She-Punks

In 2015, Gina and me were chatting about my book The Lost Women of Rock Music and a film she was in the process of making about The Raincoats. Gina had shot extra footage of many of the women she'd interviewed, and we talked about maybe collaborating on a DIY film loosely based on that footage and possibly more interviews with the musicians I'd spoken to for the original book.

I'd been teaching entrepreneurship at the University of East London and as quite often happened when I was lecturing, I decided to put into practice what I'd been preaching.

'Let's go to see Andy Linehan at the British Library and ask him if he'll show our film'.

Andy was the music librarian there. Very sadly, he died a few years ago: this was a great loss because not only was he very funny, but he was also brave enough to take a punt on an idea. He told us that in 2016 the British Library would be celebrating the 40th anniversary of punk, and he'd be prepared to show even 20 minutes of film and build an evening around it. In fact, we were the first event he booked for the week of celebrations.

All he needed was a name for the documentary. We went off, started arranging interviews with people straight away, and I came up with the title, 'Stories from the She-Punks: music with a different agenda'. 

Lots of the women I'd spoken to about their bands mentioned how much they hated the term 'punkette', which diminished them so much. Zillah Ashworth (also a woman punk documentarian) and Caroline Coon (the respected rock music writer) recommended Dale Spender's book Man Made Language, and there everything was laid out really clearly. 

My own problem was wo-man and fe-male. I'd tried 'Lady Punks' for a book chapter I'd written, but that felt really clunky. She-Punks was perfect, and I also had the possibly rather grating 'a-gender' part of the title.

I wrote to Andy with the title; both Gina and Andy thought it was great, and over the next six months we made our very DIY film. The screening in 2016 was terrific: the auditorium was full, the reception was brilliant and we ended with a quickly put-together cover version of Oh Bondage! Up Yours, with Terry Tyldesley, Tessa Pollitt, Jane Perry Woodgate, Zoe Howe, Karina Townsend, Gina and me- and the audience.

The film features Vivien Goldman, Shanne Bradley. Jane Perry Woodgate, Enid Williams, Lucy O'Brien, Ana Da Silva, Viv Albertine, Palmolive, Liz Naylor, Hester Smith, Rachel Lovell, Lesley Woods, Jane Munro, June Miles-Kingston, Gina Birch, me and more.

I had a courtesy agreement with a group of people who are organising the 50 year celebration of punk, and this agreement has been broken, which is why I have put this in writing. I don't like being bullied.