Women of Inspiration: Poly Styrene

Benjamin Forrest on 18 March 2021

Poly Styrene, in many ways, has fallen into a certain degree of obscurity since her band X-Ray Spex split in 1979. Prominent figures within the New Wave punk scene in the UK during the late 1970s , X-Ray Spex produced some of the greatest, most profound, lyrics of that era. Despite this, the music press only seems to remember the Sex Pistols – the punk equivalent of a manufactured boy band – and the likes of Poly Styrene and X-Ray Spex are largely forgotten, or so it was thought. Clearly many people still remember the force of nature that was Poly Styrene (or Marianne Joan Elliot-Said, to use her birth name) as a documentary film, called I am a Cliché, telling her story was recently crowdfunded (before receiving funding from Sky) and aired on Sky Arts.

The film follows Celeste Bell, the only daughter of Poly Styrene, as she retraces her mother’s steps and tells the incredible, at points heart breaking, story of her life. The story is of the first woman of colour to front a successful rock band in the UK, a tortured genius, and undoubtedly one of the coolest people of the 20^th century, but mainly of a mother and how her relationship with daughter Celeste progressed over the course of Poly Styrene’s career. The story of the documentary is told mainly through diary entries (voiced by Ruth Negga), personal accounts from Bell and interviews with fellow musicians and those who knew her. The visuals of the film are simply stunning; the shots of Celeste looking through her mother’s personal belongings are cut together with an unbelievable amount of brilliant archive footage, photographs and artwork – of which Poly Styrene created most. It truly is a visual treat to watch.

The influence of Poly Styrene and X-Ray Spex cannot be overstated, and this is shown within the documentary if only through the people who speak within it. Kathleen Hanna (Bikini Kill/Le Tigre/The Julie Ruin), Pauline Black (The Selecter), Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), Rhoda Dakar (The Bodysnatchers, The Special AKA) all testify to how influential the work of Poly Styrene was to them and the greater music scene – without her influence over Kathleen Hanna it is entirely possible that the Riot Grrrl movement would never have happened. The film also features contributions from iconic figures of the period, including Vivienne Westwood and Don Letts, interspersed between the monologue of Celeste Bell and Poly’s personal diary entries.

A stand-out point within the documentary was the period of time which X-Ray Spex played a series of shows at the iconic CBGB club – famed for spawning such bands as The Ramones, Blondie, Television and Talking Heads to name but a few. Spending time in New York, the film reveals, Styrene was astonished by the huge prevalence of advertisements and consumerism. These themes were obviously prevalent within her lyrics (for instance, “It’s 1977 and we are going mad / It’s 1977 and we’ve seen too many ads”, from ‘Plastic Bag’). Many of the observations made in her diary entries, read aloud within this film, correctly predict how advertising has shaped or damaged the lives of people in the modern day.

Thankfully, the documentary is not confined only to Styrene’s time with X-Ray Spex – though that section of her life is undoubtedly fascinating – it also deals with her childhood as one of the first waves of mixed raced children in the UK and how outcasted that caused Marianne to feel. The prevalent racist attitudes in the UK during 1960s and 70s with regard to the rise of the National Front and Enoch Powell’s infamous ‘Rivers of Blood’ hate speech are not often covered from a biracial perspective, however this documentary deals with the topic in a very informative way. It is an important story to be told in terms of the social history of the UK and is far too often glossed over.

Her struggles with her own mental health, her unsuccessful (or rather: unappreciated) solo career, her dedication to the Hare Krishna movement, and her glorious early 00s comeback are all detailed within the film. Aside from being a story about a pioneering and gifted poet and lyricist, it is simply a very interesting and important story; the fact it is finally being told and Poly Styrene is finally receiving the credit she is due is a cause for rejoice. I am a Cliché is one of the most interesting and well put together music documentaries in recent time. If you are a fan of the band, feminism, music history or social history in general you will likely enjoy this film. As stated by Pauline Black in the film “The world is playing catch up with Poly Styrene, not the other way around”.

Punk is Black!

Benjamin Forrest on 16 October 2020

Punk music, as a genre, has a long and illustrious history, and most music historians list the first ‘punk’ records as The Stooges’ 1969 album, or the MC5’s ‘Kick Out the Jams’ (also released in 1969) – some go further back to the US garage scene of the mid-1960’s, either way, the frequently told history of punk music is seemingly dominated by white artists, particularly white males. A section of that history which is often ignored, forgotten or even omitted is the vital contributions of some incredible black artists.

Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, for instance, released the single ‘I Put A Spell On You’ all the way back in 1956 (a full 11 years before the Stooges even formed) and whilst the song itself isn’t outright punk music in terms of lyrical content, it incorporates many of the devices later characterised as ‘punk’, such as Hawkins strained, desperate shouting vocals and outlandish, shocking live performances.

A Detroit three-piece called Death recorded what is, in my eyes, one of the definitive punk anthems ‘Politicians In My Eyes’ in 1975 thus pre-dating the Ramones’ first album (widely regarded as the first out-and-out punk record). The single only sold 500 copies at the time and the band was largely ignored until 2009 when Drag City Records released the demos Death had recorded back in 1975 to critical acclaim. A detail that is often not recognised in the story of Death is that ‘Politicians In My Eyes’ was self-released on their own record label, thereby making Death one of the first independent bands to exist, years before Buzzcocks self-released their EP ‘Spiral Scratch’, credited with starting independent or ‘indie’ music.

The UK punk scene, the start of which is signified by the release of ‘New Rose’ by the Damned in October 1976, was seemingly dominated by three white male bands: Sex Pistols, The Clash, and The Damned. I would argue, however, that some of the greatest records of that era were created by X-Ray Spex, led by Marianne Joan Elliot-Said (better known as Poly Styrene) whose overt feminism and politically charged anthems marked her out from the more mainstream punk artists of the time as being someone with something significant to say, as opposed to The Damned whose lyrical content was often closer to love than rebellion, or the Sex Pistols who were simply manufactured by Malcolm McLaren to cause outrage and profit.

So why were these artists so largely ignored during their time? Why are they not widely credited for the invaluable impact they had upon the genre? Is it simply due to their race? In short, yes. The music industry, and particularly white musicians have always, for want of a better phrase, ripped off a plethora of black artists for personal gain. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley and a countless array of other early rock and roll musicians highjacked songs penned by black blues/soul musicians in order to further their own success, often not giving these artists credit of royalties. So, following the same logic, it makes sense that the artists included in this article were ignored in favour of their white counterparts. The facts remain, however, that without Jay Hawkins there would be no Iggy Pop, without Death there would be no Dead Kennedys, and without Poly Styrene there would be no Riot Grrl. Every great musical movement was pioneered by black artists: from jazz in the 1920’s, to rock ‘n’ roll in the 50’s, ska and reggae in the 60’s – up to the Acid House dance music of the late 80’s and 90’s. Punk music is no exception this rule, and it goes without saying that these artists deserve much more support and recognition than they currently hold. I only spoke about three main artists in this article, but there are countless other amazing black/black-fronted punk bands you should check out: Bad Brains, Negro Terror, Bob Vylan, Big Joanie, Crystal Axis and The OBGMS to name just a few. Stop the whitewashing of music. Support black artists.