Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984

432 Pages·2006·1.97 MB·English

by  Simon Reynolds

PENGUIN BOOKS
RIP IT UP AND START AGAIN
Postpunk 1978–1984

Simon Reynolds, a London-born music journalist living in New York, is the
author of Generation Ecstasy: Into the World of Techno and Rave Culture, which
was shortlisted for the 1999 Ralph J. Gleason Music Book Awards. His other
books include Blissed Out: The Raptures of Rock and The Sex Revolts: Gender,
Rebellion, and Rock ’n’ Roll (the latter coauthored with Joy Press). His pop-
culture articles have appeared in the New York Times, the Village Voice, Blender,
The Wire, Uncut, and many others, and his essays have appeared in over twenty
anthologies. A former senior editor for Spin, he remains a senior contributing
writer for the magazine.
Rip It Up and Start Again

POSTPUNK 1978–1984
SIMON REYNOLDS
PENGUIN BOOKS
Published by the Penguin Group
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First published in Great Britain by Faber and Faber Ltd 2005
First published in Penguin Books 2006
Copyright © Simon Reynolds, 2005
All rights reserved
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Reynolds, Simon, 1963–
Rip it up and start again: postpunk 1978–1984 / Simon Reynolds.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN: 1-4295-2667-X
1. Rock music—1971–1980—History and criticism. 2. Rock music—1981–
1990—History and criticism. 3. Punk rock music—History and criticism. I.
Title.
ML3534.R492 2006
781.66'09047—dc22 2005049348
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T0 MY BROTHER TIM, WHO TURNED ME ON TO PUNK IN THE FIRST
PLACE,
MY SON KIERAN, AND IN MEMORY OF REBECCA PRESS AND
BURHAN TUFAIL
CONTENTS

Introduction

Prologue: The Unfinished Revolution

PART 1: POSTPUNK

1. Public Image Belongs to Me:
John Lydon and PiL

2. Autonomy in the U.K.:
DIY and the British Independent-Label Movement

3. Tribal Revival:
The Pop Group and the Slits

4. Militant Entertainment:
Gang of Four, the Mekons, and the Leeds Scene

5. Uncontrollable Urge:
The Industrial Grotesquerie of Pere Ubu and Devo

6. Living for the Future:
Cabaret Voltaire, the Human League, and the Sheffield Scene

7. Just Step Sideways:
The Fall, Joy Division, and the Manchester Scene

8. Industrial Devolution: