As it is over 30 years since the fateful winter of ’79 and the cabinet minutes of the time are being made available, I thought I’d drag out possibly the most politically charged album of recent years out and give it a listen with fresh ears. Well, quite jaded ears, really – I’ve been listening to the revelations about James Callaghan’s last days in office.
JC was about to legislate against Trade Unionism using the Canadian model, mobilise the Army against picket lines, and generally clamp down on everything and everyone that he had allowed to walk all over the government since he had taken over from Wilson in 1976. And try to win an election at the same time. Poor sod, he didn’t stand a chance. They were amateurs, by Hattersley’s own admission.
What interests me about this era is that I was there, and I was becoming politically aware all through 1978, although I wouldn’t be old enough to vote at the next election. But politics isn’t just about the vote, it is about sensing the mood of the country, and it was in a pretty foul state at the time. I was becoming aware of this quickly as this ‘realpolitik’ was landing quite nastily on my doorstep.
On the radio of the time – 1978 – The Pistols, The Clash and the Damned were doing whatever they did to make punk that bit scarier to the older generation, but only Tom Robinson had a grasp of the politics of the time. Listen to it closely, and it is no wonder that the album was placed on a censored list by Capital Radio. I’m no social historian, but I was there and I remember all too well the feeling of radical change in the air. It was palpable in late 1978. I had to go out to work to help support my family because of pay restraints and rampant inflation (admittedly, my set of circumstances were unique, widowed mother and 4 siblings to bring up) were threatening to erode what little income we had. Everyone signed up to the (laughably named) “Social Contract” (Rousseau turned in his grave as they robbed, one assumes), yet we got nothing – literally – back in return, except higher prices and fewer services. One of JC’s worries of the time was that there would be a marxist coup. I wonder how close to the precipice of revolution the country was at that time? It certainly felt like “Something Better Change” as Hugh Cornwell sang at the time.
“The National Front was getting awful strong” sang Tom, and he was right – it was in the same position as the BNP is today. The only thing he didn’t foresee was Thatcher jumping so far to the right that she picked up the NF sympathisers and effectively neutered that particular menace’s threat. And if history is to repeat itself, is ‘dave’ (capitalisation intended) going to swing to the right just before this election to neuter the BNP?
Listen to ‘Power In The Darkness’ and tell me if you have ever heard anything as overtly political since? TRB were regarded as ‘lightweight’ by the music press. Oh sure, they were Birchill’s darlings for a few months, but they were never quite The Clash, whose political sensibilities extended to being “Lost in a Supermarket” and covering Junior Murvin songs badly. No, once the press realised Tom meant everything he wrote, he was consigned to live in the field of tall poppies, and sure enough, by 1979 they were a spent force.
Sleevenotes, for the younger readers : “Supercharged Fizzies on the Asphalt” refers to the Yamaha FS1e, a popular 49cc moped of the time (although supercharging one would be problematic, at best…) and “The Kids are coming in from the cold” refers to a Ready-Brek (an oat based breakfast cereal of the time) advert. I am sure there are more cultural references, but that’ll do for starters….
Tom Robinson was a powerful antagonism in my nascent political thinking, but I wonder – where are the outspoken disaffected of today? Where and who is their voice? Even the MPs that used to speak out – Clare Short, for example – have all succumbed to the whip. Where is our voice these days – are we truly reduced to only being able to wield a vote at the ballot box now?
Thirty years on though – Tom’s words appear prophetic. “Whitehall up against the wall” was how it turned out in the winter of discontent, but does whitehall have us up against that same wall now?
richardsandwell 