DOCSLIB.ORG

Exhibition Guide

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Exhibition Guide TRICKING THE IMPOSSIBLE word and type · penny rimbaud and bracketpress exhibition guide IN THE BACKGROUND… AN INTRODUCTION by Christian Brett I first came to Penny’s work through a couple of manuscripts – Or Maybe Crass, saving up my dinner money to Tomorrow and This Crippled Flesh buy Feeding of the Five Thousand – which Pomona didn’t want to be when I was about 10 or 11 years old. involved in. When I first saw This dissertation, Censorship by Omission Twenty years later we would start Crippled Flesh I was so excited. It and the Economics of Truth (C4) working together and a great friend- was like being given the opportunity which Penny suggested publishing as ship has grown from that. to work on a William Burroughs text, a pamphlet. Gee suggested the name but more. So, with my partner Alice, ‘Bracket Press’ after my penchant for Our first meeting came about in 2003 began several years of revisiting and bracketing the folios in my book while I was typesetting books for revising the typesetting while trying designs. And so Bracketpress came publisher Mark Hodkinson at Pomona to get someone to take on the book into being and is also my trading Books. Mark had an idea to create a and publish it properly – John Calder, name. series of lyric books by English bands, Hamish Hamilton and Damien Hirst and asked if I had any ideas. The only being those who showed genuine The first pamphlet we published of one I thought worthwhile would be to interest. In late 2009 we revisited Penny’s work was Freedom is such a do a Crass lyric book – but to present the design and overhauled the core big word [2006]. This essay was it like poetry, elegant rather than the typefaces and got the money originally commissioned by Dazed & line / line / line typewriter style of together to publish the first edition Confused magazine for their their earlier LPs. I drafted up some of 100 copies, which much to our ‘Freedom Issue’ [Vol.2 #39, July 2006]. rough layouts, came up with the surprise sold-out before the books Ironically the piece was pulled at the name for the book Love Songs, the arrived back from the printers. last minute and so Penny gave it to us back cover blurb and the publishing to publish as a pamphlet. Since which date (14th February), and also the Bracketpress as an entity actually we’ve published much of his writing non-chronological running order. came about though Penny and Gee and also carried out some typesetting Sometime later, Penny sent Pomona (Vaucher) reading my degree of his work for other publishers. WHO? Penny Rimbaud was born in 1943. He is a Christian Brett (b.1969) left school at 16. He is Alice Smith (b.1983) graduated with a 1st class writer, poet, philosopher, raconteur, painter, fortunate to be one of the last properly taught BA and MA in Design and Art Direction from musician and activist. He was a member of the typesetters, serving his apprenticeship under Manchester Metropolitan University in 2005. performance art group EXIT and co-founder the tutelage of Messrs. Ashworth and Hall at Since which she has produced illustrations and of the Stonehenge Free Festival. In 1977 he The Composing Room, Manchester. Following designs for books, magazines, brand identities, co-founded with Steve Ignorant, the massively the collapse of the industry with the introduc- music packaging, retail, advertising, instal- influential punk rock collective Crass who tion of desktop publishing, he went on to sell lations and exhibitions. She has a particular disbanded in 1984. He continues to perform guitars and amplifiers for 10 years. Having interest in book illustration and cover design, and record with a diverse variety of musicians, gotten sick of selling dreams to people – he she has produced book covers and illustrated drawn mainly from the avant-garde. He has went back to school, eventually graduating books for Penguin Books, Pan Macmillan. She recently participated in events supported by from Manchester Metropolitan University recently produced a series of illustrations with the British Council in Argentina, Brazil and Interactive Arts, BA (Hons) 1st. It was while curator Judith Clark for The Vulgar: Fashion Mexico. He shares a house with his lifelong studying he met his partner Alice, with whom Redefined exhibition at the Barbican Art artistic partner Gee Vaucher. he later founded Bracketpress. He is a self- Gallery. Alice and has worked as the art director employed typesetter and book designer. for the Idler magazine for the past 10 years. 1 “You can make a small fortune in from a stream of consciousness whilst it’s for something very specific – which publishing as long as you start out reading the manuscripts, and then I usually ask Alice to take, much to with a big one.” – John Calder tend to come together as a mixture her irritation at my lack of tech of collage and mark making, and savviness. There’s nothing more Never a truer word spoken in jest. eventually juxtaposed digitally. irritating to me than people constant- Because Bracketpress as a publishing ly snapping away, whether on a trip entity is entirely self-financed and run Penny’s work is challenging. Visceral. out or a concert or whatever. You’ll on the fumes earned from working for It demands attention and concentra- never look at them again. You’ll never proper publishers, we have never tion. It is not easy. It is provocative look at that stuff once it’s posted it actively sought to publish anything; and confrontational. It is deeply on Facebook or YouTube. Surely, the work we have published is the personal and at the same time deeply memories are enough? result of existing relationships and not political. It is also very beautiful, solicited material. At the heart of moving and occasionally very funny Aside from constant use of note- Bracketpress is the idea of doing (in the same way that Burroughs books, I’ve also kept what I call something I love (typesetting) without and Pinter are…funny). workbooks. The first of these I started the interference of non-creatives around 1997. Up until a few years (accounts managers, marketing I’ve said this many times, that through back they are what you would expect, departments and heads of publish- my day job I’ve had the opportunity but since discovering Blurb.com I’ve ing). I’ve never got around to creating to work with some very interesting been creating one-off books docu- a portfolio of work, but the things individuals and occasionally some menting the more interesting things we’ve published have drawn people brilliant writers; but I would choose I’ve been involved in – they are in to work with us. to work with Penny’s writing over effect an edited archive of material anyone’s, bar none. The generosity that would otherwise remain invisible As a typesetter, when working for of spirit and endless encouragement on an external hard drive. I know, the clients – I see my role as both archi- both Penny and Gee have given us time spent creating these could have tect and bricklayer, and the work I over the years is extraordinary. That been spent producing a portfolio, but carry out is one of constant learning. they continue to grow and move hey ho. I also keep an open workbook Endlessly refining an idea, working forward as artists, creating work that on my machine that runs from January towards that perfect piece of typeset- is as challenging as what they were to December each year which I add ting.* The harmonious balance doing 40 years ago is an inspiration. to as I go along. They include all between black and white. The under- sorts, like the ridiculous email I stated beauty. Unfussy, economic and This exhibition has been laid out in a received on New Year’s Eve inviting elegant. The space between the non-chronological order because, as me to estimate costs for typesetting notes … taking those principals and you’ll see, many of the projects span and letterpress printing a book at applying them to Penny’s work is, I time and overlap in a disorderly an outdoor festival this summer. think where I have the most fun. The fashion. But predominately they contain my work on show here is the playground, own work, stuff which isn’t directly it’s where I get to fuck around and fail connected to any jobbing work, that without fear, and it is where I succeed. A note on archiving… has no purpose other than the doing. What is an archive? The process? The My favourite thing is taking the often Alice says: “Christian’s priority is good stuff? The work that wasn’t mediocre images sent to me by always the interior, the exterior cover compromised in favour of what the clients which I then destroy beyond design he seems to dismiss as committee wanted? The detritus of all recognition in Photoshop to create ‘window dressing’, and often goes design? The physical evidence that beautiful painterly abstract images. with a gut instinct minimal design you existed and all the bad decisions There’s hundreds of these now, repurposed from his private projects. you made. It’s like a diary. Like a without purpose other than they give It’s quite the opposite approach to collection of LPs and CDs, it triggers me great pleasure in making them. how most book designers work.” memories. Opening up the archive to pull out the material relating to Ask me the question and I’ll tell you Alice’s illustrations are usually drawn Penny for this show was strange.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Beginner's Puzzle Book
    CRASS JOURNAL: A record of letters, articles, postings and e-mails, February 2009 – September 2010 concerning Penny, Gee and Allison’s ‘Crassical Collection’. 1 Mark Hodkinson Pete Wright POMONA 22nd March, 2004 Dear Mark, I was sent a copy of your book, ‘Crass - Love Songs’ by Gee recently. Having read your introduction, and the preface by Penny, I felt moved to write to you. Crass was a group functioning on consensus with the occasional veto thrown in for good measure, so I thought you might be interested in a slightly different view of the proceedings. From the nature of your introduction, I’d say that you have a pretty thorough grounding in certain aspects of the band. I’d like to broaden the context. Things were fine when we started gigging, before we had any status or influence. The main discomfort I felt and still feel about what the band promoted, started when I realised that Thatcher’s sordid right-wing laissez-faire was little different from what we were pushing. It was an unpleasant shock. Neither Thatcher nor we considered the damage done. We concentrated on the ‘plus’ side always. To say that everyone can ‘do it’, and counting it a justification when the talented, the motivated, or the plain privileged responded, while ignoring the majority who couldn’t ‘do it’, and those who got damaged trying, is a poor measure of success. Just as Putin has become the new Tzar of Russia, Crass used the well worn paths to success and influence. We had friends, people with whom we worked and cooperated.
    [Show full text]
  • Razorcake Issue #82 As A
    RIP THIS PAGE OUT WHO WE ARE... Razorcake exists because of you. Whether you contributed If you wish to donate through the mail, any content that was printed in this issue, placed an ad, or are a reader: without your involvement, this magazine would not exist. We are a please rip this page out and send it to: community that defi es geographical boundaries or easy answers. Much Razorcake/Gorsky Press, Inc. of what you will fi nd here is open to interpretation, and that’s how we PO Box 42129 like it. Los Angeles, CA 90042 In mainstream culture the bottom line is profi t. In DIY punk the NAME: bottom line is a personal decision. We operate in an economy of favors amongst ethical, life-long enthusiasts. And we’re fucking serious about it. Profi tless and proud. ADDRESS: Th ere’s nothing more laughable than the general public’s perception of punk. Endlessly misrepresented and misunderstood. Exploited and patronized. Let the squares worry about “fi tting in.” We know who we are. Within these pages you’ll fi nd unwavering beliefs rooted in a EMAIL: culture that values growth and exploration over tired predictability. Th ere is a rumbling dissonance reverberating within the inner DONATION walls of our collective skull. Th ank you for contributing to it. AMOUNT: Razorcake/Gorsky Press, Inc., a California not-for-profit corporation, is registered as a charitable organization with the State of California’s COMPUTER STUFF: Secretary of State, and has been granted official tax exempt status (section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code) from the United razorcake.org/donate States IRS.
    [Show full text]
  • The IGNORANT TOUR
    The IGNORANT TOUR Steve Ignorant – Full band performing CRASS songs Once more Steve will go on tour to perform CRASS songs 1977-1984 and Ignorant Classics with his band: Carol Hodge (vocals & keys), Pete Wilson (lead guitar), Pete Rawlinson (bass guitar) and Jay Bagnall (drums). Steve Ignorant is a singer/songwriter and artist. He co-founded the anarcho-punk band CRASS with Penny Rimbaud in 1977. When CRASS finished he played in various bands and is currently performing with his own band Steve Ignorant’s Slice Of Life. After the huge success of performing CRASS songs & Anarcho Classics at The Last Supper Tour in 2010-11 and high profile gigs with Paranoid Visions (Rockfest, Quebec 2016; Rebellion Fest, UK 2017; Japan 2018; Punk Rock Bowling, USA 2018; Montreal ’77, Canada 2018), Steve will once more go on a World Tour. The political and lyrical ideas of CRASS are even more relevant today as they were then and will be performed with the same intensity of those days. All shows will have visuals (where venues have the facilities) and samples. The entire CRASS Catalogue has been remastered and reissued through One Little Indian this April, which has intensified the interest in CRASS and what it stands for. Steve will be starting his Tour in April/May 2020 in the UK & IRELAND and will then take it to the Continent and the rest of the world. Steve Ignorant will be performing CRASS songs 1977-1984 with some Ignorant Classics with his band: Carol Hodge (vocals and keys) & Pete Wilson (Lead guitar) both played at The Last Supper Tour.
    [Show full text]
  • Wavelength (December 1981)
    University of New Orleans ScholarWorks@UNO Wavelength Midlo Center for New Orleans Studies 12-1981 Wavelength (December 1981) Connie Atkinson University of New Orleans Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uno.edu/wavelength Recommended Citation Wavelength (December 1981) 14 https://scholarworks.uno.edu/wavelength/14 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Midlo Center for New Orleans Studies at ScholarWorks@UNO. It has been accepted for inclusion in Wavelength by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UNO. For more information, please contact scholarworks@uno.edu. ML I .~jq Lc. Coli. Easy Christmas Shopping Send a year's worth of New Orleans music. to your friends. Send $10 for each subscription to Wavelength, P.O. Box 15667, New Orleans, LA 10115 ·--------------------------------------------------r-----------------------------------------------------· Name ___ Name Address Address City, State, Zip ___ City, State, Zip ----­ Gift From Gift From ISSUE NO. 14 • DECEMBER 1981 SONYA JBL "I'm not sure, but I'm almost positive, that all music came from New Orleans. " meets West to bring you the Ernie K-Doe, 1979 East best in high-fideUty reproduction. Features What's Old? What's New ..... 12 Vinyl Junkie . ............... 13 Inflation In Music Business ..... 14 Reggae .............. .. ...... 15 New New Orleans Releases ..... 17 Jed Palmer .................. 2 3 A Night At Jed's ............. 25 Mr. Google Eyes . ............. 26 Toots . ..................... 35 AFO ....................... 37 Wavelength Band Guide . ...... 39 Columns Letters ............. ....... .. 7 Top20 ....................... 9 December ................ ... 11 Books ...................... 47 Rare Record ........... ...... 48 Jazz ....... .... ............. 49 Reviews ..................... 51 Classifieds ................... 61 Last Page ................... 62 Cover illustration by Skip Bolen. Publlsller, Patrick Berry. Editor, Connie Atkinson.
    [Show full text]
  • The Direct Action Politics of US Punk Collectives
    DIY Democracy 23 DIY Democracy: The Direct Action Politics of U.S. Punk Collectives Dawson Barrett Somewhere between the distanced slogans and abstract calls to arms, we . discovered through Gilman a way to give our politics some application in our actual lives. Mike K., 924 Gilman Street One of the ideas behind ABC is breaking down the barriers between bands and people and making everyone equal. There is no Us and Them. Chris Boarts-Larson, ABC No Rio Kurt Cobain once told an interviewer, “punk rock should mean freedom.”1 The Nirvana singer was arguing that punk, as an idea, had the potential to tran- scend the boundaries of any particular sound or style, allowing musicians an enormous degree of artistic autonomy. But while punk music has often served as a platform for creative expression and symbolic protest, its libratory potential stems from a more fundamental source. Punk, at its core, is a form of direct action. Instead of petitioning the powerful for inclusion, the punk movement has built its own elaborate network of counter-institutions, including music venues, media, record labels, and distributors. These structures have operated most notably as cultural and economic alternatives to the corporate entertainment industry, and, as such, they should also be understood as sites of resistance to the privatizing 0026-3079/2013/5202-023$2.50/0 American Studies, 52:2 (2013): 23-42 23 24 Dawson Barrett agenda of neo-liberalism. For although certain elements of punk have occasion- ally proven marketable on a large scale, the movement itself has been an intense thirty-year struggle to maintain autonomous cultural spaces.2 When punk emerged in the mid-1970s, it quickly became a subject of in- terest to activists and scholars who saw in it the potential seeds of a new social movement.
    [Show full text]
  • Mythopoesis, Scenes and Performance Fictions: Two Case Studies (Crass and Thee Temple Ov Psychick Youth)
    This is an un-peer reviewed and un-copy edited draft of an article submitted to Parasol. Mythopoesis, Scenes and Performance Fictions: Two Case Studies (Crass and Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth) Simon O’Sullivan, Goldsmiths College, London Days were spent in fumes from the copying machine, from the aerosols and inks of the ‘banner production department’ – bed sheets vanished – banners appeared, from the soldering of audio, video, and lighting leads. The place stank. The garden was strewn with the custom made cabinets of the group’s equipment, the black silk- emulsion paint drying on the hessian surfaces. Everything matched. The band logo shone silver from the bullet-proof Crimpeline of the speaker front. Very neat. Very fetching. Peter Wright (quoted in George Berger, The Story of Crass) One thing was central to TOPY, apart from all the tactics and vivid aspects, and that was that beyond all else we desperately wanted to discover and develop a system of practices that would finally enable us and like minded individuals to consciously change our behaviours, erase our negative loops and become focussed and unencumbered with psychological baggage. Genesis P-Orridge, Thee Psychick Bible In this brief article I want to explore two scenes from the late 1970s/1980s: the groups Crass (1977-84) and Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth (1981-). Both of these ‘performance fictions’ (as I will call them) had a mythopoetic character (they produced – or fictioned – their own world), perhaps most evident in the emphasis on performance and collective participation. They also involved a focus on self- determination, and, with that, presented a challenge to more dominant fictions and consensual reality more generally.1 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Andy Higgins, BA
    Andy Higgins, B.A. (Hons), M.A. (Hons) Music, Politics and Liquid Modernity How Rock-Stars became politicians and why Politicians became Rock-Stars Thesis submitted for the degree of Ph.D. in Politics and International Relations The Department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion University of Lancaster September 2010 Declaration I certify that this thesis is my own work and has not been submitted in substantially the same form for the award of a higher degree elsewhere 1 ProQuest Number: 11003507 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 11003507 Published by ProQuest LLC(2018). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 Abstract As popular music eclipsed Hollywood as the most powerful mode of seduction of Western youth, rock-stars erupted through the counter-culture as potent political figures. Following its sensational arrival, the politics of popular musical culture has however moved from the shared experience of protest movements and picket lines and to an individualised and celebrified consumerist experience. As a consequence what emerged, as a controversial and subversive phenomenon, has been de-fanged and transformed into a mechanism of establishment support.
    [Show full text]
  • “Punk Rock Is My Religion”
    “Punk Rock Is My Religion” An Exploration of Straight Edge punk as a Surrogate of Religion. Francis Elizabeth Stewart 1622049 Submitted in fulfilment of the doctoral dissertation requirements of the School of Language, Culture and Religion at the University of Stirling. 2011 Supervisors: Dr Andrew Hass Dr Alison Jasper 1 Acknowledgements A debt of acknowledgement is owned to a number of individuals and companies within both of the two fields of study – academia and the hardcore punk and Straight Edge scenes. Supervisory acknowledgement: Dr Andrew Hass, Dr Alison Jasper. In addition staff and others who read chapters, pieces of work and papers, and commented, discussed or made suggestions: Dr Timothy Fitzgerald, Dr Michael Marten, Dr Ward Blanton and Dr Janet Wordley. Financial acknowledgement: Dr William Marshall and the SLCR, The Panacea Society, AHRC, BSA and SOCREL. J & C Wordley, I & K Stewart, J & E Stewart. Research acknowledgement: Emily Buningham @ ‘England’s Dreaming’ archive, Liverpool John Moore University. Philip Leach @ Media archive for central England. AHRC funded ‘Using Moving Archives in Academic Research’ course 2008 – 2009. The 924 Gilman Street Project in Berkeley CA. Interview acknowledgement: Lauren Stewart, Chloe Erdmann, Nathan Cohen, Shane Becker, Philip Johnston, Alan Stewart, N8xxx, and xEricx for all your help in finding willing participants and arranging interviews. A huge acknowledgement of gratitude to all who took part in interviews, giving of their time, ideas and self so willingly, it will not be forgotten. Acknowledgement and thanks are also given to Judy and Loanne for their welcome in a new country, providing me with a home and showing me around the Bay Area.
    [Show full text]
  • Transnational Punk: the Growing Push for Global Change Through a Music-Based Subculture Alexander Lalama Claremont Graduate University, Alexander.Lalama@Cgu.Edu
    LUX: A Journal of Transdisciplinary Writing and Research from Claremont Graduate University Volume 3 | Issue 1 Article 9 2013 Transnational Punk: The Growing Push for Global Change Through a Music-Based Subculture Alexander Lalama Claremont Graduate University, alexander.lalama@cgu.edu Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.claremont.edu/lux Part of the Other Arts and Humanities Commons Recommended Citation Lalama, Alexander (2013) "Transnational Punk: The Growing Push for Global Change Through a Music-Based Subculture," LUX: A Journal of Transdisciplinary Writing and Research from Claremont Graduate University: Vol. 3: Iss. 1, Article 9. Available at: http://scholarship.claremont.edu/lux/vol3/iss1/9 Lalama: Transnational Punk Lalama 1 Transnational Punk: The Growing Push for Global Change Through a Music-Based Subculture Alexander Lalama, M.A. Claremont Graduate University School of Arts and Humanities Department of English Abstract Little media attention has been devoted to the burgeoning punk scene that has raised alarm abroad in areas such as Banda Aceh, Indonesia and Moscow, Russia. While the punk subculture has been analyzed in-depth by such notable theorists as Dick Hebdige and Stuart Hall, their work has been limited to examining the rise and apparent decline of the subculture in England, rendering any further investigations into punk as looking back at a nostalgic novelty of post- World War II British milieu. Furthermore, the commodification of punk music and style has relegated punk to the realm of an alternative culture in Britain and locally in the U.S. In these current international incarnations, however, a social space for this alternative culture is threatened by severe punishment including what Indonesian police officials have label “moral rehabilitation” and, in the case of Russian punks, imprisonment.
    [Show full text]
  • Rivolta Dei Politici-Portoghesi
    Giovedì 16 dicembre 2010 n Mattino Sud Salerno 45 Eboli Concerto al Palasele con Dalla e De Gregori: non ci hanno dato i biglietti omaggio Celle di Bulgheria Gas naturale, una rete Rivolta dei politici-portoghesi nei comuni del Cilento I consiglieri comunali Sono 29 i territori sentanti delle amministrazio- interessati al progetto ni comunali coinvolte e na- protestano: ce ne spettavano sce dopo un iter avviato nel cento ma nessuno ce li ha dati 11 sindaco: una conquista dicembre 2006. Interesserà numerosi Comuni della zo- CELLE DI BULGHERIA. Si cele- na, rappresentati da Cristofo- Lucia Gallotta brerà venerdì alla presenza ro Cobucci, sindaco di Celle di esponenti della Regione Bulgheria, comune capofila. EBOU. Niente biglietti omaggio per i po- Campania, della Provincia Tra gli altri, i comuni di Alfa- litici al concerto di Lucio Dalla e France- di Salerno e del sindaco di no, Ascea, Camerota, Canna- sco De Gregori. Negato l'accesso gratui- Celle di Bulgheria, comune longa, Casaletto Spartano, to ai consiglieri comunali, ieri mattina, capofila del progetto, il sì al Casalvelino, Caselle in Pitta- è esplosa una polemica vibrante. A so- progetto che porterà il gas na- li, Castelnuovo Cilento, Cen- stenerla sono stati diversi esponenti del turale nel Cilento. Via libera tola, Futani, Gioì, Ispani, Lau- Pd: «Nella segreteria del sindaco ci han- delle amministrazioni comu- rito, Montano AntÓia, Mori- no detto che i biglietti sono esauriti- af- nali all'opera che la Cilento gerati, Novi Velia, Perito, Pi- ferma Alfonso Cillo, consigliere comu- Reti Gas Sri - società di pro- sciotta, Roccagloriosa, Rofra- nale del Pd- Noi chiediamo il rispetto di getto composta al 60% da no, San Giovanni A Piro, San una convenzione stipulata tra la Multi- Gas Naturai Distribuzione Mauro La Bruca, Sapri, Sessa servizi e la società Anni 60 Produzioni.
    [Show full text]
  • 'The Hippies Now Wear Black' Crass and the Anarcho
    ‘The hippies now wear black’ | Socialist History – The Hippies Now Wear Black | Richard Cross ‘The hippies now wear black’ Crass and the anarcho-punk movement, 1977-1984 ew social historians of Britain in the late 1970s would dismiss the influence that the emergent punk rock movement exerted in the fields of music, fashion and design, art and F aesthetics. Most would accept too that the repercussions and reverberations of punk’s challenge to suffocating norms against which it rebelled so vehemently continue to be felt in the present tense.1 Behind the tabloid preoccupation with the Sex Pistols, a maelstrom of bands, including such acts as The Damned, The Buzzcocks, Slaughter and the Dogs, X-Ray Spex and The Raincoats, together redefined the experience of popular music and its relationship to the cultural mainstream. Bursting into the headlines as the unwelcome gatecrasher of the Silver Jubilee celebrations, punk inspired the misfits and malcontents of a new generation to reject the constraints of an exhausted post-war settlement, and to rail against boredom, alienation, wage-slavery, and social conformity. Yet, in retrospect, the purity of punk’s ‘total rejection’ of ‘straight society’ (if not seen as comprised from the outset) appears fleeting. By the tail-end of 1977, the integrity of punk’s critique seemed to be fast unravelling. What had declared itself to be an uncompromising cultural and musical assault on an ossified status quo, was become increased ensnared in the compromises of ‘incorporation’ and ‘commodification’. Punk bands which had earlier denounced the corporate big- time were signing lucrative deals with major record labels, keen to package and promote their rebellious messages.
    [Show full text]
  • Authenticity, Politics and Post-Punk in Thatcherite Britain
    ‘Better Decide Which Side You’re On’: Authenticity, Politics and Post-Punk in Thatcherite Britain Doctor of Philosophy (Music) 2014 Joseph O’Connell Joseph O’Connell Acknowledgements Acknowledgements I could not have completed this work without the support and encouragement of my supervisor: Dr Sarah Hill. Alongside your valuable insights and academic expertise, you were also supportive and understanding of a range of personal milestones which took place during the project. I would also like to extend my thanks to other members of the School of Music faculty who offered valuable insight during my research: Dr Kenneth Gloag; Dr Amanda Villepastour; and Prof. David Wyn Jones. My completion of this project would have been impossible without the support of my parents: Denise Arkell and John O’Connell. Without your understanding and backing it would have taken another five years to finish (and nobody wanted that). I would also like to thank my daughter Cecilia for her input during the final twelve months of the project. I look forward to making up for the periods of time we were apart while you allowed me to complete this work. Finally, I would like to thank my wife: Anne-Marie. You were with me every step of the way and remained understanding, supportive and caring throughout. We have been through a lot together during the time it took to complete this thesis, and I am looking forward to many years of looking back and laughing about it all. i Joseph O’Connell Contents Table of Contents Introduction 4 I. Theorizing Politics and Popular Music 1.
    [Show full text]