IN HIS BOOK Punk in 50 Pieces, Kevin Dettmar looks at 50 songs that helped reshape music in the late ’70s and early ’80s. We asked him for just three.

Punk: “Gloria” by Patti Smith (1975)
Smith covers a song originally recorded by Van Morrison’s group Them but adds her own lyrics. Her line “Jesus died for somebody’s sins, but not mine” is “extraordinary and defiant.”

New Wave: “Psycho Killer” by Talking Heads (1977)
Singer David Byrne’s “jerky and halting” vocals stand out, and “it has that great bass line, that weird narrative and the French-language break.”

Post-Punk: “Public Image” by Public Image Ltd. (1978)
Former Sex Pistols singer Johnny Rotten (John Lydon) tells off his old manager Malcolm McLaren in a song that ushered in punk’s next chapter. “It’s about ‘I won’t be treated as property,’ and it’s got such a huge riff, it’s glorious.” —Craig Rosen