Below is an old BE CURIOUS blog entry from last September that is stuffed full of resources that will introduce you to the work of TONY HARRISON. There is a lot of material here so perhaps just watch the Channel 4 film of V and listen to my podcast. On Friday we will be looking at Harrison's THEM and [UZ] and the infamous work of art that is the epic V. We will also be discussing The Kite Runner. KEEP READING FOLKS.
https://becuriouslit.blogspot.com/2019/09/tony-harrison-resources.html
In our last session I shared some PROTEST music from my childhood. Below is the X-Ray Spex video created to promote their tune 'Identity.' I really was massively influenced by the great Polly Styrene [Marianne Elliott-Said]. Link to video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYoiCStDTQg
They also had a song called 'Germ Free Adolescents' which I still consider a classic tune. This is from Top Of The Pops in 1978..a mainstream BBC music show. Listen to Polly's lyrics. Amazing. Imagine being 13 and hearing this!! RIP Polly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctGzLjUfpag&t=128s
I also played you TYPICAL GIRLS by THE SLITS. Listen to the lyrics. About as far away from The Spice Girls and Little Mix as your mind can travel. Mediocrity is not an option. The Slits played their own instruments and created their own songs. They refused to be objectified and trivialised. This is one of the great 'PUNK' tunes from the late 1970s. Still sounds ace to me.
..' who invented the typical girl..here's another marketing ploy..the typical girl gets the typical boy..'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCk8tEOcwqU
I also mentioned WOODY GUTHRIE who was the original American protest singer in the 1930s. He is the inspiration for musicians as diverse as Bob Dylan and The Clash. His acoustic guitar famously displayed the message..'THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS.' The tune below is considered to be one of the great American Protest songs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxiMrvDbq3s
And while I'm here...here is Radio 6 voice Tom Robinson with POWER IN THE DARKNESS. This was released in 1978. Check the lyrics. Unfortunately..still a very relevant protest song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auN0ZLcuvXI
And what about this beast from THE GOATS..'I'm Not Your Typical American'...nailed on hip-hop social protest classic!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_F2FDpU1mM
Billy Holiday [1939]..STRANGE FRUIT..A protest song about the horrific lynchings of black Americans..The strange fruit hanging in the trees are the corpses of lynched humans..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Web007rzSOI
Nina Simone [1967]..I WISH I KNEW HOW IT FEELS TO BE FREE...A song adopted by the American Civil Rights Movement.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDqmJEWOJRI
..And of course..Sam Cooke..' A Change Is Gonna Come..' Another song adopted by the Civil Rights Movement. ABSOLUTE EPIC CLASSIC...makes me weep. A song of suffering, anger, and hope. BEAUTIFUL...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPr3yvkHYsE
Stevie Wonder...'You haven't done nothin..'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SEGHvLElxc
Elvis Costello..'Tramp The Dirt Down..'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t4-zDem1Sk
And finally...Grandad Punk Rock's trip down Protest Music Memory Lane concludes with THE CLASH playing WHITE RIOT at the ROCK AGAINST RACISM event in Victoria Park in 1978. My Mother would not let me travel to this gig. Probably a good job. This was a moment when contemporary British music attempted to highlight serious social issues that were evident in our culture. PROPER PROTEST MUSIC. Look at that crowd!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqtEl5_JwNU
Modern Protest songs???? What say you???
Bonsoir.
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