Fight The Power
"They are the first band not to shrug off their political stance as soon as they walk out of the recording studio. The first band with sufficient pure, undiluted unrepentant bottle to keep their crooning necks firmly on the uncompromising line of commitment when life would be infinitely easier — and no less of a commercial success — if they made their excuses and left before the riot."
Julie Burchill and Tony Parsons
"The Boy Looked At Johnny" (1978)
It's hard to overstate what a ballsy move it was for Tom Robinson to follow his catchy, radio-friendly Top 5 pop hit "2-4-6-8 Motorway" in 1977 with the strident anthem "Glad To Be Gay" but that was a time when lines were being drawn all across Britain and a lot of people felt they had to declare which side of the barricades they were on. These days it's almost hip and trendy to be gay (an exaggeration I know) but it certainly wasn't back then, being gay meant you were either a perverted kiddie fiddler or John Inman. My best mate at the time told me he threw away his copy of "Motorway" in disgust when he found out Robinson was "a bloody shirtlifter" — but he joined the Young Conservatives when he left school so I guess he had issues.
Their third single "Up Against The Wall" is one of the most blistering records to come out of punk, a riot of guitars and pulverizing drumming (the terrific Danny Kustow and Dolphin Taylor) that hits you like a boot in the groin — or a truncheon over the head. This led off their classic 1978 debut album "Power In The Darkness" which, along with the first Clash album, is the best snapshot of the tense, angry atmosphere in England at the time. Some of it seems like naive sloganeering now but back then it felt like life and death, you were either on Tom's side or you were with the National Front and the SPG.
Download: Glad To Be Gay - Tom Robinson Band (mp3)
Download: Up Against The Wall - Tom Robinson Band (mp3)
Buy: "Power In The Darkness" (album)
(Posting has been a bit light this week as I'm recovering from a rather nasty stomach bug)
6 Comments:
I love these...and, is it okay to say that I love John Inman as well? And still today rip-off some of his best one-liners from AYBS? And does anyone remember the incident with Fun Time Freddy from the later episodes? Oh my.
Hope you're feeling better.
Sounds cliched, but please keep up the good work.
I just noticed that I followed "I Love Birds" with "Glad To Be Gay" - completely unintentional I assure you. Funny though.
Damn, man! Tom Robinson. Just recently I posted 2-4-6-8otorway over at the Groovy Fab forum!What a great choice from you!
For me, (maybe only me) know what his highlight was? The album with 'Atmospherics', 'War Baby' .... the album was 'Hope And Glory'. GREAT memories with a great album. (know where I can get the album BTW?)
Anyway - fantastic post my friend!
gawd bless an earnest young chap who always sounded too posh to be punk.
i'm a big believer in gay shame.the dark alley, the smokey back room, the secret club with heartbreak torch singers, hankies that weren't for blowing your nose, all sound much more fun...
Check out this qoute from Tom's Website
http://www.tomrobinson.com/records/music/index.htm
" iTunes downloads cost 79p per track. Writer/publisher get 6p, Performer 6-8p, Visa/Mastercard 7p, Apple 12p, and Record Company almost 50p. Sod that. Help yourself to my songs & share them with your friends"
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