A cool reception to the American Beat
The Fleshtones in Britain, 1981–83
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/pomh.v7i1.82Keywords:
60s garage punk, anti-Americanism, Fleshtones, post-punk, subculturesAbstract
The Fleshtones visited Britain on several occasions between 1981 and 1983, but their presence on the UK’s alternative live touring circuit is now all but forgotten. Although their fans include influential figures such as Peter Buck and the late Joey Ramone, this New York Citybased quartet—IRS Records stable-mates to the Cramps, the Go Gos and R.E.M.—were roundly rejected by British audiences. In fact, the Fleshtones’ performances in the UK often sparked confrontation in one form or another. In its exploration of their experiences on British tours (they appeared with the likes of Gang of Four, Echo & the Bunnymen and a host of other now legendary names), this article seeks to reveal as much about that wider cultural moment in Britain as it does about the attitudes of the band themselves. The article writes them back into the Anglo-American post-punk exchange narrative, and considers how their failure can be read in that context.
References
Bangs, Lester. 1979. ‘White Noise Supremacists’. Village Voice. April.
Barbier, Geoffray. 2009. Pardon Us for Living but the Graveyard is Full. Coldcuts Productions.
Bonomo, Joe. 2008. Sweat: The Story of the Fleshtones, America’s Garage Band. New York: Continuum.
Burbage, Derek. 1981. Urgh! A Music War. Lorimar Productions.
Burchill, Julie, and Tony Parsons. 1978. The Boy looked at Johnny: The Obituary of Rock’n’Roll. London: Pluto.
Cohen, Stanley. 1972. Folk Devils and Moral Panics: The Creation of the Mods and Rockers. London: MacGibbon & Kee.
Flatte, Bea. 1978. ‘A Touch of Village Green at Crisco Disco’. The Aquarian, 9 August.
Gelder, Ken, and Sarah Thornton, eds. 1997. The Sub-Cultures Reader. New York: Routledge.
Grabel, Richard. 1980. ‘Pleasures of the Flesh’. Sounds. http://www.modteepee.webspace.virginmedia.com/pleasure.htm (accessed 27 March 2010).
—1983. ‘The Fleshtones: Hexbreaker!’. NME, 10 September. http://www.rocksbackpages.com/article.html?ArticleID=14994 (accessed 23 February 2010).
Haylin, Clinton. 1993. From The Velvets to The Voidoids: The Birth of American Punk Rock. London: Penguin.
Hebdige, Dick. 1979. Subculture: The Meaning of Style. London: Methuen. http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203139943
Hoskyns, Barney. 1983. ‘Trash on Delivery: The Plimsouls and The Fleshtones’. NME, 12 November. http://www.modteepee.webspace.virginmedia.com/nme.htm (accessed 23 February 2010).
Hutton, Lindsay. 1998. Liner notes for Psychedelic Jungle CD re-release. The Cramps. Capitol Records.
—2010. Email interview, 25 May.
Linna, Miriam. 1977. ‘New York: The Fleshtones’. New York Rocker 9. http://www.modteepee.webspace.virginmedia.com/miriam.htm (accessed 23 February 2010).
McKay, George. 2000. ‘Anti-Americanism, Youth and Popular Music, and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in Britain’. In Anti-Americanism at Home and Abroad, ed. Sylvie Mathe. Provence: University of Provence Press.
McNeil, Legs, and Gillian McCain, eds. 1996. Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk. London: Abacus.
Mortifoglio, Richard. 1979. ‘Fleshtones Beat’. Village Voice, 16 July.
Muggleton, David, and Rupert Weinzierl, eds. 2003. The Post-Subcultures Reader. Oxford: Berg.
North, Richard. 1983. ‘Positive Punk’. NME, February. http://www.scathe.demon.co.uk/posipunk.htm (accessed 12 June 2010).
Pakulski, Marek. 2010. Email interview, 20 December.
Palmer, Robert. 1981. ‘Pop Jazz; New York Rock Bands Excite London’. New York Times, 20 February. http://tinyurl.com/d7lwuyr (accessed 23 February 2010).
Rambali, Paul. 1980. ‘Review’. NME, 6 September.
Reynolds, Simon. 2005. Rip it Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978–84. London: Faber & Faber.
Simmons, Syvlie. 1983. ‘Hexrated’. Sounds, October. http://www.modteepee.webspace.virginmedia.com/hex.htm (accessed 23 February 2010).
Zaremba, Peter. 2009. Email interview, 22 June.
