Germ Free Adolescents

Product Information

Staunton, Terry (May 2009). "X-Ray Spex – Germ Free Adolescents: Deluxe Edition". Record Collector. No.362 . Retrieved 5 September 2016. a b c Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19thed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p.612. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. Poly Styrene died of spinal and breast cancer on 25 April 2011 in East Sussex, England, at the age of 53. [38] Documentary and biography [ edit ]

Despite her relatively short stint with the band, Styrene's overt feminism and mixed-race heritage marked her out among her punk contemporaries and won her legions of fans for generations to come. Beth Ditto, singer with Gossip, said: "Poly Styrene [was] so ahead of her time. She recreated punk." Gardner, Steve (1996). "Hiljaiset Levyt: 100 Best Punk singles". Archived from the original on 24 August 2014. Revolt-in-plastic punk. Weird arty stuff with saxophonea b "Poly Styrene, X-Ray Spex frontwoman and punk icon, subject of new documentary". 29 March 2017. NOFX – Germ Free Adolescents (X-Ray Spex cover) Lyrics – SongMeanings". SongMeanings . Retrieved 4 July 2018.

Her inspiring story encapsulates what should be the legacy of punk: not simply spiky rebelliousness, but a self-aware sensitivity to the world that can help shape how we navigate the music industry and our lives as a whole. I Am a Cliche shows how Poly’s innate sensitivity was often misunderstood and exploited – yet for me she remains a radiant symbol of defiance, luminous rage and joy. I believe that she dreamed of reaching a higher level of consciousness through art and wanted to examine a more spiritual route to identity. Her music and lyrics transcended the everyday, stretching the limits of the imagination. Dimery, Robert (2005). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die . London: Cassell. p.420. The whole record is a thunderingly radical and real; production is straightforward and merely delivers the sound of a scorching, hectic band unto the listener Of course, it could still be argued that embarking on a project like this is increasingly difficult in an era of streaming and fragmented taste. But that was part of what made rebooting the RS 500 fascinating and fun; 86 of the albums on the list are from this century, and 154 are new additions that weren’t on the 2003 or 2012 versions. The classics are still the classics, but the canon keeps getting bigger and better. Written By Thompson, Dave (2000). Punk . Ontario: Collector's Guide Publication. p.102. ISBN 1-896522-27-0. It was a tremendous record… Whatever else X-Ray Spex might achieve, Oh Bondage had already done more than most groups manage in an entire career Germfree Adolescents (November 1978: EMI International, INT 3023) – No. 30 UK Albums Chart, [41] No. 56 AUS [42]

In November 1978, the band released their debut album. With the exception of "Identity", which was partially based on Styrene witnessing Bromley Contingent member Tracie O'Keefe slash her wrists in the restroom of the Roxy, the rest of Germfree Adolescents dealt with the anti consumerist theme. [29] Indeed, The Guardian newspaper described the album as containing "unrivalled anti-consumerism anthems". [30] In late September 1977, a studio recording of "Oh Bondage Up Yours!" was released as a single. Today, the 45 is regarded as their most enduring artefact, both as a piece of music and as a sort of proto-grrrl catchphrase. [26] [27] Opening with the spoken/screamed line, "Some people think little girls should be seen and not heard but I think— oh, bondage, up yours!", the song could be interpreted as a premonition of the riot grrrl movement 15 years later, although Styrene herself insists it was more intended as an anti-consumerist/ anti-capitalist jingle, and was not exclusively feminist in nature. Robbins, Ira (7 August 1992). "Germfree Adolescents". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 17 November 2016 . Retrieved 5 September 2016.

The Guardian (November 2007). 1,000 Albums To Hear Before You Die . London. {{ cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher ( link) Probably the best release from all the first wave of UK punk bands (and I'm including the Clash and the Pistols in that), this is a blistering set of classic tunes that really epitomise the mood of the time. There are tons of great riffs and clanging rhythms, underpinned by some incessant sax lines that provide a slyly melodic counterpoint to all the noise going on around them. Poly Styrene's harsh, shrill, almost atonal vocals set it all off brilliantly, and the lyrics - taking pot-shots at consumerism and the difficulty of creating personal, alternative identities in what was/is fundamentally a conservative and conformist society - are bang on the money. Dolan, Jon (May 2001). "The 50 Most Essential Punk Records – 5. X-Ray Spex: Germfree Adolescents". Spin. Vol.17, no.5. p.108 . Retrieved 23 October 2020. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrateded.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p.344. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. The moment I heard that Marianne Elliott-Said, AKA Poly Styrene, had died, I was at band practice. We put on X-Ray Spex and jumped around, screaming along to Identity, Oh Bondage Up Yours! and Germ Free Adolescents. On that day in 2011 we lost one of punk’s greatest heroes and one of the few who really looked and sounded like me. She broke the mould of UK punk stereotypes. She was brown, chubby, weirdly dressed and had braces on her teeth. Even in an era when quirky, abrasive style was all the rage, she stood out.

Intro

a b Larkin, Colin (2002). Virgin Encyclopedia of 70s Music . London: Virgin Books. p.503. ISBN 1-85227-947-8. Live @ the Roundhouse London 2008 (November 2009: Year Zero, YZCDDVD01); CD and DVD of live recordings from September 2008 During their first incarnation (1976–1979), X-Ray Spex released five singles and one album. [1] Their 1977 single " Oh Bondage Up Yours!" and 1978 debut album Germfree Adolescents are widely acclaimed as classic punk releases. [sources 1] The band has briefly reformed several times in the 1990s and 2000s.

When we first did the RS 500 in 2003, people were talking about the “death of the album.” The album —and especially the album release — is more relevant than ever. (As in 2003, we allowed votes for compilations and greatest-hits albums, mainly because a well-made compilation can be just as coherent and significant as an LP, because compilations helped shaped music history, and because many hugely important artists recorded their best work before the album had arrived as a prominent format.) Styrene was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year, and was told it had spread to her lungs and spine. Despite undergoing treatment, she gave numerous interviews in recent months to promote her latest solo album, Generation Indigo. In an interview with the Guardian in March, she was described as "ironically upbeat" in spite of her health.

In keeping with its subject, the new film Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliche is not your average music documentary. It shows Poly struggling to deal with fame at a young age, disbanding X-Ray Spex and abandoning the limelight to live in a Hare Krishna commune. It thoughtfully reflects on themes of creativity, identity, spirituality, motherhood, loss and mental health. The central voice is that of Poly’s daughter, Celeste Bell, confronting the difficulty of mourning the loss of a mother who had been so loved, yet so complicated. Through archival footage and interviews, the film examines the uneasy line between how the music press categorised and celebrated Poly Styrene as a rebel and a figurehead, overlooking the vulnerability of Marianne Elliott-Said. Strong, M.C. (2003). The Great Indie Discography . Edinburgh: Canongate. p.184. ISBN 1-84195-335-0. The first incarnation of X-Ray Spex existed from mid-1976 to 1979, during which time they released five singles—"Oh Bondage Up Yours!", "Identity", "The Day the World Turned Day-Glo", "Germfree Adolescents", and "Highly Inflammable"—and one album, Germfree Adolescents. [17] [32] One retrospective review described the singles as "not only riveting examples of high-energy punk, but contained provocative, thoughtful lyrics berating the urban synthetic fashions of the 70s and urging individual expression". [33] Due to this obsession, she sees in a boy “cleanliness,” and is attracted to him for that reason. Cleanliness in this song denotes the expectation of physical and sexual “purity” for women and girls. This could also signify the subject’s age; puberty is often thought of as gross, and society deems bodies and bodily functions as inherently dirty or disgusting. The song hints towards the girl’s abnegation of her body as it is changing and growing.