Yesterday evening I went to a book talk by Matt Worley, with Cathi Unsworth and Paul Morley also on the panel. They were promoting Matt's book, No Future which is being republished to coincide with the 50th anniversary of punk. There were a lot of 50- and 60-something white chaps in big black coats, with a smattering of women, including Liz Naylor, who Matt interviewed for the book. Liz is always wonderfully blunt and truthful, and she drew the conversation towards Manchester, where it was generally acknowledged that Richard Boon is the unsung hero of that city. It was an interesting panel of three writers, each of whom has a different approach to punk. Matt reminded us that he was six or seven at the time, and his major lightbulb moment came when he saw Adam and the Ants on Top of the Pops; Paul Morley recalled going to see The Sex Pistols in Wolverhampton on a specially-hired coach. Cathi, who has written extensively on the Goth subculture, talked about outsider groups and their creativity, and a recent meeting with young people who had totally rejected the internet and were making old-school fanzines the traditional way.
At some points I wanted to shout out- the Buzzcocks' guitar solo in Boredom was two notes, not one, for instance: but I breathed deeply and absorbed it all. The idea of the virtue signalling associated with Live Aid was very pertinent, and the general awareness of the panel that they might be glossing over some of the more unsavoury parts of punk. I think having just massively edited the article on reggae and women punks recently, I was primed for a fight, but I managed to not. It was actually very interesting, particularly when a member of the audience wondered why nobody in the media was making any noise about the anniversary. Do you think punk was much less important than those of us who were involved in it think? Was it just one little tadpole in the giant river of culture?
Afterwards, I had a quick chat with Daniel Rachel, who has recently published a book on the swastika, nazi imagery and rock'n'roll which definitely fills a gap on the bookshelves; it's just been one of those things that people mutter beneath their breath so it's good to turn the stone over and see what's underneath it. Travis Elborough was also there, just finishing a book about vinyl records and I'm looking forward to that being published in September. Roll on Zoe Howe's republished The Story of The Slits, too!
This morning, I took four framed prints over to Gaye Black in West London, for the exhibition at the John Peel Centre in Stowmarket in June. Gaye herself, Pauline Murray, Charlie Harper and Youth are also exhibiting (and more people). My drawings are of Ari, Poly, Tina Weymouth and Neil Young, the odd-one-out that's included because it's one of my best drawings. Gaye showed me the collages she's exhibiting, and also the poster that she has made for Celeste Bell's Queens of Punk event at Camden Art Centre (we think in August), where the She-Punks film will also be shown.
I've finished re-recording the demo that was at the wrong tempo. At least that's not going to keep me awake tonight.
Matt's book: https://www.waterstones.com/book/no-future-anniversary-edition/matthew-worley/paul-morley/9781009661287
Daniel's book: https://www.waterstones.com/book/this-aint-rock-n-roll/daniel-rachel/9781399635721
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