Malcolm Mc Laren Is Dead! Rest In Peace!

[xzusa8ky]

All that schratching making me itch!

Malcolm Mc Laren is dead 64 years of age on the 9 of April 2010 in Schwitzerland.

I'll will miss you and never forget what great tracks you did in the 80s.

"Buffalo Gals" for YOU!

RIP

[macmurphy]

Yep. Much respect.

RIP.

[STRATEGY_510]

All that schratching making me itch!

Malcolm Mc Laren is dead 64 years of age on the 9 of April 2010 in Schwitzerland.

I'll will miss you and never forget what great tracks you did in the 80s.

"Buffalo Gals" for YOU!

RIP

Buffalo Gals/Hobo Scratch/World Famous are all-time classics to me.

I also really liked that "About Her" track he did for Kill Bill a few years ago (especially the first 20 seconds or so..)

I'm oblivious to his contributions to the Punk Rock scene, though that is what all the articles are harping on.

His contributions to Hip-Hop are extraordinary. Buffalo Gals was one of the first couple of records with DJ scratching on it, it was about simultaneous with Rockit, iirc.


STRATEGY

[Jarvisimon]

although I understand the significance Mclaren and the Pistols had on the music scene and western society as a whole, it has to be said that despite "anarchy in the UK", it was CRASS that rejuvenated the anarchy symbol as well as giving the word some clarification and meaning. The pistols were really just a boy band (albeit with unsavoury intentions) who played standard rock n roll badly without understanding what "anarchy" really is.

Saying that, Malcoln McLaren RIP. You may have been a marketing man at heart but in the same vein that RATM knocked Joe whatshisname off the number one spot for Xmas 2009, puerile pop was kicked in the head by the 76/77 punk phenomena, which to this day undermines current thinking and attitudes with cunning subterfuge.

In truth, it was happening anyway with the rise of 60's psychedelia but punk gave it added bite.

There are some wonderful things about this world, rebellion against the status quo being one of the finest.

[oblique strategies]

The pistols were really just a boy band (albeit with unsavoury intentions) who played standard rock n roll badly without understanding what "anarchy" really is.

The talent that is Johnny Rotten/Lydon deserves far more than this. There was nothing 'standard' about his singing.

"For me Malc was always entertaining and I hope you remember that," Lydon said in a statement he signed under his Sex Pistols' name Johnny Rotten. "Above all else he was an entertainer and I will miss him, and so should you."

Malcom R.I.P.

[Homebelly]

The pistols were really just a boy band

From Maclaren's perspective, i think that was the point.
I have no idea how old you are, but England in 76/77 was not a very nice place to be young in.
It was all good if you watch the TV from that period. If you did you would be lead to believe that Britain was all about middle class suburbia
and quaint country towns or how well we persevered during the war.
The truth for a lot of us was horrible grey council estates or inner-city tower blocks.
England's "Little England" culture meant fuck all to people like us.
The music and entertainment at the time was never reflective of what we were all about, it was only really an escape.

In my opinion that was what make the Bill Grundy broadcast important.
I can remember seeing it on TV that night, i think i was watching because some one like Rod Stewart or
The Stones were supposed to be on it, instead we get a very drunk Steve Jones, a very young Siouxie Sioux, and Bill Grundy
being a salacious git and Johnny Lydon picking up on it!!
The rules of politeness on British TV got severely tested that night. Every one knew Grundy was a drunk, but nobody acknowledged it.
But that night Lydon called him out...
I think at this point Malcolm was losing control of the cultural change, and the momentum was taking over.

Until that point The Sex Pistols weren't so much about the music, it was more about not being brown and tweed.
The other person that is often over looked in this whole change was Vivian Westwood.
England was all about being brown and tweed. Even the "Carnaby Street" fashions that every one reminisces about, and that Austin Powers took the piss out of, was only really for a select few. Vivian and Malcolm were never really that interested in starting new trends, they just provided alternative places to go to buy the fashions for the already existing trends, i think Showaddywaddy used to by clothes at one of their shops!!
The real change was when they changed the name of the shop to SEX and incorporated the whole idea of recycling the high street fashions.
I think Malcolm saw the chance to promote him self through Rock and Roll, carrying on what he had tried to do with the MC5. In some ways the Sex Pistols was an extension of the shop and a way to market it.

Your absolutely right about Maclarens marketing skills. And this was were his actual genius was. What Maclaren did was turn the whole Edward Bernays style of creating very conservative myths to sell things, or create exploitable new markets, back on its self. He did that by combining aspects of performance art along with the tools that the establishment provided and created Shock and Awe. The shock and awe was what was important, not the product used to create it. Looking back on all of it now it all seems quite tame, but at the time Sid Vicious, Johnny Rotten, and a little while later Siouxie Sioux, were very provocative. Still latter Bow-wow-wow, Adam and the Ants, and Boy George and Culture Club all created levels of out rage. Malcolm's "Art" was using people to shock people. I think this was were the animosity that existed between Malcolm and the people he used was created. Few, if any, under stood the part they played. I'm not sure Lydon has ever had a nice thing to say about Maclaren, i was surprised at how pleasant and courteous he was in one of the eulogies i read on line, maybe he is mellowing out.

Any ways..
Sorry about the rave, but i have been thinking on this a while as Malcolm Maclarens death has had a bit of an affect on me and i have been swapping e.mails with a couple of friends my age talking about it. On a personal note, i would love for Malcolm to be here and young again so he, or some one like him, could take on the Simon Caldwell's of the world.

[Sage]

Everyone seems to focus on The Sex Pistols being manufactured, but they royally fucked off their record labels and wasted lots of money and completely rocked the establishment.

Everyone likes to name bands doing the Punk sound first or more DIY, anarchic etc but TSP set the benchmark and Malcolm Mclaren was behind it all.

[e.g.:]

I was around then, and I was totally unimpressed. Punk was the same old shit with a different look. Big deal. It used the same musical forumulae and business machinery that was already in place. It did not fundamentally change anything.

It was a fashion statement. Nothing more.

Sorry, just thought I should chime in with my own POV.

[oblique strategies]

The other person that is often over looked in this whole change was Vivian Westwood.

Brava Vivian Westwood!

Looking back on all of it now it all seems quite tame, but at the time Sid Vicious, Johnny Rotten, and a little while later Siouxie Sioux, were very provocative. Still latter Bow-wow-wow, Adam and the Ants, and Boy George and Culture Club all created levels of out rage. Malcolm's "Art" was using people to shock people.

Absolutely. It was a blast! Punk & particularly post-punk spawned some truly great music:

Public Image, Ltd.
Joy Division
Wire
Throbbing Gristle
Suicide
Devo
Talking Heads
The Cure
Sisters of Mercy
The Cramps
The Ramones
The Slits

These are all highly influential & unique artists from this time period.

For all the focus on Malcolm as a pop culture manipulator, he did have a good ear for music: Adam and the Ants, Bow Wow Wow, & the Sex Pistols were all brilliant pop.

[CR78]

Punk & particularly post-punk spawned some truly great music:

Public Image, Ltd.
Joy Division
Wire
Throbbing Gristle
Suicide
Devo
Talking Heads
The Cure
Sisters of Mercy
The Cramps
The Ramones
The Slits

These are all highly influential & unique artists from this time period.

ADD:

Gang of Four
Gadgets(Matt(Matt Johnson{THE THE}/Colin Lloyd Tucker)
Foxx era Ultravox
Television
Raincoats

[Machinesworking]

I was around then, and I was totally unimpressed. Punk was the same old shit with a different look. Big deal. It used the same musical forumulae and business machinery that was already in place. It did not fundamentally change anything.

It was a fashion statement. Nothing more.

Sorry, just thought I should chime in with my own POV.

You couldn't be more wrong if you wanted to be.
The speed of the songs was faster, the noise ratio higher and the average age of the musicians younger.
35 years later there are literally tens of thousands of punk bands. DIY culture in the USA and elsewhere gets/got a HUGE
push from the second wave of hardcore punk bands, who sounded NOTHING like the 60's and 70's hard rock and heavy metal bands.

Fundamentally the major change was that you could be 17, not a virtuoso guitar player, and play in a band, start doing shows at veterans clubs and other all ages halls, and have fun. This was very different than the climate around Led Zepplin and other established major label bands. Kids who listened to that music pretty much
were regulated to spending years practicing and developing and act for the hope of getting an opening slot for Molly Hatchet etc.

Whether you personally like the music or not the record industry and the attainability of being a musician was changed drastically when Johnny Ramone stripped all lead guitar from their sound and sped the songs up past 160bpm It's even worse than saying Kraut Rock, Funk, Disco or Heavy Metal had no bearing on music.

[Machinesworking]

For all the focus on Malcolm as a pop culture manipulator, he did have a good ear for music: Adam and the Ants, Bow Wow Wow, & the Sex Pistols were all brilliant pop.

True, last article I read by him was years ago on 8-bit music, he still was looking around for the next wave.

It's too bad he had to have an epic 30 year war with Rotten.
According to Steve Jones the reason was basically that they're exactly alike!

[e.g.:]

Stripping guitar solos, increasing tempo, reducing the age of performers etc (a dubious claim anyway). are not revolutionary changes in my book.

Simple stuff really.

Still a few chords, verse, chorus, manufactured and distributed by the same type of infrastructure as everyone else. Where's the rebellion?

The changes were just a different flavor of icing on the cake. No new recipe.

Fluff.

Once again, my POV. Agree to disagree, but you'll not prove or convince me otherwise.

You are correct though, they have only a little in common with hard rock and heavy metal (distortion and anger). They do have a lot in common though with the original British Invasion groups like the Beatles and Paul Revere and the Raiders (song structure is identical).

Once again, its hardly revolutionary stuff.

[oblique strategies]

One of the most profound aspects of Punk was the emphasis on DIY, as was mentioned by both Sage & machinesworking.

The Do It Yourself ethos touched every form of creative expression.

People realized that they didn't need to be Rick Wakeman with a massive synth collection to be in a band.

No magazine covering your scene? Make one yourself.

Want some unique threads? Make your own clothing by remixing found objects.

The notion that you could be the authority in your life gave people a strong desire to follow through on their creativity, rather than simply stifling these urges because they thought that they didn't have the proper tools or training. That is revolutionary on a personal level.

[Guff Tong]

Stripping guitar solos, increasing tempo, reducing the age of performers etc (a dubious claim anyway). are not revolutionary changes in my book.

Simple stuff really.

Still a few chords, verse, chorus, manufactured and distributed by the same type of infrastructure as everyone else. Where's the rebellion?

The changes were just a different flavor of icing on the cake. No new recipe.

Fluff.

Once again, my POV. Agree to disagree, but you'll not prove or convince me otherwise.

You are correct though, they have only a little in common with hard rock and heavy metal (distortion and anger). They do have a lot in common though with the original British Invasion groups like the Beatles and Paul Revere and the Raiders (song structure is identical).

Once again, its hardly revolutionary stuff.

Musically I'd agree that most 70's punk was a 'punk version' homage of previous bands (Pistols: Stones, Damned: Doors, Jam: Who etc...)

However-

Politically and socially its been on of the most influential we've seen in the last few decades.

Have a look into post 70's anarcho-punk (Crass, subhumans, dirt, conflict etc..)
All released on independent record labels, completely diss-associuated with major lablels (Most were c/o Rough Trade, a ground breaking independent label that helped many smaller labels buck the system)

(In fact you could prolly draw a thick line between the 70's and 80's punk-wise)

Now, country and western - thats some evil shit right there. at least us punks only looked scary ;/