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| X-Ray Spex in action. |
Poly Styrene, the legendary lead singer of the punk band X-Ray Spex, has died of cancer; she was 53. Her searing vocals, her feminist politics, and her general take-no-shit attitude helped to inspire and influence several generations of female rockers from Kim Gordon to Kathleen Hanna to Beth Ditto. (The NYT has a nice obit.)
Her most famous song was the band’s first single, “Oh Bondage, Up Yours,” a wailing protest against consumerism and misogyny and other forms of modern bondage. “Some people think little girls should be seen and not heard,” she announced at the start of the song. “But I think” — and here her quiet voice modulated into a shriek — “oh bondage, up yours!” Here’s a video of her performing the song. (NOTE: If you’re having trouble with the video loading properly below, here’s a link to it on YouTube.)
>NOOOOOOOOO!!!!! NOT ANOTHER ONE!!!!
>Yeah, the worst part is that she died on Monday, and her new album was released on Tuesday.
>Poly Styrene is one of my heroes. It seems like every day there's another band I'm never going to get to see live. ScareCrow: fuck off and die.
>The world is a little less dayglo now.RIP
>I deleted Scarecrow's obnoxious comment. Really not appropriate.
>For what it's worth, Marianne's family has my condolences. I also compose music and do vocals, so this hits kinda hurts on a personal level.Though I mean no disrespect to say it, I'm partial to ladies who front their own bands and know how to handle a guitar, like Marissa Paternoster or Marnie Stern. It really ain't fair, but most bands treat female vocalists like they're expendable. Just look at what happened to Nightwish.
>Whoops, typo. Meant to say "this kinda hurts on a personal level". What is it about this blog and me – and others – generating an inordinate amount of typos? Must be the interlocking floral motifs in the background, LOL. I start typing, and then it drags my eyes away from the input field. It's a cool background, though.