No Swastikas – and other rock n roll tales.
The day started at the crack of noon with a hearty breakfast of left over risotto and pizza. As we leave The Carpenters they are literally queuing out of the door for a traditional Sunday lunch.
The walk down the hill is, as ever, soundtracked by a host of nesting birds doing what nesting birds do. After what seems like months of constant rain, this weekend has been blessed by glorious spring weather.
The Gryst is thankfully free of any flooding. The chip shop, which is usually closed on a Sunday, has opened up to serve the festival crowd a less than traditional Sunday lunch. The Cross Inn, the other pub on the square is closed, as it has been all weekend. Last year we were advised the landlord was not keen on festival types coming into his pub and asking for coffee. The closure looks a little more permanent than just for the weekend though.
The day was supposed to start with the awarding of the Penderyn Prize, an award sponsored by Penderyn Whisky, for the best music book of the year. They usually hold the award ceremony in the Millennium Hall, but this year, it is being announced upstairs in The Fountain. Even more bizarrely, they announced the winner on Facebook on Friday. And the winner, Patti Smith, was due to accept her award by video call. All very weird. All very Laugharne.
We arrived at The Fountain late, and discovered that they had decided to make the announcement at 6pm in the Millennium Hall. Again, very Laugharne.
DANIEL RACHEL
Daniel Rachel was in full swing when we arrived, discussing his new book with the ever-present Robin Ince. ‘This Ain’t Rock n Roll’ is a reflection on pop’s fascination with swastikas and the Third Reich. Most music lovers will be aware of people like Siouxsie and the Banshees, Sid Viscous and Malcom McLaren flirting with swastikas. Lemmy quite regularly wore Nazi regalia and even David Bowie dabbled in a bit of fascist fetish fashion. But surely there’s not enough material for a book there. Is there?
If you’re familiar with Daniel’s previous books, his meticulous research into subjects like Two Tone, The Anti-Nazi League and Rock Against Racism, leaves no stone unturned, no magazine quote unearthed and no photograph left undeveloped.
The photograph of Bowie’s Nazi salute to fans outside Victoria Station, caught by another Laugharne veteran, photographer Chalkie White, was always dismissed as a simple wave. But Daniel digs deep into the context, unearthing other comments made by Bowie about fascism at that time.
The flirtation with swastikas by punks is often dismissed as young rebels trying to shock the older generation, but Daniel digs deep to try to get to the bottom of what was going through the head of Malcom McLaren, a Jew, when he came up with the Destroy t-shirt. Those were obviously different times. Nobody would dare to walk around with a Nazi armband on today – but was it really acceptable then, when many survivors of the Nazi atrocities were still alive? Daniel tries to get to the bottom of whether it was an act of rebellion, a display of naivety or a sign of something darker underneath.
So yes, there is enough material for a book. The most famous examples are examined and lesser known examples are highlighted. The Kiss logo uses a font similar to that used by the Nazi SS – It’s obvious when you think about it, but it’s not something I had ever thought about.
The book, inevitably, raises many questions that remain unanswered. We can’t ask many of the protagonists what they were thinking as they are no longer with us, but it does prompt us to think more carefully about trivialising the most cruel regime in human history.
Robin Ince had dropped in at the last minute as interviewer but, true to form, he was able to provide some of his own examples of cultural misuse of the Nazi brand and ask probing questions about the book that few other people would have found at such short notice.
After a brief interlude, James Brown (no, not that one) is the focus of the audience’s attention.
JAMES BROWN
“If you find a job you enjoy, you will never work a day in your life” Confucious
James took Confucious’ advice, but got a bit carried away. Progressing from producing a fanzine, to being features editor of the best music magazine in the country, to launching a magazine that would change the face of publishing, and arguably shape the culture of a generation.
Books that engage you the most tend to be ones that you can empathise with. For me that’s books that mention bands I like, gigs I went to or events that I remember. Tales of James’ early career have that in spades for me, given that we have both produced zines in the past – although I bucked the trend and didn’t start doing mine till I was married with kids.
I could sit and listen to stories about the Redskins (formerly known as No Swastikas – something I am sure Daniel would approve of) all day. Tales of hitchhiking and collating zine pages also bring back memories.
James progressed to working for the NME. I obviously don’t have any personal experience of that, but I used to be late to work every Thursday because I wouldn’t leave home till the paper boy had delivered the NME. It’s reassuring to hear that the people writing it were as passionate about music as I was about reading it.
“There’s an expression ‘better to have someone on the inside pissing out, than on the outside pissing in’. That’s what I did, I kept pissing into the NME Letters Page till they gave me a job.” James Brown.
I have to admit, I never really gave Loaded any attention, but I was already hooked by the story at this point and having now heard tales of how it was made I wish I had paid more attention – at least whilst James was still editor. Things went off the rails a little when James was lured to GQ by a ridiculous football style signing on fee.
“The worst thing that can happen to anyone is success. It brings out the worst in people” James Brown
James has remembered his roots though and is currently punting ‘Zine Age Kicks’, a self-produced zine about memorabilia that is the ‘dub plate’ to accompany his memoir ‘Animal House’. He sells them through his social media, walks down the post office to send them out, and sells them himself at events like today’s. Like an old school zinester, but with technology and money to get it printed properly.
At today’s session we are regailed with tales from DIY publishing to mega million dollar publishing and back. We hear of trips to Sweden with the KLF, blagging a front page for Joe Strummer and hanging out with the Beastie Boys.
There’s reflection on the nineties, a decade when the charts were dominated by bands that were actually good. We hear about James in the photographers pit for Oasis at Knebworth with Alan Mcgee and he turns to him and says, “we have won the war”.
It didn’t last though.
Zine Age Kicks is a reflection on collecting memorabilia, hoarding treasured moments, but perhaps more importantly, documenting a moment in culture. Just as tales of gigs and records spark memories in the reader, images of old toys, singles sleeves and NME covers also generate grins of empathy. Perhaps nostalgia is as good as it used to be after all.
After James we head down to the bar then decide to go for chips. Unfortunately, the chip shop is now shut. As is the amazing Poon Street Cafe. We should have planned ahead. It seems the only option available is Ty-Glo. Again. Which is not really a hardship. Once again, the food is top draw. I have room for desert this time. As I mentioned in yesterday’s blog, I have a high benchmark for risotto. I also have a high benchmark for sticky toffee pudding – is it as good as my sister’s? Tonight, it is – high praise indeed.
The night is still young but we are now bloated. We look at the programme to see what is on tonight. Mark Thomas is in the Church, Budgie will be speaking later about his autobiography which covers his time with Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Creatures and much more.
Last year we were joined for the weekend by friends and I heard the phrase FOMO for the first time. Fear Of Missing Out. It is something I struggled with for many years. I was always the last to go to bed and one of the first to get up. Glastonbury used to be a nightmare for me, trying to snatch bits of sets by favourite artists on different stages at the same time. Obviously you have to learn to prioritise, otherwise you end up not appreciating any of it.
With the passage of time I have learned to tame that FOMO and stop to smell the flowers. If you’re in the pub having a really good time there’s nothing wrong with savouring that moment and not rushing off to catch something else. Especially if it is an artist you have seen before. But there’s always that little niggle in the back of the mind. ‘You can have fun in the pub at home, you might not get another chance to see (insert name of artist here) again’.
There’s a lot of this at Laugharne Weekend. There are a lot of clashes. There are a lot of events following each other at different ends of town. And sitting in a pub in Laugharne is not like going down your local. There are lots of really interesting people on the same page as you that are up for a chat – it’s part of what makes Laugharne so special. It’s what makes it Laugharne.
So we don’t go to see Mark Thomas or Budgie, we let our food go down. We didn’t get up early to see Gwenno, we didn’t rush to the other end of town to see Steve Punt or Jeremy Deller and we didn’t go to see Patti Smith or Alan Moore on a video link. But we did spend three days soaking in the unique atmosphere that is Laugharne, we did get to sit through some inspiring shows and we got to exchange contact details with interesting people.
We relaxed and didn’t burn ourselves out running up and down the high street because of FOMO. And we are not frustrated that everyone is raving on social media about how good Budgie was. Honestly.
And we will be back next year.