Margaret Thatcher may seem an odd topic for a music blog, but she she provided creative fodder for a wide range of the popular arts - episodic television (Dr. Who), illustrated stories, novels (Margaret Torture in Rushdie's
Satanic Verses), comedy, and music. Thatcher was a strong and vocal presence in British culture and politics as Minister of Education (1970-1974), head of the opposition Conservative Party (1975 -1979) and Prime Minister (1979 -1990.) Government support for the arts was squarely within Dame Thatcher's target. BBC, radio and TV, fought back by providing outlets for a wide range of musical and theatrical protest. Maggie, Maggie, Maggie - thank you for reinvigorating punk and stirring the creative juices of the following artists.
Linton Kwesi Johnson - It Dread Inna Innlan
The Beat - Stand Down Margaret
Robert Wyatt - Ship Building
The Specials - Ghost Town
Pink Floyd - Final Cut
Blow Monkeys and Curtis Mayfield - (Celebrate) The Day After You
Crass - How Coes it Feel to Be The Mother of a Thousand Dead
Heaven 17 - (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang
The Mekons
Billy Bragg - Between the Wars
The The - The Heartland
The Jam - A Town Called Malice
Morrissey - Margaret on the Guillotine
Style Council - Tear Down the Walls!
Elvis Costello - Tramp the Dirt Down
"she provided creative fodder for a wide range of the popular arts... thank you for reinvigorating punk and stirring the creative juices..."
ReplyDelete?!?! War, high unemployment, support for dictators and apartheid? No, no thanks for that. The arts would have found plenty of inspiration throughout the years without the deliberate human suffering imposed by ideology.
That's what you get for wading into politics, though.
'Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead' closer to number one spot as it reaches midweek top ten following Margaret Thatcher's death
ReplyDeletehttp://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead-closer-to-number-one-spot-as-it-reaches-midweek-top-ten-following-margaret-thatchers-death-8566042.html