Description

 

The extraordinary autobiography of Penny Rimbaud (né Jeremy John Ratter), co-founder, lyricist, and drummer of Crass, a band unique in the history of rock ‘n’ roll. Available on paperback.

 

Crass took the idealism of punk seriously. When Sex Pistol Johnny Rotten screamed “No Future” the challenge was taken. In the space of seven short years, from 1977 to their breakup in 1984, Crass almost single-handedly breathed life back into the then moribund peace and anarchist movements. They birthed a huge underground network of do-it-yourself activism, fanzines, record labels, activist action groups, and gig venues. While remaining on their own independent record label, and steadfastly refusing any interviews with the major press, they managed to sell literally millions of records. Their political “pranks” included the now-infamous “KGB tapes,” trumpeted among others, on the front page of the New York Times, and the duping of Loving magazine into including a Crass song (ranting against the patriarchy of marriage) as the “perfect song to play on your wedding day.”

 

In ‘Shibboleth’, Penny takes us through his strict upper-middle-class childhood and his experiences in art school to the Crass years via the hippies and the free festival scene.

 

The book also includes, for the first time, the full story of Wally Hope – ‘The Last of the Hippies’. Wally was a close friend of Rimbaud with whom he co-founded the now legendary illegal Stonehenge Festival. Throughout the second festival, Wally was incarcerated in a mental institution to keep him away from the action. On release, and although severely impaired by his treatment, he made it clear that he was not to be daunted. A couple of months later, he was dead – murdered by the state.