Prolekult - Marx, Debord, Crass and more...

London based 1990s label Prolekult was influential in popularising the hard/acid trance sound, but its visual imagery really stood out with record labels each featuring radical left icons. Their first release in 1993, Sourmash's Passport to Paradise, set the tone with Karl Marx.

From there it was an eclectic mix of the good, the not so good and the ugly of radical politics depending on your particular perspective... Let's just say I don't think all of this lot would have got along!

Bertolt Brecht

Che Guevera

Lenin

Andreas Baader of the Red Army Fraction

Wasn't sure of who this was - but reliably informed on twitter that its Russian revolutionary artists Mayakovsky, Malyutin and Cheremnykh in 1919

'No Justice, No Peace, Resist the CJB' (Criminal Justice Bill) - image from 1990 Poll Tax Riot

Rosa Luxemburg

Leon Trotksy

Helen Steele and Dave Morris - the much spied upon McLibel Two

Huey P. Newton of the Black Panther Party

'Welcome to the future: let me breathe'

Malcolm X

Mexico Olympics 1968

Stephen Lawrence

Zapatistas

Harvey Milk

Aung San Suu Kyi

The Clash

Crass

'Chairman Gonzalo' of the Shining Path in prison in Peru

Guy Debord - Down with the Society of the Spectacle

Tony Blair and John Major - Zero Difference

Paris 1968

Anarchist clash with police in Barcelona, before or during the Spanish Revolution (thanks to @semicoda for spotting)

Situationist Rene Riesel - confirmed by @andrew_wilson_a on twitter

Keith Narey, Bradford Socialist - featured on 1997 release Vuture  Shoque by Logique (Kult 23). I had some difficulty identifying him, but @casperpottle on twitter recognised the photo from his local pub, The Brewery Tap in Bradford. He seems to have been a larger than life figure well known in the Campaign for Real Ale as well as Militant who sadly died celebrating Labour's victory in the 1997 general election.

Prolekult was a sub label of Hooj Choons founded by Alex Simons and Red Jerry (Jeremy Dickens) in 1990. They put out a lot of big house tunes, notably Felix's "Don't You Want Me" (1992) co-produced by Red Jerry and Rollo. The thinking behind the Prolekult label, and the labels, is set out in the booklet accompanying the 1997 Prolekulture compilation:

 

"We started Prolekult up in the spring of '93 as a harder alternative to the more commercial-oriented house we'd been involved with up until then. There was never much of a gameplan involved, just a bunch of preferences and prejudices: a liking for hard, having-it, often Euro-flavoured trance and total indifference to the up-its-own-arse electronic doodling that characterised the UK techno scene at the time.

Sourmash's Pilgrimage To Paradise was a good tune to kick it all off with, emanating as it did from the UK, but packing the punch of a Beltram / F. De Wulf / Orlando Voorn record. Getting off to a start like that, we'd hoped to overcome our sense of musical Europhilia and carry on signing banging home-grown material, but it wasn't to be. Of the twelve tracks included here [on the CD], three quarters were licensed from European labels, reflecting the failure on our part to consistently find the kind of material we were after here in the UK. We're not sure what that says about us, or the UK, or both ...or neither, but we like the vibe surrounding the very up-for-it free party scene that's developed over the past few years and the producers that are now emerging from this sector of the underground are kicking arse. Proper UK acid business.

When it came to adopting a name, logo, etc, for the label, as unreconstructed lefties, we turned to socialist political history for inspiration. "Prolekult" is an adaptation of the Russian word "Proletkult" which was a workers cultural organisation set up in 1907 by the socialist exiles Alexander Bogdanov and Maxim Gorky. The theory went, in simple terms, that at a time when Russia's Tsarist dynasty was at the weakest and most vicious stage in its squalid history, the Bolshevik party was to lead the political opposition, the unions to lead the economic opposition and the Proletkult the cultural opposition. Perhaps the best known work to come out of the Proletkult was the post-revolutionary films of Eisenstein (Strike, Battleship Potemkin), but within a year of his rise to power in 1921 Stalin had effectively stripped the Proletkult of any autonomy, vibrancy or relevance, turning it, as he did all other genuine bases of working class expression, into just another instrument of state power.

Obviously, none of this has much direct relevance to the records we put out as the lack of vocals involved makes overt political statement difficult ("you gotta have house" repeated a few times on Neurodancers' Wippenburg [sic] - the only vocal on the twelve tracks - isn't exactly "Blowing in the Wind" is it?) but it made a change from the cod-futurism to be found on the sleeves and logos of so many techno/trance labels and, in terms of lefty icons over the last two hundred years, we knew we had an extensive reserve of imagery to draw upon. There was also the quiet hope on our part that by using pictures of long-forgotten working class heroes we'd be making our own tiny contribution to the rehabilitation of these political giants who have effectively been written out of our history. We thought that even if the odd person here and there asked "who's that?" then the labels and imagery would have transcended their original role as mere packaging and taken on a higher role as potential consciousness-raisers (man). Unfortunately it soon became apparent that no one gave a toss about which old trot we wheeled out next and after three years and seventeen releases I can safely say that we could put Donald Duck on our next release and no one would bat an eyelid...

...When we first decided to use socialists/revolutionaries etc we had assumed it would all pan out in neat chronological order, beginning with Marx and ending wherever, of course within three or four releases it had all gone. Last minute desperate scrabble to find someone reasonably relevant the night before label copy and image due at the printers etc. and to be frank the odd dubious character go used for expediencies sake". Nevertheless they meant it and included potted biographies in the compilation,,

(if you search prolekult you can listen to all this on soundcloud, spotify and all the usual places)

Carolee Schneemann: Body Politics

So much to see and think about in the Carolee Schneemann retrospective 'Body Politics' at the Barbican Art Gallery in London. Dance, performance, visual art and more centred around the body, feminism, anti-militarism and a critique of established art practice. A few highlights for me:

Noise Bodies (1965)

 Schneemann and collaborator James Tenney created a 'body sound system' attaching metallic objects and other materials to their bodies that were activated as they moved around. 

Dialectics of Liberation (1967)

Schneemann lived in London for a while (in Belsize Park) and staged a 'happening' at the Dialectics of Liberation event at the Roundhouse in 1967 - famously attended by among others Allen Ginsberg; Stokely Carmichael, R D Laing and Herbert Marcuse. The exhibition includes some interesting documentation with Schneemann clearly unhappy about some of the disorganised arrangements and her marginalisation as a woman artist.

Mortal Coils (1995)

This later work mourns the passing of friends and like minded spirits including Derek Jarman, recalling a final meeting with him in a Covent Garden cafe- 'We blew somber kisses. I walked away knowing we couldn't meet again'.

The exhibition continues until 8 January 2023

Northern Carnival Against Racism in Leeds 1981: Specials and more

The Northern Carnival Against Racism in Leeds was I think the last of the great Rock Against Racism festivals, taking place in July 1981 as riots spread across the country. The following report is from Rock Against Racism's Temporary Hoarding zine, August 1981:

'We had a great day. Anyone who came along to the Great Northern Carnival against Racism as it snaked through the city centre or as it rocked Chapeltown got the message. Love music, hate racism, have fun and fight for a future with the Carnival. It's a pity only the people of Leeds heard. The march through town was amazing, the Law didn't know what was happening. Their estimates were 7,000 on Woodhouse Moor swelling to 20,000 for the park. Anyway that's all guess the weight of the cake stuff and any way you look at it it was the biggest demo Leeds has ever seen.

It was big, it was loud, it was multi racial, it was a militant and happy. There were only 40 cops on the march but we stewarded it with black and white skins.

When the March reached the park, the sound system has already filling the park with militant rhythm. We spent all afternoon sitting in the sunshine, buying anti-racist balloons and anti-nuclear hotdogs and rocking to the sounds of Barry Ford, the Au Pairs, Misty in Roots and the Specials. The message is clear from the stage: I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm, there are 22 women political prisoners in Armagh jail and the sound from another ghetto about to explode.

But why did we have the carnival in Leeds? We wanted it here and we made it happen here. It's not just the NF [National Front] dogs at Elland Road football ground and it's not just the Nationality Bill those other animals are putting through parliament at the moment. The fascists have knifed people in our town, last September Anthony Clarke died and the local BM [British Movement] organiser went to jail for it. Blacks don't walk alone in town at night anymore. Jewish cemeteries are daubed with swastikas and the nazis come up to Chapeltown in cars at night'.

A report of the Carnival by Joanna Rollo was included in Socialist Worker, 4 July 1981:

.'The day began with a march to the city centre. Around 4000 left the assembly point. There were ANL [Anti Nazi League] banners from all over the north and some from the Midlands as well. There were floats some with bands on board, themes ranging from "stop the deportation of Asians" to "Punks against the Cruise". The Rebel float had his own band – No Swastikas from York. The two hour long march was brilliantly stewarded by black and white skinhead gangs from Leeds and Sheffield. And they had quite a job on their hands because by the time it reached Chapeltown where the Carnival was held the numbers had swelled to 20,000 and the march was spreading right across the streets. But there wasn't a single arrest and rumours that the Nazis were planning an attack the match came to nothing (a miserable 300 NF and BM members staged a half-hearted crawl through the city centre later that afternoon and ended up fighting each other).

The Carnival was remarkable. and not just for the numbers. It was the youngest, most working-class carnival yet, and there were more black youth than ever before – 50%. Looking out over the vast crowds The Specials singer Neville said "it's like a zebra crossing, black-and-white, black-and-white as far as you can see". And it put paid to the idea that all skins are Nazis because skins came in  their hundreds to hear the best the best anti ban-racist bands around – The Specials, Barry Forde, Misty and the Au Pairs – and dance and cheer alongside their black friends. It was a great day and a real slap in the face for Nazis everywhere'

Interview with Terry Hall

The Specials were riding high at this point and were no doubt the biggest draw on the day. Terry Hall was interviewed about the Leeds carnival for Temporary Hoarding by Leigh Bayley of 2 Tone

Why did you agree to play the Leeds carnival?

Because in Leeds there were a lot of racial problems so we thought it was the ideal place to play

Did you enjoy the day?

Yes. It was good. We played with Rico in Bristol the night before. I got up at 7:30 and travelled to Coventry, had a bath and drove to Leeds. We arrived only half an hour before  we went on stage.  I would have liked to have gone on the march, but we didn't have time. It was a good turnout.

There was no mention of the carnival in the National press. this is a sad reflection on the media, what are your comments?

The media is not interested in peacefulness. It is only interested in violence and what will shock people. They are not interested in a good time and peace because that does not make news. All good news is bad news. All the bad things that are happening go straight into the paper. They do not want to know about people having a good time.

Why do you think the riots have started? Do you see it as a movement against repression, unemployment, high prices, racism?

I think it is a hell of a lot of things, like unemployment. People have absolutely nothing to do. Take Coventry – you can't go to see a group. You can't go down the pub. I think a lot boils down to the price of cheeseburgers. Rioting is the only way  people can communicate. If they sent letters in an orderly fashion to Margaret Thatcher, she would not take any notice. It is the only way people can protest.

I am interested in the things that are happening with the kids, I am very interested in the youth. I am 22 now but two years ago I was a youth. I do understand what it is like because I used to be in gang fights all the time. When I used to fight it was only because I wasn't involved in anything else. I was unemployed, I was 16 but the leaders don't take any notice. I was watching a programme ‘Body Talk’ about Coventry and it was like they had to make use of a scapegoat for all the problems.

The problem is there are bad people whether they are black, white, whatever. The colour has nothing to do with it. There are nasty people who do bad things. Whether it is a black person doing bad things or a white person doing bad things it doesn't make any difference. Racism is just an excuse. It's just a word.

Do you think Mrs Thatcher can take all the blame? Has the government really left the youth on the shelf?

She is responsible. It is her government who are making the decisions so they must take the blame for what is happening. She chose to be prime minister and by making that choice she must take the blame. I blame the people who voted for her. They are so shortsighted. People say ‘let's give he woman a chance’. Well sex is just not important. If you are a fool it does not matter if you are male or female.

Do you think Labour could have avoided the trouble?

I never say what could be. Because you could say if there was a nuclear war tomorrow the rioting would end. Just what is happening today is important and what happened yesterday has happened. It is today that you have got to think about. As for Mrs Thatcher I think she should be put on the dole.

Are you disappointed that people haven't taken more notice of 2 Tone’s message of racial harmony?

Yes. Really it is just because people still think that the colour of the skin is important. I'm white but I'm not proud of it. I would paint myself green if it would make any difference. But 2 Tone is a very small thing. We are going to carry on and that is all we can do.

Terry Hall interview in Temporary Hoarding

Another report from TH: '20,000 people marched through Leeds to tell all racists everywhere just where to go. Fascist allsorts only managed 200 through the town centre in the afternoon, 30,000 popped along to the Barry Ford Band, the Au Pairs, Misty and The Specials in Potternewton Park'

Leeds Rudies

In the lead up to the Carnival, SW (4 July 1981) included an interview with Neville Staple and Lynval Golding from the Specials and an interesting feature on Leeds Rudies, a gang of young black and white ska fans involved with the Carnival: ''Rudies do what we please, how we please, when we please. We're black and white together, we look good and we show we're having fun - always dancing' (click to enlarge)

Centrespread montage from Temporary Hoarding, August 1981 with images from the summer riots

A more sceptical take from The Leveller magazine -'The Specials - the best anti-racist band you've ever heard' but rising racist attacks in Leeds, with some resistance: 'a mixed gang from the Two Tone Cafe smashed up the Scarborough Arms the local fascist meeting place'. Interesting critique - 'neo colonialist calls for "Black and White Unite and Fight" are embarrassingly abstract coming from white lefties'. I guess in the sense that the slogan could be read as undermining the reality of  black people organising themselves to fight racism, albeit with some white support.

 

[updated February 2023 with Leveller article]

See also:

Funk the Royal Wedding 1981

The Specials play Coventry 1981

Rock Against Racism documents 1979

How it all began (for me): a School Kid against the Nazis in Luton 1979/80

Brixton comes to Bedfordshire: The Luton Riots of 1981

Blinded by the Light - memories of racism and job cuts in 1980s Luton (including the Luton Youth Movement)

 

The Ambulance dispute 1989/90 - 'Now the police won't just put you in hospital, they'll drive you there too'

The 1989-90 ambulance workers' fight for a decent pay rise started out with an overtime ban in September 1989 and was escalated to refusing to answer non-emergency calls. Workers who refused non-emergency duties were suspended without pay, though many continued to come into work and run an emergency service themselves from the ambulance stations, dealing directly with calls from the public and in effect cutting out management altogether. 

There was considerable support for the dispute. On a day of action on December 6th 1989 council workers (in Hackney and Hammersmith), construction workers (including 300 steel erectors on the Canary Wharf site) and hospital workers (at the Elizabeth Garret Anderson in Soho) were among those in London who took unofficial strike action for the day in support of the ambulance crews. Another day of action on 30 January 1990 saw London bus drivers staging a short strike. The dispute finished in February 1990 having achieved a 16.9% pay rise. Not quite the 25.8% initially demanded but a big improvement on the original offer of 7.5%.

Report from Evening Standard on 30 January day of action in support of ambulance crews

Flyer for TUC 'Public Assembly in Support of Ambulance Workers' in Trafalgar Square, 13 January 1990

During the dispute the Government brought in the police and the army to drive ambulances. I was involved in producing a couple of posters in response to this. One read 'Now the police won't just put you in hospital, they'll drive you there too', the other was an image of a soldier in Belfast with a woman asking 'are you sure he's an ambulance driver' and her dog answering 'well he's about to put somebody in hospital'. 

The posters were widely distributed and copied across the country, we heard of them being flyposted in various places and they were reproduced in a number of publications (the 'Support the Ambulance Crews - Troops Out' one was unsurprizingly featured in Troops Out magazine). I remember getting rid of a big pile of them at a Chumbawamba gig at Stratford Polytechnic in November.

(A3 original)

North Middlesex Hospital

The posters were printed by a friend working at Union Place Resource Centre, a community print co-op in Camberwell. It was also at Union Place that we made a banner 'North Middlesex Supports the Ambulance Crews'. I was working at the North Middlesex Hospital at the time and was a NUPE union rep. I helped set up a North Middlesex Ambulance Support Group, we collected funds and linked with the nearby Edmonton Ambulance Station. I also went to a couple of meetings of the London Health Workers Co-ordinating Committee at University College Hospital (UCH), an unofficial network of militants from London hospitals. 

'This crew are not being paid'

Support for ambulance crews at North Middlesex Hospital (think this may have been on the 6th December national day of action)

The biggest event we organised was for the national protest on January 30th 1990. Around 100 hospital workers joined the protest outside the North Middlesex Hospital on the north circular road.

Sheffield rally, 18 November 1989

I went to an Ambulance workers rally in Sheffield, here's a few pictures:

'our pay has stopped, but we have not'

I think this is union leader Roger Poole speaking in Sheffield

See also:

Hospital workers say: 'we're not paying': North Middlesex Hospital anti-poll tax leaflet, 1990

Barnet and Edgware Hospital Workers Against the Poll Tax

The Maudsley Nurses Strike 1988

Socialism through Oi? - music and politics 1982

From Socialist Worker (9 January 1982), Chris Moore looks ahead to a year in music (Moore was in the Socialist Workers Party and wrote for NME as X Moore).

'While Adam played Prince Charming and while white funksters swapped favourite shirts, Toxteth danced to the sound of breaking glass... 1981 was the year compliant complacency set in and fightback was drowned out. 1982 will be harder... 

It's depressing but honest to admit that there is in reality no working class mass movement called Oi, no revolutionary punk/skinhead force threatening to smash capitalism... (or whatever it is Gal Bushell

wants to smash now that he's replaced the revolutionary party with Oi! the Party)...

1982 will fight back not with angst-ridden Sturm and Drang aggro singles but with ideas. The strength of musical muscle behind CND and the strength of three and a half million on the dole will force the music press this year to give the movements the level of coverage RAR [Rock Against Racism] used to get when Webster was fouling the TV screens and Lewisham was throwing bricks and bottles tiswas style(e)

The bands you will see that fuel and fire the arguments, pulling the music press away from the bar and beyond will be varied. Scritti Politti will talk a lot and win people to their ideas and music, in spite of coming it with the intellectual verbals. Grace Jones and Pigbag will keep you dancing through the

year, the Higsons and the Stunt Kites will surprize you, and Black Flag and Death in

June will crack it... Listen to the poets, dance to the rhythm, clash and rock against Thatcher!'

Some interesting choices there - Death in June may have had their roots in radical left punk band Crisis but they were soon being denounced as fascist sympathisers. 

Moore's dismissal of Oi brough an angry response from a left wing skinhead which was printed under the heading 'Socialism thru' Oi': 'Oi bands and their followers have short hair cuts and Air Wair boots. We just can't afford all the trendy gear the high street posers wear'.

Moore was not averse to the skinhead look himself. Later that year he founded The Redskins.

[found this browsing through old copies of SW scanned by the excellent Splits and Fusions]