Quando bruciammo l'Inghilterra!: Storia del punk britannico 1980-1984

by Ian Glasper

Nel 1977 il punk fu dichiarato morto. Un paio di anni dopo, in Inghilterra, scoppiò un nuovo incendio musicale di enorme potenza. Una musica più dura, più aggressiva la scena punk del 1980-1984. E fu di nuovo caos nelle strade. Questo è il libro completo su quella Discharge, GBH, UK Subs, Exploited, Varukers, Disorder, Blitz, Anti Pasti, Vice Squad, Chaos Uk, Toy Dolls, Broken Bones, Adicts, Uk Decay, Chron Gen, Cockney Rejects, Peter and the Test Tube Babies, The 4-Skins, Angelic Upstarts, Anti-Nowhere League... e tanti altri.

Genres: Music, Punk, Nonfiction, History

478 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2004

Reviews

[Barry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one!

Having recently enjoyed a trip down memory lane with Ian Glasper's book about British thrash metal, 'Contract In Blood' I decided to take the plunge and pick up his punk books and have a nice dip into some nostalgia.

'Burning Britain' covers the history of the bands that made up the second (or was it third) wave of punk in the early 1980's and as I expected, it is exceptionally thorough covering all the regional scenes, the bands, and the labels with lots of photos and lots of stories. I feel quite familiar with the layouts of the authors books by now. The entries for each band do sometimes feel a little formulaic (like a lot of UK '82 punk!) and sometimes the bands blend into each other with the same kind of stories appearing time and time again (once again, like a lot of punk of the era!) but it gets a free pass because unlike some of the thrash metallers in 'Contract In Blood' I feel some of the characters in this book are a little more interesting and there is a definite sense of the book being rooted in the past.

It was probably in the very early 90's when I started to move away from thrash into death metal, then grindcore before discovering punk 'properly'. The first wave of punk did nothing for me, it sounded like music my Dad would listen to and didn't feel particularly rebellious (I still think 'The Clash' are one of the shitest, most boring and overrated bands in the universe and nothing will change my mind). I think I was about 16 though when I bought an Exploited live LP on pink vinyl that seemingly everyone had and also the Chaos UK / Extreme Noise Terror 'Earslaughter' split. It wasn't overnight but probably by the time I was 18 I was listening to 90% punk and joining bands of my own. I guess what's important is that at the time, a lot of my punky mates were leaning more into the hardcore side of things and punk seemed a bit of a dirty word but at heart it was the music of 1982 that sounded like 'punk', far more than all the earlier bands. Years later I continued to embarrass myself by waving my punk flag proudly when lots of others started inventing a trillion new sub-genres for whatever 'core' people were listening to.

So I guess, this isn't the music of my youth, but it's music I was devouring when I was young. So many of the bands in this book I scoured second hand record shops and stalls for 7"'s and LP's. The Exploited, Anti-Nowhere League, U.K. Subs, Chaos U.K., Peter and The Test Tube Babies, 4 Skins, Blitz, The Varukers and of course one of the most influential bands on the planet - Discharge. I hammered them all! Discharge practically reinvented (for better or worse) what punk sounded like!

Things change and people change and my musical 'rabbit holing' hasn't stopped but I think I generally stopped listening to a lot of punk over the years so whilst reading this book I have absolutely DEVOURED so many of my old favourites and quite a few new ones! I've loved it. The soundtrack to the book has seen me chanting along and pogoing as I listen to old favourites and check out new ones (even giving second chances to bands I didn't really care for at the time like G.B.H.)

Each band entry in the book is quite similar whether they were one of the 'big bands' or one that released the odd 7" or demo. It's kind of funny looking at the book as a whole because there really only seems to be one 'main' story.

'How did you form?' - We were all mates at school, we couldn't play, nicked some instruments, played gigs in our mum's garage....

'What were your gigs like?' - We were always pissed, did a load of glue, played badly, then there was a riot with skinheads

There usually is then a list of the comings and goings of band members and what they did after plus an account of an unfulfilling recording experience. Then, the obligatory 'we reformed to cash in at 'Holidays In The Sun', I mean, 'we just wanted to have a laugh again'.

I know I sound a bit harsh but I don't mean it, you have to appreciate this music and buy into it to enjoy the book. I doubt a non-punk fan would be that bothered by the samey-ness of it - this is a book for fans definitely.

In many ways the book is a time capsule and capture of 1980's Thatcherite Britain - unlike the first wave of punk that came from the art school, this second wave came from the (predominantly) white working class and it shows. So many of the bands lived experience was rooted in a lived experience of unemployment, no work, no prospects and quite evidently no future. There is a certain sense of self-destructiveness as the bands have no sense of their own long term wellbeing or that of others, violence infests every page as gigs are virtual battle grounds.

I guess this is where I differed back in the day, and still do now. I pretty much always associated my punk with my anarchism. I used to get into quite a few scrapes with 'cartoon punks' like many of the bands in this book, based on their lack of politics, pointless violence and seeing punk as just an excuse to get pissed and fall about. This leads to one of the interesting scope choices in the book. Glasper's second book, 'The Day The Country Died' is about the bands that spun out of the anarcho / peace punk scene following Crass in the early 80's. That's not to say that none of the bands in this book weren't political or didn't had things to say but there is an interesting split and I am not sure the line is that clear. (I am looking forward to reading that book, especially as I loved loads of those type of bands).

The other interesting scope choice is to avoid the skinhead scene, unless the bands had an influence on punk. Looking back, I am not sure if the scenes were all that different if looking through a historical lens. Working class, three chord shouty, political and a bit booze and fags there is little difference and the lines between street punk and Oi! have been blurred for ages. I do get the impression though that at the time the punk and skinhead subcultures were distinct but inextricably linked.

Considering a lot of the big Oi! bands like The Business, Angelic Upstarts, 4 Skins, Blitz, The Partisans and Cockney Rejects are in here I get the impression that this scope choice is to avoid getting into murky waters with the white power rock scene. To be honest I wouldn't touch it either, but I think I would prefer Glasper to be up front and call it out - 'I ain't covering nazi shit, or their close mates in this book, thanks'. It does feel a little weird with all the big Oi! bands covered that The Oppressed aren't in and neither are Cock Sparrer (I get they were 'first wave' but 1982's 'Shock Troops' was a massive record).

I also think over the years a lot has been made of the early 80's Oi! scene and it's links to the Far Right. We've heard it all before of course, how, 'it's patriotism, not nationalism', 'we're apolitical, left and right are as bad as each other', 'he never said anything around us, we didn't know he'd end up like that'. Looking back, I think it's quite clear that many of the bands at the time, if not goosestepping about were at the least tolerant of, or turning a blind eye to the Far Right in the scene. There's loads said about fights with skinheads at gigs, well how did they get in if punks and punk promoters were quite happy for them to be let in to share their space? There's a revolving door of musicians who came from or went to white power bands - it wasn't an isolated incident. Some of the dog whistles by some band's output about 'Ingerlund' look increasingly dodgy rather than innocence and exuberance, when you look at who they hung around with and what they say today. There are bands who signed to labels which quickly became exclusive white power labels. I mean, Sun favourite Garry Bushell is given a far to easy ride in the book as being influential and supporting bands (true) but there is no critique of what he become. His English Nationalist politics today and the shit that is put out by The Gonads make his 'accidental' Auschwitz sloganneering and 'accidental' photo of known Combat 18 dead nazi Nicky Crane not all that accidental you know?

(As an aside I used to FUCKING LOVE 4 Skins and turned a blind eye to ex-Skrewdriver members, and also that the dodgy as fuck Roi Pearce sung for them, but seeing what Garry Hodges sings about now makes me think, how many chances do you want lads?)

The author possibly didn't know at the time but more than a few 'modern' bands are name dropped who are in it up to their necks with 'apolitical bands who are really right wing and hang out with nazis'. A lot of defenders of the scene back then have made a lot of noise but really, taking what the bands themselves have said, research from the modern era by antifash researchers and what I think we can say as a critique is that the UK 82 scene created an environment where the boneheads could move in, even if violence was a feature between punks and skins.

I guess the other element of this, is of course we shouldn't be surprised. A decade later and you'd struggle to get a gig if you came out with bigoted crap so whilst a lot has been made over the years about racism, the scene had an undercurrent of sexism and homophobia, to the point that quite a lot of bands should be fucking embarrassed by the shit they put out. I get that the bands were straight out of school and we are looking at it through a modern lens but it clearly wasn't an enlightened culture (thankfully anarcho punk got us out of it).

I perhaps seem a little critical of the scene, but I think it is a strength of the book in that in presenting the words of the bands themselves I think it has helped me to critique a lot of things wrong with the scene, recognise the context they were in but also appreciate a lot of absolute brilliant music. Reading it now, I can accept some things that I possibly didn't appreciate when I was a kid.

The book also benefits from pretty comprehensive discographies and pieces about the labels and where to pick up 'essential' releases (which does read like a several hundred page advert for Captain Oi! who I suspect helped a lot with getting access to people). Unlike the late 80's and 90's where everything was released on little indie non-profit labels there has been an effort to preserve this scene through reissues. Indeed, most bands in the book have quite a lot of their material available on streaming services so it's great to have this accessible today (I feel a bit sad that the 90's scene I was part of is much harder to get hold of now, based on our 'we aren't co-operating with you money grabbers' even though I was pretty vocal about not selling out!).

Really good book about a scene I wasn't directly part of but loved in my teens. Can't wait for the next book in the series.

[Ryan Mishap · Rating 3 out of 5]

An indispensable resource for anyone obsessed with street punk of England from the period discussed. General punk readers, such as myself, may not need to read the whole thing.

When the band members interviewed for the book are allowed to reminisce, the book provides an interesting look at a time and place when punk was reinventing itself and of England embroiled in the politics of the 1980's. The format quickly becomes repetitive, however, with the when it was formed, by who, and what releases, etc. duly reported for each band, known or obscure.

Punk was more than music, you know? But Glasper doesn't deal with anything but music, save for the occasional fanzine or protest reference. It is a monster project already, I suppose, but punk is more than bands.

On that note, the bands, and hence the book, are completely male-dominated. No thought or mention of this fact is made. Indeed, most references to women (at least those not in the bands) are along the lines of girlfriends or wives who so-and-so left the band for.

I'd recommend Glasper's The Day the Country Died over this one, as it deals with the same time period but looks at the anarcho-bands.

[Afroditi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything you need to know about the second punk wave in Britain ;)

[Sign of the Wolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Czytałem tę książkę równo rok z dwóch powodów - po pierwsze sprawdzałem na bieżąco wszystkie omawiane zespoły i po drugie - niestety w okolicach Londynu człowiek ma już trochę dość trochę jednostajnej narracji Glaspera.
Przed całą listą zastrzeżeń wymienię jedną istotną zaletę, która wpływa na dobrą ocenę - ta książka to kompendium wiedzy o drugiej fali brytyjskiego punka i jakkolwiek krytyczny nie byłbym wobec tej publikacji, to na pewno mój stan wiedzy na ten temat wzrósł.
Problem nr 1 to na pewno selekcja zespołów. W worku, który nazwijmy skrótowo UK82 mieszczą się tutaj zarówno wczesne kapele hardcore punkowe (Discharge, Disorder), ojowe (the Business, 4-Skins), gotyckie (UK Decay, Screaming Dead) czy pop punkowe (Toy Dolls, Erazerhead). I niby ok, bo rozumiem, że mówimy tutaj o fenomenie istniejącym w konkretnym przedziale czasowym, a nie ściśle określonym gatunkiem, ale Glasper wciska w to parę zespołów, które zrobiły już wokół siebie spory szum w latach 70 (UK Subs, Angelic Upstarts, Outcasts), które częścią dyskografii zahaczyły o kolejną dekadę i niestety to im często poświęca najwięcej miejsca. Dobrą ilustracją tego problemu jest np. to, że wokalista UK Subs, Charlie Harper, mógłby być technicznie ojcem typów z Court Martial. Glasperowi brakuje też trochę konsekwencji w doborze zespołów - wspomniane zespoły z lat 70 pojawiają się, bo ich istotne płyty wyszły we wczesnych latach 80, a nie pojawia się Cock Sparrer, który też miał wtedy swój peak. Nie wiadomo też jaki był klucz doboru zespołów ojowych, bo na pewno nie była to polityka - nie pojawia się lewicowe the Oppressed, a swój rozdział mają dodgy w późniejszych latach the 4-Skins.
Problem 2 dotyczy relacjonowania różnego rodzaju ekscesów. Ja rozumiem, że panczurstwo ma swoje prawa, ludzie są młodzi i głupi, ale niektóre przytaczane historie to ciężka patola. Zwłaszcza problematyczne jest podejście wielu muzyków do kobiet, od którego bije oblechawką. Z punktu widzenia narracji kumam, że w niektórych przypadkach jest to po prostu element opowiadania jakim to się było młodym i głupim, ale autor nie dystansuje się od tego, tylko jest to serwowane jako haha zabawne wspomnienia.
Generalnie uważam, że warto to przeczytać jak się jest osobą punkowską albo lubi się takie granie, bo można się tego i owego dowiedzieć. Ale na bank nie jest to jakaś wielce inspirująca lektura, która zmieni Wasze pankowe życia w inny sposób niż wepchnięcie do króliczej nory z zapomnianymi zespołami

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an exhaustive and comprehensive tour of second-wave British punk bands. For each band in this large list, the book provides history, activities, anecdotes, and availability of their output. It's a true labour of love and a must read for all punk fans.

I was expecting more of a look at punk from a cultural and political perspective, and so, not being an old punk, as such, only made it through a couple of regions before cherry-picking bands I'd heard of from the rest. But this is not in any way a ding in the book's quality.

If you're into the music of this period, don't miss this.

[Valton Landrum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating look at the UK82 second wave. Loved these bands as a kid and this book only enriched the genre for me. Essential!

[Cassidy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read the first 8 chapters and then it for a bit repititive

[Stevec · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably more of a 2.5. The longer sections devoted to the bigger bands like the Blitz and Discharge were informative, but some bands got a half page with no one from the band interviewed and it hardly seemed worth the effort. I know it was his first book, but he essentially asked every band the same set of questions:

How did you get into punk?
What was your best and worst show?
What was your favorite record?

Most of the time he only got one person from the band to answer questions, and he bogged down so much of the information with various line up changes that were hardly significant. If I read more than 50 pages at one time, it just all blurred together. He also missed out on some key bands like Cocksparrer, who were mentioned many times but didn't make it into the book. Then there is a flimsy section at the end with some record labels of the era, and an even smaller ones about important zines. It just seemed tacked on. Clocking in at 400 pages, I think Glasper could have used an editor or sought the advice of someone who had done a project similar to this before getting it published. Instead of writing about 80 bands, I would have narrowed it down to like 15 or 20, because when he gave some more length to the pieces, it ended up being better written. This fails on many levels like most music books about a specific scene or era I have read.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite as interesting of a read as "The Day the Country Died," but another good old Brit punk resource. The vinyl covered in here is actually fun to collect because it's not particularly high-priced or hard to find. Some of the best from this era that get coverage in this book - Discharge, The Varukers, The Undead, Chaos UK, The Underdogs, The Insane, Ultra Violent, Skeptix, Dead Wretched, Uproar, Death Sentence...there were a lot of pretty unremarkable bands, too.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Owned much of the music written about as a spotty and truculent teenager, after reading Glasper's excellent book I downloaded a whole lot of it and so now own it all over again as a balding and truculent forty-something. Not much stands the test of time but the book reads well and there are some wonderful accounts that make Spinal Tap look distinctively middle of the road......now moving onto The Day The Country Died.

[Gerry LaFemina · Rating 3 out of 5]

An exhaustive and exhausting band by band rendering of the second wave of British punk. I'm glad for much of it, but after the first ten bios that sounded similarly, I kept wondering when Glasper would change it up. He didn't. What starts as a celebration of non-generic bands, becomes rendered in the most generic format. Sad, really.