Cash From Chaos: Selling the New Wave

This presentation aims to analyse the ways in which information relating to the punk subculture and new wave music was disseminated in the United Kingdom between 1976 and 1979 through advertising, branding, popular magazines, graphic design and commercial products. Its particular focus is on the promotion of punk as a new pop trend for consumption by teenagers and young adults in the wider regions of the UK, where direct contact with the high profile and much documented scene in London or Manchester was lim ited. Running counter to the narrow, overly exposed and exhausted history of a small, elite scene in the capital, this body of research seeks to understand how punk was mediated and marketed through journalism, graphic design, branding and advertising, to a national audience of young potential fans. Examples of commercial and promotional material cited include articles, posters and pin - up photographs in teenage magazines such as Oh Boy!, Blue Jeans and Jackie, unofficial and unlicensed commercial products (from badges and clothing to jewellery, ornaments and bubble gum cards), along with the development of a ‘new wave’ visual style suitable for the pop mu sic marketplace