'S'funny, I dreamt of this album the other night.I can't remember the finer detail - can you ever? - but I remember placing the needle on the first of the Eater tracks and rather than hearing the powerfully energetic sounds of teenage angst, what I heard I can only describe as being the most wonderful and beautiful poetry I have ever experienced.
I awoke bolt upright, knowing I'd heard something truly miraculous.
I desperately tried to recall.
I couldn't.
So I went back to sleep, accompanied by a feeling that something special had been lost.
I'd blown my Coleridge moment.
My dream lost.
As Burroughs described: gone, like smoke beneath a door, when the film is run backwards.
Despite my loss and disappointment, my dream did remind me of the excitement inspired by the first time I played this seminal punk collection.
As a young teenager, hearing Slaughter & The Dogs, Eater, the mighty Wire and The Buzzcocks truly blew my mind, turning me on to sounds and ideas that would go on to play an important part in the shaping of my life.
It was also the first time I was exposed to X-Ray Spex and the provocative lyrics of Poly Styrene, an artist who I still believe was one of the greatest lyricists of her and my generation.
There is an extended and quite different version of this album out there, but I thought I'd up this, the original, as this is how I, and no doubt many others remember it.Cleverly, it not only captures the sounds of the bands who were creating the scene, but crystallizes the scene itself.
Listen out for the throw away question: 'Is Sid Vicious in tonight?'
So sit back and enjoy; sit back and reminisce; and remember those times when music meant something; when music had balls; when music had a voice and spoke for those who were often ignored; when music could - and did - change the world.
Various Artists - The Roxy London WC2 (Jan-Apr 77)
Runaway - Slaughter & The Dogs
Boston Babies - Slaughter & The Dogs
Freedom - The Unwanted
Lowdown - Wire
1 2 X U - Wire
Bored Teenagers - The Adverts
Hard Loving Man - Johnny Moped
Don't Need It - Eater
15 - Eater
Oh Bondage Up Yours - X Ray Spex
Breakdown - The Buzzcocks
Love Battery - The Buzzcocks
CD rip to mp3s
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2 comments:
the burroughs quote over the pic of poly choked me up. unintentional as the best things are, several days early. r.i.p. poly we lost you but we never will.
xxoo
It has struck me as to how unintentioanlly fucking poignant this post has become.
I was so, what, devestated I guess, about the sad, sad news; and what with the loss of Ari so recently as well, I just haven't been able to comment or post anything that would be relevant.
My silence speaks - if you know what I mean.
Thanks for your comment; and you're so right: Poly Styrene will not be forgotten, and maybe now she'll be recognised for her true importance; not just to music, but also for her advancement of women's place in society.
Shanti, roy
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