Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Loud Flash



I was included in a black cab jaunt from Clapham Common to the building that used to be the Museum of Mankind, next to the BURLINGTON ARCADE - if you can believe this - to see an exhibition of punk rock posters and leaflets. Organized by a rather posh bloke called Toby Mott.

In the cab was Mark Stewart from the Pop Group and the lovely Shirin, who works for Future Noise Music.

Shirin stopped the cab so we could ron-day-voo with Poly Styrene who told me she had just been on the train with Billy Bragg who she hadn't seen in ages.

If I remember correctly, Poly said she is making a record with Big Youth and working with Future Noise.

Poly told me that she never stopped making music. For a few years she rested up with the Krishnas, who had a recording studio, and she was able to record some music there which, from the sounds of it, healed a lot of the turbulence that hit her after her success with X Ray Spex.

Poly still frequents the temples for some solice and meditation. It seems to be doing her the world of good. Poly looked fantastic. Radiant. It was GREAT to see her looking well (sans braces or, in American, without her retainer).

There were lots of flyers with X Ray Spex on:


We also spotted a very fit Adam Ant (nice hat)


as well as Spizz from SpizzOil.

It was lovely to be in a room with some old punks from back in the day.

The show had a bit of a wonky edge to it. It said in the liner notes on the wall that the National Front posters and Bulldog magazines (the "zine" of the national front) were there to "contextualise" the show.

That got a big "huh" from most of the punks.

I wasn't the only one who got the impression that Young Mott was implying that he'd been to all the gigs on the wall and collected the flyers himself.

When I mentioned what a big collection this was, a number of Ebay sellers in the room pointed out that certain posters had been bought on Ebay quite recently.

I don't know if you were one of the 40 people invited to the round table discussion regarding the show, were you? I hear the panel included the chappie who wrote The Sloane Ranger Handbook. Jolly Good, I suppose. [picture of girl splaying hands].

I said cheerio to Mark and Poly.

On the way to the train, I had to admire again the Ostriches not being Ostriches in the Louis Vuitton windows in New Bond Street:



OOooH! Got a brand new bag!

3 comments:

  1. You guys are lucky to have this exhibit! I wish I could make it overseas for the show! I play in a band The Attack and spend a lot of time printing punk posters at my screen print shop.

    www.theattack.us
    www.enemyink.com

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  2. Toby Mott didn't go to any of these concerts and got all the flyers displayed at the exhibition from eBay. In fact Mott hated punks and punk music, being at the time a racist National Front member and a skinhead. Would turn up to small punk concert with 20 or so other racist National Front skinheads and beat up two or three punks on their way home. Putting up those National Front posters at his exhibition, was his way of taking the piss out of every real punk that went there, I bet he couldn't stop grinning when Poly Styrene turned up. Sad, that the writer of this web site, as well as Adam Ant and all the other old punks didn't have courage to do the right thing and rip the National Front Posters down..........

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    Replies
    1. I so regret not doing so. You are so right.

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