A Country Fit For Heroes: DIY Punk in Eighties Britain

A Country Fit For Heroes: DIY Punk in Eighties Britain by Ian Glasper

686 pages

Earth Island Books – Out Now

The latest instalment of Ian Glasper’s growing history of punk bands in the UK digs deep into less widely known bands of the 1980s, all local heroes, providing greater depth to complement his previous works says Nathan Brown.

With his growing series of books, Ian Glasper is an extensively published author on the subject of UK punk. He may not have authored the most titles but he has surely covered the most bands from this cultural phenomenon. Turning over rocks and digging beneath the easily accessible surface he understands the scene and its participants from a punk’s perspective. He is arguably the author who has carried out the most exhaustive research. Consequently “a Glasper” has become a colloquialism in its own right.

Ian penned Burning Britain back in 2004 which told the story of the UK punk scene from 1980-1984, focusing on the likes of GBH, Discharge, The Exploited, Blitz and Vice Squad. This was followed two years later by The Day The Country Died, which covered a similar time frame but delved into the UK anarcho-punk scene, from Antisect to Zounds. 2009 saw the publication of Trapped In A Scene which followed the development of UK hardcore punk between 1985 and 1989. Armed With Anger, with its subtitle How UK Punk Survived The Nineties hit the shelves in 2012 as the fourth and final instalment.

Yet it wasn’t the final piece of the jigsaw. 2020 saw The Scene That Would Not Die as the fifth volume which gave a broad brushstroke report on some of the bands who were active across the first two decades of this century, keeping punk rock alive and kicking: 4 decades after music journalists declared it was dead. As he writes in his introduction to A Country Fit For Heroes:

“Punk’s not dead, and if you think it is, that’s because it’s just dead to you. Punk is a constant, and if your orbit ceases to align with it, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist…search out the backroom of a pub in Bristol or Sunderland or Manchester or southeast London or Abertillery or Stamford, packed to the rafters with youngsters going off to sussed, politically charged bands…and then tell me the scene isn’t in safe hands.”

Ian has written about other subjects but it is his punk-focused writing that is of interest with regards to this review, so it would be criminal not to mention in passing his exhaustive history of the Subhumans which came out last year.

Even though he said in The Scene That Would Not Die that it would be the last of these books (honest, guv), his statement was made with honest intent a bit like the farewell tour from many’s an ageing punk band.  The itch still needed to be scratched and he’s bounced back again with this beauty. I am glad he did. Over 140 of some of the more obscure punk bands from the Eighties get their story told.

Ian’s initial plan was to cover bands who only did demo tapes and never made it onto vinyl. This idea stretched to include bands that appeared on compilation albums, and then a little more to include bands that self-released an EP. It made sense this book would take its name from a wonderfully raw and bleak compilation album released by No Future Records in 1982 showcasing many bands’ first vinyl outing.

This resulting compendium is fascinating in that it arguably tells the hidden story of punk – that of the kids on the street or in the faraway towns who never made it onto the pages of Sounds or NME. Punk was always more than the well-known bands who had successful recording careers. Ian understands how much some of these bands meant to people in their area, building a following and providing a focal point for the movement or the scene, inspiring others to form their own bands.

With so much content to work through, my preferred approach is to dip in rather than binge-read the whole lot in one sitting, but this is down to personal choice. It could work just as well being read cover to cover or picking a geographical chapter at a time.

Depending on where you grew up, or who you know/knew, will probably dictate how you tackle the book. I went straight to the piece on Weymouth’s Dead Popstars, very much local legends and the first band I ever saw live. Then I checked another Dorset favourite, Mad Are Sane, who I never got to see perform but whose demo I grew to know very well as it was core listening.

The legendary Totton Chaos Merchants Suburban Filth was my next stop. I’d played a cover of one of their songs long before moving to Southampton (a small suburb of the centre of the universe that is Totton) and becoming mates with their drummer, Rut. Then there was Nox Mortis, another Southampton legend whose guitarist I’ve been mates with for a long time. There are other bands that folks I know were in back in the day like Stone The Crowz and The Excretas. It was also fascinating to read about the likes of Karma Sutra, Revulsion, Potential Threat and Aural Corpse, who really belonged in some of Ian’s earlier works but had been difficult to track down at the time. The list just goes on.

In addition to hearing the back story of bands I had advanced knowledge of, this book acts as a gateway to so many more. There were a few pleasant surprises as I found out about bands mates were in years before we met such as Disarm from the South Wales Valleys. Ian does his best to provide links to sources of their audio efforts to help the reader explore further the bands that really chime with them and Paul Mahoney has curated a series of YouTube videos to complement the book.

Aside from providing a focus on bands that might otherwise remain local bands for local people, the overall effect is to demonstrate that punk was happening right across these islands, not just in the big cities. Some great photos accompany each band featuring many’s a studded jacket, mohican or spikey top. They provide context and serve to remind the reader of a time when punk rock identity was dangerous but could also lead from a knowing nod of camaraderie on the street to long-standing friendships with complete strangers.

Ian’s style makes all his books easy and enjoyable to read. He is a punk himself so he’s writing from the inside, not some journalist looking for a scoop. He has empathy because he has been there himself (and still is). Whilst Mr Glasper is a “proper” writer, his works on punk are more like citizen journalism, by the punks for the punks, which gives them high trust levels.

He brings the dialogue alive so even though some stories bear similarities it doesn’t get monotonous. The fact that so many bands didn’t have instruments, let alone know how to play or tune them, is the truth to the DIY ethic that still propels punk rock to this day.  This is, of course, helped by some of the amusing scrapes that interviewees got into. It’s like you’re in the room witnessing the interview.

You may get this to find out more about the roots of your local scene (or laugh at stories you remember) or to fill gaps in your nerd level knowledge of obscure 80s punk bands, but you’ll continue reading to get a really deep sense of DIY punk culture that thrived in the 1980s. Short of being able to go down the pub with members of every one of these bands, this is the best way you will get a feel for what was really going on in punk during the grim years of Thatcher outside the bubble of the music press.  A must for any punk’s bookshelf.

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Available from Earth Island

ISBN 9781916864245 paperback | 9781916864252 ebook

Words by Nathan Brown. His Louder Than War author archive can be found here.