 |
| Variant of slogan above the door of 430 Kings Rd. Chelsea, after Jacques Vaché |
Abstract
“I’m a very versatile comedian. That means I’m crap at everything.” -Alexei Sayle
‘Fragments of a Punk Opera’ is a multimedia work which presents exactly that: excerpts of a would-be piece of punk musical theatre entitled ‘Bad Money’. Therein we are introduced to a pair of hapless (and penniless) protagonists, Steff and Jen, who find themselves on the wrong side of Madame Melodie, a lady crime boss who fancies herself as Rita Hayworth (or is it Edith Piaf?). With half a million pounds of the gangster’s money in Steff and Jen's possession, things go badly wrong for all concerned: but what is the outcome? We don’t expect a happy ending in traditional opera, after all.
Like Sid & Nancy, punk rock's real-life tragic couple, Steff & Jen find themselves brought together by a common need for a commodity - drugs in the case of the former, money in the latter - a surfeit of which, proves to be their undoing.
In concluding their study of The Politics & Poetics of Transgression, Stallybrass & White write:
"The bourgeois subject continuously defined and re-defined itself through the exclusion of what it marked out as 'low' - as dirty, repulsive, noisy, contaminating. [...] But disgust always bears the imprint of desire. These low domains, apparently expelled as 'Other', return as objects of nostalgia, longing and fascination." (Stallybrass & White, 1986: p. 191)
First-wave punk was indeed all of those 'low' things, and revelled in them - yet is now seen as somewhat quaint, with John Lydon and Iggy Pop presenting TV commercials, and despite having "no future", Queen Elizabeth II outlived many of the scene's luminaries. A genre cannot exist on raw energy and manic outbursts alone, and nor can performers. It is therefore through the medium of fragmentation that this body of work is presented - brief blasts of raw power, emotion and creativity which can barely be sustained for more than two minutes, while the slower, keyboard moments bring to mind the near-punk melancholic sophistication and sarcasm of The Stranglers. In his analysis of the Stranglers' music as both reflexive and anti-structuralist, Phi Knight writes, "The blurring and erasure of boundaries that accompanies anti-structure allows cultural elements to be disassembled and recombined in new and often unprecedented ways, from the playful to the grotesque." (Knight, 2015: p. 12) This could be an apt description of the entire punk movement itself, and is entirely descriptive of this fragmentary, random-access project of mine, wherein punk as a deconstruction of rock and roll is itself deconstructed and rebuilt anew.
These ‘Fragments’ celebrate the punk aesthetic of DIY and the awkwardness of ‘shonky’ as a methodology – an embracing of roughness, passion and energy by necessity of a single artist, MB, having composed, played, sung, acted, designed, filmed and edited every part of this work. Versatility, as defined by English comedian and writer Alexei Sayle, and in my case, is an admission of limitation; an acknowledgement that one cannot be great at every element of every endeavour, but to bash on regardless and to “do anything you wanna do”, in the words of Eddie and the Hot Rods. Ambition need not be thwarted by ability. I love traditional opera and musicals and have wanted to create some kind of musical narrative for many years, but with no music training or theory, it always seemed a ridiculous fantasy. However, I do know three chords – possibly even four – and so, a ‘punk opera’ became the medium to express this notion.
The DIY element is also extended to the audience, who is invited to view, listen, read, interact with the works in whichever sequence they choose, and to create their own narrative and resolution from the cut and pasted fragments on offer – to take what they will from the experience.
 |
| 'No gods, no masters' - standard anarchist slogan. 'We are the writing...' quoted by George Melly, 1975 |
Video/music works
There now follows the various works (in no special order, of course) which contribute to make up the body of work known collectively as 'Fragments of a Punk Opera', being sections of a fictional musical entitled 'Bad Money'. In keeping with the standard requirements of musical theatre, the songs represent moments of "transition, realization or decision" - or the immediate aftermaths of such. 'Bad Money' draws the two primary characters closer together by virtue of their shared poverty and decision to act upon it - 'Midnight Showdown' waves goodbye to a major character at a climactic moment - 'The Madame Melodie Melody' brings together the entire cast in what could be the conclusion to Act I prior to the Intermission, providing the hook to ensure the audience come back for Act II (unlike films, musicals operate with only two acts either side of a break).
'Holiday in the Sun' with its almost-Sex Pistols title, brings the two heroes into actual contact with the plot device of the half-million quid (which is, of course, never visually revealed or depicted). The money in this production is a passive contributor to the action - it does not need to stand centre-stage for its influence to be exerted. It is the elusive Godot - waited for, wanted, but never able to fulfil its intended function for anybody involved with it, and inevitably leads to ruin.
Even 'Acne Empire', whilst giving its history lesson and providing an opportunity for the chorus to do some football terraces-style chanting, seems to give Steff serious ideas about the power of the working class and solidarity with the 'great unwashed', whilst revelling in its old cliché of the 'noisy spotty kid' (as the youthful punks inevitably found themselves referred to).
'I Swear', having no video, tells a personal tale of woe wherein someone dumps, gives up on, abandons someone else, but who: is it Steff dumping Jen? Mr. Hookz dumping Madame Melodie? Is there significance in the fact this track has the very same verse chord structure as the 'The Madame Melodie Melody' and a similar bouncy, boogie rhythm?
The following trailer sets the scene for the beginnings of the narrative, before turning the outcome over to the viewer:
'Holiday in the Sun' (Jen & Steff)
'Moonshine Sonata' (Jen)
'Bad Money' (Steff and Jen)
'Bad Money Nocturne (Midnight Showdown reprise)' - Steff and Jen
'Acne Empire' (Steff and chorus)
 |
| Slogan adapted from a 1960s (?) 'King Mob' flyer |
Reading list:
No comments:
Post a Comment