Only the BBC would dream of digging up a graveyard full of corpses who were punks in 1977 when we were celebrating the Queen’s Silver Jubilee.
“I was against the Silver Jubilee, against the symbolism and the money being spent on the festivities. My friends and I thought the royals could afford to pay for the party themselves.”
Thus one Louise Bolotin, a 50 year old “writer”, reminiscing about those glory days. A real rebel was Louise..to show her rage against the machine she wore her “Stuff The Jubilee” badge ALL DAY…tell that to the Solidarity members who were being imprisoned in Communist Poland or the Cuban dissidents being tortured by Castro’s secret police. Louise showed true defiance and, what’s more, she feels the same today.
The Beeb revived other corpses to find the same sentiment and then proceeded to inform us of the historical/sociological significance of punk
Her attitude typifies those following the punk movement at that time. Although the nation had been encouraged to have a party in honour of the Queen, not everyone wanted to come.
The rising popularity of the punks provided a snarling, spitting, sometimes swearing outlet for some of the angry youths disillusioned with 1970s Britain – a time of strikes, economic hard times and high unemployment
What a load of pretentious colour supplement drivel. It wasn’t a movement, you moron, just a fashion trend like the Teds, hippies, mods, skinheads, Goths and thousands of others. There was no political dimension, just, like me in my Teddy Boy drainpipes in the 50s, a wish to irritate my elders by wearing something that made me stand out from the crowd and to make me seem intimidating (think hoodies)…the badge of youth in every generation.
However a tiny group of student/arty types muscled in on the trend and created a style industry and bigged it up to get some PR traction and, of course, with sound capitalist motives, to make some money selling music and fashion. These, like latter day Jacobites, are sad dinosaurs still dining out on the “movement” . Most of the punks, however, like the Teds and Goths and Mods grew up and became adults with families and proper jobs.
As for the BBC’s political point, as a teacher in South London during the 70’s, I remember that the punks tended to be the spotty, insecure loners on the fringe of school social life who found out of school solace in belonging to their outlandish tribe. In full punk gear they looked violent and terrifying but they were plaster board warriors who were essentially the embodiment of Urban Wimpdom.
So why did the Beeb even bother to visit this particular cemetery? The clue is in the description of 1970s Britain.. “a time of strikes, economic hard times and high unemployment”…it’s the BBC narrative about Cameron’s Britain and they are constantly searching for signs of disaffected youth. They thought they found it in the 2011 rioters but had to pull back when the public supported belated tough police action and harsh sentences. So, at the moment, they need to go back in time…except they forget to mention that punk erupted under a Labour government and the black fog of despair that generated the punks was dispelled in 1979 with the arrival of the BBC’s nemesis..
Only the BBC could trawl a few dozen people who claimed some experience of the punk era….and find only unreconstructed Republicans and lefties.
Guess the clues are in the “what are they doing now” descriptions…teacher, social worker, activist, writer and arts community facilitator…that kind of thing.
Basically Lefties from the public sector strikes who got a BBC microphone and cam corder.
I was there-and these Ricks and Wolfies were as thick and deluded then as they are now…the rest of us can learn from the likes of Lydon, who marches to his own independent drum…and therefore the REAL spirit of punk.
As opposed to the public sector sheep still reading the Guardian and sniffing at the Jubilee-yet happy to take the day off in an ironical way!
Err I suggest if she is only 50 then she wasn’t a punk. As someone rapidly approaching 52 who was a punk and still f9ollows the ethos of not taking the crap..look where it got me. I would imagine this is made up history time,as seen on the 70s series, Whenever the BBc does a review of a period of recent histoiry check the dates of birth of the contributors, it can be enlightening.
At least the music was good, although the fashions were stupid. The 50 year old might have been a punk slightly later than you, Dave.
I never believed in joining this herd or any other myself although as I said I did enjoy the music, I also enjoyed lots of other music too.
The music was good? I think that’s a case of nostalgia displacement syndrome. If you play those tracks on modern equipment you can hear the session musicians – it was different not good!
You are right about 50 being not too old to be a punk. In ’77 they’d be 15, just the right age for the great rock n roll swindle that was punk.
More of a prog fan myself.
There were a handful of punk groups who produced half decent music, but much of it was badly performed junk for angry teenagers who didn’t care as much for the music as they did for the accompanying attitude and culture. I guess that’s pretty much true for most generations, though.
…and now we have Simon Cowell…sigh.
I think that at fifteen you’re allowed to be a bit of a pain and consider yourself something of a “rebel”. However if you’re still spewing the same crap when you reach fifty it becomes rather tragic.
Have they interviewed Billy Bragg?
Wasn`t he oppressing the good Catholics of the Bogside whilst punk was going on? In the Tank regiment I believe.
Yet not one free gig out in Helmand…maybe he could set some of that wonderfully chic “Taliban poetry” to “music”…as he`s apt to call it.
Maybe its cassettes of his stuff that drapes the trees when they`re not hanging eight year old girls from them…and in the case of Braggs discord duck splutterings, I can see that the Taliban might be right to kill musicians…there Bragg would be safe at least.
Is this the same Louise Boloton as in the BBC article?
http://louisebolotin.com/about-2/
Her “about me” published in 2008 certainly sounds like her, but my word, haven’t the intervening four years been cruel to the lass?
Sorry to follow up my own post but can someone with a bit more expertise Fisk this aged “punk”, Louise Bolotin?
The same person that has the site I first linked to also has this site:
http://plaintext.co.uk/about_me.htm on which she says,
“Writing and editing are in my blood and come as naturally as breathing to me. By the time I was 14 I had decided where my future lay. At the tender age of 16, I left school with a handful of “O”s and started training to be a journalist on a listings magazine.”
Not quite so punky there, eh, or have I got the wrong one?
I’m with Demon good music came from this clan but like all the rest nothing political came until the lurvie artistic moron band wagon warriors jumped in and killed it for everyone ! they do this to all music types no brains to be leaders just the dead weight dragging it down to it’s end you only have to see how the BBC ghettoises the music it thinks we like and and ignores everything else !!
Surely this is just a case of the next generation of TV execs getting influence over what it is cool to report. A few years ago we had the nostalgia for Prog Rock and Led Zeppelin. In 5 years time the New Romantics will be remembered. All because the new intake of execs are remembering when they were young.
The republicanism is just the usual shoe horn …
There is a difference between music you love because it takes you back to a time and place for you, and good music. They are both valid ideas, just not the same thing.
Allah save the beeb
And its fascist regime
They made you a moron
Potential H-bomb
Allah save the Beeb
Jews ain’t no human beings
There is no future
In Englandstan dreaming
We tell you what you want
We tell you what you need
There’s no future, no future,
No future for you
If you don’t pray to Allah.
The rising popularity of the punks provided a snarling, spitting, sometimes swearing outlet for some of the angry youths disillusioned with 1970s Britain – a time of strikes, economic hard times and high unemployment
And a socialist Labour Government with high taxation.
Yep…funny that didn’t get a mention.
The Pistols and The Clash made some great records. However, I feel the punk movement is given too much retrospective importance by the media. Rock reformed itself without the help of punk. The generation of rock bands that emerged in the mid 1970s- Motorhead, AC/DC, Thin Lizzy were all hard as nails and played street level rock that people could relate to. They also tended to avoid tiresome political statements and just focus on the music.
“They also tended to avoid tiresome political statements and just focus on the music. ”
Amen to that. It’s the main reason I avoid listeneing to a number of bands – I can’t stand being on the receiving end of preachy student politics from ultra-wealthy, drug-addled, leftie imbeciles.
The Manic Street Preachers spring immediately to mind, but there are many others.
The third most important story in the world at the moment, according to the BBC News website, is ‘Queen’s monarch lunch criticised’.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18099937
The criticism comes from Peter Tatchell and Labour’s purer-than-pure Denis MacShane.
The third most important story in the world – according to the BBC.
Was the gazpacho too cold or were they just not invited?
Is this Denis ‘expenses scandal’ MacShane?…who I believe is still under investigation. One would think he’d just keep quiet for the rest of his days, but they don’t, do they. Denis MacShameless, more like.
http://rotherhampolitics.wordpress.com/denis-macshane-rotherham/