I read the
whole of this book in one day. I’m a pretty fast reader, but something really
has to resonate for me to spend my whole day off reading. Actually, that’s a
lie; I quite happily (and frequently) spend the whole day lost in a book. Being
able to blow off the gym and having an excuse not to make dinner are an added
bonus to this style of reading.
Viv
Albertine (such a cool name) was among other things, the guitarist of the first
all-girl punk band called The Slits. Perhaps you haven’t heard of her, I
hadn’t, but she is Punk Royalty. This autobiography charts her childhood in
Muswell Hill to the squats of Acton through to the east coast of Sussex and is
devoted to her three main passions.
Her portrait
of the 70s punk scene is raw and unvarnished and is described in all its
un-washed glory. She portrays the famous characters from that time in a brutally
realistic way, humanising them and exposing their fragile egos. She writes
candidly of the ‘boys’ in her life. Sid
Vicious is a needy weirdo who follows her around everywhere. She had an on/off
relationship with Mick Jones from The Clash and a flirtation with Vincent
Gallo. She is an excellent example to
hold up to the haters, that being a feminist doesn’t mean you hate men.
When The
Slits first formed, none of them could really play their instruments, but they
persevered and ended up making a brilliant and accessible record. I remember
coming across a copy of The Slits first album Cut about fifteen years ago. The cover image of them standing
proudly half naked and covered in mud intrigued and shocked me. If I had bought
it then I’m pretty sure I would have ended up a lot cooler than I am now.
Viv
Albertine battled all her life with self-confidence issues, stemming from a
couple of formative experiences in her youth, such as her father telling her
that she’s not cool enough to be in a band. She struggled for a long time to
perfect her guitar playing and ended up releasing a solo album at the age of
fifty eight. She is proof that if you want something bad enough, you can make
it happen. She is an example of this not just in her musical career but also in
her personal life. She endured eleven rounds of IVF before she gave birth to
the baby she longed for. This is a superhuman feat; I cannot imagine how she
survived it. A couple of years after having her daughter she found out she had
cervical cancer. She survived but it took her ten years to get back to being in
a place where she could make music again. Her strength of character has
inspired me to not give up on my dreams, to fight for what I want and to always
wear a mini skirt if I feel like it.
And the clothes! Every experience she talks
about, what she wore is included. She had a brave and provocative personal
style, shopping in Vivienne Westwood’s shop Sex when she had the
money and getting the rest of her outfits from boot sales and bondage shops.
She has cemented my need for a pair of leopard print Chelsea boots and a
leather jacket.
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