Crass
Encyclopedia
Crass are an English punk rock
band that was formed in 1977, which promoted anarchism
as a political ideology, way of living, and as a resistance movement
. Crass popularised the seminal anarcho-punk
movement of the punk subculture
, and advocated direct action
, animal rights
, and environmentalism
. The band both utilised and advocated a DIY punk ethic approach, producing sound collage
s, graphics, albums, and films. Crass also criticised mainstream culture and attempted to subvert it with messages promoting feminism
, anti-racism
, anti-war
, and anti-globalisation.
Crass practiced "direct action" by spray-painting stencilled graffiti
messages around the London Underground
system and on advertising billboards, coordinating squats, and organising political action. The band also expressed its ideals by dressing in black, military surplus-style clothing, and using a stage backdrop which amalgamated several "icon
s of authority" including the Christian Cross
, the swastika
, the Union Flag
, and an Ouroboros
.
The band were critical of punk subculture itself, as well as wider youth culture in general. Crass promoted the type of anarcho-pacifism
that eventually became more common in the punk music scene (see anarcho-punk
). They are also considered involved with the art punk
genre, due to their use of tape collages, graphics, spoken word releases, poetry and improvisation.
The band was based around Dial House, an open house community
near Epping
, Essex
, forming when Dial House founder and former member of avant-garde
performance art
groups EXIT
and Ceres Confusion Penny Rimbaud
(real name Jeremy Ratter) began jamming with Clash
fan Steve Ignorant
(real name Steve Williams), who was residing in the house at the time. Ignorant had been inspired to form a band after attending a performance by The Clash
at the Colston Hall in Bristol
whilst Rimbaud had been working on his prose composition 'Reality Asylum'. Between them, they produced the songs "So What?" and "Do They Owe Us A Living?" as a drums and vocals duo. For a short period of time, they called themselves Stormtrooper, before choosing the name Crass, a reference to the David Bowie
song "Ziggy Stardust
," specifically the line "The kids was just crass."
Other friends and members of the household joined, including Joy De Vivre
, Pete Wright
, N. A. Palmer
(real name Andy Palmer), Steve Herman and Eve Libertine
(real name Bronwyn Lloyd Jones), who was considered "the band's first fan," and it was not long before Crass performed their first live gig at a squat
ted street festival
at Huntley Street, North London
. Here they had intended to play a set of five songs; however, the "plug was pulled" on them by a neighbour after three songs. Guitarist Steve Herman soon afterwards left the band to be replaced by Phil Free (real name Phil Clancey). Other early Crass gigs included a four date tour of New York City
, a gig at a festival in Covent Garden
at which Charles Hayward
of This Heat
stood in for Rimbaud on drums, as well as playing alongside the UK Subs
at the White Lion pub in Putney
. These latter performances were often not well-attended; "The audience consisted mostly of us when the Subs played and the Subs when we played."
Crass also played two gigs at the Roxy Club in Covent Garden, London. According to Rimbaud, all the band members arrived drunk at the second gig, and were ejected from the stage. This event was immortalised by their song "Banned from the Roxy" and the essay Crass at the Roxy by Penny Rimbaud.
Following this incident, the band decided to take themselves more seriously, particularly paying more attention to their presentation. As well as avoiding alcohol
or cannabis
before gigs, they also adopted a policy of wearing black, military surplus
-style clothing at all times, whether on or off stage. They introduced their distinctive stage backdrop, a logo designed by Rimbaud's friend Dave King of Sleeping Dogs Lie. This gave the band a militaristic
image, which led some to accuse them of fascism
. Crass countered that their uniform appearance was intended to be a statement against the "cult of personality
", so that, in contrast to the norm for many rock bands, no member would be identified as the 'leader'.
Originally conceived and intended as the cover artwork for a self-published pamphlet version of Christ's Reality Asylum by Penny Rimbaud, the Crass logo represented an amalgamation of several "icon
s of authority," including the Christian Cross
, the swastika
, and the Union Flag
, combined with a two-headed Ouroboros
to symbolise the idea that power will eventually destroy itself. Using such deliberately mixed messages was part of Crass' strategy of presenting themselves as a "barrage of contradictions", which also included using loud, aggressive music to promote a pacifist
message, and was in part a reference to their own Dada
ist and performance art backgrounds.
The band eschewed any elaborate stage lighting
during live sets, instead preferring to be illuminated by simple 40 watt household light bulbs (the technical difficulties of filming under such lighting conditions in part explains why there is so little live footage of Crass in existence). The band pioneered multimedia presentation techniques, fully utilising video technology and using back-projected films and video collages
made by Mick Duffield and Gee Vaucher
to enhance their performances.
, an 18 track 12" 45 rpm
EP on the Small Wonder
label in 1978. Workers at the pressing plant initially refused to handle it due to the allegedly blasphemous
content of the song "Asylum". The record was eventually released with this track removed and replaced by two minutes of silence, ironically titled "The Sound Of Free Speech". This incident prompted Crass to set up their own independent record label
, Crass Records
, in order to prevent Small Wonder from being placed in a compromising position in the future as well as retain full editorial control over their material. "Asylum", now renamed "Reality Asylum", was shortly afterwards released on Crass Records in a re-recorded and extended form as a 7
" single. Later pressings of the album (also on Crass Records) restored the original version of the missing track.
As well as their own material, Crass Records released recordings by other performers, the first of which was the 1980 single "You Can Be You" by Honey Bane
, a teenage girl who was staying at Dial House whilst on the run from a children's home. Other artists included Zounds, Flux Of Pink Indians
, Omega Tribe
, Rudimentary Peni
, Conflict
, Iceland
ic band KUKL (who included singer Björk
), classical singer Jane Gregory
, Anthrax
, Captain Sensible
, Lack of Knowledge and the Poison Girls
, a like-minded band who worked closely with Crass for several years.
Crass Records also put out three editions of Bullshit Detector
, compilations of demos and rough recordings which had been sent to the band, and which they felt represented the DIY punk ethic. The catalogue numbers of Crass Records releases were intended to represent a countdown to the year 1984 (eg, 521984 meaning "five years until 1984"), both the year that Crass stated that they would split up, and a date charged with significance in the anti-authoritarian
calendar due to George Orwell
's novel of the same name.
in 1981. This marked a departure from the 'hardcore punk' image that The Feeding of the 5000
and its follow up Stations of the Crass
had to some extent given the group. It featured more complex musical arrangements and exclusively female vocals provided by Eve Libertine
and Joy De Vivre
(although Steve Ignorant remained a group member and is credited on the record sleeve as "not on this recording").
The album addressed feminist issues and once again attacked the institutions of 'the system' such as marriage and sexual repression
. The last track on Penis Envy, a deliberately saccharine parody
of a 'MOR' love song
entitled "Our Wedding", was also made available as a white flexi disc
to the readers of 'Loving', a teenage girl's romance magazine. The free flexi offer had been suggested to Loving by an organisation calling itself "Creative Recording And Sound Services" (note the initials). A minor tabloid controversy resulted once the hoax was revealed, with the News of the World
going so far as to state that the title of the flexi's originating album was "too obscene to print".
The album was banned by retailers HMV. During the mid 1980s, under the direction of James Anderton
copies were seized, along with other records by Crass and The Dead Kennedys, by Greater Manchester Police
from Eastern Bloc record shop. Frank Schofield was charged with displaying "Obscene Articles For Publication For Gain". The band, Flux of Pink Indians
its two record labels and its publishing company were also charged under the Obscene Publications Act, but all charges were dropped by Greater Manchester Police
.
had broken out and ended. This caused Crass to fundamentally question their approach to making records. As a group whose primary purpose was political commentary
, they felt they had been overtaken and made to appear redundant by real world events. Subsequent releases, including the singles "How Does It Feel to Be the Mother of a Thousand Dead" and "Sheep Farming in the Falklands", and the album Yes Sir, I Will
, saw the band strip their sound back to basics and were issued as "tactical responses" to political situations. They also anonymously produced 20,000 copies of a flexi-disc featuring a live recording of "Sheep Farming...", copies of which were randomly inserted into the sleeves of other records by sympathetic workers at the Rough Trade records
distribution warehouse as a means of spreading their views to those who might not normally hear them.
, anarchist, feminist and anti-consumerist graffiti
messages around the London Underground
system and on advertising billboards, the band had always been involved in political as well as musical activities. On December 18, 1982, Crass co-ordinated a 24 hour squat of the empty Zig Zag club in West London primarily for an all day event attended by approximately 500 people to prove "that the underground punk scene could handle itself responsibly when it had to and that music really could be enjoyed free of the restraints imposed upon it by corporate industry".
Bands playing at the Zig Zag (in running order) were Faction, D and V, Omega Tribe
, Lack of Knowledge, Sleeping Dogs, The Apostles
, Amebix
, Null & Void, Soldiers of Fortune, The Mob, Polemic Attack, Poison Girls
, Conflict
, Flux of Pink Indians
, Crass and DIRT
.
In 1983 and 1984 they were part of the Stop the City
actions instigated by London Greenpeace
that were arguably fore-runners of the anti-globalisation actions of the early 21st century. Explicit support for such activities was given in the lyrics of the band's final single release "You're Already Dead", which also saw Crass publicly express growing doubts regarding their longtime commitment to pacifism. This led to further introspection within the band, with some members feeling that they were beginning to become embittered as well as losing sight of their essentially positive stance. As a reflection of this debate, the next release using the Crass name was Acts of Love
, classical music settings of 50 poems by Penny Rimbaud described as "songs to my other self" and intended to celebrate "'the profound sense of unity, peace and love that exists within that other self."
that originated from members of Crass became known as 'the Thatchergate
tapes'.
This was a cassette featuring what appeared to be an accidentally overheard telephone conversation, due to crossed lines. In reality the tape had been constructed by Crass, using edited recordings of Margaret Thatcher
and Ronald Reagan
s' voices. On the Thatchergate tape they discuss the sinking of the HMS Sheffield
during the Falklands War
, and appeared to allege that Europe would be used as a target for nuclear weapons in any conflict between the United States
and the Soviet Union
.
Copies were leaked to the press, and the US State Department believed the tape to be propaganda produced by the Soviet KGB
, a story reported by both the San Francisco Chronicle
and The Sunday Times
.
Although put together totally anonymously, the British Observer newspaper was somehow able to link the tape with the band.
's government following the Falklands War. Questions in Parliament
and an attempted prosecution under the UK's Obscene Publications Act
for their single "How Does It Feel..." led to a round of court battles and what the band describes as harassment that finally took its toll. On July 7, 1984 the band played their final gig at Aberdare
in Wales
, a benefit for striking miners, before retreating to Dial House to concentrate their energies elsewhere.
Guitarist N. A. Palmer
had announced that he intended to leave the band in order to further his art college studies, and the reported group consensus was that replacing him would be "like having a corpse in the band". This catalysed the affirmation of Crass' consistently stated intention to split up in 1984. Steve Ignorant went on to join the band Conflict
, with whom he had already worked on an ad hoc
basis, and in 1992 formed Schwartzeneggar
(sic). From 1997-2000, he was a member of the group Stratford Mercenaries
. He has also worked as a Punch and Judy
professor and as a solo performer
. Eve Libertine continued to record with her son Nemo Jones as well as performance artist A-Soma. Pete Wright concentrated on building himself a houseboat
and formed the performance art group Judas 2, whilst Rimbaud continued to write and perform both solo and with other artists.
on London
's South Bank
that included a performance of Britten's War Requiem
as well as performers such as Goldblade
, Fun-Da-Mental
, Ian MacKaye
and Pete Wright's post-Crass project Judas 2. In October 2003, the Crass Collective changed their working title
to Crass Agenda. During 2004 Crass Agenda were at the forefront of the campaign to save the Vortex
Jazz Club in Stoke Newington
, North London
, which has now relocated to Dalston
. In June 2005 Crass Agenda was declared to be 'no more', subsequently changing the name of the project to the 'more appropriate' Last Amendment
.
A "new" Crass track (actually a remix of 1982's "Major General Despair", with new lyrics), "The Unelected President", is also available.
album live at the Shepherds Bush Empire
, United Kingdom
, backed by a band of "selected guests". Other members of Crass were not involved in these concerts. Rimbaud initially refused Ignorant the right to perform Crass songs Rimbaud had written, but later changed his mind. "I acknowledge and respect Steve's right to do this", he said, "but I do regard it as a betrayal of the Crass ethos" Ignorant had a different view: "I don't have to justify what I do. (...) Plus, most of the lyrics are still relevant today. And remember that three-letter word, 'fun'?"
, restored from the original analogue studio tapes, repackaged and bolstered by rare and unreleased tracks and new artwork from Gee Vaucher
. Stations of the Crass
was released in October 2010, with new editions of Penis Envy
, Christ – The Album
, Yes Sir, I Will
and Ten Notes on a Summer's Day
being issued during 2011.
came new generations of people who became interested in anarchist ideas.
The philosophical and aesthetic influence of Crass on numerous punk bands from the 1980s were far reaching, even if few bands mimicked their later more free-form
musical style (as on Yes Sir, I Will and their final recording, 10 Notes on a Summer's Day).
The band has stated that their musical antecedents and influences were seldom drawn from the rock music tradition, but rather from classical music (particularly Benjamin Britten
, on whose work, Rimbaud states, some of Crass' riffs are directly based), Dada
and the avant-garde such as John Cage
as well as performance art traditions.
Their painted and collage
-art black-and-white record sleeves produced by Gee Vaucher
themselves became a signature aesthetic model, and can be seen as an influence on later artists such as Banksy
(Banksy and Vaucher have latterly collaborated) and the subvertising
movement.
Anti-folk
artist Jeffrey Lewis's
2007 album 12 Crass Songs
features acoustic covers of material originally written by Crass.
In February 2011, the artist Toby Mott
showed a small part of his personal collection of Crass ephemera at the Roth gallery, New York. The exhibition featured artwork, albums, including original 12” LPs and EPs, 7” singles from Crass Records, and a complete set of Crass’ iconic house zine, Inter-National Anthem. The material featured in the exhibition spans the high period of Crass’ endeavours, from 1978 to 1984, and constitutes a special segment of The Mott Collection.
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band that was formed in 1977, which promoted anarchism
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
as a political ideology, way of living, and as a resistance movement
Resistance movement
A resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to opposing an invader in an occupied country or the government of a sovereign state. It may seek to achieve its objects through either the use of nonviolent resistance or the use of armed force...
. Crass popularised the seminal anarcho-punk
Anarcho-punk
Anarcho-punk is punk rock that promotes anarchism. The term anarcho-punk is sometimes applied exclusively to bands that were part of the original anarcho-punk movement in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s and early 1980s...
movement of the punk subculture
Punk subculture
The punk subculture includes a diverse array of ideologies, and forms of expression, including fashion, visual art, dance, literature, and film, which grew out of punk rock.-History:...
, and advocated direct action
Direct action
Direct action is activity undertaken by individuals, groups, or governments to achieve political, economic, or social goals outside of normal social/political channels. This can include nonviolent and violent activities which target persons, groups, or property deemed offensive to the direct action...
, animal rights
Animal rights
Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
, and environmentalism
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
. The band both utilised and advocated a DIY punk ethic approach, producing sound collage
Sound collage
In music, montage or sound collage is a technique where sound objects or compositions, including songs, are created from collage, also known as montage, the use of portions of previous recordings or scores...
s, graphics, albums, and films. Crass also criticised mainstream culture and attempted to subvert it with messages promoting feminism
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
, anti-racism
Anti-racism
Anti-racism includes beliefs, actions, movements, and policies adopted or developed to oppose racism. In general, anti-racism is intended to promote an egalitarian society in which people do not face discrimination on the basis of their race, however defined...
, anti-war
Anti-war
An anti-war movement is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conflicts. Many...
, and anti-globalisation.
Crass practiced "direct action" by spray-painting stencilled graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
messages around the London Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
system and on advertising billboards, coordinating squats, and organising political action. The band also expressed its ideals by dressing in black, military surplus-style clothing, and using a stage backdrop which amalgamated several "icon
Icon
An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...
s of authority" including the Christian Cross
Christian cross
The Christian cross, seen as a representation of the instrument of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, is the best-known religious symbol of Christianity...
, the swastika
Swastika
The swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...
, the Union Flag
Union Flag
The Union Flag, also known as the Union Jack, is the flag of the United Kingdom. It retains an official or semi-official status in some Commonwealth Realms; for example, it is known as the Royal Union Flag in Canada. It is also used as an official flag in some of the smaller British overseas...
, and an Ouroboros
Ouroboros
The Ouroboros is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail. The name originates from within Greek language; οὐρά meaning "tail" and βόρος meaning "eating", thus "he who eats the tail"....
.
The band were critical of punk subculture itself, as well as wider youth culture in general. Crass promoted the type of anarcho-pacifism
Anarcho-pacifism
Anarcho-pacifism is a tendency within the anarchist movement which rejects the use of violence in the struggle for social change. The main early influences were the thought of Henry David Thoreau and Leo Tolstoy while later the ideas of Mohandas Gandhi gained importance...
that eventually became more common in the punk music scene (see anarcho-punk
Anarcho-punk
Anarcho-punk is punk rock that promotes anarchism. The term anarcho-punk is sometimes applied exclusively to bands that were part of the original anarcho-punk movement in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s and early 1980s...
). They are also considered involved with the art punk
Art punk
Art punk or avant punk refers to punk rock of an experimental bent, or with connections to art school, the art world, or the avant garde....
genre, due to their use of tape collages, graphics, spoken word releases, poetry and improvisation.
Origins
Commune (intentional community)
A commune is an intentional community of people living together, sharing common interests, property, possessions, resources, and, in some communes, work and income. In addition to the communal economy, consensus decision-making, non-hierarchical structures and ecological living have become...
near Epping
Epping
Epping is a small market town and civil parish in the Epping Forest district of the County of Essex, England. It is located north-east of Loughton, south of Harlow and north-west of Brentwood....
, Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
, forming when Dial House founder and former member of avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
performance art
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
groups EXIT
EXIT (performance art group)
EXIT were a performance art group during the mid 1970s. EXIT members Penny Rimbaud and Gee Vaucher later founded anarchist punk rock band Crass, adopting many of EXIT's experimental/multi media techniques into Crass' presentation....
and Ceres Confusion Penny Rimbaud
Penny Rimbaud
Jeremy John Ratter , better known under his pseudonym of Penny Rimbaud, is a drummer, writer, poet, former member of performance art groups EXIT and Ceres Confusion, and co-founder of the anarchist punk band Crass with Steve Ignorant in 1977.-Biography:Rimbaud Jeremy John Ratter (born 8 June 1943,...
(real name Jeremy Ratter) began jamming with Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
fan Steve Ignorant
Steve Ignorant
Steve Ignorant is a singer and artist. He co-founded the anarcho-punk band Crass with Penny Rimbaud in 1977. After Crass stopped performing in 1984, he has worked with other groups including Conflict, Schwartzeneggar, The Stratford Mercenaries, Current 93 , US punk band Thought Crime, as well as...
(real name Steve Williams), who was residing in the house at the time. Ignorant had been inspired to form a band after attending a performance by The Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
at the Colston Hall in Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
whilst Rimbaud had been working on his prose composition 'Reality Asylum'. Between them, they produced the songs "So What?" and "Do They Owe Us A Living?" as a drums and vocals duo. For a short period of time, they called themselves Stormtrooper, before choosing the name Crass, a reference to the David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
song "Ziggy Stardust
Ziggy Stardust (song)
"Ziggy Stardust" is a song written by David Bowie in 1972 for the album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. The name Stardust was inspired by the Legendary Stardust Cowboy...
," specifically the line "The kids was just crass."
Joy De Vivre
Joy De Vivre was the second female singer of the anarcho-punk band Crass. She was also one of two lead singers on the Crass album Penis Envy in 1981. She studied at Colchester Arts School, where she met Andy Palmer....
, Pete Wright
Pete Wright (musician)
Peter Wright, better known as Pete Wright, was bass guitar player and vocalist for anarchist punk band Crass from 1977 until 1984. Occasionally he is credited as Pete Wrong on the bands' record covers. After the dissolution of Crass he formed the performance art duo Judas 2.-References:...
, N. A. Palmer
N. A. Palmer
N. A. Palmer is a British musician and artist, most well known as rhythm guitarist for anarcho punk band Crass.- Crass :He joined the band in 1977 and plays on all their albums and singles...
(real name Andy Palmer), Steve Herman and Eve Libertine
Eve Libertine
Eve Libertine is a British singer.She was one of the two female vocalists who worked with the influential British anarcho-punk band Crass...
(real name Bronwyn Lloyd Jones), who was considered "the band's first fan," and it was not long before Crass performed their first live gig at a squat
Squatting
Squatting consists of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have permission to use....
ted street festival
Street party
A street party can mean any type of social event taking place on a road.In Britain, these have historically been held to commemorate momentous events, such as VE Day or the Queen's Silver Jubilee, with "bunting, trestle tables covered with sandwiches and cakes, and children playing in the street"...
at Huntley Street, North London
North London
North London is the northern part of London, England. It is an imprecise description and the area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes. Common to these definitions is that it includes districts located north of the River Thames and is used in comparison with South...
. Here they had intended to play a set of five songs; however, the "plug was pulled" on them by a neighbour after three songs. Guitarist Steve Herman soon afterwards left the band to be replaced by Phil Free (real name Phil Clancey). Other early Crass gigs included a four date tour of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, a gig at a festival in Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
at which Charles Hayward
Charles Hayward (musician)
Charles Hayward is an English drummer and was a founding member of the experimental rock group This Heat. He also played with Mal Dean's Amazing Band, Radar Favourites, Dolphin Logic, and gigged and recorded with old schoolfriend and "Pooh and the Ostrich Feather" member Phil Manzanera in the...
of This Heat
This Heat
This Heat were a British experimental music group formed in early 1976 in Camberwell, London by multi-instrumentalists Charles Bullen , Charles Hayward and Gareth Williams .This Heat were active in the ascendancy of British progressive rock and punk rock, but stood apart...
stood in for Rimbaud on drums, as well as playing alongside the UK Subs
UK Subs
The U.K. Subs are an English punk rock band, among the earliest in the first wave of British punk. Formed in 1976, the mainstay of the band has been vocalist Charlie Harper, originally a singer in Britain's R&B scene. They were also one of the first street punk bands.-Career:The U.K...
at the White Lion pub in Putney
Putney
Putney is a district in south-west London, England, located in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is situated south-west of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....
. These latter performances were often not well-attended; "The audience consisted mostly of us when the Subs played and the Subs when we played."
Crass also played two gigs at the Roxy Club in Covent Garden, London. According to Rimbaud, all the band members arrived drunk at the second gig, and were ejected from the stage. This event was immortalised by their song "Banned from the Roxy" and the essay Crass at the Roxy by Penny Rimbaud.
Following this incident, the band decided to take themselves more seriously, particularly paying more attention to their presentation. As well as avoiding alcohol
Alcoholic beverage
An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption...
or cannabis
Cannabis (drug)
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
before gigs, they also adopted a policy of wearing black, military surplus
Military surplus
Military surplus are goods, usually matériel, that are sold or otherwise disposed of when no longer needed by the military. Entrepreneurs often buy these goods and resell them at surplus stores. Military surplus rarely includes weapons or munitions, though they are occasionally found in such stores...
-style clothing at all times, whether on or off stage. They introduced their distinctive stage backdrop, a logo designed by Rimbaud's friend Dave King of Sleeping Dogs Lie. This gave the band a militaristic
Militarism
Militarism is defined as: the belief or desire of a government or people that a country should maintain a strong military capability and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests....
image, which led some to accuse them of fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
. Crass countered that their uniform appearance was intended to be a statement against the "cult of personality
Cult of personality
A cult of personality arises when an individual uses mass media, propaganda, or other methods, to create an idealized and heroic public image, often through unquestioning flattery and praise. Cults of personality are usually associated with dictatorships...
", so that, in contrast to the norm for many rock bands, no member would be identified as the 'leader'.
Originally conceived and intended as the cover artwork for a self-published pamphlet version of Christ's Reality Asylum by Penny Rimbaud, the Crass logo represented an amalgamation of several "icon
Icon
An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...
s of authority," including the Christian Cross
Christian cross
The Christian cross, seen as a representation of the instrument of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, is the best-known religious symbol of Christianity...
, the swastika
Swastika
The swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...
, and the Union Flag
Union Flag
The Union Flag, also known as the Union Jack, is the flag of the United Kingdom. It retains an official or semi-official status in some Commonwealth Realms; for example, it is known as the Royal Union Flag in Canada. It is also used as an official flag in some of the smaller British overseas...
, combined with a two-headed Ouroboros
Ouroboros
The Ouroboros is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail. The name originates from within Greek language; οὐρά meaning "tail" and βόρος meaning "eating", thus "he who eats the tail"....
to symbolise the idea that power will eventually destroy itself. Using such deliberately mixed messages was part of Crass' strategy of presenting themselves as a "barrage of contradictions", which also included using loud, aggressive music to promote a pacifist
Pacifism
Pacifism is the opposition to war and violence. The term "pacifism" was coined by the French peace campaignerÉmile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress inGlasgow in 1901.- Definition :...
message, and was in part a reference to their own Dada
Dada
Dada or Dadaism is a cultural movement that began in Zurich, Switzerland, during World War I and peaked from 1916 to 1922. The movement primarily involved visual arts, literature—poetry, art manifestoes, art theory—theatre, and graphic design, and concentrated its anti-war politics through a...
ist and performance art backgrounds.
The band eschewed any elaborate stage lighting
Stage lighting
Modern stage lighting is a flexible tool in the production of theatre, dance, opera and other performance arts. Several different types of stage lighting instruments are used in the pursuit of the various principles or goals of lighting. Stage lighting has grown considerably in recent years...
during live sets, instead preferring to be illuminated by simple 40 watt household light bulbs (the technical difficulties of filming under such lighting conditions in part explains why there is so little live footage of Crass in existence). The band pioneered multimedia presentation techniques, fully utilising video technology and using back-projected films and video collages
Video art
Video art is a type of art which relies on moving pictures and comprises video and/or audio data. . Video art came into existence during the 1960s and 1970s, is still widely practiced and has given rise to the widespread use of video installations...
made by Mick Duffield and Gee Vaucher
Gee Vaucher
Gee Vaucher is a visual artist who was born in 1945 in Dagenham, East London.Her work with Anarcho-punk band Crass was seminal to the 'protest art' of the 1980s. Vaucher has always seen her work as a tool for social change. In her collection of early works Crass Art and Other Pre Post-Modernist...
to enhance their performances.
The Feeding of the 5000 and Crass Records
Crass' first release was The Feeding Of The 5000The Feeding of the 5000 (album)
The Feeding of the 5000 is the first album by Crass, released in 1978. Crass never gained a large mainstream audience, but their virulently anti-establishment lyrics and anarchist politics brought the band a committed following upon the record’s release....
, an 18 track 12" 45 rpm
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
EP on the Small Wonder
Small Wonder Records
Small Wonder Records was a UK independent record label owned and managed by Pete Stennett, that specialised in releasing records by punk rock and post-punk bands. It operated out of a record shop of the same name at 162 Hoe Street, Walthamstow, E17, east London...
label in 1978. Workers at the pressing plant initially refused to handle it due to the allegedly blasphemous
Blasphemy
Blasphemy is irreverence towards religious or holy persons or things. Some countries have laws to punish blasphemy, while others have laws to give recourse to those who are offended by blasphemy...
content of the song "Asylum". The record was eventually released with this track removed and replaced by two minutes of silence, ironically titled "The Sound Of Free Speech". This incident prompted Crass to set up their own independent record label
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
, Crass Records
Crass Records
Crass Records is an independent record label which was set up by the anarchist punk band Crass.-Overview and history:Prior to the formation of Crass, Penny Rimbaud and Gee Vaucher had published their creative works via their own Dial House based Exitstencil Press...
, in order to prevent Small Wonder from being placed in a compromising position in the future as well as retain full editorial control over their material. "Asylum", now renamed "Reality Asylum", was shortly afterwards released on Crass Records in a re-recorded and extended form as a 7
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
" single. Later pressings of the album (also on Crass Records) restored the original version of the missing track.
As well as their own material, Crass Records released recordings by other performers, the first of which was the 1980 single "You Can Be You" by Honey Bane
Honey Bane
Honey Bane is an English singer and actress, possibly best known for her 1981 UK Top 40 single "Turn Me On Turn Me Off"....
, a teenage girl who was staying at Dial House whilst on the run from a children's home. Other artists included Zounds, Flux Of Pink Indians
Flux Of Pink Indians
Flux of Pink Indians were an English anarcho-punk/post punk band, that originated from Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, England.-Biography:...
, Omega Tribe
Omega Tribe
Omega Tribe was an English anarcho-punk band, formed in Barnet in 1981. Their first EP, Angry Songs, was produced by Penny Rimbaud and Pete Fender for Crass Records in 1982....
, Rudimentary Peni
Rudimentary Peni
Rudimentary Peni are a British anarcho-punk/deathrock band formed in 1980.-Line-up:*Nick Blinko - guitar, vocals, artwork, lyrics*Grant Matthews - bass guitar, lyrics*Jon Greville - drums-History:...
, Conflict
Conflict (band)
Conflict is an English anarcho-punk band originally based around Eltham in South London. Formed in 1981, the band's original line up consisted of: Colin Jerwood , Francisco 'Paco' Carreno , Big John , Steve , Pauline , Paul aka 'Nihilistic Nobody' . Their first release was the EP "The House That...
, Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
ic band KUKL (who included singer Björk
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...
), classical singer Jane Gregory
Jane Gregory
Jane Gregory , was an international equestrian. She first rode for her country in 1994, competing in the World Equestrian Games of that year, and competed for Great Britain in Dressage at the Atlanta and Beijing Olympic Games.-Early life :Born in Bromley, Kent, Gregory came from a non-equestrian...
, Anthrax
Anthrax (UK band)
Anthrax were an anarcho punk band formed in Gravesend, Kent, England in 1980. They recorded their first demo in 1981 and went on to release two 7" EPs on Crass Records and Small wonder. They appeared on compilations released by Crass Records, Mortarhate Records and Fightback Records...
, Captain Sensible
Captain Sensible
Captain Sensible is a singer, songwriter, guitarist who grew up in Croydon, England, and co-founded the punk rock band The Damned in 1976. After leaving the band, he reinvented himself as an alternative pop singer with a rebellious, self-conscious image...
, Lack of Knowledge and the Poison Girls
Poison Girls
The Poison Girls were an English anarcho-punk band. The female singer/guitarist, Vi Subversa, was a middle-aged mother of two at the band's inception, and wrote songs that explored sexuality and gender roles, usually from an anarchist perspective...
, a like-minded band who worked closely with Crass for several years.
Crass Records also put out three editions of Bullshit Detector
Bullshit Detector
Bullshit Detector was the name of a series of compilation LPs put together by the anarcho-punk band Crass and released on their Crass Records label. Three editions were released between 1980 and 1984, consisting of demo tapes, rough recordings and artwork that had been sent to the band...
, compilations of demos and rough recordings which had been sent to the band, and which they felt represented the DIY punk ethic. The catalogue numbers of Crass Records releases were intended to represent a countdown to the year 1984 (eg, 521984 meaning "five years until 1984"), both the year that Crass stated that they would split up, and a date charged with significance in the anti-authoritarian
Anti-authoritarian
Anti-authoritarianism is opposition to authoritarianism, which is defined as a "political doctrine advocating the principle of absolute rule: absolutism, autocracy, despotism, dictatorship, totalitarianism." Anti-authoritarians usually believe in full equality before the law and strong civil...
calendar due to George Orwell
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
's novel of the same name.
Penis Envy
Crass released their third album Penis EnvyPenis Envy (album)
Penis Envy, released in 1981, was the third LP by anarchist punk band Crass.Named as a reference to some of Freud's ideas concerning sexuality, this release marked something of a departure from the somewhat 'macho', 'hardcore punk' image that The Feeding of the 5000 and its follow up Stations of...
in 1981. This marked a departure from the 'hardcore punk' image that The Feeding of the 5000
The Feeding of the 5000 (album)
The Feeding of the 5000 is the first album by Crass, released in 1978. Crass never gained a large mainstream audience, but their virulently anti-establishment lyrics and anarchist politics brought the band a committed following upon the record’s release....
and its follow up Stations of the Crass
Stations of the Crass
Stations of the Crass is the second album by Crass, released in 1979. The record, originally released as a double 12", includes live tracks from a gig recorded at the Pied Bull pub in Islington, London on August 7, 1979. The first three sides contain the studio tracks and play at 45 rpm, while the...
had to some extent given the group. It featured more complex musical arrangements and exclusively female vocals provided by Eve Libertine
Eve Libertine
Eve Libertine is a British singer.She was one of the two female vocalists who worked with the influential British anarcho-punk band Crass...
and Joy De Vivre
Joy De Vivre
Joy De Vivre was the second female singer of the anarcho-punk band Crass. She was also one of two lead singers on the Crass album Penis Envy in 1981. She studied at Colchester Arts School, where she met Andy Palmer....
(although Steve Ignorant remained a group member and is credited on the record sleeve as "not on this recording").
The album addressed feminist issues and once again attacked the institutions of 'the system' such as marriage and sexual repression
Sexual repression
Sexual repression, also known as sexual ethics, is a state in which a person is prevented from expressing their sexuality. Sexual repression is often associated with feelings of guilt or shame being associated with sexual impulses...
. The last track on Penis Envy, a deliberately saccharine parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of a 'MOR' love song
Love song
A love song is about falling in love and the feelings it brings. Anthologies of love songs often contain a mixture of both of these types of song. A bawdy song is both humorous and saucy, emphasizing the physical pleasure of love rather than the emotional joy...
entitled "Our Wedding", was also made available as a white flexi disc
Flexi disc
The flexi disc is a phonograph record made of a thin, flexible vinyl sheet with a molded-in spiral stylus groove, and is designed to be playable on a normal phonograph turntable...
to the readers of 'Loving', a teenage girl's romance magazine. The free flexi offer had been suggested to Loving by an organisation calling itself "Creative Recording And Sound Services" (note the initials). A minor tabloid controversy resulted once the hoax was revealed, with the News of the World
News of the World
The News of the World was a national red top newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world, and at closure still had one of the highest English language circulations...
going so far as to state that the title of the flexi's originating album was "too obscene to print".
The album was banned by retailers HMV. During the mid 1980s, under the direction of James Anderton
James Anderton
Sir Cyril James Anderton CBE is a British former police officer who served as Chief Constable of Greater Manchester from 1975 to 1991.-Career:...
copies were seized, along with other records by Crass and The Dead Kennedys, by Greater Manchester Police
Greater Manchester Police
Greater Manchester Police is the police force responsible for law enforcement within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester in North West England...
from Eastern Bloc record shop. Frank Schofield was charged with displaying "Obscene Articles For Publication For Gain". The band, Flux of Pink Indians
Flux Of Pink Indians
Flux of Pink Indians were an English anarcho-punk/post punk band, that originated from Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, England.-Biography:...
its two record labels and its publishing company were also charged under the Obscene Publications Act, but all charges were dropped by Greater Manchester Police
Greater Manchester Police
Greater Manchester Police is the police force responsible for law enforcement within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester in North West England...
.
Christ - The Album and a change of strategy
The band's fourth LP, 1982's double set Christ - The Album, took over a year to record, produce and mix, during which time the Falklands WarFalklands War
The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
had broken out and ended. This caused Crass to fundamentally question their approach to making records. As a group whose primary purpose was political commentary
Political criticism
Political criticism is criticism that is specific of or relevant to politics, including policies, politicians, political parties, and types of government.-Controversy:...
, they felt they had been overtaken and made to appear redundant by real world events. Subsequent releases, including the singles "How Does It Feel to Be the Mother of a Thousand Dead" and "Sheep Farming in the Falklands", and the album Yes Sir, I Will
Yes Sir, I Will
Yes Sir, I Will, released by Crass in 1983 , was the band's last 'official' album. The record consists of one continuous piece of music spread over the two sides of the original vinyl release , making it the longest punk song ever recorded, although this is intercut with two brief interludes; a...
, saw the band strip their sound back to basics and were issued as "tactical responses" to political situations. They also anonymously produced 20,000 copies of a flexi-disc featuring a live recording of "Sheep Farming...", copies of which were randomly inserted into the sleeves of other records by sympathetic workers at the Rough Trade records
Rough Trade Records
Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London. It was formed in 1978 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove...
distribution warehouse as a means of spreading their views to those who might not normally hear them.
Direct Action and internal debates
From their earliest days of spraying stencilled anti-warAnti-war
An anti-war movement is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conflicts. Many...
, anarchist, feminist and anti-consumerist graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
messages around the London Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
system and on advertising billboards, the band had always been involved in political as well as musical activities. On December 18, 1982, Crass co-ordinated a 24 hour squat of the empty Zig Zag club in West London primarily for an all day event attended by approximately 500 people to prove "that the underground punk scene could handle itself responsibly when it had to and that music really could be enjoyed free of the restraints imposed upon it by corporate industry".
Bands playing at the Zig Zag (in running order) were Faction, D and V, Omega Tribe
Omega Tribe
Omega Tribe was an English anarcho-punk band, formed in Barnet in 1981. Their first EP, Angry Songs, was produced by Penny Rimbaud and Pete Fender for Crass Records in 1982....
, Lack of Knowledge, Sleeping Dogs, The Apostles
The Apostles
The Apostles are an experimental punk rock band who developed within the confines of the 1980s Anarcho Punk scene in the UK, but did not necessarily adhere to the aesthetics of that movement.-History:...
, Amebix
Amebix
Amebix are an English crust punk/heavy metal band. Formed as "The Band with No Name," Amebix's original run was from 1978 to 1987, during which time they released three EPs and two full-length LPs...
, Null & Void, Soldiers of Fortune, The Mob, Polemic Attack, Poison Girls
Poison Girls
The Poison Girls were an English anarcho-punk band. The female singer/guitarist, Vi Subversa, was a middle-aged mother of two at the band's inception, and wrote songs that explored sexuality and gender roles, usually from an anarchist perspective...
, Conflict
Conflict (band)
Conflict is an English anarcho-punk band originally based around Eltham in South London. Formed in 1981, the band's original line up consisted of: Colin Jerwood , Francisco 'Paco' Carreno , Big John , Steve , Pauline , Paul aka 'Nihilistic Nobody' . Their first release was the EP "The House That...
, Flux of Pink Indians
Flux Of Pink Indians
Flux of Pink Indians were an English anarcho-punk/post punk band, that originated from Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, England.-Biography:...
, Crass and DIRT
DIRT (band)
DIRT were an anarcho-punk band from the UK. Initially formed in 1980 , the band frequently played with fellow anarchists Crass, before releasing their first EP, Object, Refuse, Reject, Abuse on the Crass Records label...
.
In 1983 and 1984 they were part of the Stop the City
Stop the City
The Stop the City demonstrations of 1983 and 1984 were described as a 'Carnival Against War, Oppression and Destruction', in other words protests against the military-financial complex. These demonstrations can be seen as the forerunner of the anti-globalisation protests of the 1990s, especially...
actions instigated by London Greenpeace
London Greenpeace
London Greenpeace was an Anarchist environmentalist activist collective that existed between 1972 and 2001. They were based in London, and came to international prominence when two of their activists refused to capitulate to McDonald's in the landmark libel case known as "McLibel".-Origins:In 1972...
that were arguably fore-runners of the anti-globalisation actions of the early 21st century. Explicit support for such activities was given in the lyrics of the band's final single release "You're Already Dead", which also saw Crass publicly express growing doubts regarding their longtime commitment to pacifism. This led to further introspection within the band, with some members feeling that they were beginning to become embittered as well as losing sight of their essentially positive stance. As a reflection of this debate, the next release using the Crass name was Acts of Love
Acts of Love
Acts of Love is an album of 50 poems by Penny Rimbaud of the anarchist punk band Crass, set to classical music composed and arranged by Penny Rimbaud and Paul Ellis, and performed by Steve Ignorant and Eve Libertine. Released in 1985 on Crass Records, the record was accompanied by a book of 50...
, classical music settings of 50 poems by Penny Rimbaud described as "songs to my other self" and intended to celebrate "'the profound sense of unity, peace and love that exists within that other self."
Thatchergate
A further post-Falklands war hoaxHoax
A hoax is a deliberately fabricated falsehood made to masquerade as truth. It is distinguishable from errors in observation or judgment, or rumors, urban legends, pseudosciences or April Fools' Day events that are passed along in good faith by believers or as jokes.-Definition:The British...
that originated from members of Crass became known as 'the Thatchergate
Thatchergate
Thatchergate was the colloquial title of a hoax perpetrated by members of the anarcho-punk band Crass during the aftermath of the 1982 Falklands War. Using excerpts from speeches by Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, a recording was spliced together which purported to be a telephone conversation...
tapes'.
This was a cassette featuring what appeared to be an accidentally overheard telephone conversation, due to crossed lines. In reality the tape had been constructed by Crass, using edited recordings of Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
and Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
s' voices. On the Thatchergate tape they discuss the sinking of the HMS Sheffield
HMS Sheffield (D80)
HMS Sheffield was the second Royal Navy ship to be named after the city of Sheffield in Yorkshire. She was a Type 42 Guided Missile Destroyer laid down by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering at Barrow-in-Furness on 15 January 1970, launched on 10 June 1971 and commissioned on 16 February 1975.An...
during the Falklands War
Falklands War
The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
, and appeared to allege that Europe would be used as a target for nuclear weapons in any conflict between the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
.
Copies were leaked to the press, and the US State Department believed the tape to be propaganda produced by the Soviet KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
, a story reported by both the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
and The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times (UK)
The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper, distributed in the United Kingdom. The Sunday Times is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International, which is in turn owned by News Corporation. Times Newspapers also owns The Times, but the two papers were founded...
.
Although put together totally anonymously, the British Observer newspaper was somehow able to link the tape with the band.
Dissolution
Crass all but retired from the public eye after becoming a small thorn in the side of Margaret ThatcherMargaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
's government following the Falklands War. Questions in Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
and an attempted prosecution under the UK's Obscene Publications Act
Obscene Publications Act
Since 1857, a series of obscenity laws known as the Obscene Publications Acts have governed what can be published in England and Wales. The classic definition of criminal obscenity is if it "tends to deprave and corrupt," stated in 1868 by John Duke Coleridge, 1st Baron Coleridge.There have been...
for their single "How Does It Feel..." led to a round of court battles and what the band describes as harassment that finally took its toll. On July 7, 1984 the band played their final gig at Aberdare
Aberdare
Aberdare is an industrial town in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Dare and Cynon. The population at the census was 31,705...
in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, a benefit for striking miners, before retreating to Dial House to concentrate their energies elsewhere.
Guitarist N. A. Palmer
N. A. Palmer
N. A. Palmer is a British musician and artist, most well known as rhythm guitarist for anarcho punk band Crass.- Crass :He joined the band in 1977 and plays on all their albums and singles...
had announced that he intended to leave the band in order to further his art college studies, and the reported group consensus was that replacing him would be "like having a corpse in the band". This catalysed the affirmation of Crass' consistently stated intention to split up in 1984. Steve Ignorant went on to join the band Conflict
Conflict (band)
Conflict is an English anarcho-punk band originally based around Eltham in South London. Formed in 1981, the band's original line up consisted of: Colin Jerwood , Francisco 'Paco' Carreno , Big John , Steve , Pauline , Paul aka 'Nihilistic Nobody' . Their first release was the EP "The House That...
, with whom he had already worked on an ad hoc
Ad hoc
Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning "for this". It generally signifies a solution designed for a specific problem or task, non-generalizable, and not intended to be able to be adapted to other purposes. Compare A priori....
basis, and in 1992 formed Schwartzeneggar
Schwartzeneggar
Schwartzeneggar was a band formed by ex-Crass vocalist Steve Ignorant, Thatcher On Acid members, Ben Corrigan , Andi Tuck , Bob Butler , and former Conflict member Mark Pickstone ....
(sic). From 1997-2000, he was a member of the group Stratford Mercenaries
Stratford Mercenaries
Stratford Mercenaries were an English punk rock band that was formed in late 1995 by Gary "Gazzer" Buckley from the punk band Dirt and Ed "Eddafed" Addley from the punk band Suicidal Supermarket Trolleys...
. He has also worked as a Punch and Judy
Punch and Judy
Punch and Judy is a traditional, popular puppet show featuring the characters of Mr. Punch and his wife, Judy. The performance consists of a sequence of short scenes, each depicting an interaction between two characters, most typically the anarchic Punch and one other character...
professor and as a solo performer
One man show
The term one-man show often referred to comedian, who would stand on stage and entertain an audience. With the advent of feminism, words and phrases such as one-woman show and comedienne have entered the modern-day lexicon....
. Eve Libertine continued to record with her son Nemo Jones as well as performance artist A-Soma. Pete Wright concentrated on building himself a houseboat
Houseboat
A houseboat is a boat that has been designed or modified to be used primarily as a human dwelling. Some houseboats are not motorized, because they are usually moored, kept stationary at a fixed point and often tethered to land to provide utilities...
and formed the performance art group Judas 2, whilst Rimbaud continued to write and perform both solo and with other artists.
2002 onwards: The Crass Collective/Crass Agenda/Last Amendment
In November 2002 several former members of Crass collaborated under the name The Crass Collective to arrange Your Country Needs You, a concert of "voices in opposition to war" held at the Queen Elizabeth HallQueen Elizabeth Hall
The Queen Elizabeth Hall is a music venue on the South Bank in London, United Kingdom that hosts daily classical, jazz, and avant-garde music and dance performances. The QEH forms part of Southbank Centre arts complex and stands alongside the Royal Festival Hall, which was built for the Festival...
on London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's South Bank
South Bank
South Bank is an area of London, England located immediately adjacent to the south side of the River Thames. It forms a long and narrow section of riverside development that is within the London Borough of Lambeth to the border with the London Borough of Southwark and was formerly simply known as...
that included a performance of Britten's War Requiem
War Requiem
The War Requiem, Op. 66 is a large-scale, non-liturgical setting of the Requiem Mass composed by Benjamin Britten mostly in 1961 and completed January 1962. Interspersed with the traditional Latin texts, in telling juxtaposition, are settings of Wilfred Owen poems...
as well as performers such as Goldblade
Goldblade
Goldblade are an English punk rock band from Manchester, England. The band formed in early 1995 when ex Membranes frontman, John Robb, put the band together with Wayne Simmons and former A Witness vocalist Keith Curtis on bass, Rob Haynes on drums and Jay Taylor on guitar.The band signed to...
, Fun-Da-Mental
Fun-Da-Mental
Fun-Da-Mental is a British-based multi-ethnic hip-hop–ethno-techno–world fusion music group formed in 1991. The group is notable for its energetic fusion of Eastern and Western musical forms, for its outspoken political stance, and for its strong Islamic affiliation and advocacy. Fun-Da-Mental's...
, Ian MacKaye
Ian MacKaye
Ian Thomas Garner MacKaye is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, musician, label owner, and producer. Active since 1979, MacKaye is best known for being the frontman of the influential hardcore punk bands Minor Threat and The Teen Idles, the post-hardcore bands Embrace and Fugazi, as well...
and Pete Wright's post-Crass project Judas 2. In October 2003, the Crass Collective changed their working title
Working title
A working title, sometimes called a production title, is the temporary name of a product or project used during its development, usually used in filmmaking, television production, novel, video game, or music album.-Purpose:...
to Crass Agenda. During 2004 Crass Agenda were at the forefront of the campaign to save the Vortex
Vortex Jazz Club
The Vortex Jazz Club is a London venue that primarily features live contemporary jazz. The club's official website features book reviews and jazz CD reviews by critic Chris Parker....
Jazz Club in Stoke Newington
Stoke Newington
Stoke Newington is a district in the London Borough of Hackney. It is north-east of Charing Cross.-Boundaries:In modern terms, Stoke Newington can be roughly defined by the N16 postcode area . Its southern boundary with Dalston is quite ill-defined too...
, North London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, which has now relocated to Dalston
Dalston
Dalston is a district of north-east London, England, located in the London Borough of Hackney. It is situated northeast of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London...
. In June 2005 Crass Agenda was declared to be 'no more', subsequently changing the name of the project to the 'more appropriate' Last Amendment
Last Amendment
Last Amendment is the working title of a series of collaborations by ex-members of the anarchist punk band Crass and others...
.
A "new" Crass track (actually a remix of 1982's "Major General Despair", with new lyrics), "The Unelected President", is also available.
2007: The Feeding of the 5000 (revisited)
On 24 and 25 November 2007 Steve Ignorant performed Crass' entire Feeding of the 5000The Feeding of the 5000 (album)
The Feeding of the 5000 is the first album by Crass, released in 1978. Crass never gained a large mainstream audience, but their virulently anti-establishment lyrics and anarchist politics brought the band a committed following upon the record’s release....
album live at the Shepherds Bush Empire
Shepherds Bush Empire
The O2 Shepherds Bush Empire is a music venue in Shepherd's Bush, London, England, run by the Academy Music Group. It was built in 1903, as a music hall, and in 1953 became the BBC Television Theatre...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, backed by a band of "selected guests". Other members of Crass were not involved in these concerts. Rimbaud initially refused Ignorant the right to perform Crass songs Rimbaud had written, but later changed his mind. "I acknowledge and respect Steve's right to do this", he said, "but I do regard it as a betrayal of the Crass ethos" Ignorant had a different view: "I don't have to justify what I do. (...) Plus, most of the lyrics are still relevant today. And remember that three-letter word, 'fun'?"
2010: The Crassical Collection reissues
In August 2010, it was announced that Crass were going to release The Crassical Collection, consisting of remastered reissues of their back catalogue. The first in this series is a newly remastered edition of The Feeding of the 5000The Feeding of the 5000 (album)
The Feeding of the 5000 is the first album by Crass, released in 1978. Crass never gained a large mainstream audience, but their virulently anti-establishment lyrics and anarchist politics brought the band a committed following upon the record’s release....
, restored from the original analogue studio tapes, repackaged and bolstered by rare and unreleased tracks and new artwork from Gee Vaucher
Gee Vaucher
Gee Vaucher is a visual artist who was born in 1945 in Dagenham, East London.Her work with Anarcho-punk band Crass was seminal to the 'protest art' of the 1980s. Vaucher has always seen her work as a tool for social change. In her collection of early works Crass Art and Other Pre Post-Modernist...
. Stations of the Crass
Stations of the Crass
Stations of the Crass is the second album by Crass, released in 1979. The record, originally released as a double 12", includes live tracks from a gig recorded at the Pied Bull pub in Islington, London on August 7, 1979. The first three sides contain the studio tracks and play at 45 rpm, while the...
was released in October 2010, with new editions of Penis Envy
Penis Envy (album)
Penis Envy, released in 1981, was the third LP by anarchist punk band Crass.Named as a reference to some of Freud's ideas concerning sexuality, this release marked something of a departure from the somewhat 'macho', 'hardcore punk' image that The Feeding of the 5000 and its follow up Stations of...
, Christ – The Album
Christ – The Album
Christ – The Album is Crass' fourth album, released in 1982. It was released as a boxed set double vinyl LP package, including one disk of new studio material and another, entitled Well Forked....
, Yes Sir, I Will
Yes Sir, I Will
Yes Sir, I Will, released by Crass in 1983 , was the band's last 'official' album. The record consists of one continuous piece of music spread over the two sides of the original vinyl release , making it the longest punk song ever recorded, although this is intercut with two brief interludes; a...
and Ten Notes on a Summer's Day
Ten Notes on a Summer's Day
Ten Notes on a Summer's Day is Crass's final album under the Crass name. It was released in 1985 and consists of ten short songs written in 1984 by Penny Rimbaud sung by Eve Libertine and Steve Ignorant and set to an avant garde musical backing....
being issued during 2011.
2011: The Last Supper
In 2011 Steve Ignorant embarked on an extensive international tour performing Crass material, culminating with a final gig once again at the Shepherds Bush Empire on November 19th entitled 'The Last Supper'. He has stated that this will be the last time he will be singing the songs of Crass, and on this occasion had the blessing and support of Rimbaud. Indeed Rimbaud joined him on stage to perform a drums and vocals rendition of 'Do They Owe Us A Living', bringing the career of the band full circle after 34 years; "And then Penny came on and you gave him such a greeting, that got my bottom lip going and then the bugger comes and hugs me before we start. I held him so tight and he smelled of Dial House, Petulie (sic) and herbs and the memories flooded in and we did it, Do they owe us a living as we'd first done it all those years ago. As it started, so it finished". He was also joined by Eve Libertine for a number of songs.Influences
Crass influenced the anarchist movement in the UK, US, and around the world. With the growth of anarcho-punkAnarcho-punk
Anarcho-punk is punk rock that promotes anarchism. The term anarcho-punk is sometimes applied exclusively to bands that were part of the original anarcho-punk movement in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s and early 1980s...
came new generations of people who became interested in anarchist ideas.
The philosophical and aesthetic influence of Crass on numerous punk bands from the 1980s were far reaching, even if few bands mimicked their later more free-form
Free improvisation
Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the logic or inclination of the musician involved. The term can refer to both a technique and as a recognizable genre in its own right....
musical style (as on Yes Sir, I Will and their final recording, 10 Notes on a Summer's Day).
The band has stated that their musical antecedents and influences were seldom drawn from the rock music tradition, but rather from classical music (particularly Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
, on whose work, Rimbaud states, some of Crass' riffs are directly based), Dada
Dada
Dada or Dadaism is a cultural movement that began in Zurich, Switzerland, during World War I and peaked from 1916 to 1922. The movement primarily involved visual arts, literature—poetry, art manifestoes, art theory—theatre, and graphic design, and concentrated its anti-war politics through a...
and the avant-garde such as John Cage
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
as well as performance art traditions.
Their painted and collage
Collage
A collage is a work of formal art, primarily in the visual arts, made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole....
-art black-and-white record sleeves produced by Gee Vaucher
Gee Vaucher
Gee Vaucher is a visual artist who was born in 1945 in Dagenham, East London.Her work with Anarcho-punk band Crass was seminal to the 'protest art' of the 1980s. Vaucher has always seen her work as a tool for social change. In her collection of early works Crass Art and Other Pre Post-Modernist...
themselves became a signature aesthetic model, and can be seen as an influence on later artists such as Banksy
Banksy
Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based graffiti artist, political activist, film director, and painter.His satirical street art and subversive epigrams combine irreverent dark humour with graffiti done in a distinctive stencilling technique...
(Banksy and Vaucher have latterly collaborated) and the subvertising
Subvertising
Subvertising is a portmanteau of subvert and advertising. It refers to the practice of making spoofs or parodies of corporate and political advertisements. Subvertisements may take the form of a new image or an alteration to an existing image or icon, often in a satirical manner...
movement.
Anti-folk
Anti-folk
Anti-folk is a music genre that takes the earnestness of politically charged 1960s folk music and subverts it. The defining characteristics of this anti-folk are difficult to identify, as they vary from one artist to the next...
artist Jeffrey Lewis's
Jeffrey Lewis
Jeffrey Lewis is an American singer/songwriter and comic book artist.-Early life:Lewis attended State University of New York at Purchase and graduated in 1997 with a degree in Literature...
2007 album 12 Crass Songs
12 Crass Songs
12 Crass Songs is the fourth album by anti-folk artist Jeffrey Lewis. It was released on October 1, 2007 on Rough Trade Records. The title is literal, as all 12 songs on the album were written and first recorded by the band Crass.- Track listing :...
features acoustic covers of material originally written by Crass.
In February 2011, the artist Toby Mott
Toby Mott
Toby Victor Mott is a British artist,designer and sometime Punk historian known for his work with the Grey Organisation, an artists' collective that was active in the 1980s, and for his fashion brand Toby Pimlico...
showed a small part of his personal collection of Crass ephemera at the Roth gallery, New York. The exhibition featured artwork, albums, including original 12” LPs and EPs, 7” singles from Crass Records, and a complete set of Crass’ iconic house zine, Inter-National Anthem. The material featured in the exhibition spans the high period of Crass’ endeavours, from 1978 to 1984, and constitutes a special segment of The Mott Collection.
Members
- Steve IgnorantSteve IgnorantSteve Ignorant is a singer and artist. He co-founded the anarcho-punk band Crass with Penny Rimbaud in 1977. After Crass stopped performing in 1984, he has worked with other groups including Conflict, Schwartzeneggar, The Stratford Mercenaries, Current 93 , US punk band Thought Crime, as well as...
(Voice) - Eve LibertineEve LibertineEve Libertine is a British singer.She was one of the two female vocalists who worked with the influential British anarcho-punk band Crass...
(Voice) - Joy De VivreJoy De VivreJoy De Vivre was the second female singer of the anarcho-punk band Crass. She was also one of two lead singers on the Crass album Penis Envy in 1981. She studied at Colchester Arts School, where she met Andy Palmer....
(Voice) - N. A. PalmerN. A. PalmerN. A. Palmer is a British musician and artist, most well known as rhythm guitarist for anarcho punk band Crass.- Crass :He joined the band in 1977 and plays on all their albums and singles...
(Guitar) - Phil Free (Guitar)
- Pete WrightPete Wright (musician)Peter Wright, better known as Pete Wright, was bass guitar player and vocalist for anarchist punk band Crass from 1977 until 1984. Occasionally he is credited as Pete Wrong on the bands' record covers. After the dissolution of Crass he formed the performance art duo Judas 2.-References:...
(Bass and Voice) - Penny RimbaudPenny RimbaudJeremy John Ratter , better known under his pseudonym of Penny Rimbaud, is a drummer, writer, poet, former member of performance art groups EXIT and Ceres Confusion, and co-founder of the anarchist punk band Crass with Steve Ignorant in 1977.-Biography:Rimbaud Jeremy John Ratter (born 8 June 1943,...
(Drums, Voice) - Gee VaucherGee VaucherGee Vaucher is a visual artist who was born in 1945 in Dagenham, East London.Her work with Anarcho-punk band Crass was seminal to the 'protest art' of the 1980s. Vaucher has always seen her work as a tool for social change. In her collection of early works Crass Art and Other Pre Post-Modernist...
(Artwork, Piano, Radio) - Mick Duffield (Films)
- John Loder, sound engineer and founder of Southern StudiosSouthern StudiosSouthern Studios is a recording studio in the Wood Green area of London. It was founded in 1974 by John Loder, and came to be the recording studio of choice for Crass and their record label Crass Records. Southern Studios Ltd. continues to grow its label and provide label management and...
, is sometimes considered to be the '9th member' of Crass - Steve Herman left Crass shortly after their first gig.
LPs
- The Feeding of the 5000The Feeding of the 5000 (album)The Feeding of the 5000 is the first album by Crass, released in 1978. Crass never gained a large mainstream audience, but their virulently anti-establishment lyrics and anarchist politics brought the band a committed following upon the record’s release....
(LP, 1978, Small Wonder RecordsSmall Wonder RecordsSmall Wonder Records was a UK independent record label owned and managed by Pete Stennett, that specialised in releasing records by punk rock and post-punk bands. It operated out of a record shop of the same name at 162 Hoe Street, Walthamstow, E17, east London...
) [UK Indie -#1] - The Feeding of the 5000 - Second SittingThe Feeding of the 5000 (album)The Feeding of the 5000 is the first album by Crass, released in 1978. Crass never gained a large mainstream audience, but their virulently anti-establishment lyrics and anarchist politics brought the band a committed following upon the record’s release....
(LP, 1980, Reissue on Crass Records 621984, with the missing track "Asylum" reinstated) (UK Indie – #11) - Stations Of The CrassStations of the CrassStations of the Crass is the second album by Crass, released in 1979. The record, originally released as a double 12", includes live tracks from a gig recorded at the Pied Bull pub in Islington, London on August 7, 1979. The first three sides contain the studio tracks and play at 45 rpm, while the...
(521984, double LP, 1979) (UK Indie – #1) - Penis EnvyPenis Envy (album)Penis Envy, released in 1981, was the third LP by anarchist punk band Crass.Named as a reference to some of Freud's ideas concerning sexuality, this release marked something of a departure from the somewhat 'macho', 'hardcore punk' image that The Feeding of the 5000 and its follow up Stations of...
(321984/1, LP, 1981) (UK Indie – #1) - Christ - The Album (BOLLOX2U2, double LP, 1982) (UK Indie – #1)
- Yes Sir, I WillYes Sir, I WillYes Sir, I Will, released by Crass in 1983 , was the band's last 'official' album. The record consists of one continuous piece of music spread over the two sides of the original vinyl release , making it the longest punk song ever recorded, although this is intercut with two brief interludes; a...
(121984/2, LP, 1983) (UK Indie – #1) - Ten Notes on a Summer's DayTen Notes on a Summer's DayTen Notes on a Summer's Day is Crass's final album under the Crass name. It was released in 1985 and consists of ten short songs written in 1984 by Penny Rimbaud sung by Eve Libertine and Steve Ignorant and set to an avant garde musical backing....
(Cat No. 6, LP, 1985, Crass RecordsCrass RecordsCrass Records is an independent record label which was set up by the anarchist punk band Crass.-Overview and history:Prior to the formation of Crass, Penny Rimbaud and Gee Vaucher had published their creative works via their own Dial House based Exitstencil Press...
. Poems written by Penny Rimbaud and set to a slow rock song, sung by Eve Libertine and Steve Ignorant.) - Acts Of LoveActs of LoveActs of Love is an album of 50 poems by Penny Rimbaud of the anarchist punk band Crass, set to classical music composed and arranged by Penny Rimbaud and Paul Ellis, and performed by Steve Ignorant and Eve Libertine. Released in 1985 on Crass Records, the record was accompanied by a book of 50...
(1984/4, LP and book, 1985. Poems of Penny Rimbaud set to classical music, sung by Eve Libertine and Steve Ignorant. The book is illustrated with paintings by Gee Vaucher) - Best Before 1984Best Before 1984Best Before 1984 is a compilation of Crass' singles and other tracks, released in 1986, including lyrics and a booklet which details the history of the band in their own words...
(CATNO5, double LP compilation, 1986) (UK Indie – #7) - The Crassical Collection; The Feeding of the 5000The Feeding of the 5000 (album)The Feeding of the 5000 is the first album by Crass, released in 1978. Crass never gained a large mainstream audience, but their virulently anti-establishment lyrics and anarchist politics brought the band a committed following upon the record’s release....
(CC01CD remastered edition of The Feeding of the 5000, 2010) - The Crassical Collection; Stations of the CrassStations of the CrassStations of the Crass is the second album by Crass, released in 1979. The record, originally released as a double 12", includes live tracks from a gig recorded at the Pied Bull pub in Islington, London on August 7, 1979. The first three sides contain the studio tracks and play at 45 rpm, while the...
(CC02CD remastered edition of Stations of the Crass, 2010) - The Crassical Collection; Penis EnvyPenis Envy (album)Penis Envy, released in 1981, was the third LP by anarchist punk band Crass.Named as a reference to some of Freud's ideas concerning sexuality, this release marked something of a departure from the somewhat 'macho', 'hardcore punk' image that The Feeding of the 5000 and its follow up Stations of...
(CC03CD remastered edition of Penis Envy], 2010) - The Crassical Collection; Christ - The Album (CC04CD remastered edition of Christ - The Album, 2011)
- The Crassical Collection; Yes Sir, I WillYes Sir, I WillYes Sir, I Will, released by Crass in 1983 , was the band's last 'official' album. The record consists of one continuous piece of music spread over the two sides of the original vinyl release , making it the longest punk song ever recorded, although this is intercut with two brief interludes; a...
(CC05CD remastered edition of Yes Sir, I Will, 2011) - The Crassical Collection; Ten Notes on a Summer's DayTen Notes on a Summer's DayTen Notes on a Summer's Day is Crass's final album under the Crass name. It was released in 1985 and consists of ten short songs written in 1984 by Penny Rimbaud sung by Eve Libertine and Steve Ignorant and set to an avant garde musical backing....
(CC06CD remastered edition of Ten Notes on a Summer's Day, 2012)
Singles
- "Reality Asylum" / "Shaved Women" (CRASS1, 7", 1979) (UK Indie – #9)
- "You Can Be You" (521984/1, 7" single by Honey BaneHoney BaneHoney Bane is an English singer and actress, possibly best known for her 1981 UK Top 40 single "Turn Me On Turn Me Off"....
, backed by Crass under the name Donna and the Kebabs, 1979) (UK Indie – #3) - "Bloody Revolutions" / "Persons Unknown" (421984/1, 7" single, joint released with the Poison GirlsPoison GirlsThe Poison Girls were an English anarcho-punk band. The female singer/guitarist, Vi Subversa, was a middle-aged mother of two at the band's inception, and wrote songs that explored sexuality and gender roles, usually from an anarchist perspective...
, 1980) (UK Indie – #1) - "Tribal Rival Rebel Revels" (421984/6F, flexi disc single given away with Toxic Grafity (sic) fanzineFanzineA fanzine is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest...
, 1980) - "Nagasaki Nightmare" / "Big A Little A" (421984/5, 7" single, 1981) (UK Indie – #1)
- "Our Wedding" (321984/1F, flexi disc single by Creative Recording And Sound Services made available to readers of teenage magazine Loving))
- "Merry Crassmas" (CT1, 7" single, 1981, Crass' stab at the Christmas novelty market) (UK Indie – #2) )
- "Sheep Farming In The Falklands" / "Gotcha" (121984/3, 7" single, 1982, originally released anonymously as a flexi-disc) (UK Indie – #1)
- "How Does It Feel To Be The Mother Of 1000 Dead?" / "The Immortal Death" (221984/6, 7" single, 1983) (UK Indie – #1)
- "Whodunnit?" (121984/4, 7" single, 1983), pressed in "shit coloured vinyl") (UK Indie – #2)
- "You're Already Dead" / "Nagasaki is Yesterday's Dog-End" / "Don't get caught" (1984, 7" single, 1984)
Live recordings
- Christ: The Bootleg (recorded live in Nottingham, 1984, released 1989 on Allied Records)
- You'll Ruin It For EveryoneYou'll Ruin It for EveryoneYou'll Ruin It for Everyone is a live album by Crass recorded at the Lesser City Hall in Perth, Scotland, on July 4, 1981. It was released in 1993 on Pomona Records with the band's permission, and rereleased with different packaging in 2001....
(recorded live in Perth, ScotlandPerth, ScotlandPerth is a town and former city and royal burgh in central Scotland. Located on the banks of the River Tay, it is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and the historic county town of Perthshire...
, 1981, released 1993 on Pomona Records)
Videos
- Crass
-
- Christ: The Movie (a series of short films by Mick Duffield that were shown at Crass performances, VHS, released 1990)
- Semi-Detached (video collages by Gee Vaucher, 1978–84, VHS, 2001)
- Crass: There is No Authority but Yourself ( "minimovie" Documentary by Alexander OeyAlexander OeyAlexander Oey is a Dutch film director who has directed numerous documentaries for Dutch television, including the controversial Euro-Islam According to Tariq Ramadan and My Life as a Terrorist: The Story of Hans-Joachim Klein , as well as There is No Authority But Yourself, a documentary on the...
, Minimovies.org, 2006)
- Crass Agenda
-
- In the Beginning Was the WORD – Live DVD recorded at the Progress Bar, Tufnell Park, London, 18 November 2004 (Gallery gallery Productions @ Le Chaos Factory, 2006)
See also
- Anarchism in the arts
- Punk ideologyPunk ideologyPunk ideologies are a group of varied social and political beliefs associated with the punk subculture. In its original incarnation, the punk subculture was primarily concerned with concepts such as rebellion, anti-authoritarianism, individualism, free thought and discontent...
- Anarcho Punk
- There is No Authority But YourselfThere Is No Authority But YourselfThere is No Authority But Yourself is a Dutch film directed by Alexander Oey documenting the history of anarchist punk band Crass. The film features archive footage of the band and interviews with former members Steve Ignorant, Penny Rimbaud and Gee Vaucher...
- A film by Alexander OeyAlexander OeyAlexander Oey is a Dutch film director who has directed numerous documentaries for Dutch television, including the controversial Euro-Islam According to Tariq Ramadan and My Life as a Terrorist: The Story of Hans-Joachim Klein , as well as There is No Authority But Yourself, a documentary on the...
documenting the history of Crass and Dial House.
Further reading
(originally issued as a pamphlet with the LP Christ – The Album, much of the text is now published online at ) (see )External links
- Official Crass website
- A history of Crass and Crass Records
- Interview from 'Mucilage' fanzine
- A Christian perspective on Crass
- Country house anarchy from UK The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
newspaper. - Anarchy And Peace, Litigated lengthy interview with Penny and Steve, details of disagreement over re-mastered reissues.
- Crass Journal: The Last Act A record of letters, articles, postings and e-mails between February 2009 – September 2010 which details the disagreement between the members of Crass over the re-mastered and re-packaged reissues.