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Post by jsm on Apr 22, 2024 6:39:39 GMT
I recently finished a crime novel by Peter Robinson that has several mentions of the early UK punk scene. Robbo was born in Leeds in 1950, so he was already a bit long in the tooth to be a punk rocker (although there were more than a few older than him that got in on the game), but then he migrated to Canada in 1974, so he had no firsthand experience. The result is a few odd statements here and there.
Here's the plot: Vicar's daughter sixteen-year-old Rosalind moves to London in 1976 and becomes part of the early scene, but becomes pregnant to a fellow punk rocker who quickly does a bunk. She puts the baby up for adoption, but her daughter later tracks her down, by which time Rosalind has another daughter with her Chief Constable husband. Deranged daughter no. 1 then kills daughter number 2.
Anyways, here's some of the dialogue.
Ah, yes, spitting on each other and stubbing out lit ciggies on your own body. I missed that bit.
And the 100 Club started out as a jazz club, didn't it? Not turned into one. And were the police called in there to break up fights? Maybe the night went Sid threw the glass, but on a regular basis? And were they called in then? Can't remember the story. Over many years I only ever saw police at a gig once (albeit in Sydney, not London)
Need a new post because of an attachments limit
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Post by jsm on Apr 22, 2024 6:49:50 GMT
This follows directly from the last page
So she gives up punk because all the posers have moved in but then moves on to new wave 'which she secretly always liked better'. But hang on, she was there in 76 but she secretly always preferred Elvis Costello. And was Roxy considered New Wave? Maybe.
Then the sicko daughter no. 1 gets a bit to say as well. First about her fugitive father
Mal Licious. Very good.
Then a fantasy about if her mother had not put her up for adoption.
A heroin-infused punk commune. Okay, maybe
All rather amusing and I have probably read worse
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Post by personunknown on Apr 22, 2024 9:32:18 GMT
Human Punk by Jon King is one of the few that works well for me plus it has an ending you're unlikely to forget.
Stewart Home's novels are worth a gander. The middle class intelligensia critics hate them with a passion. Street thuggery that makes Richard Allen look like Enid Blyton.
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Post by Lord Emsworth on Apr 22, 2024 10:01:31 GMT
Human Punk by Jon King is one of the few that works well for me plus it has an ending you're unlikely to forget. Stewart Home's novels are worth a gander. The middle class intelligensia critics hate them with a passion. Street thuggery that makes Richard Allen look like Enid Blyton. Top tips PU John King's Human Punk is memorable And Stewart Home is certainly interesting
I've read all John King's work but notice a new one snuck out last year that has so far passed me by.... ...It's called London Country and also features a punk character...
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Post by personunknown on Apr 22, 2024 10:31:42 GMT
London Country looks interesting. Will be my holiday novel once the tourists have left Scarborough in September.
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Post by Lord Emsworth on Apr 24, 2024 8:40:27 GMT
London Country looks interesting. Will be my holiday novel once the tourists have left Scarborough in September. I've got a book token (I know, how old am I? 10?) and it's gonna be spent on London Country |
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Post by personunknown on Apr 24, 2024 9:29:58 GMT
Do postal orders still exist?
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Post by Lord Emsworth on Apr 24, 2024 10:13:17 GMT
Do postal orders still exist? Good question Doubt it Premium Bonds certainly do ERNIE picked Lady E the other year |
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Post by Lord Emsworth on Jun 21, 2024 9:41:33 GMT
I've read all John King's work but notice a new one snuck out last year that has so far passed me by.... ...It's called London Country and also features a punk character...
I've got a copy of London Country and am a few pages in
Usual King fare - which is a good thing
Will let you know how I get on
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Post by zeopold on Jun 22, 2024 20:32:20 GMT
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Post by personunknown on Jun 23, 2024 8:38:45 GMT
All a bit silly that one. Sams' mother rescued his school essay from the dustbin. She should have left it there said Pete Townshend later. It used to be available to read online, no more than sixty pages. I tried it once but it was what it was, a fourteen year olds take on punk and I gave up after only ten pages. Talpunk wasn't too impressed either. www.punk77.co.uk/groups/thepunk.htm |
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Post by jsm on Aug 7, 2024 6:53:51 GMT
Divorcing Jack by Colin Bateman from 1995 is set in Belfast. There are several punk references in the book. Bateman was born in 1962 and his main character is about the same age in the book.
Dan is a heavy-drinking journalist who gets caught up in an early-1990s IRA attempt to discredit a pro-peace politician. The main IRA character is really just a gangster and several people get killed along the way, but Dan survives. It is a very funny book in parts.
The punk bits are spread throughout the book. One of the first mentions is The Rezillos in a scene from a piss up at Dan's flat
One of several mentions of the Sex Pistols comes when Dan's wife discovers he is having an affair and shows here displeasure by attacking his record collection
There are also references to the Ramones, the Skids, SLF and the Pogues. Maybe others I can't remember. Most of it rings true, but I have no knowledge of what life in Belfast would really have been like in the era
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