Was it the sizzle or the steak—the fashions or the music, the images or the sounds—that made a tiny dive bar’s influence expand and persist in such an outsized way, even today? Was the abrupt shift in rock music styles in the late seventies and early eighties merely an idea whose time had come? Or was it, instead, individual, unique creative efforts—by members of the likes of Television, Talking Heads, the Patti Smith Group, and the Ramones—that made all the difference?

[Programming descriptions are generated by participants and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SXSW.]