In What Ways Did Punk of the 1970s Challenge Existing Notion

Punk did have a unique, distinguishing feature: a refined ability to shock. Anyone observing a group of punks moving through Leicester Square on a Friday night would steer well clear: these guys looked seriously strange. (The female punk presented a paradox: a hint of the feminine beneath the hardened exterior). The mohawks, leathers and safety pins were a radical departure from the glamour rock of the previous decade. When situated beside the staid British working …

…was Johnny Rotten and he quickly died in captivity. Lamenting his capture in a statement at the end of the last Sex Pistols tour, he said "Have you ever felt you've been cheated?". Here he was pondering his own fate rather than those in the audience. Later he would form a band sarcastically named Public Image and wrote the title song which describes a bitter embrace of success seen through the eyes of the punk.