You would literally paint the news on your t-shirt that day and became part of the news, part of the progress with your artwork and your music…the women in punk were doing that; their style was a demonstration of their visual art, about what they were, where they were at and what they believed in.

Caroline Coon, She’s A Punk Rocker UK

She’s A Punk Rocker UK – Zillah Minx’s 2010 celebration of British female non-conformity – is a fantastic antidote to the current male musings on 1976 and all that.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Alex Murray-Leslie, Caroline Coon, Electronic Beats, Eve Libertine, Gaye Advert, Gee Vaucher, Hagar The Womb, Helen Of Troy, Helen Wellington-Lloyd, Julie Burchill, Justine Armatage, Lou Moon, Michelle Brigandage, Nettle Baker, Olga Orbil, Poly Styrene, Rachel Minx, Rubella Ballet, She's A Punk, She's A Punk Rocker UK, Vi Subversa, Yoshoda Mad Mary, Zillah Minx

Today is the 40th anniversary of the gig at central London venue The Marquee by the Sex Pistols which generated their first substantial media coverage, a prescient 200-word review by Neil Spencer on page 31 of the February 21, 1976 issue of the New Musical Express.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Carole King, Caroline Coon, David Cassidy, ECM, Eddie And The Hot Rods, Genesis, Golden earring, Horse, I-Roy, Ian MacDonald, James Last, Jonh Ingham, Julie Burchill, Kate Phillips, Kate Simon, Kursaal Flyers, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Lisa Robinson, Manfred Eicher, Melody Maker, New Musical Express, NME, Patti Smith, Penny Reel, Sounds, Steve Jones, Tony Parsons, Tony Tyler, U-Roy

This afternoon I’m the guest on DJ Gary Crowley’s show on London-based digital station Soho Radio.

I’ll be talking about Punk London: In The City 1975-78 – my map collaboration with Herb Lester Associates which is published on Friday (February 12) – and also playing a highly personal selection of songs in the spirit of the project where we aim to sidestep the cliches and show another side to the oft-told punk story.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Billy Fury, Brian Eno, Do You Really Love Me Too, Dr Feelgood, Eastbourne Ladies, Flying Saucers Rock & Roll, Gary Crowley, Hawkwind, Herb lester Associates, Kevin Ayers, Kevin Coyne, Let It Rock, Lou Reed, New Musical Express, Nico, Rock & Roll Animal, Sex Pistols, Teenage Head, the 101'ers, The Rainbow, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, The Snakes

This is an extract from an interview with the late Malcolm McLaren in October 1982, conducted just after he and design partner Vivienne Westwood had shown their fashion collection Punkature.

As the promulgator, initially through music and fashion and then into other forms from film and art to design and media, McLaren defined Punk as an anti-authoritarian, anti-corporate attitude imbued with a D-I-Y spirit which embraces chaos.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Anonymous, Belmacz, High Focus, Punk London, Punkature, Pussy Riot, The Mushpit

Below is a fun clip bringing back memories of the 2000 European Merry Mex-Mas tour by El Vez with his Memphis Mariachis and lovely Elvettes.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: El Vez, Elvettes, Feliz Navidad, Memphis Mariachis, Merry Mex-Mas, Poptones, Public Image, Robert Lopez

//Front cover, Punk London: In The City 1975-78, Herb Lester Associates/Paul Gorman, 2016. Design: Mike Haddad//

I am collaborating with Herb Lester Associates on a new map – Punk London: In The City 1975-78 will be published in the New Year as a celebration of the movement which swept the capital 40 years ago and resonates today as an attitude throughout the world.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Fortune, Herb lester Associates, Mike Haddad, Monocle, Punk London: In The City 1975-78, Wired

//Edgar Arceneaux making his acceptance speech with the Malcolm McLaren Award. Photo: @performanyc’s Instagram feed//

On Sunday night the performance art biennial Performa 15 culminated with a celebration of  the 40th anniversary of punk.

As part of the event at New York’s Hôtel Americano, the Malcolm McLaren Award – designed by Marc Newson with $10,000 prize money – was presented to Edgar Arceneaux by Young Kim of the McLaren Estate and writer/musician Richard Hell.

Arceneaux won for his experimental play, “Until, Until, Until . . .,” inspired by the controversial appearance by African-American actor Ben Vereen in black-face at Ronald Reagan’s 1981 inaugural celebration.

//Hell on stage on Sunday night at New York’s Hôtel Americano. Photo: @performanyc’s Instagram feed//

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Ben vereen, Bert Williams, Edgar Arceneaux, Gillian McCain, Hôtel Americano, Legs McNeill, Marc Newson, Please Kill Me, Ronald Reagan, Young Kim

These are just some of the research materials I have been sifting through for the last few weeks for a project with a fabulous partner coming in the New Year.

We’re doing all we can to apply a fresh and vital approach to the much worked-over turf of Punk in London in the mid-70s.

Watch this space.

TAGS: None

//Front cover of Malcolm McLaren’s 1975/6 notebook. © Paul Burgess. No reproduction without permission//

Among the exciting exclusives at tomorrow’s event Be Reasonable Demand The Impossible will be a presentation providing a fascinating look inside Malcolm McLaren’s 1975/6 notebook, kept at the time when the Sex Pistols were starting out and he was running the boutique Sex at 430 King’s Road with partner Vivienne Westwood.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Be Reasonable Demand The Impossible, Central Saint Martins, Chrissie Hynde, Johnny Thunders, Paul Burgess, Richard hell, Sex Pistols, University Of Brighton

//The poster was designed by Adam Ant (then Stuart Goddard) before the Pistols were added to the bill. Courtesy Daniel Kleinman. No reproduction without permission//

The poster for the Sex Pistols’ first performance (on November 6 1975 in the Common Room of St Martin’s School Of Art in central London’s Charing Cross Road) has been found after 40 years – and it doesn’t even mention them!

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Adam Ant, Bazooka Joe, Be Reasonable Demand The Impossible, Bill Smith, Central Saint Martins, Danny Kleinman, Hampstead Town Hall, Hornsey College Of Art, Joe Strummer, Johnny Rotten, Mark Tanner, Robin Chapekar, St Martin's School Of Art, Stuart Goddard, the 101'ers