Big changes were coming in the 1970s. Rock and roll were looking for new inspirations and Rock music moved away from her roots. A genre that could inspire its fans in a rebellious way was punk.
The punk rock movement followed the call for change, which roared out of various garages in the mid-70s.
Punk music first developed in the UK and quickly made its way across the pond to America. Punk bands like The Ramones, The Clash, and The Sex Pistols gave the many rebellious youths a chance to let loose and experience rock music the way it was initially meant to be shared.
Punk changed the entire musical landscape. The fact is that there is hardly any genre of music that was not changed by punk. Metal, grunge, grindcore or electronica, and big bands like Slayer, Guns N’ Roses, Metallica, Mötley Crüe, or Machine Head were inspired by punk music.
Our playlist of the best punk songs of all time includes over 100 pieces. These songs were chosen for their initial and continuing popularity and their influence and impact on the development of punk.
(You can find a Spotify playlist at the end of the article.)
The most successful punk songs of all time:
Each song is linked to its music video via the title.
| №: | Listen: | Performer: | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | London Calling | The Clash | |
| 2. | Favorite Thing | The Replacements | |
| 3. | Blitzkrieg Bop | Ramones | |
| 4. | Rocket Reducer | MC5 | |
| 5. | Search and Destroy | The Stooges | |
| 6. | Complete Control | The Clash | |
| 7. | Suggestion | Fugazi | |
| 8. | I Wanna Be Your Dog | The Stooges | |
| 9. | Angels With Dirty Faces | Sham 69 | |
| 10. | God Save the Queen | Sex Pistols | |
| 11. | Jocko Homo | Devo | |
| 12. | Anarchy in the UK | Sex Pistols | |
| 13. | On the Run | Eddie and the Hot Rods | |
| 14. | Color Me Impressed | The Replacements | |
| 15. | Where Eagles Dare | Misfits | |
| 16. | If The Kids Are United | Sham 69 | |
| 17. | Free Money | Patti Smith | |
| 18. | Death or Glory | The Clash | |
| 19. | Kick Out the Jams | MC5 | |
| 20. | Personality Crisis | New York Dolls | |
| 21. | Welcome to Paradise | Green Day | |
| 22. | I Wanna Be Sedated | Ramones | |
| 23. | Suspect Device | Stiff Little Fingers | |
| 24. | Oh Bondage, Up Yours! | X-Ray Spex | |
| 25. | Staring At The Rude Boys | The Ruts | |
| 26. | Holiday in Cambodia | Dead Kennedys | |
| 27. | Unity | Operation Ivy | |
| 28. | Blank Generation | Richard Hell and the Voidoids | |
| 29. | Knowledge | Operation Ivy | |
| 30. | In the City | The Jam | |
| 31. | Doesn’t Make it Alright | Stiff Little Fingers | |
| 32. | Pink Turns to Blue | Hüsker Dü | |
| 33. | In My Eyes | Minor Threat | |
| 34. | Waiting Room | Fugazi | |
| 35. | I Against I | Bad Brains | |
| 36. | X Offender | Blondie | |
| 37. | Realities of War | Discharge | |
| 38. | Weekend | The Dictators | |
| 39. | Straight Edge | Minor Threat | |
| 40. | Wardance | Killing Joke | |
| 41. | Pay To Cum | Bad Brains | |
| 42. | Chemical Warefare | Dead Kennedys | |
| 43. | White Riot | The Clash | |
| 44. | Mighty & Superior | Conflict | |
| 45. | Nazi Punks Fuck Off | Dead Kennedys | |
| 46. | No More Heroes | The Stranglers | |
| 47. | Kill The Poor | Dead Kennedys | |
| 48. | Johnny Hit and Run Pauline | X | |
| 49. | American Jesus | Bad Religion | |
| 50. | West Germany | Minutemen | |
| 51. | Smash it Up | The Damned | |
| 52. | Warhead | U.K. Subs | |
| 53. | Big A Little A | Crass | |
| 54. | Motor City is Burning | MC5 | |
| 55. | Generals | Gbh | |
| 56. | Your Generation | Generation X | |
| 57. | Celebrated Summer | Hüsker Dü | |
| 58. | In Your Eyes | Circle Jerks | |
| 59. | You | Bad Religion | |
| 60. | Fuck The System | The Exploited | |
| 61. | Hybrid Moments | Misfits | |
| 62. | Nervous Breakdown | Black Flag | |
| 63. | Story of My Life | Social Distortion | |
| 64. | White Man (at Hammersmith Palais) | The Clash | |
| 65. | Rock ‘n’ Roll High School | Ramones | |
| 66. | Give Me The Cure | Fugazi | |
| 67. | Last Caress | Misfits | |
| 68. | Safe European Home | The Clash | |
| 69. | Banned in D.C. | Bad Brains | |
| 70. | Basket Case | Green Day | |
| 71. | California Über Alles | Dead Kennedys | |
| 72. | Repeater | Fugazi | |
| 73. | The Kids Aren’t Alright | The Offspring | |
| 74. | Orgasm Addict | Buzzcocks | |
| 75. | Lexicon Devil | Germs | |
| 76. | This Aint No Picnic | The Minutemen | |
| 77. | Clampdown | The Clash | |
| 78. | See No Evil | Television | |
| 79. | American Idiot | Green Day | |
| 80. | Unsatisfied | The Replacements | |
| 81. | Roadrunner | The Modern Lovers | |
| 82. | Los Angeles | X | |
| 83. | Longview | Green Day | |
| 84. | Bastards of Young | The Replacements | |
| 85. | Holiday In The Sun | The Sex Pistols | |
| 86. | Land | Patti Smith Group | |
| 87. | Pablo Picasso | The Modern Lovers | |
| 88. | Mommy’s Little Monster | Social Distortion | |
| 89. | Gloria | Patti Smith | |
| 90. | Live Fast Die Young | Circle Jerks | |
| 91. | What Do I Get? | Buzzcocks | |
| 92. | Radio Radio | Elvis Costello | — |
| 93. | I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend | Ramones | |
| 94. | Pull My Strings | Dead Kennedys | |
| 95. | Viet Nam | Minutemen | |
| 96. | So What | Anti-Nowhere League | |
| 97. | Police Truck | Dead Kennedys | |
| 98. | Neat Neat Neat | The Damned | |
| 99. | Ever Fallen in Love | Buzzcocks | |
| 100. | TV Party | Black Flag | |
| 101. | Corona | Minutemen | |
| 102. | Institutionalized | Suicidal Tendencies | |
| 103. | Sonic Reducer | Dead Boys | |
| 104. | Teenage Kicks | The Undertones | |
| 105. | Chinese Rocks | Heartbreakers | |
| 106. | Judy Is a Punk | The Ramones | |
| 107. | New Rose | The Damned | |
| 108. | Rise Above | Black Flag | |
| 109. | Fuck Armageddon… This Is Hell | Bad Religion | |
| 110. | Final Solution | Pere Ubu | |
| 111. | Brain Stew | Green Day | |
| 112. | Psycho killer | Talking Heads | |
| 113. | Forming | Germs | |
| 114. | Alternative Ulster | Stiff Little Fingers |
Punk Spotify playlist:
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