Every now and then I have to listen to 'Power In The Darkness' by the Tom Robinson Band. I want to hear political left-wing angst and driving guitars. The Band only lasted for a couple of years and made the two albums but it was worth it. I blogged about Tom in January and how you can download his later albums for free or for a donation, so go on, do it.
I sometimes miss those days, when people held views and believed in them. Things were important and politics mattered. There were causes. I've lost track with all that - do young people still have causes? 'A few of us fought and a few folks died... in the Winter of '79'! In '79-'80 I wasn't seen without an upside down 'Save The Whale' badge....
Another truly radical album was 'Poet & The Roots', the alter-ego of Linton Kwesi Johnson and Dennis Bovell with their tales of life in Brixton, SUSS laws and racial violence. Some of the songs on that album are ground-breaking but possibly known to only a relatively small audience. There was real anger at injustice in those days.
I suppose it's a yearning for a lost youth but I do think it's important to have principles and beliefs. We used to talk about it a lot in the olden days and do things. I don't see that happening any more. The TRB were one of the first Rock Against Racism bands and sang about sexual equality and a host of things. Who does that these days? Or am I simply missing it because I'm an old fogey?
Wake me up when the revolution starts.
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