colorblind-skinhead: janvier 2013

jeudi 17 janvier 2013

DYS: "City to City" live from the Gallery East Reunion show

oi! a view from the dead-end of the street (Great'81 Book!)

http://www.mediafire.com/?6myscbhos6d4075

OI! THE INTRODUCTION

This is th story of Oi! – the movement; perhaps the most hated, abused and misunderstood youth movement of our time. After the disaster of Southall the musical and political establishment who had always ignored Oi! Are now trying to bury it. Every gig is banned and as we write, the 4 Skins single looks like having to come out on mail order. Whether this is the end or the beginning only time will tell.

When it comes to it Oi!was/is just too real for them. It scares them because they can’t take it over and make it Sunday supplement throw-away garbage. Punk was supposed to be street music but it was full of ponces, plastic, pseuds and pretenders, commercialised by the industry and exploited and betrayed by the ‘pioneers’. In contrast, Oi! Was always working class thru and thru.

Oi! Arose out of punk and out of skinhead. It was a movement of punks, skins, tearaways and rebels, kids who didn’t conform. Flee Street try and paint it as “just skinhead” and of course in their eyes “all skins are nazis”. In truth most skin hate all politicians with an equal cynical vengence. Everyone on the skin scene knows that compared to Sham days nazi activity at Oi! Gigs was non-existent.

Certainly neither Babylon Books nor I want anything to do with fascism. Neither d the bands or the vast mjority of the fans. In theory Labour would be our party, except Labour ain’t working class anymore. In practice they let us down worst cos they promise us most.

We talk about Southall later on, but the funny thing is, after it we copped stick from all sides. The Communists called us Nazis, The black, jewish, pakistani and left-wing kids into Oi! laughed at them. And yet the Nazis called us Commmunist when in practisce a Communist regime would crush Oi!’s Spirit of rebellion and populism as much as a Nazi one would. The real problem of the movement was rival football fans, but it was a problem we were fighting and winning.

Nah, fuck all the politics and in fighting. Oi! was/is about street kids, urban rebels, having a laugh and having a say. Like I say later, “Street level points of view, songs written in the dole queue”. And the music is/was like the kids, firts raucous and untamed. The most exciting music on offer, the most real. The first true street movement since 1969 skinhead. Long Live Oi!

The Oi! movement has been attacked by the left, right and center of public opinion, rightly, wrongly and sometimes for the sake of it, by those who are realy genuinely interested and trying to help and understand it, by those who should and do know better, and by those who should and don’t know better. Why? Well, you tell me. I reckon it’s ‘cos people are scared of it and most people are scared of something new and of what they don’t understand, or in some cases don’t want to understand. Also a lot of anger and hatred felt towards the Oi! movement based on lies and rumours that are out about by various people and organisations for their own ends, the don’t care about spoiling it for the kids, or the music or the bands, so don’t you care about them, ignore their propaganada and their politics and they’ll go away, ‘cos Oi! ain’t about politics of any party, it’s ntipolitics, it’s the beat of the streets, it’s about having a laugh despite the fact that Maggie Thatcher and the tory government re trying their hardest to stop you from enjoying life. Of course the songs are violent and angry at times (So was punk), the music is hard, fast and agressive (so was punk) Oi! is anti-establishment, it’s also for and against exactly the same things that punk was, Oi! is new punk whether they like it or not, Oi! is here to stay and to grow given the change, into what punk first time round was meant to be, working class music, played by working class bands, for working class kids, and believe me if it changes or loses its way I’ll be the first to have nothing else to do with the Oi! movement, so remember what the voice of ’76 said. Follow No Leaders.