Anglophilia!
“Do you remember the fifth of November?”
Having exploited Bastille Day 2009 to open a discussion of arcane French rock ‘n’ roll, I thought it only fair that Guy Fawkes Day acknowledge a landmass many of us identify more closely with the genre: the U.K.
From the Beatles to the Pretty Things to Monty Python to the Sex Pistols to the Clash to the Damned to Crass to Siouxie to “Quadrophenia” to everything else that little cluster of islands produced … Our interest in British art and culture seemed especially plangent in contrast with the San Diego landscape in which we grew up.
How did the mores of Albion inform your youth? How did music, style and culture from there inspire you?
Lemons Are Yellow play “Spotted Dick”!
Paul Kaufman on the decline of the British Empire … And our own?
Their empire might have faded before most of us were born, but the sun never sets on British popular culture. What are your fave bits?
Tags: "Quadrophenia, British fashion, Crass, Monty Python, Siouxie, the Beatles, The Clash, the Damned, the Pretty Things, the Sex Pistols, U.K. culture
November 5th, 2009 at 8:42 am
I first visited England in summer 1967, and snippets of that trip comprise my earliest memories. (My parents attended one party with assorted Beatles and Stones … I, alas, was left home along with their hosts’ kids.)
We did come back to the States with a heap o’ British children’s books, and British authors became the staple of my early diet. Syd Barrett’s whole “Wind in the Willows” aesthetic spoke to my own early childhood!
November 5th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
all those groups
Animals Yardbirds Rolling Stones Zombies
had greater respect for Black Music
then the US ever has
November 5th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
Well, my first big anglophilia moment was playing the Sex Pistols on the record player. We’d been to England the previous spring and apparently hadn’t walked the right streets in London because I didn’t see one bit of punk (just teen girls all wearing the same thick-soled black zip-up boots). That record, along with the english punk magazine given with it (to my dad for xmas), was my intro into this crazy world.
After that it was a steady stream of brit bands, thanks mainly to Lou’s Records. They sold the vinyl, the NMEs, the early on-the-street version of I.D…. I was smitten for years, absorbing the range of styles from Crass on rightward.
I’ve gotta give it up to Crass though – so influential politically. Reading the lyrics along with their simple beat – terrific propaganda method. Crass taught me about radical feminism and the punk brand of resistance that matched me more than the old hippie style.
Crass also sent posters to my high school typing teacher so she could fight the military recruiters influence on campus (don’t think she didn’t get called to the office for putting up an image of a charred hand hanging on barbed wire). They replied to our request with a nice note enclosed.
The anti-nuke demos I read about in NME were an inspiration for my participating in a march in balboa park (I still have the homemade red banner).
The street photos from I.D. were fascinating guidebooks to the latest london trends.
The singles rack at Lou’s was the mousehole… “what’s this sound like?” was the daily counter question in Cardiff.
I loved that in San Diego we joined the tribes of punk, mod, and rocker. I had an orange scooter and and tribal mohawk, and would be asked if I was a mod “do I look like a mod?” I’d deadpan back. HAHAHA! (somehow I do not have any photos of me and my scooter, oh well).
Our access to venues was too limited to fight over so we joined forces instead. After all, anyone else who hated The Eagles too couldn’t be all bad. I can’t say I never made fun mods with their rigid rules of style and decorum, but we were friends nonetheless (I did love the early Jam records after all).
November 5th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
>>all those groups
Animals Yardbirds Rolling Stones Zombies
had greater respect for Black Music
then the US ever has
i’d love to see you tell that to a black-man~ as an expert on the subject, of course…and be sure to include that part about being an expert.
the other part of your assessment which is perhaps missing in your equation is that the animals yardbirds zombies and stones forgot to pay that black man while showing so much respect…..
most of those songs would read jaggers/richards…..ya know?
November 5th, 2009 at 5:33 pm
on a less contentious note…there’s nothing like starting one’s morning with the clash’s THIS IS ENGLAND.
someone needs to remix that shit btw…where’d paul simonon’s bass go!?!?
November 5th, 2009 at 6:21 pm
>>i’d love to see you tell that to a black-man~ as an expert on the subject, of course…and be sure to include that part about being an expert.
MCC: Expert on being black? That might be a hard sell! Lou is not black, the last time I checked — you’d have to ask a black guy if Lou can represent the black perspective. (Since there is only one black perspective, right? Thus asking a black man — any black man! — would provide the answer about Lou’s credibility. Not a black woman, though. African ancestry and a penis. Got it.)
Expert on the aesthetics of the blues and whether those British rock bands did it better justice than their U.S. counterparts? That’s subjective, and being black doesn’t give you an edge in matters of personal opinion. I’d count Lou as an expert ear.
Expert on the economics behind British and American rock bands’ use of blues sources? I’m not an economist, but that’s certainly a figure possible to quantify with enough time and patience … The question would be, “Who put more money into the pockets of bluesmen — the British bands or the U.S. bands?” My guess would be that, indeed, the British bands got folks like B.B. King and Howlin’ Wolf more exposure and helped them sell more records and concert tickets. But it’s just a guess.
I googled one little piece of this rather complex topic: “The Rolling Stones manifested their love of American blues in a slightly different fashion, covering songs by Willie Dixon and Muddy Waters on their singles and albums, and insisting that Howlin’ Wolf be their featured guest for their debut appearance on Shindig in America. The sight of the Stones genuflecting before the 6′4″, 250-pound Howlin’ Wolf (making his first appearance on American network television) revealed as much about the group’s origins and tastes as their own records of the era did … ”
Is it fair that the white kids made more money than the black men off the music? Fuck, no. It’s an epic injustice of centuries’ standing.
Let’s go apologize to a black man! That should square things up.
November 5th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
>>I’ve gotta give it up to Crass though – so influential politically. Reading the lyrics along with their simple beat – terrific propaganda method. Crass taught me about radical feminism and the punk brand of resistance that matched me more than the old hippie style.
MRAT: I learned about Crass from you! They were fantastic — the whole agitprop machine they created, the thought behind it.
Remember this?
November 5th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
hmmmm….lou hangs out with one guy who happens to be a black-cat who mostly hung out with white-dudes and therefor can speak for what should be black music as decided by…..a white dude who hangs out with a black-cat who….etc….or?
and yes….let’s pretend we, in any shape or form, were about the crass while flying our cute british flags.
now that’s comic-genius beyond the usual yawn.
November 5th, 2009 at 8:12 pm
a bit like u2 celebrating the fall of the berlin wall while they and mtv build one of their own.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8344776.stm
November 5th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
>>hmmmm….lou hangs out with one guy who happens to be a black-cat who mostly hung out with white-dudes and therefor can speak for what should be black music as decided by…..a white dude who hangs out with a black-cat who….etc….or?
MCC: Yeah, it sounded pretty absurd to me, too. So … What insight were you going to glean from asking your hypothetical black man his opinion? (In a very non-patronizing way, I’m sure.)
Who said they were “about the Crass”? Honestly, I don’t think you can really be “about the Crass” unless you ask a British man if it’s OK. Sheesh!
November 5th, 2009 at 11:12 pm
Read Gunther Schullers “History of Jazz”. Definitive, non-racist account of the beginnings of cultural sharing of music. (not money or fame,… music).
November 6th, 2009 at 12:32 am
i think what’s missed here is this tendency for us whities (or semi-whities> non-blacks to be sure) to suggest we KNOW “black music” or what’s “good black-music” and thus what should be
expected in the future from all who make black music. this on the basis of what 20 to 50 years of blues and jazz accomplished here in america. black music goes back several hundreds if not thousands of years and today’s (2000+) manifestations have absolutely nothing to do with coltrane or willie dixon…..and yet it is unmistakably black.
as a note>this tendency also includes us knowing what’s good politically for our dark-skinned friends and usually it entails some sort of hybrid of malcolm x and the reverend dr. martin luther king….(which i myself even subscribe to) but one who also doesn’t mind apple corp and itt running the communications systems of it’s intra-global infrastructure.
what i think is dangerous is for us to say, with any degree of certainty, that all good black music came from the likes of howlin wolf, robert johnson, & john lee hooker between the years of 1913 and 1959 or 69 or 79 and that page beck and clapton? did more to further the black man’s creative legacy and juices than did americans george clinton, bootsy collins, bobby mcferrin or tupac shakur, x-clan, poor righteous teachers, derrick may……
you just can’t keep him down like that.
i was okay with maragaret’s obviously heartfelt rallying for the crass.
i’m always moved by such sincerity and you know…those who stand up for….the less-privileged…etc.
November 6th, 2009 at 12:51 am
>>and that page beck and clapton? did more to further the black man’s creative legacy and juices than did americans george clinton, bootsy collins, bobby mcferrin or tupac shakur, x-clan, poor righteous teachers, derrick may……
MCC: Yeah, those British kids in the 1960s did not give a lot of recognition to the roster of musicians you list above … Maybe because they all gained recognition in the ’70s and ’80s?
November 6th, 2009 at 1:35 am
now you’ve you put it that way
it puts the zombies’ lyric in a whole new light….
who’s your daddy> oooh is he rich like me….?
….so 90’s ghetto yo.
November 6th, 2009 at 11:16 am
i always enjoyed my early brit bands more when they weren’t confused as to whether they were being white or black.
i mean even by the early 60’s the blues had been done.
it was okay to move forward again.
the kinks and the who immediately come to mind as consistent pioneers.
in the same light, i enjoyed my sd peers much more when they weren’t confused as to whether they were american or british. that always kinda drove me crazy.
November 6th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
>>i always enjoyed my early brit bands more when they weren’t confused as to whether they were being white or black…. in the same light, i enjoyed my sd peers much more when they weren’t confused as to whether they were american or british.
MCC: Authenticity was never a major concern of mine, probably ’cause I was never any good at trying on new personas.
I actually love watching different cultures/subcultures borrow from each other. (Issues of financial gain and historical recognition — whether somebody else’s creative output is being exploited — are stickier wickets!)
I remember talking to Brian Phillips around 1984 about “Louie Louie.” He was pretty appalled at the Kingsmen’s 1963 cover compared with Richard Berry’s much cooler 1955 original. I maintained that the screechy white-guy attack of the Kingsmen was the right aesthetic choice for them. (Likely the only way they were capable of playing it, anyway.)
On the other hand, the fact that Berry sold his portion of publishing and songwriting rights for $750 to the head of Flip Records in 1959 makes me sick to my stomach.
Bringing it back to the UK … A ton of British music owes a debt to its colonial history. It wouldn’t exist in any recognizable form if England hadn’t been a major imperial power and a mover of goods and people (often involuntarily). Was the artistic output worth the historical injustices? Probably not to the people who were oppressed.
November 6th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
nicely put matt.
but as for berry selling his master-stroke for a nauseating $750….
at that time $750 was a lot of money (if you weren’t a junkie).
he probably completed the thing within 2 hours…..perhaps or even hopefully less.
my sense is that music in general is overpriced, overhyped and oversanctified simply because it can be and it’s rarely the artist that sets that price or even agenda.
it’s the publishers and lenders and…yes….the myriad players and denizens who man the front-desk and back-rooms and board-rooms who yearn to be part of this great nirvanic orgiastic dream.
we are savages and what better (safe) way to express that than thru
music….music….music.
i know i got mine.
but yes….back to the cr@ss….god bless them for all their faults and
contradictions and questionable production-mayhem…..
i can’t help but believe they wouldn’t today be writing an entire album dedicated to the ft. hood massacre. the world’s a mess, it’s in my kiss.
this is a very strange article detailing much about the tragic epicenter….the way the army processes it’s
young soldiers as they head to or back from the war-zone….almost as if sitting in a metal chair for 30 seconds before moving onto the next one….on down the line…..before you got to the next line….was a good thing.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/11/06/inside.fort.hood/
i’m so moved obama has ended this endless war.
November 6th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
god save our lion king…..and yes he is a leo.
November 6th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Clay,are you being ironic?These wars seem to be far from over,and I’m not sure he has the power to do anything about it,if in fact that is truly his intention.
November 6th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
none of us will be here in 100 years.
November 6th, 2009 at 7:02 pm
It’s interesting how British music seems to longer be at the forefront of what’s going on in American culture. Up until the 90s, I always took it for granted that a lot of our music came from England… but now it almost seems like that was just a trend that started with the Beatles and ended after the ’80s. Other than Oasis in the ’90s, I think British music has stopped being very important to American kids.
November 6th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
“…how British music seems to no longer be…”
November 6th, 2009 at 8:17 pm
techno killed the brit-pop star.
November 6th, 2009 at 8:19 pm
true….you’d probably find many american kids today having a tough time even identifying a british flag much less naming even 5 of it’s most formative groups.
bobby….do you really have to ask me if i’m being ironic?
i’m still thinking you owe me a beer.
whaddaya say?
November 6th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
whoa all im sayn is respect for black music
and credit for being a source of inspiration to claptons and pages
black identity is a whole other plate of food
where im from
you had to be part of the black, samoan and chicano community and
in the churches is where you see these individals of color speak their peace
mostly in their homes (which i was fortunate to go to) is where these educated black men spoke as true scholars until they returned to the 40 hr factory workweek
to see these men light up cuz i was interested in jazz and blues and their culture was quite an experience
and i keep that tradition going on in the house i live in
playing records inviting folks to play music on the front porch, drinking coffee and frying fish or roasting vegtables
next time you are in town stop on by
im all for racial unity which include black and white
but if you wanna paint me
paint me
white red brown orange gray yellow
November 6th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
now that’s some poetry i can hear….how do i know which porch is yours?
which by the way i got my weekly collared-greens going!
November 6th, 2009 at 10:39 pm
Nicely put Louis!
November 7th, 2009 at 8:18 am
“I heard somebody say once I was way too black
And someone answers she’s not black enough for me…
I bite my tongue and it bites me back
I bought a house and the neighbours moved
…It must be something I have no control of…Oh how cruel to make a girl cry”
-Joan Armatrading
November 7th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
>i’d love to see you tell that to a black-man~
Didn’t she just? Are you assuming no one with African ancestry comes by here?