26 Pictures That Show Just How Hardcore ’70s Punk Really Was

"All punk is is attitude. That's what makes it. The attitude." —Joey Ramone

Keystone / Getty Images

June 17, 1977: A fan waits for the Clash to perform in Stockholm.

Ian Dickson / Via commons.wikimedia.org

The Ramones playing at Eric's Club in Liverpool, England, 1977.

Roberta Bayley / Via Evening Standard / Hulton Archive / Getty Images

The Ramones from left: Johnny Ramone, Tommy Ramone, Joey Ramone, and Dee Dee Ramone.

Erica Echenberg / Redferns

The Damned performing at London's The Roxy club in 1977.

Keystone / Getty Images

Paul Hartnett/PYMCA/REX Shutterstock

Keystone Features / Getty Images

Graham Wood / Getty Images

Dec. 8, 1976: Johnny Rotten, Paul Cook, and Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols perform onstage at Leeds Polytechnic, U.K.

Playground: Growing Up in New York Underground/Glitterati Incorporated

Erica Echenberg/Redferns

Wayne County of Wayne County & the Electric Chairs performs in New York City (left). Soo Catwoman poses for a picture at a show (right).

Kerstin Rodgers / Redferns

Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols, his girlfriend Nancy Spungen, and Lemmy from Motorhead pose for a portrait in 1978.

Roberta Bayley / Redferns

In this 1977 picture, Joan Jett of the Runaways, Debbie Harry of Blondie, David Johansen of the New York Dolls, and Joey Ramone of the Ramones pose for a portrait together.

John P. Kelly / Redferns

Jello Biafra, lead singer of the Dead Kennedys, dives into a New York City crowd in 1980 (left). Fans get rowdy at the show (right).

Keystone Features / Getty Images

Sex Pistols fans are seen wearing dog collars and T-shirts customized with safety pins.

Virginia Turbett / Redferns

Michael Ochs Archives

Darby Crash of the Germs performs live at the Starwood Club in Los Angeles, 1980.

Chris Moorhouse / Getty Images

Ebet Roberts / Redferns

The Dead Boys perform live at New York City's CBGB club in 1977.

Ebet Roberts / Redferns

Ari Up of the Slits performs New York's Club 57 in 1980 (left). Pete Shelley, Steve Diggle, and Garth Smith of the Buzzcocks joke before a show (right).

David Ashdown / Getty Images

November 1977: Fee Waybill, singer of the Tubes, sings as his stage persona "Mondo Bondage," his body bound in barbed wire and his head pierced by nails and screws.

Chris Moorhouse / Getty Images

May 1977: Joe Strummer, lead singer of the Clash, exchanges shirts with a fan during a Clash concert at the Rainbow, London.

Chris Moorhouse / Getty Images

A fan shows off at the Rainbow Theatre in London while the Clash performs onstage, 1977.