Post on 25-May-2015
description
transcript
1
1. Postpunk as empty conceptual category 2. Postpunk as experimental 3. Postpunk as poli8cal 4. Postpunk as independent 2
No clear era
3
“postpunk is a period that has been severely neglected by historians … it’s oBen implied that nothing of real consequence happened between punk rock and grunge, between Never Mind the Bollocks and Nevermind” -‐ Simon Reynolds, 2006: p27-‐8
4
5
Regardless of the fact that No Wave is nominally categorized as "post-‐punk" music (meaning, in this case, only that it could not have occurred before punk), its story begins in the earliest days of the New York New Wave scene before it was designated as anything more (or less) than just plain old "underground" music
6
No clear defini8on
7
Bobby Gillespie, Primal Scream (1982-‐ present) 8
9
Talking Heads – ‘Psycho Killer’ (1979)
The Buggles – ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’ (1979)
10
No wave
11
Dance-‐punk
12
Oi!
13
two-‐tone glam rock synthpop goth rock dark wave shoegaze
C86 indie
14
Pre-‐post-‐punk (aka punk)
15
The Situa8onists John-‐Paul Sartre – Being and Nothingness Guy Debord -‐ Society and the Spectacle Raoul Vaneigem – The Revolu<on of Everyday Life 16
Punk’s hegemonic incorpora8on 17
Punk’s poli8cal dimensions 18
Punk’s legacy = cultural 19
20
Howard Devoto Magazine – ‘The Light Pours Out of Me’ (1978) 21
Appeared on Top Of The Pops Missed out on the Top 40 by one spot (#41) 22
Punk as ‘Year Zero’ Post Punk as ‘Year Zero’? 23
Sex Pistols Manchester’s Lesser Free Trade Hall (June 1976) 24
Manchester’s Lesser Free Trade Hall in June 1976
In aoendance: Morrissey – later formed The Smiths Howard Devoto (Buzzcocks/Magazine) Pete Shelley (Buzzcocks) Peter Hook (Joy Division/New Order) Bernard Summner (Joy Division/New Order) Mark E Smith (The Fall) Tony Wilson (Factory Records)
25
26
Feminist bands
27
The Stranglers, Baoersea Park (1978) 28
‘I was very conscious of the brace. I wasn’t one of the preoy punkeoes. I was rebelling.’
‘Although I could actually sing, I didn’t want to sing—I wanted to be an an8-‐singer’
-‐ Poly Styrene in Sabin, 2002: 195.
Poly Styrene of X-‐Ray Spex (1979) 30
The Slits – ‘Typical Girls’ (1979)
Don't create Don't rebel Have intui8on Can't decide Typical girls get upset to quickly Typical girls can't control themselves Typical girls are so confusing Typical girls -‐ you can always tell Typical girls don't think too clearly Typical girls are all predictable Typical girls try to be Typical girls very well Typical girls are looking for something Typical girls fall under spells Typical girls buy magazines Typical girls feel like hell Typical girls worry about spots, fat, and natural smells S8nky fake smells […]
Can't decide what clothes to wear Typical girls are sensi8ve Typical girls are emo8onal Typical girls are cruel and bewitching But she's a femme fatal […] Who invented the typical girl? Who's bringing out the new improved model? And there's another marke8ng ploy Typical girl gets the typical boy 31
One of the aorac8ons of punk was having an outlet for that poli8cal outrage, that disaffec8on with the status quo which was cemented by the early years of a Conserva8ve Government hos8le to dissent, and a leader, Margaret Thatcher, who took great pride in disassocia8ng herself from ‘shrill feminism’. For women this revolt was present not just in words, but music that deliberately veered away from standard rock ’n’ roll 8me. -‐ Lucy O’Brien in Sabin, 2002: 196
32
Opening with the tongue in cheek "We're So Cool," the Au Pairs' debut record is a stunner, from Lesley Woods' scratchy guitar and declamatory vocals to lead guitarist Paul Foad's briole soloing. This is an uncompromising, defiant record that asks no quarter; gender roles are turned upside down, hetero-‐ and homosexual rela8onships put under a microscope, and theories about sex and sexuality turned inside out. Similarly, the tense poli8cal situa8on in Northern Ireland is harrowingly addressed in "Armagh," which details Tory-‐sanc8oned torture and sexual abuse of wrongly imprisoned Irish women. An unflinching look at the world, Playing with a Different Sex is one of the great, and perhaps forgooen, post-‐punk records. -‐ Dougan, Allmusic.com 2014
33
The Au Pairs – ‘We’re So Cool’ (1981) Playing With A Different Sex
I don't mind if you want to sleep on your own I don't mind if you want to bring somebody home to spend the night I don't mind your casual affairs your one-‐night stands because I know I'm the main man in your life And you know I don't mind if you leave me behind When you go away for a couple of days but you know that I could come too and I wouldn't intrude, wouldn't make any fuss 'cos things are so cool between us Your affec8on is ul8mately mine remember from the start I won't take up all of your 8me I am in your heart Your body But you must admit I'm prepared to share at off-‐peak 8mes
when you think about it because we know that others have and do share mine that you're mine
34
Eurovision Contest (1981) Bucks Fizz – ‘Making Your Mind Up’ 35
Forma8on of hundreds of small record labels Outside of south-‐east Democra8sa8on of popular music Punk labels suspicious of majors Parallel and opposi8onal distribu8on network 36
The rise of the specialist record shop 37
1978: there were 1,750 specialist record shops in Britain 32 % of the 5,500 music outlets.
1981: there were 2,370
38
39
50:50 deals
Factory Records
New Order ‘Blue Monday’
(1983)
42
Thaterism and capitalist desires 43
New Roman8cism à Synthpop à Pop 44
Orange Juice – ‘Rip It Up’ (1983) 45
Summary
• ‘Messy’ conceptual terrain • Innova8on and experimenta8on in musical form and expression
• Diverse range of genres • Birth of ‘indie’
46
Images • Duncan Hull (2006) ... I Love Joy Division! • Mark Hillary (2013) Sex Pistols at Crystal Palace • Eko (2011) no future • Bixentro (2007) Year Zero, Berwick Street • Paul Hudson (2013) Rough Trade West • Paul Hudson (2013) 32/365 -‐ Rough Trade West • Carl Guderian (2010) 1979 October 29 -‐ unknown photographer, Epoque,
London -‐ Poly Styrene of X-‐Ray Spex one of four Women of the Year
47