No Future: Punk, Politics and British Youth Culture, 1976–1984

Great book

No Future: Punk, Politics and British Youth Culture, 1976-1984 by Matthew Worley is a study of the Punk Rock movement and its evolution in England. Worley is Professor of Modern History at the University of Reading specializing in 20th century British politics with a particular interest in the labour movement.America had its punk rock movement in 1970s New York. The Ramones, Television, Lou Reed, Patti Smith, and the New York Dolls played to shock American rock out of its corporate rock slump and put an end to disco. In the 1980s West Coast punk came into being and was much closer to the British movement in style.The British punk movement was built almost out of necessity. "No future" was much more than a catchphrase but it was a deeper feeling of the bleak destiny. Today, young Americans can expect not to do as well as their parents and not live as long either. Americans hide in cheap consumer goods and an abundance of processed food. The British youth fought back with music and attitude. Margaret Thatcher is still hated in England while Reagan moved quietly into history. The British economy was in shambles -- high unemployment and inflation. Unions lost power most famously in the 1984-85 coal miners strike. State industries were privatized. Squatting became a common necessity. The threat of nuclear war (and the Falkland Islands) proved to many that there was no future.The Sex Pistols and (now British Butter spokesman) Johnny Rotten (Lydon) take center stage in this book. The Buzzcocks, Crass, Malcolm McLaren, Siouxsie Sioux, The Adverts, and the Clash all make it into this book and their role in the evolution of Punk Rock. Punk rock was not a monolith but an evolving movement.  Punk was not just music.  It was art, sex, and style. It had many players from anarchists, communists, and the far right.  Neither the mainstream liberal or conservative parties accepted or considered the punk movement part of their ranks. It was not about changing just the music like in America; it was about changing society as a whole.  The youth acted out against a system that abandoned them.  Punk evolved.  The most well known and first to gain popularity was "dole punk."  The dole was the welfare system that was used to support those out of work.  It would eventually be cut back by Thatcher.  In 1976 England need to take out a $3.9 billion loan from the IMF.  It was the largest loan ever requested at that point.  The English government was forced into an austerity program to stabilize the pound and England's sovereignty.  The Labour Party began to splinter giving rise to Thatcher.  Bands like the Buzzcocks produced their own EPs in a do it yourself (DIY) fashion.  DIY became a movement of not counting on commercial production for your needs.  It was an attempt to separate from the system.  While some groups initially believed in self-reliance later these same groups worked with charity efforts. The range of music types was large from Aryan to reggae with Oi punk trying to unite the various groups.I took plenty of notes throughout this book hoping to include them in this review.  I found myself with a pile of notes and ideas I could not fit in.  This is also a little surprising since one-third of the book is notes and source material.  The material is from a variety of reputable sources as well as Fanzines of the time which connected with the feelings and views of the youth from that period.  Well written.  Well researched and literally packed with relevant information on a pivotal point of social, music, and art history.

Matthew Worley’s ‘No Future’ obviously takes its title from the Sex Pistols’ second single, ‘God Save the Queen’ which so spooked the establishment that it is commonly supposed that the official UK singles chart was rigged to prevent it reaching Number 1 at the time of Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee in 1977.Worley’s book covers the years 1976-1984 and - as indicated by its subtitle, ‘Punk, Politics and British Youth Culture’ - he is particularly concerned “to explore the extent to which the cultural spaces opened up and inhabited by British punk from 1976 informed and were informed by the wider socioeconomic and political environment of which they were part.” That is to say, he “seeks to determine the politics of punk as a musical form and youth culture.”Worley faces three major problems in attempting to achieve this laudable aim. Firstly, there is the dizzyingly protean character of punk, which Worley seeks to address by defining punk “in its British context … in relation to people and cultural practices inspired or informed by the Sex Pistols.”Secondly, there is the related problem that it is easier to say what punk was against than what it was for, so that “members of the far right saw punk’s swastikas and iron crosses as evidence of white youth becoming aware of their racial identity” at the same time as “some on the left saw in punk a formative expression of socialist protest.”Thirdly, with John Lydon having sold out to become the brand ambassador of Country Life Butter, it’s difficult not to regard punk with a jaundiced eye as at best naïve and at worst as superficial as those ‘fans’ who would festoon themselves with safety pins and the other sartorial paraphernalia of punk in the toilets at the start of a gig and then revert to conventional clothing and accessories as soon as it was over.Worley has nevertheless succeeded in producing a book which vividly recreates his chosen period and makes out a strong case “that there was something more than image and sales at stake” - that punk amounted to much more than just an attitude expressed with uncommon energy and venom.Contrary to Johnny Rotten’s superb sneering vocals there was a future for Britain despite the dislocation attending the breakdown of the post-war consensus and it turned out to be not the future of punk’s dystopian dreaming. Punk is lucky to have in Matthew Worley an historian capable of rigorously analysing its times and distemper.

I used this as one of my resources when writing an essay about punk. This book ended up being where I got most of my information from as it has plenty of information on the historical context of punkabd itsi mpact. Worley has written many articles on punk and youth subcultues and is not phased by punks nostalgia so gives a non-biased evaluation. It is very easy to read and has introduced me to many punk bands I have not heard of before.

The best thing about this book is that it does not stop at 1979 - as most books of its type tend to do. As a result, all sorts of interesting punk sub-cultures are debated beyond the usual Clash, Damned and Pistols stories. As a big fan of Oi! I was pleasantly surprised at the depth of coverage accorded to this most working class part of punk and found myself nodding in agreement at the fair (for once!) description of frustrated DM booted kids kicking back at the system the only way they knew how - with aggression and style. Bands such as the 4-Skins, Sham 69 and Infa Riot are therefore discussed with the same level of detail as the more well-known punk bands, thus giving the book a more rounded appeal. To its great credit it also delves into the often fragmented anarcho scene, not to mention the influence of feminism and gay rights on punk as a whole. Seeing as how it goes up to 1984/85 it also covers the 'positive punk' scene that briefly emerged in the pages of Sounds through bands such as New Model Army, Southern Death Cult and March Violets, amongst others. My one criticism of the book is that it totally ignores the punk scene in other countries - a mistake made by literally every book about punk. This is very irritating as the German punk scene, especially, was so vibrant from 1977-85 (I have thousands of records/CDs from this period as proof - email me for recommendations). So just for once I would like someone to acknowledge this fact. That said, the omission does not detract from a worthy attempt to document a punk movement that continues to this day, albeit with its followers drowning in the nostalgia of the past, rather than celebrating the vibrancy of the present through bands such as Modern Pets (77 style punk) and Crown Court (Oi!).

I first heard the author talking about this book on Six Music. After a bit of searching I eventually purchased it and wasn't disappointed. Essential reading for anybody interested in music and politics of the period. Thoroughly researched, the notes take up nearly a third of the book! Despite being of a certain age, there was stuff in the book that was new to me. An excellent and very rewarding book.

Great social history of this musical revolution. Not just a timeline of bands and gigs and records but real context to times that shaped how we are today

Birthday gift ..... great