clair056

It's been a long time since I've done one of these posts , but important to remind ourselves that the anti-rave Criminal Justice Act from 1994 is still in effect, and that free parties are continuing nevertheless... these days it's the kids of the 1980s/90s ravers out there, but the story hasn't really changed. 'Illegal rave shut down' in Shoebury Essex Basildon, Canvey Southend Echo (30 January 2018) 'A crowd of people were dispersed from an old church after attempts were made to organise an illegal rave. Neighbours from homes near the decommissioned Garrison Chapel, in Chapel Road, Shoebury, were forced to call the police after about 30 people congregated and a professional sound system had been set up on Saturday night. An advert for the event, seen by the Echo, suggested a £5 donation on the door and promised to be the “most ambitious party in Southend history”. One witness, who has asked to remain anonymous, said: “Police were called to disperse people ...

Mark Leckey's film 'Dream English Kid 1964-1999 AD' is a collage of what he has termed 'found memories', fragments from a life time of TV, adverts and other audiovisual media that sketch out a kind of oblique autobiography of growing up in the UK in the second half of the twentieth century. I did too and have similar interests to the artist so not surprisingly it strongly resonated with me. As with his previous 'Fiorucci Made me Hardcore', music is central to the film but in a particular way. Short samples are manipulated and looped so part of the enjoyment to be had is spotting some of their sources. The 1960s section of the film features the opening chord of The Beatles 'Hard Day's Night', a space  launch and Harold Wilson's famous 'White Heat of Technology' Labour conference speech. Possibly some distorted chords from Summertimes Blues in the mix there too, as well as some stylophone. A child plays while an old tape recorder appea...

Following our earlier post on the Camden Palace from The Face, 1983 here's a couple more courtesy of the excellent Like Punk Never Happened - Brian McCloskey's Smash Hits Archive  (click on images to enlarge). The first article, from July 22 1982  is a review of a live event for Gary Crowley's Tuesday Club Capitol Radio show with live appearances from Culture Club, Bananarama and The Higsons. It includes a great picture of Joe Strummer with Jennie Belle Star, Jerrry Dammers and Chrissy Boy from Madness. In terms of a regular night out at the Palace, Deborah Steele's article from Smash Hits, 15 August 1983  is more evocative. It is headlined with Steve Strange's description of the Palace (which had opened some 18 months previously) as 'A club for the people created by the people'. 'The Camden Palace... a place full of famous people trying to look ordinary and ordinary people trying to look famous... Many would go so far as...

Interview with Poison Girls from 'independent feminist/socialist magazine' The Leveller (published from 52 Acre Lane, SW2), December 1982 - click on images to enlarge. The Leveller interviewers expressed mixed feelings about it - 'It was a friendly interview yet we left dissatisfied, as a lot of the time we felt we were talking at cross purposes. What Vi says on the record and to us shows she feels deeply about the status of women. But together the group expressed  the anarchist view of everyone being equally oppressed, and so we often felt we hadn't got through to each other. They felt that government control was some kind of abstraction whereas to us, it was very real (the DHSS, the police). PS it was a very nice curry'. I think at the time there were many anarchists who would have had a very different perspective to Poison Girls, like the folk who did the paper Xtra! for instance. But the Leveller collective's take on the band wasn't far from my own young...