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The recent tour of the Clash has brought the new wave of punk rock to Scotland. Scottish Socialist asked NICK CLAYTON, rock correspondent for the Edinburgh University student newspaper, and a socialist. to comment.
You may wonder what an article on punk rock is doing here. But if you look at it this way, anything which incurs the wrath of the entire mass media, Mary Whitehouse and tells Bill Grundie to "sod off" must have something in its favour.
Punk is political. For most bands this stance is simply nihilist, anti-American, antifashion and totally anti-establishment. They are also completely disillusioned with the
major political parties. This feeling can only be ignored by the left at its peril. The National Front have already approached the Sex Pistols.
The thing that will work most in the left's favour is the relationship between punk rock and black culture. I'm not saying that the music is the same, though the Clash do the odd reggae number. More it is a case of white kids being just as unemployed as blacks without the culture, solidarity or identity. So what they have created is an identity with its own music, dancing and style of dress. In its clearest form it is expressed by The Class, who in White Riot long for the chance to fight back in the same way as the blacks in Notting Hill last August. Of course this solidarity can work the wrong way. The swastika worn by so many punks and songs such as I Wanna Be In The Nazi Party are danger signs. Though bands like the Clash totally abhor them.
How often do you get a Left/Right split in rock music?
Unfortunately you don't get revolution from rock and roll. Most punk bands will end up back on the dole while a couple of the more acceptable ones will be assimilated by the rock music industry. In the meantime more people will hear the Clash and the Sex Pistols than will read anything produced by the left.