Rock Against Communism
Encyclopedia
Rock Against Communism (RAC) started out as series of white power rock concerts in the United Kingdom
in the late 1970s, and is also a name for the subsequent music genre
. Despite its name, RAC song lyrics rarely focus on the specific topic of anti-communism
. Rather, RAC lyrics typically feature nationalist
, neo-Nazi
, anti-Semitic, racist
, and violent themes.
in late 1978 with far right
activists associated with the National Front
(NF). It was intended to counter the Rock Against Racism
organisation. The first RAC concert was in Leeds
, England
in 1978, featuring the Nazi punk
bands The Dentists and the Ventz. RAC held one concert in 1979 and another in spring 1983, which was headlined by Skrewdriver
, a white power skinhead band led by Ian Stuart Donaldson
. After that, RAC concerts were held more often. The concerts were usually held in secret, due to opposition by groups such as Anti-Fascist Action
and the Anti-Nazi League
. They were often headlined by Skrewdriver and featured other white power bands, such as Skullhead
and No Remorse
. In the mid-1980s, summer concerts were often held at the Suffolk
home of Edgar Griffin, a Conservative Party
activist and father of Nick Griffin
, an NF organiser who later became the national chair of the British National Party
. By the late 1980s, the RAC name had given way to the White Noise Club (another NF-based group), and later Blood and Honour
, which was set up by Donaldson and his friend Nicky Crane
when they fell out with the NF leadership. As hardcore punk
music became more popular in the 1990s and 2000s, many white power bands took on a more hardcore-influenced sound.
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...
in the late 1970s, and is also a name for the subsequent music genre
Music genre
A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other types of music...
. Despite its name, RAC song lyrics rarely focus on the specific topic of anti-communism
Anti-communism
Anti-communism is opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and the beginning of the Cold War in 1947.-Objections to communist theory:...
. Rather, RAC lyrics typically feature nationalist
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
, neo-Nazi
Neo-Nazism
Neo-Nazism consists of post-World War II social or political movements seeking to revive Nazism or some variant thereof.The term neo-Nazism can also refer to the ideology of these movements....
, anti-Semitic, racist
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
, and violent themes.
History
The Rock Against Communism movement originated in the United KingdomUnited 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...
in late 1978 with far right
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
activists associated with the National Front
British National Front
The National Front is a far right, white-only political party whose major political activities took place during the 1970s and 1980s. Its popularity peaked in the 1979 general election, when it received 191,719 votes ....
(NF). It was intended to counter the Rock Against Racism
Rock Against Racism
Rock Against Racism was a campaign set up in the United Kingdom in 1976 as a response to an increase in racial conflict and the growth of white nationalist groups such as the National Front. The campaign involved pop, rock and reggae musicians staging concerts with an anti-racist theme, in order...
organisation. The first RAC concert was in Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in 1978, featuring the Nazi punk
Nazi punk
A Nazi punk is a neo-Nazi who is part of the punk subculture. The term also describes the related type of music. Nazi punk music sounds similar to most forms of punk rock, but it differs by having lyrics that express hatred of Jews, homosexuals, communists, anarchists, anti-racists and people who...
bands The Dentists and the Ventz. RAC held one concert in 1979 and another in spring 1983, which was headlined by Skrewdriver
Skrewdriver
Skrewdriver was an English punk rock band formed by Ian Stuart Donaldson in Poulton-le-Fylde in 1976. They later evolved into one of the first neo-Nazi rock bands, playing a leading role in the Rock Against Communism movement and becoming known as the most prominent white power skinhead...
, a white power skinhead band led by Ian Stuart Donaldson
Ian Stuart Donaldson
Ian Stuart Donaldson was a British Neo-Nazi singer, musician and songwriter, most known as the frontman of Skrewdriver, a British punk rock band that later became a white power rock band...
. After that, RAC concerts were held more often. The concerts were usually held in secret, due to opposition by groups such as Anti-Fascist Action
Anti-Fascist Action
Anti-Fascist Action was a militant anti-fascist organization founded by members of Red Action and other left-wing groups in the United Kingdom in 1985....
and the Anti-Nazi League
Anti-Nazi League
The Anti-Nazi League was an organisation set up in 1977 on the initiative of the Socialist Workers Party with sponsorship from some trade unions and the endorsement of a list of prominent people to oppose the rise of far-right groups in the United Kingdom. It was wound down in 1981...
. They were often headlined by Skrewdriver and featured other white power bands, such as Skullhead
Skullhead
Skullhead was a 1980s English Rock Against Communism band from the Newcastle area. Along with Brutal Attack, Skrewdriver and No Remorse, they are one of the most notable bands of that genre. Led by Kevin Turner, they started out as an Oi!-style band and then adopted elements from heavy metal...
and No Remorse
No Remorse (band)
No Remorse was a British neo-Nazi rock band formed in 1986 led by white power skinhead singer Paul London, aka Paul Burnley. They were associated with Ian Stuart's Blood & Honour group....
. In the mid-1980s, summer concerts were often held at the Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
home of Edgar Griffin, a Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
activist and father of Nick Griffin
Nick Griffin
Nicholas John "Nick" Griffin is a British politician, chairman of the British National Party and Member of the European Parliament for North West England....
, an NF organiser who later became the national chair of the British National Party
British National Party
The British National Party is a British far-right political party formed as a splinter group from the National Front by John Tyndall in 1982...
. By the late 1980s, the RAC name had given way to the White Noise Club (another NF-based group), and later Blood and Honour
Blood and Honour
Blood & Honour is a neo-Nazi music promotion network and political group founded in 1987 with links to Combat 18 and composed of white power skinheads and other white nationalists....
, which was set up by Donaldson and his friend Nicky Crane
Nicky Crane
Nicola Vincenzio "Nicky" Crane was a British neo-Nazi skinhead activist. He came out as gay before dying from an AIDS-related illness in 1993....
when they fell out with the NF leadership. As hardcore punk
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
music became more popular in the 1990s and 2000s, many white power bands took on a more hardcore-influenced sound.
Notable RAC acts
- Brigade MBrigade MBrigade M was a Dutch right wing nationalist Rock Against Communism-band from Sassenheim in the Bollenstreek. The driving force behind Brigade M had always been Tim Mudde....
- LandserLandser (band)Landser was a neo-Nazi rock band from Germany. Landser is an old-fashioned German colloquialism for a low-ranking soldier. The band, which is outlawed in Germany, was previously called Endlösung , and was founded by members of the neo-Nazi group Die Vandalen - Ariogermanische Kampfgemeinschaft ,...
- No RemorseNo Remorse (band)No Remorse was a British neo-Nazi rock band formed in 1986 led by white power skinhead singer Paul London, aka Paul Burnley. They were associated with Ian Stuart's Blood & Honour group....
- SkrewdriverSkrewdriverSkrewdriver was an English punk rock band formed by Ian Stuart Donaldson in Poulton-le-Fylde in 1976. They later evolved into one of the first neo-Nazi rock bands, playing a leading role in the Rock Against Communism movement and becoming known as the most prominent white power skinhead...
- SkullheadSkullheadSkullhead was a 1980s English Rock Against Communism band from the Newcastle area. Along with Brutal Attack, Skrewdriver and No Remorse, they are one of the most notable bands of that genre. Led by Kevin Turner, they started out as an Oi!-style band and then adopted elements from heavy metal...
- StahlgewitterStahlgewitterStahlgewitter is a controversial German Hard Rock and Rock Against Communism group founded in 1995. Despite the genre's name, RAC song lyrics rarely focus on the specific topic of anti-communism. Rather, RAC lyrics typically feature nationalist themes...
See also
- Final Stand RecordsFinal Stand RecordsFinal Stand Records is a Newark, Delaware-based white supremacist record label owned by neo-Nazi musician and professor Robert Huber, a graduate of the University of Delaware. Huber is the guitarist for the hatecore band Teardown, and was formerly a member of Blue Eyed Devils and Nordic Thunder...
- List of neo-Nazi bands
- National Socialist black metalNational Socialist black metalNational Socialist black metal is black metal that promotes National Socialist beliefs through their lyrics and imagery. These beliefs often include: white supremacy, racial separatism, antisemitism, heterosexism, and Nazi interpretations of paganism or Satanism...
- Panzerfaust RecordsPanzerfaust RecordsPanzerfaust Records was a Minnesota-based white power record label founded in September 1998 by Anthony Pierpont, Ed Wolbank and Eric Davidson . In 2000, Davidson returned to California and by 2003, Wolbank was focusing more on music production than distribution...
- Resistance RecordsResistance RecordsResistance Records is a record label owned by Resistance LLC, a society closely connected to the National Alliance. It produces and sells music by neo-Nazi and white separatist musicians, primarily through its website...
External links
- Section about RAC in Gods of the Blood: The Pagan Revival and White Separatism
- Section about RAC in Encyclopedia of White Power: A Sourcebook on the Radical Racist Right
- Hate on Display: RAC - from Anti-Defamation League
- Information about RAC in Punk Rock: So What? - The Cultural Legacy of Punk
- The Growth of White Power Music - from the National Alliance
- 1980-1989 Blood & Honour - Britain's fascists split from Searchlight magazine
- The Legacy of Ian Stuart - from Swindle magazine