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Simon WarnerFeaturesLess Rotten than reasonable: Joe Strummer and my punk DamascusAlthough I saw Joe Strummer in action many times, I only met him once and, embarrassingly, confused him with someone else. In early autumn 1976, as term at Sheffield University unfolded, news of the arrival of the most talked about gig of the year filtered through the underground grapevine. The Anarchy in the UK tour, bringing the nascent fury of British punk to the nation, wended its uncertain way through the country, uncertain, because where-ever the entourage set up camp, there was imminent danger of the local council denying the potential hell-raisers a performing licence. [27 December 2002] Less Rotten than reasonable: Joe Strummer and my punk DamascusAlthough I saw Joe Strummer in action many times, I only met him once and, embarrassingly, confused him with someone else. In early autumn 1976, as term at Sheffield University unfolded, news of the arrival of the most talked about gig of the year filtered through the underground grapevine. The Anarchy in the UK tour, bringing the nascent fury of British punk to the nation, wended its uncertain way through the country, uncertain, because where-ever the entourage set up camp, there was imminent danger of the local council denying the potential hell-raisers a performing licence. 25 Up: Punk’s Silver Jubilee: So bored with the USA?: reflections on a transatlantic divideOn their first album, in 1977, the Clash included the track 'I'm So Bored with the USA'. It was a sweeping rant. But with which USA were the band so bored? Was it the Velvet Underground or Iggy Pop? Unlikely. Was it US television, was it US militarism? More probable. Was it more to do with the Clash resenting the idea of latterday American imperialism and, by extension, a suggestion that that very imperialism might be claiming this simmering sub-cultural volcano as its own? Quite possible. Or was it something else? [18 October 2001] 25 Up: Punk’s Silver Jubilee: So bored with the USA?: reflections on a transatlantic divideOn their first album, in 1977, the Clash included the track 'I'm So Bored with the USA'. It was a sweeping rant. But with which USA were the band so bored? Was it the Velvet Underground or Iggy Pop? Unlikely. Was it US television, was it US militarism? More probable. Was it more to do with the Clash resenting the idea of latterday American imperialism and, by extension, a suggestion that that very imperialism might be claiming this simmering sub-cultural volcano as its own? Quite possible. Or was it something else? A king, a queen and two knaves?: An Interview with David Hadju'Positively 4th Street', New York-based writer David Hajdu's account of the folk era, focuses on two couples whose lives became entangled in the complex history of early 1960s America -- Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, Richard and Mimi Farina. Here he tells 'PopMatters' about its genesis. [2 August 2001] Forever Older, Forever Wiser? Dylan Hits 60Bob Dylan has resisted the fatal demons that came to haunt so many of his contemporaries. On May 24th, 2001, that giant of the Sixties reaches 60 himself. [23 May 2001] Columns
The Who Know Who They Are and From Whence They CameMeet the new boss, same as the old boss. Warner revisits the Live at Leeds legacy courtesy of the Who. [18 July 2006] (more Anglo Visions) Prime Location: How Sitcom Settings Add to the FunAs British sitcoms move higher on the endangered species list, a small number of successful programs are relying on geographic familiarity to attract (and maintain) UK viewers. [14 June 2006] (more Anglo Visions) Passion as Fashion? Rock Meets Religion on Manchester’s StreetsManchester united around something other than soccer on Good Friday, as rock, religion and theatre came together for a unique presentation of Christ's crucifixion. [23 May 2006] (more Anglo Visions) Designs on DemocracyOn The Great British Design Quest a new sort of made-for-TV entertainment/culture show, the best that Britain has to offer is at the mercy of the masses. [20 April 2006] (more Anglo Visions) Get on the Scene, NowLeeds, and the nearby cities of Sheffield and Wakefield, are part of a musical renaissance. Warner talks with members of two bands from the area, each with contrasting views on this new 'scene'. [20 March 2006] (more Anglo Visions) Still Howling: A Poem for Then and NowIf Elvis Presley fuelled a visceral revolution, Allen Ginsberg lit the blue-touch paper on an intellectual one. [30 September 2005] (more Anglo Visions) Buccaneers Leave Manchester DisunitedIn an effort to add to their respective toy chests, moguls are getting their kicks out of soccer by turning the proud pastime into a sport of corporate acquisition. [31 August 2005] (more Anglo Visions) Danger Ahead? Proceed at Your Own RiskDark humour and troubling times cross paths as a harbinger of things to come. [1 August 2005] (more Anglo Visions) Media Mainstream? There’s Still an AlternativeAll the news that's fit to print -- at least fit to print outside the publishing mainstream -- the alternative newspaper is alive and well on both sides of the pond. [23 June 2005] (more Anglo Visions) We Can Meet HeroesHero worship and chance encounters can pay dividends... but you'd best know the Clash from the Pistols. [23 May 2005] (more Anglo Visions) Sitting in the Shadows of GiantsLessons learned from a squash club spanking and visit to Maggie's flat help an intrepid journalist stand tall and be intimidated no more. [4 May 2005] (more Anglo Visions) Return to Genre? Beware Misleading SignsAn exploration into musical genre-bending; things are not always as they sound. [23 March 2005] (more Anglo Visions) Pop’s Same Name Fame GamesIs it imitation? Is it flattery? Is it postmodern homage when a band's name is a play on another's that has gone, most famously, before? [16 February 2005] (more Anglo Visions) Past Pal Bears New Year PresentThe UK never really had that rather endearing US tradition surrounding yearbooks, proms and 'Class of' reunions. UK state schools did not encourage the alumni culture that the American educational system so enthusiastically sustains. Friends Reunited may be changing that. [19 January 2005] (more Anglo Visions) Moving Home: Two Transatlantic TalesWarner converses with two reverse migration musicians, Preston Reed and Gabriel Minnikin, who have moved away from North America to live and work in more ancient lands. [15 December 2004] (more Anglo Visions) Radio Head? Ex-pirate Peel Abandons ShipJohn Peel retained a fondness for music of all periods. The unearthing of undiscovered performers and undersung genres appeared to be his unceasing motivation. [1 December 2004] (more Anglo Visions) Now He’s 64: A Late Lennon LandmarkSixty-four-year-olds aren't what they used to be, and if John Lennon were still alive, he would probably not be living the quaint parlour scene played out in McCartney's ditty. [27 October 2004] (more Anglo Visions) Mercury’s Message: Low Key, High QualityThe Mercury Prize helps spread the gospel of talented UK musicians beyond the confines of their homeland, without over-the-top, Grammy-like showboating. [29 September 2004] (more Anglo Visions) Politicians: Beware the Power of RockWhen a giant of the rock industry like Bruce Springsteen weighs in with his tuppence worth, tens of thousands of ordinary voters feel they are being offered the benefit of impartial common sense from a source they can trust. [25 August 2004] (more Anglo Visions) Better Red Than DeadIn comedy, wherein nothing is sacred, where do we draw the line between witty repartee and savage satire? [28 July 2004] (more Anglo Visions) That Old Devil Called DanceDancing, in so many situations, represents something that is threatening to civilisation's natural order: the uncoiling of our trussed-up desires played out in public, a triumph of the visceral over the cerebral, the unwelcomed victory of the hip over the head. [23 June 2004] (more Anglo Visions) Almost Cooke’s Century: A Transatlantic Pioneer Moves OnA tribute to Alistair Cooke and a recollection of his influence on Warner's life. [26 May 2004] (more Anglo Visions) Put Another Nickel InJohn Lennon's Swiss-made, KB Discomatic can now be seen and heard with this TV programme and CD, and it's a beautiful thing. [28 April 2004] (more Anglo Visions) No Sikth Please, We’re BritishWhat happens when high culture meets low, high art meets popular, establishment meets street, funded meets fundless? At Fuse, it's a culture clash. [31 March 2004] (more Anglo Visions) Is Women’s Work Finally Done?Britain is nonetheless witnessing the steady rise of a collection of youthful female challengers who might just catch the attention of American ears before the year is out. [10 March 2004] (more Anglo Visions) Media Mayhem in EnglandThose latterday Citizen Kanes -- continue to believe that a policy of chop and change, axe and launch, re-think, re-design and rally, is the best means to hold our attention. [28 January 2004] (more Anglo Visions) Get Naked? Why Not Let It Be?Has anyone the right to take an existing document and resurrect it in this manner? [7 January 2004] (more Anglo Visions) Jailhouse PopNothing adds a more notable notch to your studded belt, nothing sharpens the spurs on your blue-suede shoes better, than a bit of disorderly disrespect for the social code. [12 November 2003] (more Anglo Visions) Ready, Steady, GothJust as the sounds on the dance floor borrow from Detroit and Trenchtown, Bombay and Cape Town, so those who groove to them take their sartorial vision, their individual style, from something closer to multiculture than subculture. [7 October 2003] (more Anglo Visions) Laughing Matters?Have we maybe now entered that post-modern world where sophisticated audiences can 'read' the levels of a joke without being corrupted by the main text? [11 September 2003] (more Anglo Visions) Cleveland Heights, A City of Culture and Contrasts. . . in the midst of difference -- wealth and education here, poverty and despair just over there -- Americans retain an essential respect for the symbols of the city, the physical pillars of the nation. [14 August 2003] (more Anglo Visions) Skiffle and the English “Elvis”Anglo Visions -- Skiffle and the English 'Elvis' -- Suffice it to say that without Donegan's 'Rock Island Line', it is highly unlikely that the greatest band of all would ever have emerged. [9 July 2003] (more Anglo Visions) Right and Wrongs: The Return of the Anti-Nazi LeagueThis conjunction, a Prime Minister with a falling rating and a spineless Parliamentary opposition, has again wedged the door ajar for the British National Party, the current incarnation of the National Front. [18 June 2003] (more Anglo Visions) Canon Fodder?You can count your life not through T.S. Eliot's coffee spoons, but through crucial sax solos and critical Scorcese sequences. [7 May 2003] (more Anglo Visions) Rock in the AcademyFew are stunted or stultified by the need to think about and analyse where rock or reggae or rave fits into the cultural landscape. [9 April 2003] (more Anglo Visions) Genesis and Revelations: From the Midlands to Manhattan(I)t soon became apparent that the Megsons took a slightly less conventional approach to life. [12 March 2003] (more Anglo Visions) Rock and Reality: How TV and Pop Got It TogetherThe young starlets rocketed from obscurity to celebrity overnight also seem likely to return to obscurity, carrying the embarrassing ignominy of their brief TV fame, with them. [12 February 2003] (more Anglo Visions) Death Row: A View from the Cheap Seats. . .when you personally pass Jimi's age or John's, or Buddy's or Elvis', you realise just how fleetingly they basked in the limelight, and how briefly the candle of your own existence flairs then flickers. [8 January 2003] (more Anglo Visions) California Dreaming: US Band Plans British InvasionHe was seeking advice on how an unknown Yankee combo could approach the mysteries of this tiny island and not leave with their tail between their legs. [6 November 2002] (more Anglo Visions) Rock Writing and Sports Writing: Aesthetics vs. Athletics(Richard Williams) felt, when he hung up his pop pen, that he'd almost run out of words to meaningfully apply to music. [16 October 2002] (more Anglo Visions) No Smoke Without FearI hope, John, they do have celestial ashtrays in the next place. [11 September 2002] (more Anglo Visions) Titanic Efforts, But UK Acts Fail to Bridge Great DivideOnce our groups struck the Union Jack at the summit; now they stumble among the loose scree of the lower slopes. [14 August 2002] (more Anglo Visions) Lad Mags and Dangerous, You Know: The Risk That Rolling Stone TakesAnglo Visions -- Lad Mags and Dangerous, You Know: The Risk That Rolling Stone Takes -- In the hands of the new breed of editors, style and gloss, surface and glamour, beat everything: bigger, deeper, harder, harsher matters cower in the shadow of the flash, the superficial, the vacuous, the ephemerally amusing. [10 July 2002] (more Anglo Visions) Pop Goes the Palace but Pistols Remain in ExilThe chances of Osbourne biting the head off a live corgi -- the toy dog that has been the hearthside symbol of the latterday Windsors -- were maybe remote, but it is worth remembering that other members of the invited bill have not always toed the line themselves. [12 June 2002] (more Anglo Visions) The Haçienda Must Be Re-filmedHere is a man who, almost single-handedly, wrested the UK rock crown from Liverpool . . . and made Manchester . . . the undisputed heavyweight of British sub-cultural credibility. [15 May 2002] (more Anglo Visions) Major setback: Is time up for EMI?. . . but since the de-merger from Thorn in 1996, it has looked a rather lonely whale in a sea of increasingly hungry sharks. [10 April 2002] (more Anglo Visions) Centre of Attraction? How a UK Pop Dream DiedYet the project raises rather difficult memories of a similar scheme that Britain tried to get off the ground . . . [13 March 2002] (more Anglo Visions) Friends and NMENow that the Woodstock clan had been joined by the Live Aid generation, rock had almost picked up its pipe and slippers. [13 February 2002] (more Anglo Visions) Lies, damned lies, and end of year pollsThe old Broadway show gag comes to mind, 'No one liked it, only the public'. [9 January 2002] (more Anglo Visions) Harcourt, McRae and T-T: The Return of the Neurotic Boy OutsideThese Neurotic Boy Outsiders have coped in different ways with the poisoned chalice of their own, often media-shaped image as restless, difficult and highly individual artists. [20 November 2001] (more Anglo Visions) Reviews
Positively 4th Street by David Hajdu'Positively 4th Street' draws a potent picture of artists as young men - and women - run through as it is with the spice and spark of success and disappointment, treachery and infidelity, ambition and antagonism. [1 January 1995] 
Birth of the Cool - Beat, Bebop and the American Avant Garde by Lewis MacAdamsWhen saxman Charlie Parker visited Paris in 1949, he was introduced to Jean-Paul Sartre, one of the godfathers of existential thought. 'I'm very glad to have met you,' the musician told the philosopher. 'I like your playing very much.'" |
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