Did Oi music manage to kill Punk?

[curiosity]

My son listens to some great music, and I always ask "who's this?" Then I usually come up with oh they sound like they are influenced by...The Clash, The Kinks etc. So he sat me down at the limewire, and asked me for some singles I could remember I listened to when I was 15. Honey Bane was one, but it came up as Honey Bane and Crass, I said I didn't like Crass as this was Oi music (he'd never heard of this) I explained that in my recollection Oi came as Punk was fading, he searched for Crass and their song Punk is Dead came up. He asked me was this a purposeful attack by Oi bands? I said I'll find out, so that's what I'm doing, anyone enlighten us? Thanks

[brachiopod]

I certainly wouldn't put Crass in with the Oi bands.

After the 76 punk revolution was "bought up, cleaned up, souped up" by the music industry, the emerging post-punk (not to be confused with New Wave and subsequent punk-influenced movements) tended to be marginalised and split into factions.

It was the emergence of so-called Anarcho-punk and associated / derived splinters. Though Crass were against labelling, they would possibly fit best in this genre.

The Oi ! bands were something different altogether. Proudly Working Class, they entered the world punching, kicking and screaming, took a share of what was left of punk, gave it skin-head-appeal and a right-wing agenda, and revelled in the ensuing chaos.

Crass were vehemently against this promotion of racism and class through punk. Check out the lyrics to "The Greatest Working Class Rip-Off" from Christ - The Album";

"Ain't it just a rip-off? Oi Oi Oi !
What a f--ing rip-off, Oi, Oi, Oi !.....

.....Punk attacked the barriers of colour, class, and creed
But look at how it is right now, do you really think you're freed?
Punk once stood for freedom, not violence, greed, and hate
Punk's got nothing to do with what you're trying to create.
Anarchy, violence, chaos? You mindless f**king jerks.
Can't you see you're talking about the way the system works?"

[cont.]

[brachiopod]

[cont.]

The racist bent to Oi! punk - deliberately staging gigs in areas of cities with high ethnic populations, and the propensity to violence - disillusioned many. Crass once again allude to this in "Rival Tribal Revel Rebel " (again, from 'Christ-The Album');

"Cor blimey guvnor I'm the big 'un,
Cop an eyeful of this muscular arm. Oi !"

Of course, Oi ! were not the only target - Thatcher, nuclear weapons, hypocrisy, Government, Church, war, violence, sexual inequality, corporate capitalism and the consumer society, television...... (I could go on) - were all targets of Crass' sometimes raucus, sometimes melodic, but always thought-provoking and witty musical outpourings.

Oi ! band they were not.

[andy-hughes]

Fantastic answer brachiopod!

I think you'll find that Oi! was more of a media storm in a teacup than anything significant. It was championed by Garry Bushell, the cuddly (!) People newespaper TV reporter who hung out with a lot of these dodgy right-wing types, and wrote about them in Sounds. As is often the case, media coverage can make a minoirty localised fad seem like the next big thing, but thankfully Oi never made any serious inroads into music culture. The apparent lack of bone-headed ugly right-wing racist deaf thugs outside Mr Bushell's immediate social orbit meant it was never really going to catch on.