X-Ray Spex 34215 224384175 2008-07-08T16:48:11Z SmackBot 433328 Date the maintenance tags or general fixes {{ otheruses4|the punk band|other uses|X-Ray Specs }} {{Infobox Musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians --> | Name = X-Ray Spex | Img = | Img_capt = | Background = group_or_band | Origin = [[London]], [[England]] | Genre = [[Punk rock]], [[New Wave (music)|New Wave]] | Years_active = 1976&ndash;1979<br />1991<br />1995&ndash;1996<br />2008 | Label = [[EMI]], [[Receiver Records|Receiver]] | Associated_acts = | URL = [http://www.x-rayspex.com/ www.x-rayspex.com] | Current_members = | Past_members = [[Poly Styrene]]<br />[[Lora Logic]]<br />[[Jak Airport]]<br />Paul Dean<br />Rudi Thomson<br />BP Hurding }} '''X-Ray Spex''' are an [[England|English]] [[punk rock|punk]] band from [[London]] formed in [[1976]]. ==Career== Initially, the band featured [[singer]] [[Poly Styrene]] (born Marian Joan Elliott) on [[singer|vocals]], Jak Airport (Jack Stafford) on [[guitar]]s, Paul Dean on [[bass guitar|bass]], Paul 'B. P.' Hurding on [[drums]], and [[Lora Logic]] (born Susan Whitby) on [[saxophone]]. This latter instrument was an atypical addition to the standard punk instrumental line-up, and became one of the group's most distinctive features. X-Ray Spex's other distinctive musical element was Poly Styrene's voice, which has been variously described as "effervescently discordant"<ref>[http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:g1320r5ai48j allmusic review of The Anthology]</ref> and "powerful enough to drill holes through sheet metal".<ref name=rina>[http://www.comnet.ca/~rina/poly.html Poly Styrene] from comnet.ca/~rina</ref> As Mari Elliot, Poly had released a [[reggae]] single for GTO Records in 1976, "Silly Billy", which had not charted. Born in 1957 in [[Brixton]], of [[Somali people|Somali]]-English parentage, Poly Styrene became the group's public face, and remains one of the most memorable front-women to emerge from the punk movement.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/fridayreview/story/0,12102,951567,00.html Are you ready to fly?] - article from The Guardian</ref> Not conventionally attractive, she wore thick [[dental braces|braces]] on her teeth and once stated that "I said that I wasn't a [[sex symbol]] and that if anybody tried to make me one I'd shave my head tomorrow".<ref name="NME">{{Citation | last = Murray | first = Charles Shaar | author-link = Charles Shaar Murray | publication-date = [[13 May]] [[1978]] | year = 1978 | title = No Pop, No Style Poly Styrene is Still Strictly Roots | periodical = [[NME|New Musical Express]] | series = | publication-place = | place = | publisher = | volume = | issue = | pages = | url = http://www.geocities.com/vintageinterviews/xrayspex.html | issn = | doi = | oclc = | accessdate = 2008-01-19 }}</ref> She later actually did at [[Johnny Rotten]]'s flat prior to a concert at [[Victoria Park, East London|Victoria Park]]. Mark Paytress recounts in the [[liner notes]] for the 2002 compilation, ''The Anthology'', that [[Jah Wobble]], Rotten's longtime friend and bassist for his [[post-punk]] venture [[PiL]], once described Styrene as a "strange girl who often talked of [[hallucinating]]. She freaked John out."<ref>''Cinderella's Big Score: Women of the Punk and Indie Underground'' by [[Maria Raha]]</ref> Rotten, known more for his outspoken dislike of things than actual praise and admiration, recently said of X-Ray Spex in a retrospective punk documentary, "Them, they came out with a sound and attitude and a whole energy - it was just not relating to anything around it - ''superb''."<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJmvaPdPG5Y ''The Punk Years'' documentary]</ref> X-Ray Spex existed from mid-1976 to 1979, during which time they released five singles - "Oh Bondage, Up Yours", "Identity", "The Day the World Turned Day-Glo", "Germ Free Adolescents", and "Highly Inflammable" - and one album, ''[[Germ Free Adolescents]]''.<ref>[http://www.hiljaiset.sci.fi/punknet/xraysp_e.htm PUNKNET 77 - X-Ray Spex]</ref><ref name="rina" /> The album and title single reached 30 and 19 in their respective charts, although "Oh Bondage, Up Yours" is regarded as their most enduring artifact, both as a piece of music and as a sort of proto-grrrl [[catch-phrase]].<ref>Michelle Lee, "[http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3693/is_200211/ai_n9126077 Oh bondage up yours! The early punk movement--and the women who made it rock],Off Our Backs, Nov/Dec 2002</ref><ref>{{citeweb |url=http://www.theregister.co.uk/2002/04/08/bofh_oh_bondage_up_yours/ |title=BOFH: Oh Bondage, Up Yours! (article demonstrating the use of the song title as a catchphrase) |publisher=theregister.co.uk |accessdate=2008-05-23}}</ref> Opening with the line, "Some people think little girls should be seen and not heard - well I think, '''oh bondage, up yours'''!", the song could be interpreted as a premonition of the [[riot grrrl]] movement a good 15 years later, although Styrene herself insists it was more intended as an [[anti-consumerist]]/[[anti-capitalist]] jingle, and wasn't exclusively [[feminist]] in nature. The song was not originally on the album, although later [[CD]] releases added it as the final track. The group played a fortnight's residency at [[New York]]'s [[CBGB]]'s, even though ''Germ Free Adolescents'' was not released in America until 1992. Exhausted by touring, Poly Styrene left the band in 1979 to release a solo album, ''Translucence'', before joining the [[Hare Krishna]] movement (as did Logic, who left the band aged 16 in 1977 to form a new group called [[Essential Logic]]). Without Styrene, the group lost its momentum and split up. Hurding and London went on to form [[Classix Nouveaux]], while Paul Dean and Rudi Thompson went on to form [[Agent Orange (band)|Agent Orange]] with Anthony (Tex) Doughty, who later become a founding member of [[Transvision Vamp]]. ==Reformation== In 1991 re-grouped X-Ray Spex played a surprise sell-out gig at the [[Brixton Academy]]. Uniquely, this version of the group did not include Poly Styrene, and according to an interview with Lora Logic<ref name="rina" />: "... that was a mistake. They put that together with another singer and I played with them for a tour but you can't really have it without Poly." The group reformed more successfully in 1995 with a line-up of Styrene, Dean and Logic to release a new album ''Conscious Consumer''. Although heralded as the first in a trilogy, the album was not a commercial success. Styrene later explained<ref>[http://www.x-rayspex.com/biography/biography3.html Poly Styrene’s Biography By Celeste Bell] from x-ray spex official site</ref> that touring and promotional work suffered an abrupt end when she was run over by a [[Fire apparatus|fire engine]] in central [[London]]. The group disbanded, but subsequent releases include a compilation of the group's early records, a live album, and an anthology of all the aforementioned. Jak Airport later worked for the [[BBC]]'s Corporate and Public Relations department under his real name, Jack Stafford; he died on [[August 13]], [[2004]] of cancer.<ref name="rina" /> During the first week in 2008 the X-Ray Spex announced that they will be playing The Roundhouse in Camden on September 6th.<ref>[http://jacktheladproductions.com/cj2008/xray.htm Concrete Jungle 2008<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.roundhouse.org.uk/whats-on/productions/xray-spex-1968 |title=XRAY SPEX Production Detail |accessdate=2008-01-14 |publisher= [[The Roundhouse]]}}</ref> This reformation will include Poly Styrene, Syd Truelove on drums, Ed Ball on bass, Flash on sax, The Great Saxby on guitar, with guest appearances from some ex members of the band, to include Paul Dean. {{Fact|date=January 2008}} == Discography == ===Albums=== *''[[Germ Free Adolescents]]'', 1978 *''[[Conscious Consumer]]'', 1995 ===Singles=== *"Oh Bondage, Up Yours!", 1977 *"The Day The World Turned Day-Glo", 1978 #23 UK *"Identity", 1978 #24 UK *"Germ Free Adolescents", 1978 #19 UK *"Highly Inflammable", 1979 #45 UK ==References== {{reflist}} == External links == * [http://www.x-rayspex.com/ X-Ray Spex Official Site] * {{MySpace|xrayspexofficial|X-Ray Spex}} * [http://www.punkrockers.com/X-Ray%20Spex/ X-Ray Spex profile on PunkRockers.com] * [http://www.cbgb.com/shrine/shriners/polystyrene.htm Pictures of Poly Styrene at CBGB's, New York, 1978] * [http://www.comnet.ca/~rina/xrayspex.html An overview of the band] * [http://www.punk77.co.uk/groups/xrayspex.htm Punk77's feature on the band] * [http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/person.asp?LinkID=mp60786 Poly Styrene in Britain's National Portrait Gallery] * [http://www.cherryred.co.uk/books/nomoreheroes.php No More Heros] {{DEFAULTSORT:X-Ray Spex}} [[Category:Early punk groups]] [[Category:English musical groups]] [[Category:English punk rock groups]] [[de:X-Ray Spex]] [[fr:X-Ray Spex]] [[it:X-Ray Spex]] [[no:X-Ray Spex]] [[ru:X-Ray Spex]] [[fi:X-Ray Spex]] [[sv:X-Ray Spex]]