Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Society of the Spextacle

The way the media works these days, facts often spend some time in a Schrödingeresque limbo, true but not quite true, in a box made of Twitter and Facebook, digital winks and innuendo, before they’re finally confirmed by the official channels. So I woke up to the line “R.I.P. Poly Styrene” and hoped for hours that the X-Ray Spex frontwoman, the Patroclus of punk rock, hadn’t squawked her last, although it was well known she’d been very ill in recent months. Sadly, it’s true. The sadness is amplified by the fact that she’d only just released a new album, her first in several years. But who would have thought, back in her heyday, that she’d outlive Woolworths...



PS: Further rememberings from Everett and bat020.

4 comments:

Geoff said...

You can hear the influence of Van der Graaf Generator. The best punk was art rock and a logical progression from early 70s music (Buzzcocks from Roxy Music for example). Poly had a great voice.

Annie said...

An amazing voice. And so brilliant when she was still so young. RIP Poly.

Mapeel said...

Off topic: how's the royal wedding playing to the ex-pats? Are there viewing parties in Bangkok?

Tim F said...

Was never quite sure about the point at which prog rock became art rock, Geoff. Does it just mean that bands remembered to wash their hair, and keep synthesiser solos to under seven minutes? CPL 593H!

There comes a point, Annie, when mortality stops whispering, and starts shrieking. Think it happened for me when Peel croaked. Then Wilson and McLaren and now Poly. It's deafening.

Very much on-topic, Mrs Peel, England's Dreaming and all that. There are several viewing events set up, although whether they will be populated by loyal subjects or curious wannabes is another matter. One has to be careful, as Thailand's strict lèse majesté laws can - theoretically at least - be stretched to encompass criticism of any monarchy. So Gawd bless 'em all, and lets hope Prince Harry doesn't try it on with more than three bridesmaids.