I have the new book by Simon Reynolds (published by Faber and Faber Ltd) - 'Totally Wired' (the title taken from a Fall song).
If anyone here read one of his previous books - the excellent 'Rip It Up And Start Again' then this is the follow up / natural companion to it.
It is mainly interviews with individuals who were at the forefront of post punk.... people like Tony Wilson, Paul Morley, Bill Drummond, Martin Rushant, John Peel, Jah Wobble etc etc etc.... and Linder Sterling.
Quite a good interview offering an insight into her role / relationship with Buzzcocks / Magazine and of course Ludas. There are also two questions asked relating to Morrissey:
Have you seen 24 Hour Party People?
I didn't go and see it. I saw an early shooting script and Morrissey and I were in it and our lines were just so abysmal, I just got hold of a legal friend to write a really scary letter and saying ''I have to be removed from this film''. So I was removed from the film. And I still haven't seen it. Maybe one day.
Finally, is it true that you are the subject of 'Wonderful Woman', that great, lost early Smiths B-side?
There's various rumours. So who knows? I dont. I do know 'What do I get?' (Buzzcocks single) was written about me. Because Peter Shelley told me so.
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Totally wired (Score:3, Interesting)
To myself, Post-punk is the aftermath of punk, the early 80's bleak recession when people started experimenting with dub and art rock and when all the "rock rules" went out the window. To me post-punk is "Metal Box" by PIL and Throbbing Gristle.
I'm glad Jukebox & Uncle flagged it up on this website but for me it's a bit of a let down. Sorry folks.
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At Home He's A Tourist (Score:3, Insightful)
Aside from those named above, Post-punk is primarily bands like Gang Of Four, The Au Pairs, ESG, Liliput, Delta 5, The Pop Group, Cabaret Voltaire, Wire, The Raincoats, Young Marble Giants etc. Bands who took the DIY ethic of punk and ran with it.
Adam & The Ants WERE, in their earliest guise, Post-punk, and Altered Images first recordings were definitely Post-punk(Dead Pop Stars, Insects etc).
But ABC? Come on! Only the fact that punk gave Martin Fry the bottle to try his own thing could attach the word PUNK to anything they did. Remember when Duran Duran claimed they were a hybrid of Chic and The Sex Pistols? It's pretty much the same thing.
Bands like Dexys, The Specials, Madness, The Human League, The Belle Stars, even Bananarama could all claim to be Post-punk if being influenced were credence enough, but the music simply doesn't fit the criteria or ethos.
Reynolds should have stuck to a more rigid discipline where the music is concerned instead of trying to make his book more populist.
A wasted opportunity.
Paul Morley will write the definitive tome one day I'm sure.
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So Dead The Pose (Score:2, Informative)
Still, I suppose it's not as bad as being a boring old Jazz muso and de-tuning your guitar to come across as Punk, i.e. Sting(spit!!!!).
It's a bit of a chicken-and-egg conundrum but I believe that Post-punk is the most inspirational music genre that has ever been, even more so than Punk it's self which really only gave us a handful of good albums(basically the first or only albums by all the main players).
Post-punk was far more diverse and liberating and of course gave us 'Closer' and 'Metal Box', two of the greatest albums in modern music.
Whether The Smiths could properly be described as Post-punk is moot point, but without it's influence I think they would have sounded a lot more different.
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What Do I Get? (Score:1, Insightful)
That's way more cool than whether 'You're So Vain' was written about you, etc.
Punk Rock An Oral History (Score:1)
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Simon Reynolds (Score:0)