I initially misheard the lines as "I'm a hot retard!" "Marquis de Sade!"
Like an iD fashion spread turned to music
Only in the UK could such flimsy nonsense prosper and become Successful Pop
But Haysi Fantayzee had two fun hit singles - this one and "John Wayne Is Big Leggy" (is that a penile innuendo?)
And there's something about the brazen McLaren-copyism that is likeable. Fake-folk. Nostalgy de boo. Hip-to-be-square-dancing.
The lisping feebleness of Kate Garner's voice is sort of endearing
They are better than Wide Boy Awake, at any rate.
In my Rip It Up researching, did I listen all the way through Battle Hymns for Children Singing? I don't think so.
Kate Is Big Leggy, if anybody is round here. Certainly worked those gams at every opportunity,
Whereas pint-sized Jeremy Healey is a sort of Bolan-esque goblin crossed with Dickensian urchin.
The Artschool Dodger.
Apparently he went as Jeremiah Healey at one point.
Wait, there's more - two less successful singles
First is imitative of Duck Rock's Soweto stylings
And this one is more in the "Buffalo Gals" vein - at least until the flaccid chorus
Healey went on to be one of the superstar deejays, jetting to gigs and earning inordinate fortunes for a few hours spinning, especially at New Year's Eve.
Before that though he was a selecta on the supercool warehouse scene of the Eighties - The Dirtbox, right?
Kate went on to be a successful photographer
What ho? A Kate Garner solo single. A post-hitband career as bereft as Therese Bazaar's I fear.
One more time for the really good single
Two more times
Has McLarenism been that significant a force in music? The most obvious descendant, the KLF, are unfortunately remembered as a singular experiment, if they are remembered at all. Richey Edwards' conception of the Manics had definite McLaren tones, but I don't think I need to explain further.
ReplyDeleteLydon's take on the Sex Pistols found acolytes in Nirvana and Oasis. The most popular historical reaction against the shenanigans of the music industry has not been the situationist stunt, but the claim of authenticity.
I accept that I am painting with a very broad brush.
There was Sigue Sigue Sputnik.
DeleteTransvision Vamp had some of the patter.
I'm not saying any of the offspring was great or even especially successful.
But lest we forget: Frankie Goes To Hollywood. The Gay Sex Pistols. I remember Julie Burchill writing mockingly about a new archetype of manager-provocateur, McMorley.
And the KLF were pretty huge - and made some cool records.
Burning the money is a Situationist blow against the commodity form.
The fact that I think it's a silly waste of money that could have gone to the homeless just shows how middle-aged and sensible I am - lost my feel for the Gesture!
I feel that you haven't really challenged my point, but rather added slight nuance. This is not a criticism at all. If anything, the most interesting aspect would be the latest act to adopt some form of McLarenism. I still nominate the ambitions of Richey Edwards.
DeleteWhat I would consider more interesting is how the idea of authenticity became commercialised. One amusing example: in 2003 Gary Jules got the UK Christmas number 1 for his piano-led cover of Tears for Fears' Mad World.
Nothing sells better than (perceived) authenticity! And it has done for a long time, since at least the 1950s.
DeleteThat's what skiffle was about. Dylan, the Stones... Springsteen sang as supposedly a street kid from New Jersey with songs kids from nowheresville.
Johnny Rotten hardly invented "we mean it man"
Of course what's interesting is then to unpick it and find the artifice within the authenticity.... after all, what could be more theatrical than a Springsteen show? Johnny Rotten took some of his act from watching Lawrence Olivier's Richard III.
Going back to skiffle, Lonnie Donegan seems ridiculously faux when you look at it now - wearing a suit and tie but singing Leadbelly songs. But at the time, people thought it was real and raw.
The authentic musical everyman is the eternal legacy of George Formby.
DeleteThis weekend, I learnt to play When I'm Cleaning Windows on my ukulele. Not a joke.
DeleteThat Mad World wasn’t necessarily a stab at authenticity - wasn’t it written for the movie Donnie Darko (which had an 80s soundtrack) and spun off from there? Not exactly an Unplugged Statement.
ReplyDeleteIt was definitely interpreted as far more "authentic" than yer standard Christmas no. 1. It was seen as an "authentic" cover of Tears for Fears (unlike, say, the X Factor cover of Halleluiah). I think the notion of Gary Jules' version being seen as "authentic" holds water.
DeleteSR - I thought that about the KLF burning that cash back when it happened, and I was about 22 then.
ReplyDeleteI despise the KLF with a real heartfelt passion, What Time Is Love notwithstanding.
In monetarist terms, the KLF actually reduced inflation with their stunt.
DeleteTrue! But given the Bank of England adds billions to the money supply in literal printing of cash each month, and the private sector adds tens of billions more in money creation, the impact of burning that million is unlikely to have been material.
DeleteThere was a BBC 40 Minutes documentary about the burning of the million quid where you could sense Bill Drummond was a lot keener on the stunt than Jimmy Cauty.
DeleteEven so, in a scene towards the end where Drummond is sat at home three months later there is a discernable air of regret behind the bravado.
Sorry, but no love for "Slang Teacher"?!
ReplyDelete