There is no future in Englands dreaming

There is no future in England’s dreaming.

Published in 2011 by JRP Ringier

Song lyrics taken from Sex Pistols, The Clash,

The Ramones, Patti Smith and Buzzcocks.

Extra Information taken from:

Seven ages of Rock - 3rd age of Rock: The Blank Generation - BBC

Panic Attack: Art in the Punk Years by Mark Sladen and Ariella Yedgar

Merz to emigre and beyond by Steven Heller

All rights reserved.

Lauren Radford

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JRP|Ringier Kunstverlag AGLetzigraben 1348047 ZürichSwitzerland

T +41 (0)43 311 27 50F +41 (0)43 311 27 [email protected]

There is no future in England’s dreaming.

We are all just fucking sheep.

People would argue that Punk isn’t dead, but the

sad truth is, that Punk is dead. Punk meaning

action not theorizing. We no longer take action

when events bother us; we discuss, shake our

heads and move on. I think it’s a shame that there

probably won’t be another subculture like Punk,

now we just accept what goes on around us, so

much so that when someone tries to actually make

changes we just leave them too it, sit back and

deal with the consequences when it hits us. We are

all just fucking Sheep.

We have seen it all; Wars, murder, terrorist attacks,

riots, protests, an economic collapse and all the

other events that we read in the paper, watch on

the television every day.

We as a nation are so used to seeing some other

awful, disgusting event and problem and as a

society we take a back seat and take it, what else

is there to do? People protest but no one listens,

take the Student protests for example students

took to the streets of London to protest against

Student Fees raising and what happens? Nothing,

they up the fees anyway. Some people say that the

Punk subculture was nothing special, it wasn’t any

different than today, but I disagree, we are all so

much more understanding and accepting of events

around us, it’s 2012 we have more than we possibly

need in life and therefore no one stand’s up and

says “I’m doing what I want, I’m not listening to you

anymore!”

There are only a select few bands that write

songs about politics, and even then they may not

be mainstream so not everyone hears what they

have to say. No one has written a song about the

London Riots in 2011, just like The Clash wrote

White Riot about the Black Youth Riots. People

aren’t always going to like certain music but I

think some of the lyrics that came from the 70’s

punk bands should be celebrated, not only should

their lyrics be celebrated but their culture, their

Anti - establishment views. Punk wasn’t just about

aggression or offending people it was about telling

it straight and standing up and doing something.

4

6

When there’s no future how can there be sin?

Punk was the subculture with a “Do it yourself”

(DIY) ethic that went hand in hand with the Anti-

Consumerism ideology, but DIY was not a priori

amateurish.

1975, London and New York, cities close to

bankruptcy and a new music genre developing,

Punk bands created expeditious, hard-edged

music, typically with epigrammatic songs,

thin instrumentation, and often political, anti-

establishment lyrics. There are four main

contributors to the sound of Punk Rock The

Ramones and Patti Smith they are the American

contributors, The Sex Pistols and The Clash

from the other side of the Atlantic, the UK. The

Americans both have different sounds, The

Ramones were rash and harsh, and Patti Smith

however was expressive, unrefined and vigorous.

Over in the UK the Sex Pistols were writing songs

Sex Pistols

God Save The Queen

Never Mind the Buzzcocks: Here comes the Sex Pistols

1977

that were more like outpourings that carried a

beat about the affairs surrounding London. The

Clash, however, were more political when it

came to their lyrics, they were sensitive towards,

and understood, the occurrences and would get

involved rather than becoming hostile.

8

10

Oh don’t

pretend ‘cos I don’t care.

Malcolm Mclaren was the manager of the Sex

Pistols, it was whilst spending time in New York

that he came across Richard Hell. Hell gave

Mclaren the inspiration he needed for the punk

fashion. He was one of the first to spike his hair

and wear torn, cut and drawn-on shirts, often held

together with safety pins. Not only was Richard

Hell a great inspiration to Punk Fashion but his

song and album “Blank Generation” gave the Punk

subculture its name.

Sex Pistols

Pretty Vacant


1977

I belong to the blank generation.

Richard Hell and The Voidoids

Blank Generation

Blank Generation

197714

In 1976 the Sex Pistols arose in a welter of

acrimony, chaos, boisterousness and belligerence

as brash Londoners. They wrote songs about the

happenings around them, when they released “God

Save the Queen” in ’77 Steve Jones said “I don’t

see how anyone could describe us as a political

band. I don’t even know the name of the Prime

Minister.” - The song, and its public impact, is now

recognized as “punk’s crowning glory”. The Sex

Pistols took influence from American bands such

as The Ramones, Television and The Stooges

but putting their own cockney intonation on the

music, their songs were just angry rants, but people

listened and related. Mark Perry wrote in Sniffin’

Glue “The Sex Pistols are a force, you get that

feeling from their audience and it sticks in your

Pretty Va-cunt.Sex Pistols

Pretty Vacant


1977

mind. The clothes, the hair and even the attitude, of

the audience had a direct link to the band… As the

Pistols pounded out their “music” the image was in

every corner of the club.”

Their song “Pretty Vacant” was their debut single and

was almost like a manifesto, it wasn’t about talking

about people it was about getting people involved

and talking to them directly, telling them what to do.

Hiya boys I’m the chosen one.

Can’t you fucking see?Sex Pistols

Rock’n’roll Swindle


197718

20

I use anarchy.Sex Pistols

Anarchy in the UK


1977

People turned against them when they appeared

live on the “Today” programme it was when

Grundy said that he would meet one of the Pistols

entourage backstage after the show as she had

always wanted to meet him, Steve Jones then

began an exchange with Grundy proceeding

to call him a ‘dirty fucker’ and a ‘fucking rotter’.

The episode made the band household names

throughout the country and brought punk into

mainstream awareness. In 1977, word leaked out

that Matlock was leaving the Sex Pistols, Mclaren

confirmed this to NME. Lydon claimed that the

belligerently sardonic song; “God Save The Queen”

planned as the band’s second single, had been the

final straw: “Matlock couldn’t handle those kinds

of lyrics. He said it declared us fascists” Lydon

couldn’t understand how anti-royalism equated with

fascism but to get rid of Matlock he didn’t deny it so

I am an Antichrist!I am an Anarchist!

Sex Pistols

Anarchy in the UK


1977

it was decided that Sid Vicious born John Ritchie

later known as John Beverly joined the Sex Pistols.

He could barely play his new instrument but he had

the right panache and attitude. In 2006 the four

original members and Sid Vicious were welcomed

to be part of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame but

they refused to attend calling the museum “a piss

stain”.

24

I wanna be sedated.

The Ramones

I wanna be sedated

Road to Ruin

197826

28

The Ramones were a band from New York, a band

that was proud to be uncultivated and primed, full

of belligerence with a vociferous, squandering and

unambiguous musical style. The band was never

a commercial success but they were and are still

seen to be one of the most influential bands for

Punk music in the US and the UK. In 1976 The

Ramones toured the UK; it was at the Roundhouse

venue in London where they met the Sex Pistols

and The Clash that it seemed their exertion was

beginning to pay off. In 2002 The Ramones were

inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and

in 2011 given the Grammy Lifetime achievement

award.

The kid’s are losin’ their minds.The Ramones

Blitzkrieg Bop

Ramones

1976

Baby was a whore.

Baby was a black sheep.

Patti Smith

Rock ‘n’ Roll Nigger

Easter

197832

Jesus died for somebodies sins but not mine.

Patti Smith is considered a poet whose vigour

and visualisation found voice in the most powerful

medium of our culture — music. 1975 released her

debut album ‘Horses’ some say one of the most

influential albums of all time not only that but it also

helped to develop punk rock into the sound that we

know today. Patti Smith brought her own signature

of angst and poetry to her lyrics and with her voice

and outlandish harmonious sounds created a

somewhat unique sound that was complicated and

subtle.

The energy seems to flow from every song, and

the angst, fear and resentment of society simply

dripped from each song as Patti Smith added her

vibrant commentary to the punk scene. As one

of the early pioneers of New York City’s dynamic

punk scene, Smith has been creating her unique

blend of poetic rock and roll for over 35 years.

Patti Smith

Gloria

Horses

197534

People say “beware!”

But I don’t care the words are just rules and regulations to me.Patti Smith

Gloria

Horses

197536

38

An’ everybody’s doing just what they’re told to.

The Clash

White Riot

The Clash

197740

Black people gotta lot a problems,

But they don’t mind throwing a brick.

White people go to school,

Where they teach you how to be thick.The Clash

White Riot

The Clash

197742

The Clash’s politicized lyrics, musical

experimentation and rebellious attitude had a

far-reaching influence on punk rock. They were

different from the Sex Pistols, incorporated

different sounds to their first album ‘The Clash’;

they integrated reggae, ska, dance and funk. This

took the band away from the aggressive sound that

the Sex Pistols had.

The hate of a nation, a million miles from home.The Clash

Hate and War

The Clash

197744

Hate and war.

I hate all the Cops.

I hate all the English.

The Clash

Hate and War

The Clash

197746

48

Their lyrics also took the band away from the

Sex Pistols ideas as they were also bringing

politics into their music, the band’s music was

often charged by a leftist political ideology.

Joe Strummer, in particular, was a committed

leftist. The Clash are credited with pioneering

the advocacy of radical politics in punk rock,

and were dubbed the “Thinking Man’s Yobs” by

NME. Their politics were made explicit in the

lyrics of such early recordings as “White Riot”,

which encouraged disaffected white youths

to riot like their black counterparts; “Career

Opportunities” which addressed the alienation

of low-paid, routinized jobs and discontent

over the lack of alternatives; and “London’s

Burning”, about the bleakness and boredom

of life in the inner city. The band’s political

sentiments were reflected in their resistance to

the music industry’s usual profit motivations;

even at their peak, tickets to shows and

souvenirs were reasonably priced. When the

Sex Pistols broke up The Clash went up the

scale and became one of the most important

punk bands in the world. They became referred

to as “The Only Band That Matters” and in

2003 The Clash were initiated into the Rock

and Roll Hall of Fame.

50

I get violent when i’m fucked up.The Clash

Cheat

The Clash

197752

Punk Zines were the personification of the

“Anybody can do it! You don’t need them!” Attitude

in visual form. Punk graphics are what established

the punk aesthetic, torn paper edges, misspelled

type were the visual equivalent of a loud, out of

tune slashing power cord or stained clothes from

the charity shop. Punk zine’s were established for

communication; they incorporated news, scandal,

interviews and cultural criticism.

The ‘DIY’ attitude was encouraged especially when

it came to making the zine’s as they were easy to

make and to reproduce. The content of a Zine was

illustrated with newspaper clippings and a marker

pen, to reproduce they were photocopied, this

meant that they were mainly black and white. My future ain’t what it was.Buzzcocks

Boredom

Spiral Scratch (EP)

197754

The first Punk Zine was made in America in

1976 by John Holmstrom, Ged Dunn, and Legs

McNeil; this assisted to get bands known and

also to categorise them, It was in ‘Punk’ that The

Ramones were first associated with being a punk

band. Holmstrom has said that “Without ‘Punk’

there probably would have been no ‘punk rock’

and no punk movement.” Legs McNeil claims

that he called himself a punk before the whole

movement started and it was through the magazine

that he mapped out his lifestyle; dress and values

defined punk. The zine “Punk” had a comic book

layout and style, every article rendered by hand.

Over in the UK Mark Perry was taking inspiration

from ‘Punk’ and created ‘Sniffin’ Glue’ in 1976

after seeing The Ramones play at London’s

Roundhouse.

“Sniffin’ Glue” was haphazardly laid out, it looked

unprofessional. NME commended “Sniffin’ Glue”

as “the nastiest, healthiest and funniest piece

of press in the history of rock’n’roll habits” and it

really became the true chronicle of the early days

of British punk rock as well as pioneering the DIY

ethic. Fearing absorption into the mainstream

music press, Perry ceased publication in 1977. In

the last issues he encouraged his readers to follow

him with their own punk fanzines.

In 2000, Mark Perry published Sniffin’ Glue: The

Essential Punk Accessory, which is a compilation

of all the issues of the fanzine with some new

material written by him.

56

58

It’s a labour of love, fucking yourself to death.Buzzcocks

Orgasm Addict

Time’s Up

1976

Jamie Reid is a British artist and anarchist.

His work, featuring letters cut from newspaper

headlines in the style of a ransom note, came close

to defining the image of punk rock, particularly

in the UK. His best known works include the Sex

Pistols album Never Mind the Bollocks: Here

comes the Sex Pistols and the singles “Anarchy in

the UK”, “God Save The Queen”.

Jamie Reid created the ransom-note look used

with the Sex Pistols graphics while he was

designing Suburban Press, a radical political

magazine he ran for five years.

For the single release of “God save the Queen”

have Beaton’s celebratory image of the Queen,

except in Reid’s design she is blindfolded by the

song title, and gagged by the band name which the

letters and words have been taken from newspaper

clippings. The design suggests that the band

are holding up for ransom the values exemplified

by the Queen, just as “we” her subjects were

being held to ransom by being compelled into a

celebration of her reign.

Reid’s flyers and posters did not serve their

purpose of promotion but in fact provided a graphic

parallel to the songs and, alongside the music

and lyrics, complicate the identity that was being

constructed to surround the band.

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There is no future in Englands dreaming