Apr 262011
We’d hoped this rumor would prove to be untrue, but alas… X-Ray Spex’ teenage dynamo Poly Styrene has lost her battle with breast cancer. May we celebrate the rip-roaring beauty of “Oh Bondage, Up Yours.”
We’d hoped this rumor would prove to be untrue, but alas… X-Ray Spex’ teenage dynamo Poly Styrene has lost her battle with breast cancer. May we celebrate the rip-roaring beauty of “Oh Bondage, Up Yours.”
Alas, it’s true.
And she’d just put out a new record. She was a ballsy kid, and really exemplified everything punk rock was *supposed* to be about. Only 53…sad.
God bless her and everyone else who saw the Sex Pistols and said, “Fuck it, I can do that,” and did.
Who’s the sax player on “Oh Bondage”? Did he do anything else of note? His work on that song is as naively genius as Poly’s.
The player on the record was a girl named “Lora Logic”, though she was apparently fired after the recording. On the video clip, it’s probably some pick-up player.
Right, I thought she had some tie to that band, but the guy from that classic performance did not look like a “Lora.” Thanks. I know she went on to do other things.
A question I’ve had in my head for years: what the hell does “Oh, Bondage… Up Yours!” actually mean?
I think the idea was that the early punks often wore bondage gear as a way of being offensive. And there was also the connection that McClaren’s shop called Sex sold that stuff. I think Poly believed that the bondage metaphor was at odds with the idea of punk as liberation, and ‘up yours’ was a humorous way of rejecting it.
Yes her band was called Essential Logic, one of the earliest Rough Trade acts.
I’m a big fan of Essential Logic’s “Fanfare in the Garden.” Jason Falkner did a great cover of it, also!
I read article about her once in which she claimed that it had nothing to do with actual bondage but was really an anti consumerism song. I couldn’t really follow her logic.
Another sad death to announce: Phoebe Snow. Although never a major star, she had a fine singing voice and “Poetry Man” was a damn nice single. She dropped out of music in the ’70s to take care of her brain-damaged daughter.
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/42763458/ns/today-entertainment/
I just realized I’ve gotten her mixed up with Janis Ian through the years. I was reading the article and wondering why they didn’t mention “At 17” as her biggest hit. Sorry to hear Phoebe is gone.
Lord – first Ari Up, then Poly Styrene. Who’s next – Annabella Lwin?