still allowed to be outrageous?

… Socrates, Rimbaud, Lee Miller, the Warhol superstars: 2,000 years of people who embody the punk philosophy

… how the clothes often precede the music

… the 1975 pre-Pistols world – “people dressing as teddy boys, Marilyn Monroe, Cary Grant, records by Patti Smith, the Velvets, MC5”

… the days when you were attacked for dressing up, in his case by the Newport Rugby team and a guy with a starting handle at a service station

... new punk equivalents emerging in 2025

… how the spirit of punk gave people a drive and identity – Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst, Jonathan Ross, John Galliano

 … “I threw a policeman through a plate-glass window”

Order ‘Punk: the Last Word’ here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/punk/stephen-colegrave/chris-sullivan/9781915841254

Help us to keep The Longest Conversation In Rock going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

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