The Day the Country Died: A History of Anarcho-Punk, 1980-1984

by Ian Glasper

If the bands in Burning Britain were loud, political, and uncompromising, those examined in Ian Glasper's new book were even more so. With Crass and Poison Girls opening the floodgates, the arrival of bands like Zoundz, Flux of Pink Indians, Conflict, Subhumans, Dirt, The Mob, Omega Tribe, and Icons of Filth heralded a new age of honesty and integrity in the 1980s underground music scene. It was a time when punk stopped being merely a radical fashion statement, and became a force for real social change. Anarchy in punk rock no longer meant "cash from chaos"—it meant "freedom, peace, and unity." Comprehensively covering all the groups and names, big and small,   The Day the Country Died also features exclusive interviews and hundreds of never-before-published photos. 

Genres: Music, Punk, History, Nonfiction, Politics, Biography

375 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2007

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exhaustive encyclopedia like book detailing the bands involved in the U.K. peace/anarcho punk scene. More of a research/reference tool than a nonfiction read, but well researched and informative. The author was involved in the scene and includes anecdotes and interviews in each entry. At times, the writing is bogged down a bit with who relpaced who on bass for two weeks when the band was squatting in Bristol in '83, but generally well written book about an important, influential and highly under reported social movement/music scene.

[Jeffrey Bumiller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't help but be impressed with the amount of work that must have went into writing this book. So many bands, so many stories, so many...line up changes. It's staggering how many bands followed in the wake of Crass, the influence they had is incredible. Of course some of the stories in this book are more interesting than others, depending on which bands the reader is more invested in knowing about. For me it was reading about Amebix, Rudimentary Peni, Flux of Pink Indians, The Mob, Zounds, Omega Tribe, and Subhumans. It might be better to approach this as a reference book because, and this is my only complaint, it feels repetitive at times, and it is very dense and detailed so it can be difficult to read straight through. Anyway, if you're into this kind of stuff should you read this book? Of course you fucking should!

[Serdar · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Forgot to add this earlier) This book has the smallest margins and the smallest typeface of any book I've bought in the last couple of years. That should give you some idea of how meticulous and compulsively comprehensive it is, especially for a music scene whose members numbered somewhere in the dozens and had a lifespan shorter than Roy Baty. That said, I'm an absolute sucker for this kind of scenester insider baseball. Come for the opening chapter on Crass (which is typically the first and last name associated with anarcho-punk), stay for the rest of the rundown.

[Tiny Red Dragons Radio · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't help but be impressed with the amount of work that must have went into writing this book. So many bands, so many stories, so many...line up changes. It's staggering how many bands followed in the wake of Crass, the influence they had is incredible. Of course some of the stories in this book are more interesting than others, depending on which bands the reader is more invested in knowing about. For me it was reading about Amebix, Rudimentary Peni, Flux of Pink Indians, The Mob, Zounds, Omega Tribe, and Subhumans. It might be better to approach this as a reference book because, and this is my only complaint, it feels repetitive at times, and it is very dense and detailed so it can be difficult to read straight through. Anyway, if you're into this kind of stuff should you read this book? Of course you fucking should!

[Brendan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An utterly exhaustive history of anarcho-punk in the UK, the scope of bands covered is absolutely immense (except Poison Girls, listed on the cover but nowhere to be found in the book!) and Glasper’s interviews tend to bring out the best from his subjects.

[Kevin Tole · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is like a gazetter of every anarcho punk outfit that never made it (apart from Crass). As such it is more of a reference work unless you were in one of these outfits.
Well reserched though.

[Barry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm really enjoying reading Glasper's books about the punk and metal scenes. It's giving me a great opportunity to go back and read about and listen to a lot of bands I haven't listened to in a while and I've been loving the nostalgia.

The 'Burning Britain' book focussed on the UK82 punk scene whereas this book focuses on the early 80's anarcho-punk scene. If 'Burning Britain' reminded me of how punk 'sounds' in my head, 'The Day The Country Died' reminded me of how I viewed punk as a political and ethical force in the world. Indeed, I often struggled with my own conflicts in the punk scene when I saw people were in it for the music and didn't support a D.I.Y. and ethical approach. Punk was never just about music. It's an interesting judgement call which bands were included in this book and which ones were included in 'Burning Britain'. For instance bands like The Varukers and Discharge were definitely political in their outlook but perhaps didn't embrace the D.I.Y. scene as closely as others.

As in other books by the author, the country is split by region and each band is given a write up and an interview with one or more band members. Aside from the usual 'how did you form?', 'any stories from recording or gigs?' and 'what are you doing now?' each interviewee is asked what anarchy means to them and most provide some kind of response to their politics back in the day and how that has shaped them today. It's quite heartening that most still closely identify with their anarcho beliefs after a fashion, viewed through a lens of maturity. This is in contrast to a lot of the bands in 'Burning Britain' which seemed largely a bunch of drinking and fighting stories at times.

It's something I can identify with closely now in my mid-forties. I 'knew' I was left-wing during the Miner's Strike for crying out loud, but it was in my mid-late teens as I came across anarchism (via the brilliant Class War) but also discovered punk like Crass and Conflict at the same time that spoke the same language. It was the punk and hardcore scene that turned me into a vegan (it was fancying a girl that turned me veggie in the first place but we all have our journeys...). Now I look back and I am still an anarchist, still believe passionately in animal rights and still feel all those core values I was exposed to 30 years ago!

One thing I found interesting in this book was the diversity and range of activities the band members featured were involved with. Many of them ran labels, put on gigs, wrote zines, shared living spaces, food and musical equipment with them. Many of them were involved with sabbing and other direct action. Again, the comparison to 'Burning Britain' is interesting because in that book there was an almost constant lament of 'someone else' letting them down. The massive difference in this book is that the bands weren't 'let down' by anyone because they did so much by themselves! It was a spirit that still existed well into the late 90's in the punk scene (I still laugh at a band who shall remain nameless turning up to a gig I put together with a manager with a laptop demanding guarantees....sadly they were respected in the scene and it was the beginning of the end of my involvement in the punk scene).

Another thing that is evident when reading the histories of these bands is that they appeared to be far more inclusive. People of colour and LGBTQIA+ people are few and far between but there are far more women in bands and they are there as punks and women and not pin-ups. The imagery and lyrics of these bands are a far cry from the macho shit and sexist garbage that many of the UK '82 bands put out (some of the lyrics to G.B.H. and The Exploited can't be sung by anyone over 12 without embarrassment).

The influence on the animal rights scene in Britain also cannot be underestimated. At the time vegetarianism and veganism were seen as something weird hippies did. I swear songs like 'This Is The A.L.F.' by Conflict and others like the 'Merry Crassmas' single and 'Pigs In Blankets' by Rudimentary Peni and 'Neu Smell' by Flux of Pink Indians turned loads of people veggie and got them involved in animal rights. Like I said, I can directly link back decades of compassionate living back to the influence of these bands. I don't know what it is like today, but my experience of the punk scene from the early to late 90's is that you assumed everyone was veggie, you knew most of your mates were vegan and were surprised to find meat-eaters at gigs and things. As an aside I often get asked about how hard veganism was back then, and it is true it is a million miles easier today but back then, when many of your mates in the scene were vegan you had a good support network which mattered, even if the only vegan replacements tasted badly and cost half your giro!

Anyway, back to the book. The book opens with Crass, who you can't write the history of anarcho punk without starting with them. A couple of things are evident - they were one of those bands punks loved or hated (I loved them) but their imagery and lyrics were amazing. They also walked the walk. I think they clearly gave lots to the scene, supported lots of people and activities and are 'good people'. The flipside is that it's clear many of the bands clearly copied Crass and also that if Crass did a single for you, there would be a significant chance you'd sound like Crass when they were done with it.

I loved the section on Conflict. They were a massive influence on me, not just because of the animal rights thing but also musically. I was once in a band and not very good at getting across how I wanted my bass to sound but I knew it needed to sound like the bass on 'The Ungovernable Force' - I so loved that album! I really loved the stories throughout the book of Col from Conflict walking the walk, especially where the fash were concerned. I do have to challenge one of the statements in the book about Conflict never intentionally missing gigs and claiming sometimes people would put them on without them knowing. There's a well known story from where I live when Conflict stayed in the van getting pissed outside the venue and didn't play (Electro Hippies were on the same bill).

There were loads of other sections I loved. The Apostles one was a bit intense but they were a completely different level in how they approached punk and anarchism (incidentally I remember reading this great article in the summer about The Apostles and zine culture from one of the band https://diyconspiracy.net/chris-low-a...).

The sections on Subhumans and Oi Polloi are making me want to go in the attic and blow away the dust on their records (the first few Subhumans records are brilliant and I loved everything Oi Polloi did in the 90's). Some proper nostalgia reading this!

I loved reading about Blood Robots and how that was the early seeds for what became Generic and One By One and Flat Earth Records (you can get the whole Flat Earth discography on a USB stick for £75 here https://flatearthrecs.bandcamp.com/ with all proceeds going to the anarchist social centre 1 in 12 Club in Bradford https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_1_i...)

I was also really interested to read about Anarka And Poppy, an anarcho-punk band from where I live who I had never heard of previously. They were a bit before my time but I recall the drummer still being in bands in later years (a bizarre gig I have never forgot with a band called Wheelchair Furnace on). I'm kind of surprised that I didn't know about them. It did make me smile though thinking about when I was a kid and I was always trying to look cool and impress the older punks who lived on our street, some of whom I became friends with when I got older. Reading this section also brought back a really stark memory as one of the punks who lived nearby warned my Dad that it was going to 'kick off' in town around the time of the Brixton riots. Nothing happened though...maybe the house full of punks down the road couldn't bring about anarchy in Preston that night but it has never left me!

There is only one omission in the book and it is quite a glaring one and that is the absence of Poison Girls. They were a massive anarcho punk influence and shared the same spaces as lots of bands in the book and their kids were in a lot of bands in the book and of course there is the brilliant split single with Crass. The only reason I can think for their exclusion is the difficulty in getting hold of one of them or they asked not to be included. I hope it wasn't because the author didn't think they were punk because they definitely were.

There are two bands whose inclusion is problematic for different reasons and I think one should be included and one shouldn't.

I see no reason whatsoever for the inclusion of AYS and their nazi singer. I accept that the author clearly identifies that he sees the singers views as abhorrent but I fail to see how this person should be given a platform in a book about anarcho punk. I guess one could have referenced them if they really were part of the scene (and I am not sure they were to be honest) without giving a fascist a voice. There is a bit of, 'the lady doth protest much' in this interview in my opinion and the book would have been better off without it. (What is interesting is that I felt the right wing / fash influence on Oi and UK '82 was given a wide berth in 'Burning Britain' and it's a shame it wasn't at least explored as an uncomfortable but actual part of the scene then).

Chumbawamba however should be in the book. They definitely were punk (the Antidote 'Destroy Fascism' 7" they were involved in is amazing!). They definitely had an anarcho outlook and I think they are 'good people'. Of course, they have more in common with drinking and football culture thanks to 'Tubthumping' which has turned into a decent pension for them. Of course, what pissed everyone off was their scathing critique of Live Aid and their inclusion on the 'Fuck EMI' EP and people thinking they were legit and then they signed to EMI! I've read a fair bit about them and I think they come across as alright but no matter how they dress it up they did sell out the scene and their principles - there is no doubt of that but they definitely are part of the history and the criticism of them isn't levelled at other punk bands who signed to big labels. I guess everyone was just so disappointed in them....

So I kind of feel this book has been more of a nostalgia trip than a review but I feel happy about that. It's been a lovely opportunity to revisit the brilliant music, the lyrics and ethos that framed a lot of my younger life. The audience of this is perhaps limited but if you've any interest in punk or anarchism or even what life was like in the early 80's in Britain it's well worth a look.

[Joe Zaragoza · Rating 4 out of 5]

What to say about this book? You'd have to be really really into this kind of music to enjoy it. I mean, I wanted to read it for nostalgic purposes because I was a punk rock kid in my younger years. I was more into the 80's hardcore back then, but let's be honest, it doesn't matter whether you lwere into pop punk and listened to The Mr. T Experience or if you were a mohawk bondage pants street punk and listened to Battalion Of Saints, if you listened to punk rock then you dipped your toe into Crass and the Subhumans at the very least. So when I saw this book I was super excited. I get to read about the bands behind the Anarcho-Syndicalist movement in the early 1980's in England. Unfortunately the book isn't that great of a read. Not because it isn't interesting, but because it talks about tons and tons of bands that all had very similar stories. The thing is, it's still worth a flip through. It gives each band it's own section, so if it doesn't work as a book you'd read straight through, it works as an encyclopedia of Anarcho-Punk bands. Perhaps you'd think to yourself, "Who the hell is Lack of Knowledge?" you can then say, "Who cares, I'm going to skip to the parts about Rudimentary Peni." Or maybe you can say, "Well, I know about Dirt, Oi Palloi and Anti-Sect, but I don't know much about Riot/Clones Amibex. I hear they're good, I'll read up on them. It's a really great book to flip through and go a little deeper into bands who's music you only listened to. You can now find out the story and time in which they were at their height. If you love or loved this kind of music, this is a really cool book to check out. You won't read it all, but you will read most of it out of order.

[Erok · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't really a narrative, rather more of an encyclopedia and oral history of each band. Sometimes it can take a bit to get to some interesting underlying themes and stories as some of the oral histories go a bit deep into former band members who distract from the narrative at times. The section on being a punk from Norther Ireland at the time was pretty fascinating.

[Valton Landrum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential if you love the genre. A+++

[Edu Baro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Someone has to tell the unofficial story -or one of them- of punk, and acknowledge the numerous bands and people that contributed to it.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

If anyone asks me about formative music, I will tell them that the early '80s British punk bands were probably the first I truly fell in love with. I liked more accessible stuff like early Bad Religion and the first Clash album, but these bands were the first to make me scramble for every possible recording from a single music scene I could find. As a bitter, alienated 16-year-old in a boring, dying city in Indiana, hearing albums like "The Day the Country Died," "Onward Christian Soldiers," "No Sanctuary" and "Penis Envy" was revelatory. With adult hindsight, some of the lyrics can be construed as overly-idealistic and naive, but there's still a lot of truth and hard reality here. As we look at the decades of damage wrought by the neoliberalism of Thatcher and Reagan, it's pretty obvious that the music certainly didn't change society. Yet it's hard to argue that these bands didn't at least accomplish massive changes to individual lifestyles and thought processes. At the very least, this serves as an artistic time capsule of a scene that still flies well under the radar of 'music historians.' Listen to some of this music, and then watch the film "This is England" to get an inkling of just how hopeless being a youth in Thatcher's Britain must have been.
The book itself is a good reference source, although there are some pretty notable omissions. I was never a big fan of the Poison Girls, but I'm not sure why there's no chapter on them here, as they were very important to the scene as a whole. The unearthed photos, anecdotes, and discographies make it worth picking up for fans and anyone looking to discover the music.

[Zoë Birss · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is very good at being exactly what it is. If your ideal book is an excruciatingly thorough, encyclopedic categorization and description of the formation and music, but not the politics, of any and every band even remotely connected to the eighties anarcho punk scene of the United Kingdom, this book definitely hits all the notes.

The author managed variations on the theme of "nobody has ever really heard of this band, and they hardly recorded (or didn't record) anything" dozens of times, and follows this with interviews, photos, relationships to other bands, and comprehensive lists of their every song.

The net is cast very wide when it comes to "anarcho", "punk" and "1980-1984". Included among the bands reviewed is one band whose singer identifies as a racist national socialist (ahem... not anarchist), Chumbawamba (at least as anarchist as Crass, but closer to Peter Paul and Mary than to punk), and several bands who just barely squeaked into formation before the end of 1984, whose careers lasted well into the nineties.

I would have much preferred to read of the politics and actions of resistance by each band than their music, or the pages of stories of various drummers and bassists that cycled through, or the soap opera of relationships between each of the bands over the decades. But combined with The Story Of Crass by George Berger, which I'd just finished, it was still an excellent way to get a map of the scene to help me navigate further as I seek out these elusive tracks and obscure albums.

[Nikk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another brilliant book from Glasper’s series on UK punk and hardcore - this time anarchopunk and area that has received limited coverage, but blimey this work is outstanding - the time and effort put into this is incredible. Punks and especially anarchopunks are not exactly known for being easy to pin down - which makes it even more impressive. I caught the tail end of this scene as a youngster, but experienced the illegal rave scene that this community morphed into to in the late 80s and early 90s. It’s interesting to see similarities in both scenes - beginning with complete freedom and utopian ideals and an entirely DIY approach, the depressing creep of hard drugs, police violence, criminality, the ‘brew crew’ and very real and very hard drug dealers bringing the whole thing down in a big way. My last free party I witnessed a woman smoking crack while her baby sat in the mud, and a man badly beaten by travellers for doing god knows what - but if four on one is your idea of an anarchic utopia then it wasn’t mine - but their were many many brilliant moments as there clearly was in the anarchopunk scene and are reflected in this fine tome!

[TheTrueMithrandir · Rating 5 out of 5]

These damned Ian Glasper books have been well worth it. This has been my bathroom read for about a month now and I still aint finished. I might even be getting more enjoyment out of this than the Trapped In A Scene Book. At the very least it acts as a great encyclopedia offering vast history and comprehensive discographies on each band - from the more well known to the most obscure. Good thick book too nearly 500 pages. Some of it can be kind of samey after a while as each band has similar stories about revolving band members, disappointing recording sessions and good + bad live experiences - but I also like getting a feel for how it was like during that era of Thatcher inspired Punk in the UK and their dealings with skinheads, and cops, and all that noise... I think every genre, subgenre, scene and era of music should have a book like this.

Im working my way backwards and Burning Britain will be next.

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great break down of the late 70s/early 80s anarcho punk scene in the UK. It starts with Crass (which has by far the most extensive biography) and then moves around London and then around the UK focusing on bands from each scene. Each band has a small discography section at the end of their bio. A lot of the music is now readily available on reissue CDs, but if you're a vinyl junkie like me you'll be spending some time on eBay trying to track down some of these classics. The only downside is the similarities of almost all the smaller bands. It gets a bit tiresome to read the same story over and over with different characters (although there is not much the author can do about that). Be prepared to break out the Crass Records comps (or better yet, the Mortarhate/Fight Back comps).

[Ryan Mishap · Rating 3 out of 5]

A huge book collecting contemporary interviews with people in anarcho-punk bands from the early eighties in England. All your old favorites, Crass (duh), Conflict, Flux, etc. Certainly worth reading if this period interests you, and very thorough. The most interesting aspect was how many people still held their beliefs, though the realities of life and getting older and experience have altered them, and how much they all credit the anarcho scene with making them better people. My only disappointment is that only bands are interviewed, as if punk was only ever music. Why can’t we hear from some zinesters, political organizers who didn’t play in bands, and random punks who were there back in the day and maybe still are)?

[Corinne Horne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book fueled my love for Anarcho Punk. I didn't know half as much as I thought I did. This book enlightened me to the musical life of the SubHumans, the Eratics, Poison Girls, and Lost Cherrees, where most other books would dance around the topic. I fell in love with it after the first chapter, and afterwards I wanted to read it again and again.

[Zak · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great history of UK Anarcho punk bands. It was a fair account of the pros and cons of that era coming from the people who were involved. I only wish I hadn't lost it! I had 150 pages left to go. Crap!

[Wayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE comprehensive look at the subject. I wish I had half the determination as Mr. Glasper has. He looks at the big names as well as the little guys, and girls that made Anarcho Punk great. I learned a lot about some of the band I've been listening to for years. Good and bad.

[Patrick H · Rating 3 out of 5]

The world - my world - is better off with this reference text. I just wish there was more
Independent/archival research and less of a “gabbing over some pints” format. Can somebody please write *that* book?

[jack]

im actually still flipping through this one. its not something that i can just sit and read, but its got some great stories. similar to lance hahn's band bios from MRR.

[Rob · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent book all about the anarcho punk scene in all of england. A lot better than "American Hardcore"

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very comprehensive. Highlights include Rudimentary Peni, Crass, Conflict, Sub-hu-mans, & Flux of Pink Indians.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only read part of this book (specific bands of interst), but I thought it was a very interesting history of the anarcho scene in the UK during the 80's.