I'm always inherently suspicious of docudramas that seek to capture the vibe of specific periods of culture. These productions usually come entirely unencumbered with any semblance of nuance. About a decade back, you may remember mini-series like "The 70's" and "The 80's," wherein every possible, surface-level cliche and visual signifier was employed to bludgeon the viewer over the head. Is finesse, historical reverence and respect for the audience's own awareness too much to ask?
My favorite examples of this are probably Oliver Stone's uproariously poor biopic "The Doors" and Alex Cox's equally abortive "Sid & Nancy." In these instances, the 60's hippie scene and the 70's British Punk explosion, respectively, are both reduced to cartoonishly garish, over-the-top depictions. In Stone's film, practically every member of the audience at a Doors show is presented as a dippy flower child with long flaxen hair, floral headband, peace-sign necklace and a suede fringe jacket. In Cox's film, every witness to a Sex Pistols gig is a freakily-sunglassed, spiky-scalped, neon-colored cut-out. In Cox's flick, there are even several mohawks in the mix. Irritatingly pedantic purists (like myself) are usually quick to point out that said tonsorial aesthetic didn't really emerge in the British punk scene until a couple of years after the `Pistols' heyday. If you actually go back and watch period-appropriate footage of Doors and Sex Pistols concerts, most of the gathered throngs -- in pretty much both instances -- just looked like reg'lar, curious folks. That most directors choose revisionist routes to telegraph time-period at the expense of authenticity continues to be a meaningless pet peeve of mine.
Every now and again, however, one stumbles upon a legitimate artifact that seems to singularly encapsulate virtually every aspect of its particular place in the great continuum of time. The clip below is exactly one such artifact
I should probably preface this by saying that I really like New Model Army, although I didn't discover them until around 1986 or so, circa their third album, The Ghost of Cain (I used to routinely torture my sophomore year roommate Dave with round-the-clock airings of their rousing, Yank-phobic single, "51st State.") The clip below finds the then-newly-minted trio performing a couple of cuts off their vitriolic debut LP, Vengeance on "The Tube," a popular British television program in 1984. Having never seen a full episode of "The Tube," I can only speculate, but I'd imagine the circumstances aren't too dissimilar from its American counterpart variety shows. In much the same way Saturday Night Live infamously roped in a gaggle of authentic hardcore kids to replicate the punk experience for the notorious performance by FEAR in 1981 (click here for a full account -- with video -- of same), the "Tube" producer probably bussed in the equally colorful audience seen in this clip. But you're unlikely to find a more detailed clip of period-specific, post-punk regalia (from the hairstyles to the ritualistic crowd reactions) than in this video. It's six minutes and forty-five seconds of unadulterated 1980s. Soak it in.,
Also, please enjoy original N.M.A. bassist Stuart Morrow's peculiar brand of impromptu choreography and Justin "Slade The Leveller" Sullivan's boss fox-hunting jacket.
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