Punk : 101 (2019)

Made for EPIX , airing March 11th in the US.
Season 1. Episode1.
The story: The punk music movement was born in the late 60s.
There was a lot of short-lived cultural type music that came out of the 60s and died in the 60s, so like before, it was an expectation that punk would fade away as well.
But it didn't...
Not forever anyway.
It was a time for new rules and great liberation.
Iggy Pop was at the birth of punk music.
Coming from Detroit, Michigan and starting out as a blues band drummer.
Inspired by The Kinks and later on , much more so by MC5.
MC5 got word of Iggy's drumming and asked him to join the band.
But Iggy saw himself as something more than a blues drummer.
He formed The Stooges and hit the road for New York.
At that time in New York, there wasn't much money but a lot of crime.
So many of the bands that started there did it as something to do and not something to get rich by.
Punk rock music was a way of freedom. To express ones self without boundaries.
The New York Dolls was a band formed by some kids in high school.
One of the very few clubs where their music could be heard was Max' Kansas City.
There, Wayne/Jayne County was DJ'ing and also performed with his band onstage.
Like The New York Dolls, Wayne/Jayne's stage persona was about pure shock value.
Wayne Jayne County recruited Marky Ramone due to his talent but soon Marky was playing in his own band The Ramones.
Danny Fields was a young guy working for the A&R group of Elecktra Records at the time.
He soon signed and managed Iggy Pop and then The Ramones.
But at the time there were very few places to get their sound out.
Then CBGB's owned by Hilly Kristel opened.
Originally meant to be a county/western club, after Wayne/Jayne County was gigged there the whole thing changed.
Bands didn't have to be good to get on the stage at CBGB's they just had to know how to play.
Then Elecktra Records-signed MC5 albums got banned due to profanity. Elektra had to drop them.
Drugs began bringing the scene down with so many of the bands including MC5 and the New York Dolls, just creating a mess
The fashion shop owner, England's Malcolm McClaren, an old acquaintance of forming member of the New York Dolls offered to help.
After helping and also having a hand in re-inventing the band, in the end, could not save their career.
Punk was at a standstill in the US and even though bands were being signed, no one was noticing or buying albums.
The Ramones were still working and on the rise.
It was off to England where they were loved to boost their career...and it worked.
Stars Penelope Spheeris, Keith Morris, Johnny Rotten, John Holstrom, Vinnie Stigma, Legs McNeil, Iggy Pop, Wayne Kramer, Sylvain Sylvain, Henry Rollins, Jello Biafra, Flea, Joan Jett, Wayne/Jayne County, Danny Fields, Bob Gruen, Marky Ramone, Clem Burke, Penelope Houston, Debbie Harry, Chris Stein, Harley Flanagan
Directed by Jesse James Miller
Rated TVMA
DOCUMENTARY/HISTORY/BIOGRAPHY/MUSIC

"Punk's never been dead."