Wednesday, April 27, 2011

X-Ray Spex: Obsessed With You (1977)


R.I.P.
Polly Styrene
3 July 1957 – 25 April 2011

Poly Styrene smashed barriers. Sure one unusual young woman screaming, "Some people think that little girls should be seen and not heard but I think - OH BONDAGE UP YOURS! 1-2-3-4!" didn't end ageism, racism, sexism or blind consumerism but her defiance inspired millions to fight those same things. Okay it may only have inspired me personally to name my white cat "Polly" (sic) but anyone who met that feisty little ball of fur cat knew she was a bit of a punk rock barrier-smasher too.




What follows is Obsessed With You, a long out-of-print Receiver Records collection of Poly and the X-Ray Spex's 1977 demos.



It's a must for fans but anyone else needs to consult Germ-Free Adolescence to to be hit full-force by Poly Styrene' s (NYT obit here) musical and lyrical vision.



Here's a nice little feature (or two) - perhaps there's a documentary in the works.






Here's a few of those millions of people inspired by Poly:



Feel free to leave a comment on Poly and her legacy in the comments section.

Speaking of comments, that the section the link to Obsessed With You can be found.


Support musicians!

X-Ray Spex
homepage

Poly Styrene
homepage

X-Ray Spex Amazon

Poly Styrene
Amazon

X-Ray Spex MySpace


Poly Styrene MySpace

X-Ray Spex
iTunes

Poly Styrene
iTunes

9 comments:

  1. X-Ray Spex were one of the first bands I ever saw and Poly was a true inspiration. Having looked around the web and seen all the good stuff people have had to say about her, it's clear she was an inspiration to many people of all ages and genders. She will be sadly missed.

    ReplyDelete
  2. .

    Almost forgot!

    .

    Here's the link -

    .

    (Don't forget to leave a comments for Poly though!)

    .

    http://www.mediafire.com/?ga33dmfslks2fwp

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  3. back in '77/'78 to some of us spotty students at Redbridge Tech, Poly was our pin up, and she made made some damn fine music as well. Now 30 odd years later my 14 old sons love their musc but just can't get his head arround the immage, how times change. RIP Poly.

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  4. My favourite memory of X-Ray-Spex was Victoria Park 1978. It seemed perfect that Polly and all were on stage to welcome us from the RAR march. So sad now but what a life!

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  5. Nice post... Poly Styrene was a true star and will be sorely missed

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  6. Given how different they were from much of the rest of '77, X-ray Spex were true true punk. Wish they'd lasted longer.

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  7. 'Identity" was one of the first songs I sorta-successfully attempted to play as a young punk on the bass.

    Jamming on that song at a party 6 years later, led to the cementing of a connection to someone who later became my über-rad grrrl friend for quite a while...

    Germ Free Adolescents is one of those albums that I've returned to time and time again and can come away from with another new favourite song.

    I'm going to miss her.

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  8. SB
    Amen!

    Abramson
    She was an odd mixture of things...

    Charlie
    Yeah she was a perfect supporter of RAR.

    Simon
    We'll miss Poly.

    Modogarage
    Yeah totally unique band for any genre.

    Bobb
    .

    Bio
    I searched so long for GFA back in they late 80's that I was almost disappointed but then I came to see all its strengths.

    ReplyDelete

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