From album covers to the red dirt streets: punk fashion in a small town in the State of São Paulo in early 1980s

Abstract

This article addresses elements of punk rock observed in the small town of Santa Gertrudes/SP in the early 1980s. Based on the argument that the cultural meanings associated with punk rock (both musical and visual) were inspired by rock’n’roll and the visual aesthetics of the 1950s and 1960s, it is argued that, in pre-internet times (when information circulated with greater difficulty and slowness), the album covers of punk records performed a communicational role. While the LPs propagate the punk music itself, the correspondent album covers presented indications of how young punk rockers over the world with access to these materials should dress and make themselves be seen. In this sense, the punk rock album covers are addressed here as a form of material culture and a key factor to identity among the young people of the small town of Santa Gertrudes. In theoretical terms, the article presents analyses and reflections considering (a) the notion of structure of feeling as defined by Raymond Williams, (b) an adaptation of the concept of imagined community developed by Benedict Anderson and (c) material culture as presented by Daniel Miller. Methodologically, a comparative analysis is carried out between LP covers from the period and a photo snapshot obtained during a performance by the local punk band Lixo Atômico, seeking to highlight how the young musicians of that band incorporated key elements of punk fashion into their way of dressing in a small town of São Paulo State in the early 1980s.