PUNK QUEEN JORDAN DIES!
More sad news from the world of Punk. Jordan (real name Pamela Rooke) who rose to fame in the late 70's as the female face of Punk and Iconic fashionista for Vivienne Westwood's most lurid designs. She also featured in the cult classic punk flick Jubilee. as well as managing Adam And The Ants. She passed away in East Sussex on April 3rd 2022 aged 66. She hit the headlines more recently for her acclaimed biography 'Defying Gravity' when it was was published in 2019. (see review). Her partner Nick wrote. “Jordan (Pamela Rooke) has left her mark on this planet, whether it be as ‘The Queen of Punk’, or for her veterinary work and countless prize winning cats. She lived life to the full and was true to herself and others throughout the whole of her life. She was totally trusted and respected by all those who knew her.”
“Jordan was a blessed rare individual indeed,” he added. “She did not want any speculation regarding her passing, and wished for the world to know that after a short period of illness, she succumbed to a relatively rare form of cancer known as cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer). Jordan was a wonderful woman and will be remembered for countless decades to come.”Tributes have poured in from across the globe including Vivienne Weatwood, Sex Pistol Glen Matlock, Boy George and Jon Savage amongst an array of fans and clients from Jordan's 30 years as a Vetenary nurse in Seaford for her work with animals and prize winning cats.
THE SLITS
‘Here To Be Heard : The Story Of The Slits’ release date for DVD is The DVD will be released on 11th May 2019.‘Here To Be Heard: The Story Of The Slits’ is a new documentary film about the first all-girl Punk group, The Slits. Directed by William E Badgley (‘Kill All Redneck Pricks’). It includes interviews with Don Letts (former group manager and punk documentarian), Viv Albertine (guitarist), Ari Up (vocalist), Palmolive (founder/first drummer), Tessa Pollitt (bassist), Bruce Smith (second drummer), Hollie Cook (vocalist/ keyboards/ percussion), Vivien Goldman (NYU Punk professor), Dennis Bovell (producer of debut album ‘Cut’), Paul Cook (Sex Pistols), Gina Birch (The Raincoats), Adrian Sherwood (producer and long-term friend and collaborator) and many more, as well as previously unseen footage and band recordings.
ACID BLOOD
Are a brand new punk band from out of Umea, Sweden. They were formed in late 2016 by punk artist Karl Backman formerly of T-55's and the Vectors. The full lineup is..
Jojo Anderbygd - vocals
Karl Backman - guitar
Adam Hägglund - bass
Christopher Olsson - drums
ACID BLOOD have performed live 4 times already. But are currently booking their first tours. They've just uploaded the video for the title track of their forthcoming 7" EP "Dagger Eyes". It will be out on JanML Records later this year, no release date yet?
The video was directed by Nicklas Viberg. You can check it out on the link below
https://youtu.be/fXQmskjoQq0
or follow them on Facebook at...
www.facebook.com/acidbloodumea/
VAPORS ARE BACK!
The UK New Wave band who first formed in '78/79 and scored a huge Worldwide hit with ‘Turning Japanese’ in 1980 have reformed featuring original members David Fenton, Edward Bazalgette and Steve Smith will be hitting the road once more. The band, all hailing from Surrey formed in, 1979 and after establishing themselves locally as an exciting live outfit got their big break after ‘The Jam’ Bass player Bruce Foxton saw them playing in a local pub and invited them to tour with The Jam on the ‘Setting Sons’ tour. Paul Weller's Father John undertook management duties for the band and after signing to United Artists the band released a number of singles beginning with 'Prisoners’ in 1979 and followed up with what would become their biggest hit ‘Turning Japanese’ which peaked at Number 3 in the UK singles chart in 1980 ; taken from their first album ‘New Clear Days’ (1980). A follow up single ‘News at Ten’ was released via EMI in 1980 and numerous appearances on BBCs Top of The Pops and other Music shows combined with successful tours of the USA and Australia to promote the singles and album kept the band busy.
1981 saw the band release the singles ‘Spiders’ and ‘Jimmie Jones’ taken from the 2nd album ‘Magnets’ again on the United Artists label.
THE VAPORS
ANARCHISTWOOD INTERVIEW
Here's some interesting footage of Anarchistwood doing a pre-gig interview With Chris Bowsher of RDF at the back of the Queens Head venue in Brixton on January 24th 2022 earlier this year. And gives us a good look at how the band started what they're about and what they hope to achieve after original founding member and guitarist Paul 'Candiflp' Blackwood passed away on Boxing Day 2021. Their new album 'Chiasmata' which is due for release later this year on lovely Pink vinyl will be accompanied by various gigs over the coming months.
PUNKVERT
POLY STYRENE FLICK
Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliché
A new feature documentary about the life of X-Ray Spex singer-songwriter and punk icon Poly Styrene. Bi-racial, female, working class and possessing an unforgettable warrior-cry voice, Poly Styrene was "one of the least conventional front-persons in rock history" (Billboard). For the first time the jigsaw pieces of her fascinating life are brought together by her daughter Celeste Bell, writer Zoë Howe and director Paul Sng, via original interviews and rare unseen archive materials to present a thrilling, poetic and at times impressionistic portrait of a singer, seeker, a maverick and a mother. you can watch the whole picture here....
POLY STRENE: I AM A CLICHE
FILTHY LUCRE
They railed against consumerism, but the Sex Pistols will now be helping to oil the wheels of the capitalist machine as the band’s name and artwork are to feature on a range of credit cards. Virgin Money, the bank backed by Sir Richard Branson, has launched a series of Sex Pistols credit cards, including two featuring the artwork for the band’s 1977 album Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols, in its full uncensored glory. A third card features imagery relating to the single Anarchy in the UK. It is not clear that own-brand credit cards were what John Lydon had in mind when he spat out the line “Your future dream is a shopping scheme” on that debut single, released in November 1976. More recently, he starred in a TV advertising campaign for Country Life butter. However, Virgin Money said it was “time for consumers to put a little bit of rebellion in their pocket”. Michele Greene, the bank’s director of cards, said: “In launching these cards, we wanted to celebrate Virgin’s heritage and difference. The Sex Pistols challenged convention and the established ways of thinking – just as we are doing today in our quest to shake up UK banking.”
The band first signed to Virgin Records in May 1977, after being dropped by both EMI and A&M Records. “Even after nearly 40 years, the Sex Pistols’ power to provoke is undimmed,” Branson said. While some fans of the band may take issue with the decision, others may be tempted to sign up – not least so that they can cause outrage in National Trust shops and other genteel establishments by flourishing a credit card featuring the word “bollocks”. Most of the cards have a representative interest rate of 18.9% APR. Its a strange case of deja vu if you hark back to 1979. Sex Pistols original 1979 poster ''Young Flesh Required, The Great Rock N' Roll Swindle''. The infamous punk band turn their hostilities on their own record label with this poster designed by Jamie Reid. Banned by American Express, its image of a ''Sex Pistols'' credit card with ''Virgin Records'' named as the cardholder signifies the band's feeling they were exploited unfairly for profit. Titles put this sentiment in no uncertain terms: ''The Artist (The Prostitute) / Your name could be here. Your talents will become a source / of unlimited cash for the Record / Company (The Pimp) / The Record Company (The Pimp) / The people who own this, own you. They will spend the cash you / generate on schemes to increase / their own power. You will get a / small percentage of what you earn. The Business (The Swindle) / Played by everyone including / the Record Company The manager / the Promoter the Press the Disc Jockey / and if you're smart, you.''
