When Joe Corré (son of the late Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren and fashion designer Vivienne Westwood) heard that Queen Elizabeth would have given her blessing for "PUNK.LONDON", he felt a little unwell. Disgusted by this appropriation of the punk heritage by the mainstream ('the mob'), he recently announced a radical statement to permeate the world of this. On November 26, 2016 – exactly 40 years after the release of The Sex Pistols' 'Anarchy in the UK' – he plans to burn his irreplaceable £5 million punk memorabilia in Camden, London. An act of which he knows very well that many music lovers will be blown away. Has he gone mad?
“Punk has become like a fucking museum piece.”
2016 is the year that London (England) celebrates the anniversary of 'the punk scene'. Under the heading “PUNK.LONDON”, cultural organisations, including the “British Library” and “Museum of London”, organize all kinds of events throughout the year.
And that is exactly where the pain lies with Corré. In an interview with The Guardian* he says: “Instead of being a movement for change, punk has become a fucking museum piece, or a tribute act”. According to Corré, the organization would not understand what punk stands for. Corré feels that he has to make a statement. “If I hadn't said this, we would still have said how 'cool' this all was.” With this, Corré seems to want to prevent that the legacy of the punk movement will soon consist solely of clothing style, if that is not the case already.
In addition, Corré, who describes himself as 'a soldier of the punk revolution', agitates against the general social submissive attitude. “The British people are now in the midst of a general malaise. People feel numb. That makes people indulgent. The most dangerous thing is that they have stopped fighting for what they believe in. They've given up. We need to detonate all the shit again.” Corré does not clarify what he means by 'malaise'. With punk history in mind, you might imagine he's referring to the economic crisis. And the government failing to intervene in the ever-increasing high rents and house prices that are driving the working class out of London.
Corré (48), who has become a multimillionaire by selling his lingerie brand Agent Provocateur, says his life would have been different without punk. “The (punk) mentality has helped me make a success of my life.”
Buckingham Palace's endorsement for “PUNK.LONDON” is striking. In the 1970s, the legendary British punk band Sex Pistols released a song that was perceived as 'offensive'. The song criticized the government's treatment of the working class: "God save the queen, the fascist regime/ she ain't no human being/ there is no future in England's dreaming". The words “no future” became the symbol of the punk movement. It was the best-selling single at the time, but was banned from the top spot.
Punk or not?
Although many people agree with Corré's words, it is the negative reactions that predominate. Doesn't he talk a bit haughtily about the mainstream, which has been part of his clientele for years? And shouldn't Corré be auctioning the stuff (for charity) instead of burning it? “Fuck off!” Corre said in The Guardian. “That's not what this is about. They only think about money. It's the ideas that matter, not the memorabilia.” It is also fanatically stated that this act goes against everything that punk stands for.
Is that right? What is punk? If you start and end with: 'brightly colored hair, leather jackets, safety pins and dark make-up', you are missing the point. It started as a movement in the early 1970s; there was a lot of social unrest in England (a bad economy, unemployment, strikes). Young people felt disadvantaged and used music as an outlet. Corré's father, Malcolm McLaren (died 2010), was the founder and manager of the Sex Pistols. In 1976 he ran a clever media campaign that attracted frustrated British youth. Sex Pistols became the epitome of the punk scene.
The external features are primarily a statement. Punk also stands for freedom to be who you are. Fight for your ideals. Fighting injustice. Resisting mindlessly following the status quo. Aversion to the established order. Standing up for equality of class and sex. Creativity in clothing, makeup and art. A 'DIY' attitude ('do it yourself'). And for many, the attraction to anarchism.
Whether Corré's action is punk or not, a 'shocking' act to make your statement certainly fits within the punk tradition.
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Effective action?
The memorabilia are Corré's property, in fact we have nothing to say about it. His personal goal will already have been achieved: (media) attention for his annoyances. But the action probably misses its public target. From a social point of view, it may lead to some awareness. But it is precisely the parties that he agitates against, the mainstream and “PUNK.LONDON”, that he does not touch. They won't care Sex Pistols stuff going up in flames. It is the music lovers and punks that he will touch with this. They will agree with his statement that ideas are more important than things. But in their hearts it will feel different, on 11/26/2016.
Have we not actually fallen for a genius PR stunt en masse, which Corré's father was already adept at? Corre denies. “PUNK.LONDON” won't sleep a night less because of it; this controversy has ensured optimal attention. In response, “PUNK.LONDON” has now put the Joe Corré-initiated combustion as an 'event' on the agenda. As if it should have been. Well, punk will survive this appropriation by the mainstream. Punk never dies.
Update.
Joe Corré actually executed his plan on November 26, 2016. He set fire to an estimated £5 million worth of punk memorabilia on a boat on the River Thames. His mother, fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, stood on the riverbank with some audience members to watch the objects burn.
News item: 2016
Text: 2016 and 2022
Sources:
- *The Guardian's interview with Joe Corre (by Tim Jonze): https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/mar/16/malcolm-mclaren-son-joe-corre-burn-punk-memorabilia-punk- london queen
- https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/nov/26/punx-not-dead-joe-corre-burns-memorabilia-worth-5m-on-thames
- Book: “Punk.”, Stephen Colegrave and Chris Sullivan
- Book: “Oor Pop Encyclopedia 2006”
- Documentary: http://www.vpro.nl/buitenland/programmas/het-groot-brittannie-van/ken-livingstone-londen.html
- Websites: http://punk.london/ and http://www.trouw.nl/tr/nl/4496/Buitenland/article/detail/4105706/2015/07/22/Londen-wereldstad-vol-lege- huizen.dhtml