Jon Savage: How punk bridged the class divide

The best of Voices delivered to your inbox every week - from controversial columns to expert analysis Sign up for our free weekly Voices newsletter for expert opinion and columns Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Today, punk is an acknowledged part of 20th-century cultural history – a youth-cult template, to be sourced and sampled. Unlike the teen music of the early to mid-1970s – nothing wrong with that, by the way – punk was determinedly in the world: dealing in social issues, talking about politics. Punk's momentum reached its peak in June 1977, when the Sex Pistols' ferocious "God Save the Queen" reached the top of the charts – despite a full array of radio/TV bannings and music industry pressure. Punk's furious insistence on praxis and creation – without any thought of building a career or satisfying a focus group – now seems wilfully naive.