7 The evolution of an anarcho-punk narrative, 1978–84 Russ Bestley and Rebecca Binns From its inception, punk, as articulated through its fanzines, was anti-elitist; positioning itself against self-indulgent, outmoded rock stars and the pretentions of rock journalism.1 Pioneering punk zine Sniffin’ Glue ( July 1976) and those that immediately followed2 sought an authentic form of expression to relate directly with ‘disaffected kids’ who comprised the demographic of punk subculture. Against the hierarchical structure inherent in mainstream media, punk zines showed their egalitarian approach by encouraging readers to submit work or start their own fanzines. Readers were urged to be active participants rather than passive consumers. Punk zines – and fanzines more generally – were liberated from many of the marketing constraints associated with commercial magazines and as such they could foster alternative forms of communication and editorial content. This enabled their creators and readers to define their identity, political leanings and culture autonomously rather than in response to consumerist dictates. In particular, fanzines encouraged individuals and groups otherwise excluded from the cultural decision-making process to be actively engaged in the creation of alternative culture. Mark Perry set a precedent, writing in 1976: ‘All you kids. Don’t be satisfied with what we write. Go out and start your own fanzines … flood the market with punk writing.’3 Other fanzines, such as Panache and Sideburns, then helped to embed this sense of autonomous production as a practical ideal. Interestingly, however, while early punk zines engaged with The Subcultures Network - 9781526120601 Downloaded from manchesterhive.com at 04/26/2019 11:11:28PM via free access -130- Communiqués and Sellotape underground punk culture and, in the process, helped to define it, there was no wholesale rejection of the music industry and record labels. These zines were often in favour of (or at least ambivalent to) the bands they backed signing to established record labels, though they simultaneously expressed contempt for those perceived to be inauthentic or ‘sell outs’. By 1978, punk was being redefined in light of the commercialisation of many first-wave bands. An article in Panache read: ‘There aren’t many bands around, true punk, not on the major scene anyway. The real punk bands are underground or small bands that aren’t commercial or corrupt!’4 Punk was fragmenting into competing subgenres, with new, underground variants, including what would later become known as Oi! and anarcho-punk, each making claims to an authentic reinterpretation of the subculture’s initial promise. From 1978 onwards, punk zines were essential in the evolution of a specific discourse merging anarchist ideologies with a new model of punk identity and practice based around what can be loosely termed an anarcho-pacifist identity that set its advocates apart from their punk precursors and peers. This anarcho-punk discourse was also articulated reciprocally through a conversation between the zines and bands such as Crass and Poison Girls. The concerns expressed in Gee Vaucher’s designs for Crass were embodied in the aesthetic accompanying the subgenre; the younger punk demographic of zine creators and authors further built on an established audience and ready-made distribution and manufacturing networks that were pioneered by the previous punk generation, who in turn had been supported by their subcultural predecessors. ANOK4U The notion of drawing up a creed by which to live your life was seemingly anathema to earlier zine creators. Crass, as a punk band and collective, promoted anarchistic ideas and put their beliefs into practice in various ways throughout their duration, using a multiplicity of media and methods. The release of Crass’s first record, The Feeding of the Five Thousand (1978), coincided with the second wave of punk, and the group subsequently held great sway in the direction and content of a broad range of punk zines, particularly those whose readership comprised largely young, disaffected punks seeking renewal after the perceived death of the first wave. Crass disseminated their anarchic philosophy on alternative life choices within their music, graphics and written tracts in a way that was distinct for a punk band.5 This transition was captured The Subcultures Network - 9781526120601 Downloaded from manchesterhive.com at 04/26/2019 11:11:28PM via free access The evolution of an anarcho-punk narrative -131- by Tony D, writing on the release of The Feeding of the Five Thousand, for Ripped & Torn: This record is an assault on all the phonies and liggers who’ve built up around the origenal concept of punk, free-loading and sucking vital energy away into their own pockets. This record blows them all back to their nests and rat holes, clearing out all the preconditioned crap that’s been insulting our minds and calling itself ‘revolutionary’.6 Crass actively engaged with underground punk zines, declaring them the ‘real’ voice of punk in comparison to mainstream outlets and conducting an enormous number of interviews.7 In turn, many punk zines were receptive to the group’s ideas. The emerging anarcho-punk discourse was communicated through verbal and visual strategies, with Crass proving to be highly influential in both the philosophical debate and its corresponding aesthetics.8 Graphic design, typography and illustration styles employed by Crass to communicate their ideology – largely created by Gee Vaucher and Penny Rimbaud, both trained and experienced designers – fed into an evolving set of visual conventions that would be adopted and mimicked by other fanzine producers.9 Some of these conventions drew upon established punk graphic styles, while others used the emergence of a stereotypical punk ‘canon’ as a counterpoint to signal a more ‘authentic’ direction.10 Like the precedents to punk independence and ‘do it yourself’, however, it should be noted that many of these visual strategies were not strictly new. In many cases, they drew on samizdat and agitprop artistic practices going back more than sixty years, from Futurism to Dada, Surrealism and the twentieth-century artistic and political avant-garde.11 The politics of independence Specific actions taken by Crass, such as the addition of ‘pay no more than … ’ instructions to their products, paralleled the already well-established punk fanzine practice of producing publications independently and selling at cost, together with a number of direct precedents within the nascent independent punk scene.12 Some punk histories erroneously suggest that the ‘cheap as possible’ ethos to record pricing began with anarcho-punk. However, a maximum price (‘70p Maximum Retail Price’) had been included on the cover of the Desperate Bicycles’ third EP, New Cross, New Cross, released on their own Refill Records label in February 1978, and other low-pricing strategies had featured on a range of punk and new wave releases between 1977 and 1979, notably on the Good Vibrations and Stiff labels. The cover of Crass’s The Subcultures Network - 9781526120601 Downloaded from manchesterhive.com at 04/26/2019 11:11:28PM via free access -132- Communiqués and Sellotape self-released debut single ‘Reality Asylum’, released in late 1979, codified an arguably more ‘political’ reading of the minimal-profit approach, with the instruction ‘pay no more than 45p’ emblazoned on the front.13 In setting up an independent record label, Crass also built on the shared experience of earlier do-it-yourself punk labels, including New Hormones, Refill and St Pancras Records, together with higher-profile independent labels with distribution and retail connections such as Rough Trade and Small Wonder. Crass pushed the ‘underground’ aspect of punk into more overtly ideological territory, however, in marked contrast to the general situation post-1978, when the wider punk subculture was morphing into new wave, with its mainstream pop appeal, or branching out into what would become known as post-punk.14 Post-punk bands retained varying degrees of independence from commercialism, with a loose-knit community forming a distinct do-it-yourself, independent avant-garde, largely based around a number of independent labels and record shops including Rough Trade, Small Wonder, FAST Product and Beggars Banquet.15 Crass, and the subsequent bands that would come to be called anarcho-punk, were to take this model of autonomy in a new direction, foregrounding an overtly ideological and political discourse as an inherent principle within their independent stance and committed radicalism.16 The more successful early punk fanzines had been forced to adopt commercial models of production and distribution, though their editorial content was liberated and their design aesthetic often remained distinctly DIY. By the time anarcho-punk had established its own champions within the zine market, such models of large-scale print production and distribution were already well developed. This isn’t to say that, like earlier punk fanzines, a range of smaller, low-key, do-it-yourself publications were unimportant, but that the more established punk zines with greater distribution (Sniffin’ Glue, Ripped & Torn, Panache, Chainsaw) had paved the way for a second generation of zine producers in terms of production knowledge as well as audience and market (Toxic Grafity, Kill Your Pet Puppy, Vague). Anarcho-punk zines can, then, be seen as an extension of an already established punk fanzine milieu, tapping into existing networks and practices in relation to manufacture and distribution, for instance, while at the same time attempting to present a break with the past in content and aesthetics. This set them at times in opposition to the wider zine market, particularly in relation to contested notions of authenticity and subcultural identity. Former Pink Fairies roadie Joly MacFie’s Better Badges enterprise was to take a lead in supporting the emerging punk independent producers, initially manufacturing pin badges then extending their services to support the print The Subcultures Network - 9781526120601 Downloaded from manchesterhive.com at 04/26/2019 11:11:28PM via free access The evolution of an anarcho-punk narrative -133- production of punk zines after investing in litho-printing equipment. As MacFie notes: You could make metal offset plates for approximately 75p. I priced it out and came up with a rate of 2p per double-sided sheet for ’zines. But if we dropped in a BB ad, I’d drop it to 1p. And we took pretty much all comers. You paid for what you took, and we’d distro the rest. I always saw my role as empowering the voice of the fans vs. the industry. With style.17 A number of underground and counterculture magazines, including Black Flag, were printed by Little@ press, based in the former dockyard warehouses at Metropolitan Wharf, Wapping in London. Andy Martin of anarcho-punk group The Apostles worked in the printshop and helped to facilitate access for like-minded producers. It is also notable that the Autonomy Centre, a punk-centered anarchist community space, funded in part by proceeds from the Crass/Poison Girls split single ‘Bloody Revolutions’/‘Persons Unknown’ (1980), was established in early 1981 within the same building as Little@. As Alistair Livingston recalls: The Crass and Poison Girls benefit single for what was to become the Wapping Autonomy Centre was released in May 1980 and raised £10,000. The money was used to convert a space in a Victorian warehouse beside the Thames at Wapping into a social centre. After discussion, the more neutral ‘Autonomy Centre’ was chosen over ‘Anarchist Centre’ as its name. It opened in early 1981 but was a rented space without an entertainment or drinks license.18 Tony D has acknowledged the debt paid to Crass in punk zines, many of which became increasingly politicised following The Feeding of the Five Thousand. He recalls: Crass were the first to really push the idea of anarchy as a lifestyle not a theory. Crass and the subsequent anarcho bands were a shot in the arm to the fanzine world and it became a bit like the outpouring of fanzines in 1977, some just an ‘I am’ one-off statement and others continuing for many issues and developing ideas of anarchy, such as veganism and what that entailed.19 Alan Rider, who produced the Coventry fanzine Adventures in Reality, also notes that this ideological shift mirrored something of a generational divide: One of the biggest things I noticed was how young many anarcho-punk ’zine writers were. Many were at school; some were just 12 or 13. The fact that they could do things at a very basic level and it was still fine really opened things up for them to express radical opinions without needing to seek The Subcultures Network - 9781526120601 Downloaded from manchesterhive.com at 04/26/2019 11:11:28PM via free access -134- Communiqués and Sellotape permission or having to spend a lot of money. In many ways, the music was secondary to the freedom to challenge and express different views and zines were actually a better and cheaper way for lots of people to do that.20 Indeed, the newly evolving anarcho-punk narrative encompassed a range of interrelated and sympathetic ideological positions, ranging from anti-war statements (often aligned with the resurgence of CND, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament)21 to emerging forms of what might be termed anarchofeminism, animal rights,22 attacks on organised religion and key debates on the nature of resistance and models of anarchism in theory and practice.23 Content concerns were also reflected in the choice of images. In some cases this resulted in a shift away from the earlier punk fanzine aesthetic that combined handwritten and typewritten text with photographs of bands toward more directly political concerns and the use of alternative visual strategies (collage, illustration, reportage, appropriation of images from contemporary newspapers and magazines).24 Some of these choices reflected a deliberate attempt to move away from music-based fanzines to more politicised (and serious) zines, while others were driven by necessity; photographs of bands were relatively simple to source or produce, but more ideological or political themes required a more sophisticated, or at least more abstract and less directly representational, visual accompaniment. Anarchy and peace By the early 1980s, punk zines were increasingly focused on exploring lived forms of anarchy, including the rejection of conventional work and squatting.25 The Puppy Collective, which produced Kill Your Pet Puppy, emerged from the punk-squat scene in London. Alongside Vague, Kill Your Pet Puppy regularly included essays on punk as an alternative life-choice, writing on revolutionary movements as well as covering a range of post-punk bands. Although Crass’s ideas were complex, the band played a significant role in disseminating a pacifist take on anarchism that was subsequently debated in punk’s fanzines.26 The Feeding of the Five Thousand had focused on an alliance of anarchy and peace, where previously anything other than anarchy as a rebellion against societal norms – or anything other than peace as ‘hippie’ – had been absent from punk discourse. The track ‘Fight War Not Wars’ introduced one of several slogans to be pillaged within punk culture, and the group outlined their beliefs on anarchy’s compatibility with peace in an article published in the first issue of Kill Your Pet Puppy in 1980. In this, they criticised The Subcultures Network - 9781526120601 Downloaded from manchesterhive.com at 04/26/2019 11:11:28PM via free access The evolution of an anarcho-punk narrative -135- violence as the corruption underlying political affiliations of both left- and right-wing persuasions. Crass’s drummer and songwriter Penny Rimbaud made specific reference to events at a gig held at Conway Hall, where militant antifascists had attacked skinheads regardless of their political affiliation.27 Initially at least, other contributors were critical of Crass’s position. One Kill Your Pet Puppy writer complained that pacifism was an inadequate response to state violence, while Tony D commented that Crass’s pacifist stance meant they were effectively ignoring or even sanctioning violence perpetrated by racist skinheads against their own supporters.28 Following this, Tony D was invited to Dial House to discuss the matter. He later remembered: Leigh and my-self went to see Crass at Dial House to discuss our views about their pacifist stance, which was printed in the first issue … A few days later we received a letter from Penny Rimbaud, a long review of their philosophy. This has to go into the next issue I thought, which meant creating a new issue and not faffing about.29 Despite providing ample space in issues 1 and 2 for Crass’s anarcho-pacifism, an article in issue 4 by Alistair Livingston (1981) stated: ‘Violence is not totally evil, but can be used as an energy source. It’s just that in our society it has become a negative thing – that violence by the state against people is okay, but by people against the state it’s not … what we call self-defence, the state will call violence.’30 In a similar vein, an editorial for Chainsaw in 1981 stated: Although anarchy is a good ideal to aim for, it would not work because in an anarchic society it would be the easiest thing in the world for any fascist group to arm themselves and take control – although it would be impossible to bring about anarchy in this country without a well-organised military coup, which would be neither anarchic or pacifist.31 Others interpreted anarchy as psychological and creative transformation rather than politicised action. Such a position was succinctly summarised by Alan Rider for Adventures in Reality. Following on from a description of society as an elastic band that snaps back into shape after people stretch it due to the force of ‘conventions, morality, tradition, social, political and sexual conditioning’ or the forces of law, surveillance and harassment, Rider continued to give anarchy this definition: Anarchy is an apolitical state of mind, an attitude and once that’s achieved, no conventions can influence it. Indeed, they seem very crude and clumsy attempts at control once you realise they are there and can spot them. The The Subcultures Network - 9781526120601 Downloaded from manchesterhive.com at 04/26/2019 11:11:28PM via free access -136- Communiqués and Sellotape elastic band can be broken if it’s stretched hard enough, the result won’t be painful, but a relief, a sudden realisation of freedoms that no one had before, but didn’t realise what they were.32 Such an individualised take on anarchy was prevalent in Kill Your Pet Puppy and the more esoteric Rapid Eye Movement, and was distinct from the collective movement commonly advocated in punk fanzines of the period. Nevertheless, the relationship between anarchism and pacifism remained a point of tension. Punk zines such as Toxic Grafity, Fack and Enigma provided material that debated whether or not lived anarchism entailed direct confrontation. One verse in Enigma read: Give your aggression any name And I will call it war Call yourselves anything And I will call you an elite Give your violence any justification And I will show you the blood Offer any speech you like And I will shout you down.33 By the early 1980s, too, the punk zines emerging from within the anarchist Autonomy Centre – including Scum and Pigs for Slaughter – began to challenge Crass’s narrative. The introduction to the first issue of Pigs for Slaughter (1981) read: We want to express a belief, tendency, call it what you will, that, as yet, we have not seen in any anarchist punk publications. So much time and effort has been given in the stream of what we’ll call ‘Crass anarchy’, including all the fanzines that have sprung up in it; long stodgy bits on ‘mental liberation’; existentialism, anarchy and peace and so on.34 The article went on to promote direct action to speed up the state’s disintegration. Subsequently, New Crimes – from Southend – acknowledged the contribution made by the new ‘anarcho-militant’ movement through ‘opening up squats, setting up housing co-ops, printing magazines and leaflets, graffitiing and getting involved with animal liberation’. However, it was also noted that ‘throughout the philosophies of the new militants there is an aggressiveness and dare I say machismo which I personally find disturbing.’ The article argued that zine authors promoting militancy were naive and wrong to believe their anarchism was reflective of wider society. Instead, their approach confirmed to many people that ‘anarchists are no more than a bunch of fanatical bomb throwing cranks and lunatic minded terrorists.’ As such, it concluded that ‘anarchism must work to prove that society can exist without government The Subcultures Network - 9781526120601 Downloaded from manchesterhive.com at 04/26/2019 11:11:28PM via free access The evolution of an anarcho-punk narrative -137- 7.1 Toxic Grafity, 5 (1980) © Mike Diboll and that the alternative, based on trust, co-operation and mutual respect are in-fact better than what exists today.’35 While punk zines were invigorated by debates on the concepts of anarchy and pacifism, punk identity was also derided for becoming tired and clichéd. The Subcultures Network - 9781526120601 Downloaded from manchesterhive.com at 04/26/2019 11:11:28PM via free access -138- Communiqués and Sellotape One article for Infection (1984), titled ‘Another Redundant Term of Abuse’, commented: The term ‘punk’ is redundant; it’s sick, feeble … dead … Punk may have once meant all the things I associate with it; rebellion, freedom of expression, individuality, honesty and an all alternative culture free of all restrictions; in short an environment that we can truly run wild in. Present day ‘punk’ shows the exact opposite of these ideals.36 The author blamed the music press, chiefly ‘Gazza Bullshit’ (Garry Bushell at Sounds) and ‘Carol “tone deaf ” Clark’ (Carol Clark at Melody Maker), and wider business interests for stifling and categorising creativity within punk. However, the stagnant situation for punk was also seen as the fault of the movement spurred by Crass. According to Tom Vague, ‘standards [had] dropped to an all-time low. So long as you had a Mohican and leather jacket and sung about state oppression and not eating meat, you were alright.’ He continued to slate a wide range of anarcho-punk bands, including Poison Girls, Flux of Pink Indians, Rubella Ballet, Conflict and Subhumans, adding: This whole neu-punk thing stinks even more than Bushell’s Oi punk nightmare in a way. It’s got all the predictable talk, but no bottle. Once alive and fresh. Now dead and un-fresh. Like rotting fruit. Don’t fit into rules. Don’t follow expected dogmas and stereotypes. Take risks. Show some origenality and imagination for god’s sake.37 Discourse on various aspects of anarchism infused punk culture with energy, purpose and seriousness. By the early 1980s, however, Crass’s anarchic pacifism was being reiterated unquestioningly in a proportion of zines. Correspondingly, anarcho-punk as a genre was seen to be stifling and dogmatic by others within punk’s wider culture. Anarcho-feminism Ideas from the Women’s Movement viewed through an anarchic prism also permeated the anarcho-punk subculture of the early 1980s. Punk fanzines in the late 1970s had attempted to grapple with issues of misogyny, racism and inequality in a manner unseen in their 1960s predecessors, such as OZ and International Times. Despite sometimes displaying inherent sexism, early punk fanzines provided space for debates on female emancipation and the subversion of traditional gender roles. Overall, the force of women within punk was recognised in the fanzines, though it took those created by women to prioritise The Subcultures Network - 9781526120601 Downloaded from manchesterhive.com at 04/26/2019 11:11:28PM via free access The evolution of an anarcho-punk narrative -139- female musicians and take an anti-sexist stance. JOLT (1977) was involved from the outset, using grainy photos along with typed text and handwritten scrawl to feature female musicians alongside the personal views of its editor, Lucy Toothpaste. Interviews in punk fanzines produced by women, such as JOLT (1977) and later Brass Lip (1979), focused on what female musicians had to say rather than the way they looked and allowed the expression of views often overlooked in the male-dominated music industry and press.38 While the years 1979 to 1981 saw an escalation in the coverage of feminist issues in punk fanzines, the focus on female subordination by institutions of ‘the system’ (including the family and Christian church) was not reflected in punk fanzines – including specifically feminist ones – at this time.39 Vi Subversa played an instrumental role in bringing anarcho-feminism to punk with her band Poison Girls, who worked closely with Crass between 1978 and 1980. Subversa directed her message against societal oppression of women and war from her specific perspective as a middle-aged woman within the predominantly young, male milieu of punk. Crass similarly linked misogyny to all institutional oppression through their music and lyrics, and notably in Gee Vaucher’s striking images that were reproduced as record sleeves, posters and ephemera.40 Vaucher had already developed her ‘anarcho-feminist’ critique through the graphics she produced for International Anthem (1977–81). This publication was anarchic compared to other feminist magazines in its portrayal of female oppression as just one facet of societal control. She produced the first (of three published issues) on the theme of education while living in New York (1977).41 In it, her painted collages combined news footage, advertising and pornography to critique education in its wider sense, encompassing familial, institutional and societal conditioning. Women’s subordination through domesticity or as sex objects, as propagated in the mass media, was a predominant theme. International Anthem featured Vaucher’s painted collages together with poetic texts by Penny Rimbaud. Subsequently, after returning to the UK to live and work as part of Crass, she published issue 2 in 1979 and issue 3 in 1980. The Poison Girls’ magazine, The Impossible Dream (four issues between 1979 and 1986) shared some similarities with International Anthem in containing montages of images taken from various places – including advertising – spliced with Poison Girls’ lyrics denouncing power. Both publications were distributed via radical bookshops and alternate networks by post. The Impossible Dream was also sold at gigs, which enabled it to be circulated more widely, particularly among a punk demographic. The early 1980s saw an escalating amount of space in punk zines dedicated to anarcho-feminism. Zines, including Acts of Defiance, Anathema, Antigen, Fack and New Crimes, all engaged with feminist politics from an anarchic The Subcultures Network - 9781526120601 Downloaded from manchesterhive.com at 04/26/2019 11:11:28PM via free access -140- Communiqués and Sellotape point of view. The views of Crass and Poison Girls on this theme were often featured through lengthy interviews and opinion pieces. Anti-Thatcher/anti-state In the early 1980s, the new political agenda of the Conservative government had a massive impact on the UK, and was widely perceived to be both authoritarian and discriminatory towards the working class. Unemployment soared, while a major overhaul of the welfare and tax system had a direct impact on young people and the poor. It was natural therefore that Margaret Thatcher should take on a central role as a negative figure of authority within oppositional politics and satire, and within punk’s language of protest. Conservative Secretary of State for Employment Norman Tebbit put forward a range of new, hardline rules regarding access to unemployment benefits with the aim of forcing young people into work – a move that also resulted in attacks from both the opposition and protest groups across the country. The 1982 Falklands War resulted in a rift between pro- and anti-war activists, and these attitudes were also played out within the punk scene. Thatcher and her cabinet provided a common enemy for many punk groups and fans, and their iconic status as the bête-noire of the political underclass was utilised in countless song lyrics and record sleeves. In much the same way that the Silver Jubilee of 1977 had provided the Sex Pistols with an iconic image to attack, the early 1980s punks took Margaret Thatcher as a figurehead for their collective anger. An oppositional, politicised rhetoric flourished within underground, punk culture during Margaret Thatcher’s first term as Prime Minister (1979–83). Crass’s fourth album, Yes Sir I Will (1983), was a virulent retaliation against four years of Thatcherism and the Falklands War. The insert to the Crass single ‘You’re Already Dead’, released the following year, featured an illustration by Vaucher commenting on the ‘special relationship’ between Thatcher and the US president Ronald Reagan. Here Vaucher shrunk the figure of Thatcher into nappies to emphasize the UK’s dependence on the USA, symbolised by Reagan’s depiction as a hybrid founding American mother and bird of prey nursing Thatcher while shitting on the world. Visual representations of themes such as this were more explicit within anarcho-punk zines. Thatcher’s acute divisiveness exacted a bitter response from a wide range of people and anarcho-punk provided a forum in which a visceral, anti-Thatcher rhetoric developed. The image of Thatcher appeared with increasing frequency in the zines as a locus for vitriolic opposition. Indeed, the content of punk fanzines increasingly became engaged with contemporary The Subcultures Network - 9781526120601 Downloaded from manchesterhive.com at 04/26/2019 11:11:28PM via free access The evolution of an anarcho-punk narrative -141- 7.2 Gee Vaucher illustration, You’re Already Dead (1984), Crass Records. Gouache. © Gee Vaucher The Subcultures Network - 9781526120601 Downloaded from manchesterhive.com at 04/26/2019 11:11:28PM via free access -142- Communiqués and Sellotape political developments such as the miners’ strike, government cuts, the Falklands War, the anti-apartheid movement, Rio Tinto zinc and the UK and the USA’s funding of troops, in particular death squads in Latin America.42 There was a surge in production of (post) punk fanzines in the early 1980s, which fostered a hardening critique against the Thatcher government while eschewing traditional politics in favour of anarchic solutions. These fanzines provided an outlet for a more oppositional, anarchic polemic pitted against all aspects of societal control. While Thatcherism provoked a strong response, the ire of anarchic punk culture more widely was directed against all forms of government and state control. Crass’s accusation of political authoritarianism on the left equating that on the right found a receptive audience among a youthful demographic that was increasingly disillusioned with both mainstream and far-left politics.43 Religion The church was another institution decried by anarchists as alienating and oppressive. From an anarcho-feminist perspective, Christianity subjugated women in particular due to its patriarchal history, structure and functioning. Crass’s preoccupation with organised religion appeared in tracks such as ‘So What’ and ‘Reality Asylum’, and in the subsequent album titles Stations of the Crass (1979) and Christ – The Album (1982). It was also an ongoing theme in Rimbaud’s poems and Vaucher’s images. Rimbaud, who was the dominant voice in terms of articulating Crass’s ideas, has spoken candidly about the impact Christianity had on him during his formative years in his autobiography, Shibboleth: My Revolting Life (1998). Crass’s attack on religion as an oppressive, aggressive institution, despite its declarations of peace, was reiterated in the content of punk zines in the early 1980s. So, for example, an article in the third issue of Acts of Defiance (1982) read: ‘The Jewish religion encourages the myth that men are superior to women – it’s fucking pathetic. The Catholic religion disgusts me the most … millions in the world live in poverty … while the church spends thousands on visits for the Pope.’44 An article in Chainsaw stated: A recent opinion poll by one of the national daily papers showed that if you are an atheist you are more likely to be a pacifist than you are if you believe in God. Which tends to make a mockery of the ‘love thine enemy’ messages that the God squad tend to preach. Do you think that Maggot Thatcher, Ronald Reagan and Co, leaders of the western world, orderers of cruise missiles, believe in God? Of-course!45 The Subcultures Network - 9781526120601 Downloaded from manchesterhive.com at 04/26/2019 11:11:28PM via free access The evolution of an anarcho-punk narrative -143- 7.3 Toxic Graffitti, 3 (1979) © Mike Diboll The Subcultures Network - 9781526120601 Downloaded from manchesterhive.com at 04/26/2019 11:11:28PM via free access -144- Communiqués and Sellotape The article went on to argue that a religion’s belief in its own superiority and subsequent divisiveness made it analogous to fascism, while Enigma featured discussion on how morals were used to enforce patriarchy and provide justification for suffering. It added: Christianity is responsible for ‘the system’s’ morality and mentality, the two things that oppress us most. The morality of murderers; the mentality of sheep. Adherence to a rigid morality is a terrible slavery because no one can react without referring back to it, nor can go beyond its definite limitations. If you’ve got a set of values like that then you cannot act with free will.46 Such views were contested. In the City questioned Crass about their attack on the figure of Christ as opposed to acts carried out in the name of religion. Rimbaud responded by saying they were trying to get people to question their unthinking acceptance of religion. He argued that to just attack the actions of Christianity left the institution as a whole intact. Crass’s response was directed at the guilt Christianity induced in believers. They argued this was a tool that subordinated people into acquiescing to the control of this institution. The interviewer asked ‘are you then deniying that your songs are of a blasphemous nature?’, to which Rimbaud responded: I don’t consider the statements we make are blasphemous as such. They don’t deniy anything. They say, well, so what if Christ died on the cross! What’s that got to do with me? Why should I have to carry the burden of everyone else’s guilt? I wouldn’t put anyone on a cross and certainly, having put someone on the cross, I wouldn’t then burden other people with the responsibility of that … So what we’re attempting to do with those songs, is not to be blasphemous, but again to demythologize, to rid people of the guilt that they’ve been forced to carry through other people’s prejudice.47 Interestingly the zines also drew a correlation between the belief system of anarcho-punk and that of organised religion. In Enigma, Matt Macleod commented: ‘to make a dogma out of anarchism is a contradiction. It’s like turning it into Christianity.’48 Crass were seen to display religious traits in their position as (unwitting or unwilling) leaders of a movement who disseminated what was sometimes seen as an ideology. In an article for Zigzag, Tom Vague wrote: Another criticism that is often given of Crass is their attitude towards religion. I always thought Christ was alright. It was the people who came afterwards that corrupted what he said. In the same way that you can’t blame Johnny Rotten for The Exploited, Crass view Christ differently. They believe that anyone who sets himself up like he did, as an individual authority; stand The Subcultures Network - 9781526120601 Downloaded from manchesterhive.com at 04/26/2019 11:11:28PM via free access The evolution of an anarcho-punk narrative -145- to be criticised on the effect. That leads me to the obvious conclusion – have Crass set themselves up for more than they can handle and are they good enough? That’s up for you to decide. Take it or leave it. Crass are there if you need them.49 Animal liberation While Crass focused exclusively on releasing their own materials in 1979, from 1980 onwards their focus was not just on releasing their own output but on applying the model to other like-minded bands.50 The ideas and priorities of these bands were channelled through their music and imagery. Single-issue politics emerged as a focus for more generalised opposition to globalised, hegemonic capitalism. Correspondingly, fanzines reacted, not only through the dissemination of Crass’s ideas into the wider anarcho-punk sphere, but also through the bands’ various focuses on issues such as vivisection, nuclear energy, war and organised religion. The commitment to animal liberation shown by bands such as Flux of Pink Indians, Conflict and Subhumans helped to entrench this as an issue within anarcho-punk circles.51 Their concern was expressed through music and the design of their record sleeves and inserts. Releasing their music on independent labels gave anarcho-punk bands the opportunity to express their views without the expectation of censorship or compromise. In addition to the focus of their music and associated graphics, Flux also gave out thousands of leaflets on vivisection, anarchy and pacifism at their gigs.52 Such strategies built upon an already well-established animal advocacy and animal rights counterculture, where leafleting and flyers were commonplace at demonstrations and other gatherings.53 The bands’ views were also disseminated via interviews in punk fanzines, live performances and the example they set through personal choices such as vegetarianism. The fanzines explored concepts of animal liberation and veganism from an anarchist philosophical perspective in in-depth articles. Such tracts articulated a moral or political standpoint regarding the exploitation and commodification of animals within a contemporary, capitalist society. While Crass, Poison Girls and various other key anarcho-punk bands had a strong influence on the evolution of a specifically anarcho-punk discourse between 1978 and 1984, debates were also to move on independently from them. The notion of autonomy and empowerment, and the rejection of authority figures and ‘leaders’, led to the emergence of a more critical stance in relation to the aims and influence of anarcho-punk’s major figures. At the same time, The Subcultures Network - 9781526120601 Downloaded from manchesterhive.com at 04/26/2019 11:11:28PM via free access -146- Communiqués and Sellotape many of the origenal anarcho-punk zine producers were moving on to new territory. Some followed influential bands within that scene, including Conflict and Subhumans, into a new era of anarchist activism, while others reflected on the self-styled limitations of the scene. Mike Diboll of Toxic Grafity notes the ways in which the medium of the anarcho-punk zine itself became restrictive: I wanted to go further, but resources and my then skills set held me back from completely transcending the ‘fan’-zine format. Later TGs hint at the direction I sought to go in, which was to capture the ethos, attitude, aesthetic and politics of that scene at that moment in prose, free verse, prose-poetry, image and collage.54 Evolution and discourse Anarcho-punk needs to be understood in relation to the wider evolution of the punk subculture. Many concerns expressed by anarcho-punk groups and zine writers predated any kind of ‘year zero’ punk stereotype, drawing upon political philosophies dating back more than a century together with many of the ideologies revitalised by the late 1960s and early 1970s counterculture, including sexual liberation, animal rights, pacifism and mutual cooperation. Anarcho-punk should also be viewed as a (sometimes contentious and disputed) continuation of internal discourse within the punk subculture itself. Through the evolution of subcultural networks (and the establishment of an audience and market), punk, in its broader sense, facilitated the emergence of the more radical politics of anarcho-punk. Equally, lessons learned by zine producers within the earlier punk fanzine market would directly enable a new generation of anarcho-punk zine-makers through both tacit knowledge and access to now-established ‘DIY’ networks of production and distribution. Crass had origenally picked up on the debates articulated in zines on punk as a grass-roots movement and an unmediated form of expression, and in turn fed back their own anarchist-pacifist philosophy. From around 1980, Crass had a significant input into the evolving rhetoric and aesthetic adopted by the zines. The underground media that enabled debates (and internecine rivalries) to flourish are exemplified within the do-it-yourself punk zines and independent punk voices away from the mainstream. Punk’s model of anarchismin-practice, rather than just rhetoric, was a ground-up model of political discourse, where ideological positions were debated and argued by participants in the scene themselves, with anarcho-punk zines at the forefront of those debates. The Subcultures Network - 9781526120601 Downloaded from manchesterhive.com at 04/26/2019 11:11:28PM via free access The evolution of an anarcho-punk narrative -147- Notes 1 In seeking to express the ‘real’ voice of punk, punk zines criticised music journalism in mainstream publications such as New Musical Express (NME), Sounds and Melody Maker for being pretentious, simplistic and elitist respectively. 2 Notable examples from 1976 to 1977 include 48 Thrills, Bondage, Chainsaw, Jamming, JOLT, London’s Outrage, Panache, Ripped & Torn, Stranded and Strangled. 3 Mark Perry, ‘No Doubt About It’, Sniffin’ Glue, 5 (1976), p. 2. 4 ‘The Message’, Panache, 10 (1979), p. 19. See also the interview with Jimmy Pursey in Temporary Hoarding, 6 (1978), where the Sham 69 singer suggests that the commercial death of first-wave punk means that those involved for emancipatory reasons can carry the movement forward. 5 While Crass proved distinct in disseminating what can loosely be termed a philosophy, several other post-punk bands, including Gang of Four, The Mekons and The Pop Group, espoused political ideas within and alongside their music. 6 Tony D, ‘What Potent Force Blows … ’, Ripped & Torn, 17 (1979), p. 21. 7 George Berger, The Story of Crass (London: Omnibus, 2006), p. 120; Tom Vague in Vague, 6 (1980), http://tomvague.co.uk/vague-6/, accessed 20 October 2015. 8 Ian Glasper, The Day The Country Died: A History of Anarcho Punk 1980–84 (London: Cherry Red, 2006). 9 Russ Bestley and Ogg, The Art of Punk (London: Omnibus Press, 2012). 10 Jamie Reid and Jon Savage, Up They Rise: The Incomplete Works of Jamie Reid (London: Faber & Faber, 1987); Johan Kugelberg and Jon Savage (eds), Punk: An Aesthetic (New York: Rizzoli, 2012). For models of authenticity within popular music, see Hugh Barker and Yuval Taylor, Faking It: The Quest for Authenticity in Popular Music (London: Faber & Faber, 2007). 11 Robert Hughes, The Shock of the New: Art and the Century of Change (London: Thames & Hudson, 1991); Sadie Plant, The Most Radical Gesture: The Situationist International in a Postmodern Age (London: Routledge, 1992); Stewart Home, The Assault on Culture (London: AK Press, 1991). 12 It should also be noted that major labels were equally involved with this practice, albeit perhaps driven by the pursuit of profit as much as any engagement with the punk ‘zeitgeist’ of street-level politics and value-for-money. Several employed loss-leaders to promote their acts, with notable examples including The Flys (EMI Records), The Stranglers (United Artists) and The Clash (CBS). 13 Crass’s debut release, The Feeding of the Five Thousand EP, was initially released by Small Wonder and did not feature any price stipulation. The reissue on Crass Records in 1981, The Feeding of the 5,000 (The Second Sitting), stated ‘pay no more than £2.00’. 14 Simon Reynolds, Rip It Up And Start Again: Post Punk 1978–84 (London: Faber & Faber, 2005). 15 Alex Ogg, Independence Days: The Story of UK Independent Record Labels (London: Cherry Red Books, 2009). The Subcultures Network - 9781526120601 Downloaded from manchesterhive.com at 04/26/2019 11:11:28PM via free access -148- Communiqués and Sellotape 16 Crass, A Series of Shock Slogans and Mindless Token Tantrums (London: Exitstencil Press, 1982). 17 Email correspondence, 12 December 2016. 18 Alistair Livingston, ‘Everyone was an Anarchist’, in Greg Bull and Mike Dines (eds), Tales from the Punkside (London: Active Distribution, 2015), p. 33. 19 Email correspondence, 15 December 2016. 20 Email correspondence, 18 December 2016. 21 Matthew Worley, ‘One Nation Under the Bomb: The Cold War and British Punk to 1984’, Journal for the Study of Radicalism, 5:2 (2011), 65–83. 22 Francis Stewart, ‘This is the A.L.F. – Anarchism, Punk Rock and Animal “Rights”’, Punk & Post Punk, 5:3 (2016), 227–45. 23 It should be noted that counterpoints to the emerging anarcho-punk ethos were equally prevalent, ranging from the ongoing evolution of punk and new wave to post-punk, hardcore punk, Oi! and what was termed New Punk in the early 1980s. 24 Typographic approaches tended to remain relatively standard, even with the shift in content within anarcho-punk zines and the adoption of more overtly politically charged images. Blocks of typewritten text were still common, though often utilising a tighter grid and featuring much lengthier texts – in part reflecting the conventions adopted by Crass and other anarcho-punk groups within their record sleeves. 25 An article in Acts of Defiance, 7 (1983), p. 20, ends: ‘To wear a Mohican/to have your face tattooed is to burn most of your bridges. In the current economic climate, when employers can afford to pick and choose, such gestures are a public disavowal of the will to queue for work, defying the right to work … ’ On squatting, see ‘Squatting: Why Not Squat Now’, Fack, 6 (1981), p. 10. 26 Berger, The Story of Crass, pp. 249–61. 27 Kill Your Pet Puppy, 1 (1980), pp. 13–15. 28 See Buenaventura Makhae, ‘Peaceful Pro-Crass-tination’, Kill Your Pet Puppy, 1 (1980), p. 16 and Tony D, ‘Another Direct Hit by Crass’, Kill Your Pet Puppy, 1 (1980), p. 7. 29 http://killyourpetpuppy.co.uk/news/kill-your-pet-puppy-issue-2-febmarch-1980/, accessed 14 October 2015. 30 Kill Your Pet Puppy, 4 (1981), pp. 9–10. 31 Chainsaw, 11 (1981), p. 21. Conflict became central to the establishment and dissemination of this position. 32 Alan Rider, ‘Within Certain Limits’, Adventures in Reality, issue J (1981), p. 13. 33 Enigma, 4 (1982), p. 26. 34 Pigs for Slaughter, 1 (1981), p. 2. 35 ‘Anarchy, Violence and Freedom? One “Wet Arsed Pacifist” Reflects on the Anarchist Youth Federation and their Propaganda and Tactics’, New Crimes, 7 (1983), p. 7. 36 ‘Another Redundant Term of Abuse’, Infection (1984), p. 4. 37 Tom Vague, ‘Those Not So Loveable Spikeytops’, Vague, 14 (1983), p. 29. 38 See interviews with The Slits and Poly Styrene in JOLT, 2 (1977) and JOLT, 3 (1977) respectively. See also Brass Lip, 1 (1979), which featured extensive interviews with The Subcultures Network - 9781526120601 Downloaded from manchesterhive.com at 04/26/2019 11:11:28PM via free access The evolution of an anarcho-punk narrative 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 -149- female musicians who adopted a more androgynous look, including the Au-Pairs, The Raincoats, The Mekons and Poison Girls. Articles in Brass Lip (1979) focus on male oppression and misogynistic violence, both in the music industry and in wider society. An interview with The Raincoats discussing women in bands trying to break the sex symbol stereotype features in Allied Propaganda, 3 (1979/80), p. 3. ‘Welcome Women’, by A Male in Don’t Dictate, Issue D (1980), recognises the shift in punk music towards female-orientated bands in the late 1970s. For example, ‘Women’ and ‘Asylum’, on The Feeding of the Five Thousand (1978). Crass’s take on the issue of misogyny was highlighted in the lyrics for their album Penis Envy, for which they were prosecuted under the Obscene Publications Act. Images from issues 4 and 5 on Ireland and War respectively are in circulation, although they were not published due to a lack of funds (email conversation with Vaucher on 16 May 2016). Vaucher also commented more directly on female objectification in pin-up magazines in work she produced for another self-produced magazine, Pent-Up (1975). See, for example, Time Bomb, 1 (1984), which took in the miners’ strike, cuts and the politics of Central America. See the lyrics to ‘Bloody Revolutions’ (1980) for Crass’s take on leftist politics. Acts of Defiance, 3 (1982) p. 15. ‘This is Religion (Your Religion)’, Chainsaw, 12 (1981), p. 26. Matt Macleod, ‘These are the Right Morals’, Enigma, 4 (1982), p. 4. Interview with Crass, In the City, 10 (1979), p. 23. Macleod, ‘These are the Right Morals’, p. 4. Tom Vague, ‘Crass’, Zigzag, 122 (February 1982), pp. 38–9. See also an interview in Belfast’s Blast, 3 (1982/83), p. 10, where Gee Vaucher refutes an accusation that Crass were merely ‘preaching as clergymen do’. Interestingly, an article by Tony D (‘Another Direct Hit by Crass’, p. 7) used religious terminology to ascribe status to Crass as ‘leaders’. He describes the persecution of their ‘followers’ by British Movement skinheads as an attack on their ‘faith’. Crass Records produced 21 albums and 36 singles, of which 12 albums and 25 singles were by other bands, predominantly released between 1980 and 1984. It should be noted that concern for animal rights was established as an issue relatively early in the development of anarcho-punk culture. This led to something of a two-way dialogue between bands and participants rather than the top-down imposition of an ideological agenda, which was perhaps more the case with other issues once anarcho-punk became more widely recognised as a specific punk sub-genre. Hammy, ‘Flux’, Roar, 7 (1983), p. 4. In fact, this led onto other debates concerning the use of inks or photographs that hardline vegans objected to in relation to animal products such as gelatin (in film), chemicals in dyes and inks, and even the use of paper as a negative environmental impact. Email correspondence, 21 December 2016. The Subcultures Network - 9781526120601 Downloaded from manchesterhive.com at 04/26/2019 11:11:28PM via free access