During their first incarnation (1976–1979), X-Ray Spex released five singles and one album. Their
1977 single "Oh Bondage Up Yours!" and 1978 debut album Germfree Adolescents are widely acclaimed as classic punk releases. One of the great English punk bands of the late '70s, there is only one thing wrong with the careers of X-Ray Spex and lead singer Poly Styrene -- they didn't record enough music.
Initially, the band featured singer Poly Styrene (born Marion Joan Elliott-Said) (alternatively spelled
Marian or Marianne) on vocals, Jak Airport (Jack Stafford) on guitars, Paul Dean on bass, Paul 'B. P.' Hurding on drums, and Lora Logic (born Susan Whitby) on saxophone. This last instrument was an atypical addition to the standard punk instrumental line-up, and became one of the group's most distinctive features. Logic played on only one of the band's records. As she was only fifteen, playing saxophone was a hobby and she left the band to complete her education.
X-Ray Spex exploded onto the punk scene with one of the era's great singles, the feminist punk
rallying cry "Oh Bondage, Up Yours." With Logic's sax stating the melody semi-tunefully and Jak Airport's guitar laying down a wash of distorted chords, Styrene's vocal, especially on the chorus, is a marvel. Along with the early Sex Pistols and Clash singles, this was one of punk rock's great moments.
X-Ray Spex's other distinctive musical element was Poly Styrene's voice, which has been variously described as "effervescently discordant" and "powerful enough to drill holes through sheet metal". As
Mari Elliot, Styrene had released a reggae single for GTO Records in 1976, "Silly Billy", which had not charted. Born in 1957 in Bromley, Poly Styrene became the group's public face, and remains one of the most memorable front-women to emerge from the punk movement. Unorthodox in appearance, she wore thick braces on her teeth and once stated that "I said that I wasn't a sex symbol and that if anybody tried to make me one I'd shave my head tomorrow".
X-Ray Spex's debut LP, Germ Free Adolescents, which was great in spite of "Oh Bondage" not being on it (a situation that would be rectified with the 1993 CD reissue). Lora Logic was gone (to form Essential Logic), but her replacement, Rudi Thompson, played in as rudimentary a fashion, but stayed
in tune a little more. The songs were guitar-driven punk-pop that combined outrage and aggression with a sense of alienation and disenfranchisement about rampant commercialism and an increasingly sterile and artificial world. Styrene's songs were more likely to be about drowning in a sea of corporate-designed consumer fantasies than straight-out attacks against the government. This didn't mean the songs were any less political; they simply attacked the zeitgeist from a different vantage point.
Tragically, there was no immediate second X-Ray Spex record. But there was Poly Styrene's only full-length solo record, Translucence. On 30 April 1978, the band appeared at the Rock Against Racism
gig at Victoria Park, Bow, Tower Hamlets. Also on the bill were Steel Pulse, The Clash, The Ruts, Sham 69, Generation X and Tom Robinson Band. Poly Styrene dropped out of music entirely shortly after the release of Translucence and joined a London-based Hare Krishna sect. She emerged from "retirement" in 1986 with a wonderful EP titled Gods and Goddesses. Poly Styrene died in her sleep on April 25, 2011 after a battle with breast cancer; she was 53 years old.
X-Ray Spex – Germ Free Adolescents
Label: Castle Music – CAS 36202-2
Format: CD, Album, Reissue, Expanded 2005
Country: US
Released: 1978
Genre: Rock
Style: Punk, New Wave
GERM FREE ADOLESCENTS
01. Art-I-Ficial 3:23
02. Obsessed With You 2:29
03. Warrior In Woolworths 3:05
04. Let's Submerge 3:25
05. I Can't Do Anything 2:57
06. Identity 2:25
07. Genetic Engineering 2:48
08. I Live Off You 2:08
09. I Am A Poseur 2:33
10. Germ Free Adolescents 3:14
11. Plastic Bag 4:54
12. The Day The World Turned Day-Glo 2:52
BONUS TRAXS
13. Oh Bondage! Up Yours! 2:50
14. I Am A Cliché 1:54
15. Highly Inflammable 2:33
16. Age 2:40
PEEL SESSION 6th MARCH 1978
17. Genetic Engineering 2:57
18. Art-I-Ficial 3:29
19. I Am A Poseur 2:33
20. Identity 2:34
PEEL SESSION 13th NOV 1978
21. Germ Free Adolescents 3:19
22. Warrior In Woolworths 3:06
23. Age 2:39
LINE - UP
Poly Styrene – vocals
Jak Airport – guitar
Paul Dean – bass
Rudi Thomson – saxophone
B.P. Hurding – drums
ADDITIONAL MUSICIANS
Ted Bunting – saxophone on "Identity" and "The Day the World Turned Dayglo"
Lora Logic – saxophone on "Oh Bondage Up Yours!" and "I Am a Cliché"
I CAN'T DO ANYTHING LYRICS
[Verse 1]
I can't write
And I can't sing
I can't do anything
[Verse 2]
I can't read
And I can't spell
I can't even get to Hell
[Verse 3]
I can't love
And I can't hate
I can't even hesitate
[Verse 4]
I can't dance
And I can't walk
I can't even try to talk
[Chorus]
Freddy tried to strangle me
With my plastic popper beads
But I hit him back
With my pet rat
Yeah I hit him back
With my pet rat
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I Am a Poseur
[Verse 5]
I can't spit
And I can't kick
I can't even be thick
[Chorus]
Freddy tried to strangle me
With my plastic popper beads
But I hit him back
With my pet rat
Yeah I hit him back
With my pet rat
Yeah I hit him back
With my pet rat
Yeah, I hit him back
With my pet rat
OH BONDAGE! UP YOURS! LYRICS
Some people think little girls should be seen and not heard
But I think "oh bondage, up yours!"
One-two-three-four!
Bind me, tie me, chain me to the wall
I wanna be a slave to you all
Oh bondage, up yours
Oh bondage, no more
Oh bondage, up yours
Oh bondage, no more
Chain-store chainsmoke, I consume you all
Chain-gang chainmail, I don't think at all
Oh bondage, up yours
Oh bondage, no more
Oh bondage, up yours
Oh bondage, no more
Thrash, me crush me, beat me till I fall
I wanna be a victim for you all
Oh bondage, up yours
Oh bondage, no more
Oh bondage, up yours
Oh bondage, no more
Bind me, tie me, chain me to the wall
I wanna be a slave to you all
Oh bondage, up yours
Oh bondage, no more
Oh bondage, up yours
Oh bondage, no more
Bind me, tie me, chain me to the wall
I wanna be a slave to you all
Oh bondage, up yours
Oh bondage, no more
Oh bondage, up yours
Oh bondage, no more
Oh bondage, up yours
Oh bondage, no more!
Flac Size: 501 MB
POLY STYRENE - GODS AND GODDESSES 1986
Patti Smith may get a great deal more credit as the godmother of punk, but the archetype for
modern-day feminist punk should really be traced to Poly Styrene, leader of first-wave London punk legends X-Ray Spex. Styrene was undoubtedly one of the least conventional frontpersons in rock history, male or female -- a chubby, half-white/half-Somalian teenager who still wore braces, not to mention a loud Day-Glo wardrobe. She sang in a raw, untutored scream that quavered and shook when
she looked to extend her range, a vocal style echoed by riot grrrls like Kathleen Hanna and Corin Tucker. Witty and intelligent, she attacked corporations, consumerism, and artificiality with a winning sense of humor. Mixed feelings about her time in the public eye helped lead to a quick exit from the music business, but her place in punk history was already secure.
Poly Styrene – Gods And Goddesses
Label: Awesome Records – AOR 7T
Format: Vinyl, 12", 45 RPM
Country: UK
Released: 1986
Genre: Electronic, Rock
Style: Synth-pop, Indie Rock
SIDE A.
A1. Trick Of The Witch
Arranged By – Jak Airport
Producer – Paul Inder
A2. Paramatma
Arranged By – Poly Styrene
Producer, Performer [Instrumentalist] – Paul Inder
Sitar, Synthesizer [Log Drum] – Roots
SIDE B.
B1. Sacred Temple
Backing Vocals – Helen Bee, Jenny Innocent
Percussion [Mrdanga] – Keshi Shatru Das
Producer, Arranged By, Performer [Instrumentalist] – Mick Sweeney
B2. Big Boy Big Toy
Arranged By – Jak Airport
Other [Typewriter Idea] – Annimisha Das
Percussion, Percussion [Mrdanga] – Kesi Shatru Das
Performer [Instrumentalist] – Paul Inder
Producer – Falcon Stuart, Paul Inder
My EAC Programm refuses to convert it to Flac, So take it in MP3 320 Size: 43 MB
Thank you. Poly was always one of the favorites. Love her Translucence album
ReplyDeleteThank you very much!
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