Julian Cope presents Head Heritage | Unsung Forum

Moon Cat

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Edited Dec 15, 2009, 17:57

Re: Cope vs. The Clash

Dec 15, 2009, 17:56

Lord Lucan wrote:

goes for The Manic Street Preachers whose only difference is the willingness to use make-up. At last it's OK to say that The Clash say nothing to me about my life.

The Clash passed me by too. I was probably too young at the time to 'get' them and I've never been that bothered since. I like the odd song, but I was always put off by tthe stuff that Cope alludes to in his rant - the dogma behind a lot of the stance. Same goes for a lot of punk stuff to me. No problem with the music, but to my eyes (and ears), for a movement that appeared to have freedom and system-smashing at its core, it seemed to replace the rules it was supposedly breaking with its own set of rules and regulations pretty quickly. And The Clash kind of exemplified that for me, perhaps because they were so 'visible'. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss, (just not as good a guitarist maybe).

I did/do like the Manics though, although they definitely lost their way for a long time. In fact, I would say, as a band that, at least initially, employed all the sloganeering strategies one might accuse the Clash of, they were also extremeley honest in their ambitions. They DID want to sell shit loads of records and play stadiums from the outset. AND, and this is a very big AND for me - they spoke in musical terms that I found appealing and very honest. They pointed out that loads of working class, disaffected people weren't necessarily listening to punk, or Billy Bragg or anything like that. They were listening to rock - unfashionable and anathema to the then NME/music media image of 'angry youth' - and that was the language they wanted to communicate in because it was their language. The chose it in the face of ridicule and made it work for them because it was what they actually liked as opposed as what they were 'supposed' to like. Of course, the make-up helped too.

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Cope vs. The Clash (Lord Lucan)

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Re: Cope vs. The Clash (Lawrence)

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