Fierce Dancing: Adventures in the Underground

by C.J. Stone, Eldad Druks (Illustrator)

It began with a small band of Hippies and moved through Punk, Rave, and New Age mysticism. Does hope really lie in the wearing of nose rings? Can we counteract the forces of repression by making sure our margarine contains no animal fats? C.J. Stone, acclaimed columnist for the GUARDIAN and the BIG ISSUE investigates the curious state of modern thinking.

Genres: Nonfiction, Journalism

243 pages, Paperback

First published April 5, 1997

About the author

CJ Stone wrote a column for the Guardian Weekend from 1993 till 1998. It was called Housing Benefit Hill and won the writer much acclaim. He has also written columns for the Big Issue, for Mixmag, for Radio 4’s The Afternoon Shift, for Prediction magazine and for Kindred Spirit, as well as writing regularly for the New Statesman and the Independent on Sunday, amongst others. Currently he writes a fortnightly column for the Whitstable Gazette and is a working postman.

CJ Stone has had six books published. Fierce Dancing (Faber & Faber, May 1995), The Last of the Hippies (Faber & Faber, May 1999), Housing Benefit Hill (AK Press, June 2002), The Trials of Arthur (Thorsons/Element, June 2003), The Trials of Arthur Revised Edition (The Big Hand, June 2012), & The Empire of Things, (Gonzo Multimedia, Nov 2013).

"Stone writes with intelligence, wit and sensitivity." Times Literary Supplement

"Wry, acute, and sometimes hellishly entertaining essays in squalor and rebellion." Herald

"The best guide to the Underground since Charon ferried dead souls across the Styx." Independent on Sunday

"Passionately serious, irresistibly compelling, and hilariously good-humoured." Professor Ronald Hutton, Bristol University

Reviews

[Mogg Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not quite enough dancing and musick - a how to would have been welcome. A saturnine, slightly jaundiced view of the 1980s counterculture. Essential reading, the author surely right to say "The Battle of the Beanfield" is one event that should never be forgotten, especially the unholy alliance of the police, the government, English Heritage and The National Trust.

[Andy Theyers · Rating 5 out of 5]

A much needed history of the free festival movement in the UK. Not as crusty as that last sentence made it sound. Really well researched and written. I highly recommend it.

[Luke Winter · Rating 3 out of 5]

important history of free festivals of early 90s. Some colour of the dancing scene. A couple of powerful descriptions of the counter culture's place in society. Lively writing. But in structure and focus, the book is as shambolic as the people it critiques. Much about what the author had for breakfast.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Born in 1953, CJ Stone just missed the height of the UK counterculture of the 1960s, and in the 1970s and 1980s he remained somewhat on the periphery of the later alternative scenes described in such books as McKay's Senseless Act of Beauty (essential pre-reading for anyone interested in Stone's work who is from outside the UK). However, he has a keen interest in Britain's hippies, travellers, neo-Pagans, and underground music fans, and his interactions with people from these scenes is the subject of Fierce Dancing, published in 1996. The book opens with a visit to an early 1990s rave, but mainly looks further back in time.

The book is loosely structured, based to a large degree on anecdotes from CJ Stone's personal life, which can be somewhat tiresome, a sort of cock and bull story where one waits to hear what his point is. However, there is a great deal of interesting facts, trivia, and rumour about the UK counterculture here, from what happened to some hippies after the golden age of the Sixties (surprisingly, many were sucked into Scientology or other cults) to rumours about the death of free festival organizer Wally Hope. What Stone calls the “dark heart” of the book is his description of the “Battle of the Beanfield”, as the violent police dispersal of the 1985 Windsor Free Festival has become known. This was a shocking case of police brutally beating harmless people (including pregnant women), captured on video, and the documentary film "Operation Solstice" that Stone claims should be mandatory viewing in schools for every child in Britain can now be freely watched online.

While I am mainly interested in the Sixties underground, Stone's book is an occasionally interesting investigation into what happened next, and it's encouraging that a man who was in his late 30s as the book opens nonetheless managed to integrate well into scenes dominated by younger generations, but of course with his greater age and experience he could offer a critical perspective and note how certain features are cyclical of protest scenes.

[Joseph Heaven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic read. If you were one of those people in the late eightees or early ninetees dancing all night with your shirt of bug eyed and hugging strangers this is a MUST READ. Highly entertaining and revealing look at UK E culture from back in the day when pills were £20 and gave you a euphoric and loved up high that would last all night and people were nice to eachother.

Halcyon days.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Witty and insightful view of 80's UK counterculture.

[Christine Flanagan]

Brilliant read

[Simon Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent journey through the underground as it was in the late 90's. Very reminiscent descriptions of free parties and free festivals especially Castlemorton in '92.

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