December 1985 Marxism Today 41

BEATING THE DEFEAT Andrew Goodwin

Where rock's 'heroes' are easily recognised in David Bowie's song about lovers 'by The Wall,' here they are to be found on picket lines and in soup kitchens. The title track, from Lindisfarne's Alan Hull, typi­ fies the LP: 'With head held high and proud Stand up and sing it loud No tinpot tyrant No self-made giant Nothing's gonna stop us now ' Like a lot of the miners' records the words here smack just a little of a blind bravado The televisual philanthropy that was Live that didn't always serve us well. But Flamin' Nerve's feminist collection Aid inevitably dominated pop's headlines somehow it does work - partly because the Here We Go (£3.50 from WAPC, NUM, St in 1985. But while London and Phi­ worthy 'folk' sounds we usually associate James House, Vicar Lane, Sheffield) ladelphia echoed to the singularly in­ with lyrics like that have been replaced by actually sets out to disparage pop; quoting appropriate Beatle-tudes of All You Need strident, punchy rock music. Heroes sarcastically from pop lyrics and confront­ Is Love and Let It Be, another side of pop's sounds like Bruce Springsteen in one of his ing the dilemmas thus: political conscience was exercising itself less ambiguous moments. Quite different 'I love to sing some good old elsewhere, in hundreds of benefit gigs and from any attempt at 'political' pop I've Buddy Holly records for the miners. ever heard, it opens up a recognition that It's hard being a right-on woman The strike was remarkable for the sheer modern pop is now as much a part of the Singing right-on songs quantity of writing, songs, plays, photo­ culture of working people as brass bands, It's absolutely blissful being wrong'. graphs and videos that poured forth on clogs and trade union banners. Quite. And isn't that just the problem of so behalf of the miners. But it was more A good proportion of Heroes expresses much left music, which seems to delight in remarkable still that so much of this came this theme of the dignity of struggle. a kind of dull worthiness that has so little from such unexpected quarters. The pop Tireless benefit bopper offers a popular appeal? Leon Rosselson's delight­ music industry isn't exactly known for the country song, Power In A Union, accom­ ful Don't Get Married Girls is here, along depth of its political commitment, still less panied by The Patersons. And The Flying with a new Mai Finch song which became a for its fondness towards the labour move­ Pickets (whose name, ironically, now con­ benefit classic - Here We Go (For The ment. And yet some of the best pop of 1984 jures up the image of a pop group) contri­ Women Of The Working Class). But after and 1985 spilled out of the coal strike. bute on the dignity of female labour - fourteen songs attacking advertising, The results were often startling; no Monika Engineer. Better still, in my view, Thatcher, marriage, nuclear weapons, un­ more so than when a group of radical than the heroic songs were the sad ones employment and 'The System' I had to percussionists from Deptford went on tour (Eve Bland's Garden Of Eden) and the assent when they came clean on Right On with the South Wales Striking Miners' funny ones (Mike Elliot's PC 1150). Woman - 'There's a little bit of me that Choir. Bruce Springsteen donated 'Pop' is absent on Which Side Are You needs some light relief. thousands of pounds to the miners' sup­ On? (£5 from Which Side Records, 23, Where Here We Go keeps its music port groups during his British tour this Brighton Grove, Newcastle Upon Tyne). 'pure', Heroes acknowledges a new dimen­ summer. Even Wham! did a gig for the But fans of trad jazz, blues and folk will sion to cultural struggle that is especially miners - although they did spoil their bid find plenty here, alongside the standards apt in 1985 - the possibility that the for street credibility by slagging off Arthur of the Left - The Internationale, Bandiera modernity of pop can articulate 'tradition­ Scargill afterwards. Rossa, Brecht's Resolution and a delightful al' sentiments. Political pop hasn't had Three releases this year, organised by choral arrangement of The Red Flag. much of a track record here. Punk, for miners' support groups, encapsulate the Again, I liked the funny songs best of all: instance, ran into two problems. First, you problems and possibilities of 'political' Ed Pickford's wonderful Crumpled Mac couldn't make out the words. And, music that the strike raised so starkly. The and Mike Elliot (this time with The Miners' second, when you could it was usually an best of these does so in a rather new way: Friend) delivering the most rib-splitting art school graduate complaining about Heroes (£5 from Consett Music Projects, version of The Laughing Policeman ever 'boredom'. But punk's critics got it wrong: Old Miners Hall, Delves Lane, Consett, performed. I was sorry to see no sign of neither of these problems is an effect of the Co Durham) attempts to fuse left politics, contemporary pop here, but the LP has a commercialisation of pop or its construc­ contemporary pop and traditional music. lightness of touch that sees it through. tion around a 'formula'. More recently 42 December 1985 Marxism Today

political pop - some of it for the miners - interviews with miners. • • has overcome some of punk's limitations No review of miners' records would be University of Essex by borrowing traditional forms, creating complete without a comment on the only GRADUATE STUDIES new ones, and experimenting with some record in the history of pop to feature a IN SOCIOLOGY astonishing fusions. lead 'vocal' from the president of the The Department of Sociology at the Univer­ Billy Bragg's EP Between The Wars (Go! National Union of Mineworkers - Strike sity of Essex has one of the largest and most Discs) exemplified his unique mix of punk by The Enemy Within (Rough Trade). varied postgraduate programmes of any UK and folk. He obviously hasn't read Leon The music is from producer/percussionist university. Applications for the 1986/87 Rosselson's diatribes against pop, because Keith Le Blanc, who earlier made the academic year are now being considered. he includes alongside his own songs a superb No Sell Out, using the speeches of There is a wide range of opportunities for postgraduate study in sociology, social glorious version of Rosselson's The World Malcolm X. Here he juxtaposes cut-up history and social policy including facilities Turned Upside Down. Avant-garde percus­ speeches from 'King' Arthur with a radic­ for supervised research for M.Phil and Ph.D. sionists Test Department embarked on a al, fractured dance beat. It looks ridiculous degrees. fusion even more daring by going on tour in print, but it sounds wonderful. A number of specialist MA (one year) with the South Wales Striking Miners' Records like Heroes, Between The Wars, schemes are also available. These include Choir and making a record of their per­ courses in general sociology, the sociology Shoulder To Shoulder and Strike are saying of development, social history, gender divi­ formances together, Shoulder To Shoulder something very important, it seems to me, sions, the sociology of Latin America, social (Some Bizarre). The modern and the tradi­ about the possibilities for left pop. Social­ and economic development and social ser­ tional observe a pretty strict division of ist responses to pop haven't generally been vice planning. musical labour, unfortunately, and noted for their deep appreciation of the Potential applicants are invited to attend a attempts to actually fuse the two musics form. We've had Stalinist instructions to Graduate Open Day to be held early in 1986, are fleeting. But on the track Comrades at which members of the Department will produce the 'correct' line, easy dismissals provide more detailed information about there is an interesting stab at mixing the of everything commercial and the accusa­ current teaching and research activities as two which left me hungry for more. tion that pop is based on 'formula' - the well as individual advice. A more satisfying release from the latter an attribute that pop shares with For further details please write (stating avant-garde wing was the excellent 12" almost every kind of music ever made. general area of interest if possible) to: Dr single The Last Nightingale (Recom­ More recently there has emerged a new Michael Harloe, Director of Graduate Stud­ position based on a growing awareness of ies, Department of Sociology, University of mended Records), featuring Robert Essex, Colchester C04 3SQ, Essex, UK. Wyatt, Adrian Mitchell and Henry Cow. the popular nature of music and style. On one side Mitchell performs two typical­ Now all sorts of people want to ride the pop • • ly funny/sad poems which sit surprisingly bandwagon - the GLC, Neil Kinnock, well alongside the musical strangeness that Charles and Di . . . even Lord Gowrie is Henry Cow. On the other Chris Cutler reckons you're a 'snob' if you can't has written two songs for the strike, sung appreciate pop! A new left orthodoxy is by Robert Wyatt with his usual weedy emerging which simply inverts the anti- pathos. In The Dark Year said more to me pop line. And so there is a trendy dismissal than a hundred speeches: of the folkies and their boring, bearded, leather-patched bohemianism. 'A country dies For Power has learned But developments in pop in 1985 (in­ The more it takes cluding some of the miners' music) illus­ The more the mass moves back trate the foolishness of this position. Pop To give it space.' has been looking for 'authentic' roots, A contribution (of sorts) was pro­ moving back towards guitars and songs, vided by when he organised away from the hi-tech world of synthesis­ into The Council Col­ ers and sequencers. Much of this is far lective for Soul Deep (Polydor), featuring from 'progressive' and the rediscovery of , Junior Giscombe and 'rock' remains the biggest non-event since Leonardo Chignoli of Animal Nightlife. the last mod revival. But the return to As a slab of dance music it's not at all bad, ethnic and traditional musics was far more but there are some awkward lyrical mo­ interesting and significant. Some of the ments which exemplify the problems of most popular sounds of 1985 were tradi­ putting politics to music. 'Where is the tional Irish (The Pogues), African (Tho­ backing/From the TUC?' sounds - in the mas Mapfumo, Hugh Masekela) and His­ context of a disco record - a little more panic (Los Lobos) music. It would be a than faintly absurd. For a record with such sweet irony if the Left chose this moment an upfront message the sleeve notes are to abandon the traditional for the modern. curiously, if typically, naive. Picket-line The miners' benefit records demonstrate violence is condemned, but there is not a that it is both possible and desirable to mix word about violent policing. Still, the 12" urban and rural, documentary and fan­ version must be the only dance record in tasy, traditional and modern, in exciting history with a 'B' side consisting entirely of ways which defy the pop/folk debate.