{"id":10800,"date":"2023-07-28T23:58:09","date_gmt":"2023-07-29T03:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tempestmag.org\/v01_2020\/staging\/?p=10800"},"modified":"2023-08-03T00:00:54","modified_gmt":"2023-08-03T04:00:54","slug":"rock-against-capitalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tempestmag.org\/test02\/2023\/07\/rock-against-capitalism\/","title":{"rendered":"Rock against capitalism"},"content":{"rendered":"

A note on language: As the article points out, the band chose its name to indicate that they were left-wing skinheads as opposed to Nazi skinheads, in other words, “red” skinheads.<\/em><\/p>\n

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I first encountered the Redskins in the pages of the book 33 Revolutions Per Minute<\/em>, in which the author dismissed the band as \u201chectoring, hairshirt protest-pop.\u201d1

\"Album
Album cover for Neither Washington nor Moscow. Image courtesy of Hank Kennedy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Redskins began as a punk foursome known as No Swastikas in 1978, consisting of Chris Dean (guitar and vocals), Martin Hewes (bass), and \u201ctwo anarchists.\u201d After the anarchists left, Nick King joined on drums. The band’s formation was inspired by the Rock Against Racism movement<\/a>, but the name caused problems.<\/p>\n

Some thought<\/a> that the band were fascists, a misconception heightened when venues and publications misnamed them \u201cSwastikas.\u201d Throughout this time, Dean was involved in anti-racist struggles and unemployed marches. The band rechristened themselves Redskins, reflecting their status as left-wing skinheads. Their first single \u201cLev Bronstein\u201d (the birth name of Leon Trotsky), backed with \u201cPeasant Army,\u201d was released on the independent CNT record label and gave little indication of the band’s promise. \u201cLev Bronstein\u201d sounds like second rate post-punk, while \u201cPeasant Army\u201d is nondescript punk. Dean later said of the single, \u201cIt was a disaster really.” Chris admitted that it was “not accessible, not a good production.\u201d2

However, the group improved greatly after that inauspicious debut. Their next single, also released on CNT, \u201cLean On Me,\u201d was listed<\/a> as one of NME\u2019s Tracks of the Year for 1983. The band did an interview for Sounds<\/em> after the single\u2019s release, in which Chris Dean said,<\/p>\n

Political bands are a dirty word since the arse end of RAR [Rock Against Racism], but that’s because they missed the point of what makes great music. … Take the Gang Of Four, ideologically they might have been perfect, but who the fuck was listening? \u201cA Town Called Malice,\u201d \u201cGhost Town,\u201d “The Lunatics Have Taken Over The Asylum\u201d\u2014they were all great because they were popular and they had something to say.3

Dean also took time to dispel misconceptions about the skinhead subculture, namely that all skinheads were far right or pro-fascist. The interview concluded with Dean saying,<\/p>\n

You can do more than just do benefits – music can uplift working class kids and it can change attitudes. A band can act as a catalyst. A record is a weapon with a worker at both ends. Working class kids are buying it. No-one would be interested in Paul Weller if he wasn’t in a band. Being a pop star gives you access to millions of people. From the moment you’re born, you’re told what to do. But rock’n’roll gave kids a voice. Working class kids were suddenly being listened to – by other working class kids.4

After the release of \u201cLean on Me,\u201d the Redskins signed to the major label London Records. Hewes had previously defended the idea of bands signing to a major label in a letter to the Socialist Review<\/em>, writing<\/a>, \u201cMoney does not necessarily distort consciousness, it depends on how you earn it.\u201d This label change did nothing to deflect from the group’s politics, either in their music or outside it. The Redskins performed at a free \u201cJobs For a Change\u201d concert on June 10, 1984 organized by the Greater London Council to protest unemployment and Thatcher\u2019s budget cuts, alongside the Smiths and Billy Bragg. During the Redskins\u2019 set, the band and their fans were attacked by Neo-Nazi skinheads. Fortunately, the fascists were driven off<\/a> by union mineworkers and members of the left-wing group Red Action.<\/p>\n

The Redskins threw themselves wholeheartedly into supporting the National Union of Mineworkers\u2019 strike against prime minister Margaret Thatcher\u2019s pit closures through music and benefit shows. Their single \u201cKeep On Keepin\u2019 On,\u201d which reached number 43 on the U.K. charts, was an anthem for the strikers with lyrics like, \u201cIf it takes a year we got to last a year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chris Dean met and became friends with a striking coal miner with the oddly appropriate name of Norman Strike<\/a>. When the band performed on the television program The Tube<\/em> on November 9, 1984, Strike attempted to give a speech during \u201cKeep On Keeping On,\u201d but the microphone audio was cut off. This led to allegations of censorship against The Tube<\/em>. Strike\u2019s speech, inaudible to the television audience, concluded, \u201cMiners’ support groups have sprung up all over the country. They’re supporting us. You should be supporting them.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a 1985 Socialist Review<\/em> interview<\/a>, Dean claimed, \u201cSomething like the miner\u2019s strike is perfect for the agitprop element of rock and roll” due to the scale of the strike. If people think that we’re ramming it down their throats, then that’s tough shit.” Bassist Martin Hewes told NME<\/em> during the strike. “If you get too subtle, no one knows what you’re on about.”5

The band released two other singles in 1985. First came \u201cBring It Down (This Insane Thing),\u201d a soulful attack on the capitalist system with lyrics about the insanity and inhumanity of the profit motive. It charted even higher than \u201cKeep On Keeping On\u201d at number 33. The release of their next single was more of a headache for the group. When Decca balked at releasing \u201cKick Over the Statues\u201d as a benefit single for the anti-apartheid movement, the band did it anyway through an independent label. All royalties went to the Federation of South African Trade Unionists and the African National Congress. Lyrics like \u201cThe first act of freedom\/All over the world\/Is to topple the statues\/Kick the bosses over\u201d resonate strongly even today in the United States, given recent movements to tear down statues of Confederates and slaveholders.<\/p>\n

After the defeat of the miners\u2019 strike, many of the U.K.\u2019s left-leaning musicians joined an effort called Red Wedge to rally support for the Labour Party in the next election to oust Thatcher. Those involved included the Style Council, the Communards, Billy Bragg, The The, and many more. Absent were the Redskins, who decried the rightward drift of the Labour Party and the centrism of its leader, Neil Kinnock. The Redskins\u2019 decision not to participate in Red Wedge was debated in the pages of the Socialist Review. An article<\/a> by Julie Waterson, \u201cRocking For Kinnock,\u201d thought the band should join the effort, while nonparticipation was defended in a letter by Noel Halifax.<\/p>\n