Danny_Mc
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THE RETURN OF X-RAY SPEX
Poly Styrene and co prepare to rock London’s Roundhouse on September 6th 2008.Who could forget Poly Styrene’s rallying cry of ‘Oh Bondage, Up Yours’? Well, get ready to yell along once more as punk icons X-ray Spex are back to celebrate over 30 years of punk rock in style.
Poly and the band will be giving a plethora of X-ray classics an airing, including ‘Germ Free Adolescents’ from their hit 1978 album of the same name, ‘I Am A Cliché’, ‘I Am A Poseur’ and of course, ‘Oh Bondage, Up Yours’.
And with the Camden Roundhouse being a venue, which has not hosted an X-ray Spex gig since the height of the punk rock era, In 1978. The venue witnessed some of the most iconic bands of what was to become a worldwide movement (it’s the place where Patti Smith sang to an audience consisting of, amongst others, The Clash, the Slits before they were the Slits and many other burgeoning punk luminaries,) it is the perfect venue to stage an X-ray Spex celebration of 30 years of Germfree Adolescents.
Over time Poly Styrene and X-ray Spex featured a number of musicians in a co operative, some playing on live shows, others on record, but the legacy remains and has influenced many bands right across the globe ever since. A truly iconic British band.
X-ray Spex were one of the first bands, labelled as punk to get signed to a major label – Virgin – and despite not being considered a radio-friendly band at the time, rapidly built up a massive worldwide following, from their blistering live performances and sessions on John Peel’s legendary Radio 1 show in the late ‘70s. They also landed a residency at the iconic punk dive CBGBs in New York – making a deep impression on New York’s New Wavers such as Blondie and (a rather smitten) Richard Hell, later onto kurt Cobain. Independent and determined to be taken seriously alongside her male counterparts, Poly Styrene once stated she would “shave her head” if anyone tried to make her a sex symbol. And she did. So there.
Being a female of mixed race at a time of much political and social unrest, X-ray Spex took part in the unification of British youth in the rock against racism events of the mid 70's turbulent London.
After X-ray Spex disbanded in 1979, Poly joined the Hare Krishna movement, being very active in food for life, both with fund raising and physically feeding London's homeless. And musically, worked on solo material, culminating in 1980 album ‘Translucence’ and the EP ‘Gods and Goddesses’ in 1986.
Fast forward to today, and the band which brought us that raucous, high octane sound are firmly ensconced in our hearts as punk legends with Poly at the helm, fighting sexism and consumerism with her famous lyrics and feisty persona. ‘I made a commentary of society how I saw it, and I thought it was getting really plastic.
Most songs for women then were very romantic and I wanted to write about other things. So I wrote about genetic engineering.” Inventive, original, fiercely bright and fun, X-ray Spex are back to shake us up and show us how it’s done.
