Some of the Books where my life collided with the Author. Politics. Interviews & Photos etc

Rock Against Racism came into existence in the autumn of 1976 in response to a rise in racist attacks, and the continuing growth of the Nazi National Front. For the next six years RAR was at the centre of a cultural movement against racism and the NF. This book brings together the reminiscences of activists and supporters during the period. From many backgrounds and ages, musician and audience, punk and Rasta, street fighter and pogo dancer, united with a single aim: to Rock Against Racism.

Walls Come Tumbling Down charts the pivotal period between 1976 and 1992 that saw politics and pop music come together for the first time in Britain’s musical history; musicians and their fans suddenly became instigators of social change, and ‘the political persuasion of musicians was as important as the songs they sang’.

(EXPLODING GALAXY, The). DROWER, Jill

London: Scrudge Books, 2014.

99 Balls Pond Road: The Story of The Exploding Galaxy

In particular, her interviews with many of the women involved are revealing for the perspectives they give on the sexual revolution as it played out in group and personal relationships.

From International Socialism 2:35, Summer 1987.
Transcribed by Christian Høgsbjerg.
Marked up by Einde O’Callaghan for the Marxists’ Internet Archive.

Fraternal criticism from comrades is more useful, although harder to come by, than sympathy from liberals or abuse from the class enemy. So I was delighted to read Ian Birchall’s [1] comments on my, Andy Dark and Ruth Gregory’s book about Rock Against Racism, Beating Time [2] and, here, reply to some of them. Birchall and I share an interest in the recent political history of the revolutionary left and a penchant for rock and roll [3] but on other matters we do not agree. It is not, I fear, simply the case that he is in possession of an ‘adequate theoretical framework’ [4] or ‘concept of ideology’ [5] of which I am ignorant but that our ideas are somewhat different; on the purposes of a book like Beating Time, on the nature of Marxist theory on music and the larger questions concerning the variable interactions between avant garde culture and revolutionary politics.

SQUATTING; THE REAL STORY – DIGITAL

£14.95 (tax incl.)

Squatters are usually portrayed as worthless scroungers hell-bent on disrupting society. Here is the inside story of the…Categorized in Digital

The country is riddled with empty houses and there are thousands of homeless people. When squatters logically put the two together the result can be electrifying, amazing and occasionally disastrous.
Squatting: the real story is a unique and diverse account of squatting. Written and produced by squatters, it covers all aspects:

The history of squatting
Famous squats
The politics of squatting
Squatting as a cultural challenge
The facts behind the myths
Squatting around the world

Squatters are usually portrayed as worthless scroungers hell-bent on disrupting society. Here is the inside story of the hundreds of thousands of people who have squatted in Britain since the war.

Originally published: 1980 Author: Nick Anning

Editors: Christian Wolmar, Nick Wates